Kevin Cole

Corey in Boston just became an amplifier "because KEXP is what the world needs more of -- I leave KEXP streaming on speakers throught the house as ambient -- all.day.long." Thanks for powering KEXP, Corey! www.kexp.org Disclosure, the duo of brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence, dropped "Energy" on August 20. The album features Kehlani, Syd, Common, Kelis, slowthai, Mick Jenkins, Channel Tres, Aminé, Fatoumata Diawara, and Cameroon’s Blick Bassy. Laugh and dance to the video here: bit.ly

Evan in Queen Anne just moved to Seattle, and says: "I am hooked! Love the eclectic mix of music, local insights, and NO commercials. DJs are great too! Thank you"! If you can help right now, please visit www.kexp.org to pledge your support for listener powered radio! Arcade Fire recorded a new version of this song for the soundtrack of the 2009 children's movie Where The Wild Things Are. The film's director Spike Jonze told Digital Spy: "I met Arcade Fire on their first record, Funeral. I loved that record and it was a record I was listening to while I wrote Where the Wild Things Are. Those songs - especially 'Wake Up' and 'Neighborhood' - there's a lot of that record that's about childhood."

Music selected by people, not algorithms? Check. Listener-powered community that brings us together over music and reminds us that We Are Not Alone? Check. Groovy gifts? Check. Supporting KEXP at www.kexp.org ticks all the boxes Tim Armstrong is best known as the singer and guitarist with the band Rancid and Operation Ivy, and founder of Hellcat Records. "Into Action" is a slamming ska-pop song featuring vocals from teen pop punkette Skye Sweetnam of all people.

"Officially, “Respect” is a relationship song. That’s how Otis Redding wrote it. But love wasn’t what Aretha Franklin was interested in. The opening line is “What you want, baby, I got it.” But her “what” is a punch in the face. So Ms. Franklin’s rearrangement was about power. She had the right to be respected — by some dude, perhaps by her country. Just a little bit. What did love have to do with that?"

Katrina in Snoqualmie says: "I grew up with KEXP (KCMU back in the day). When I was a young kid, my parents both worked at UW and my dad would frequently drop by KCMU to donate. I am so glad to have grown up with the station and it is a gift to our community."

Kevin in Northampton, Mass says: "KEXP keeps me connected with great music and with my roots in the Pacific Northwest. More than happy to do my part by donating -- for the past 14 years -- to help making the music matter." This is a remastered version of the track from the 'Pleased to Meet Me' box set arriving on October 9th. It will include 29 previously unreleased tracks, and can be pre-ordered here: store.rhino.com

Paste Magazine said this track from the latest Old 97's album "...could pass for an unearthed Old 97’s rarity from the mid-‘90s, thanks to Peeples’ locomotive beat and Bethea’s familiar leads." Check out the entire review: bit.ly

Jackie in Madison WI says "KEXP is my constant companion while I work from home, beginning with the Early show with Gabriel through the Afternoon Show with Larry at the end of my day. I love all the new music I find through KEXP. And, since the programming change, Gabriel and Larry have expanded my music collection in ways I otherwise would not have found. I have so much respect for KEXP for deciding it was important enough to get their voices on the air. I can't thank you enough. My pattern in the past was to log off work and switch on the TV to decompress. But, I was missing spending that last hour of my day listening to Kevin Cole. I found myself doing chores just so I could keep the radio on to listen to Drive Time. So, an additional thanks to Kevin and KEXP for the cleanest house I've ever had."

Help keep KEXP listener powered! www.kexp.org X released this album digitally in April 2020 with no prior announcement to coincide with the 40th anniversary of their debut album "Los Angeles" and credited songwriting to all four members for the first time in their career.

It's October, but I think I can safely say this is my album of the year. "Idles tackled the potent themes of white privilege and the state of the NHS in their 2017 breakthrough Brutalism, while their Mercury Prize-nominated follow-up, 2018’s Joy as an Act of Resistance, probed toxic masculinity, Brexit and the benefits of immigration. Ultra Mono is no less angry, or political. And it could be the most vital album we’ll hear all 2020. It doesn’t get more urgent than the furious “War”, which melds descending licks and post-punk rhythm guitar with a cacophony of distortion, rolling drums and frontman Joe Talbot’s full-throttle battle-cry. Like all the songs here, it’s finished with sharp precision; the Bristol band’s tightness helps to hammer their every message into the core of the listener." bit.ly

"War" is a counterculture-era soul song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for the Motown label in 1969. Whitfield first produced the song – an obvious anti-Vietnam War protest – with The Temptations as the original vocalists. After Motown began receiving repeated requests to release "War" as a single, Whitfield re-recorded the song with Edwin Starr as the vocalist, with the label deciding to withhold the Temptations' version from single release so as not to alienate their more conservative fans. Starr's version of "War" was a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1970, and is not only the most successful and well-known record of his career, but it is also one of the most popular protest songs ever recorded. It was one of 161 songs on the Clear Channel no-play list after September 11, 2001.

Laura in Belltown says: "KEXP is a community of groovy tunes & supportive messages. The DJs are total music geeks which rocks! I love listening when I travel for a taste of home. KEXP has turned me onto so so so many new artists. The gathering space provides me much joy and I miss it dearly. Thank you KEXP!!!" Listen to an acoustic version of this song recorded August 15, 2015 at the Columbia City Theater during a benefit concert for KEXP's New Home: bit.ly

Nicole from Vancouver BC writes: "I haven't been in love with music like this since MuchMusic in the 90s- the musical diversity makes for a creative wonderland to explore and I didn't realize how much I missed it until I found kexp." From his fourth studio album, "African Giant", the Nigerian singer -- born Damini Ogul -- delivers a swaggering, electric, and passion fueled statement that lives up to the towering persona being put forth at its outset.

The band chose the name "Vampire Weekend" from the title of a short film project Koenig worked on during the summer between freshman and sophomore years in college. While home for the summer, Koenig watched the 1987 vampire film The Lost Boys and was inspired to make a Northeastern version of the film in which a man named Walcott travels to Cape Cod to warn the mayor that vampires are attacking the United States. Koenig abandoned the project after two days

Robert in Columbia City writes: "KEXP is the paragon of authentic community building in Seattle, and I am not only lucky to get to work with many KEXP folks through community programs like Sound Off! and Mastering the Hustle through my position at MoPOP, but am also proud to support the work that you do to keep folks connected, listening, and sharing with one another through everything the world throws at us. Thanks for being such great teachers, supporters of our amazing music scene, and for keeping us dancing, singing along, headbanging, sobbing, pining, grinding, and reaching for the way out sounds."

'You Know I'm No Good' was released as the second single from Back to Black on 5 January 2007. Originally recorded as a solo track, it was remixed with guest vocals from the Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah. The original appeared on Winehouse's album, while the version with Ghostface Killah appears on his album "More Fish". Winehouse predominantly based "Back to Black" on her tumultuous relationship with then-ex-boyfriend and future husband Blake Fielder-Civil, who temporarily left her to pursue his previous ex-girlfriend. Their short-lived separation spurred her to create an album that explores the themes of guilt, grief, infidelity and heartbreak in a relationship. Influenced by the pop and soul music of 1960s girl groups, Winehouse collaborated with producers Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson, along with Sharon Jones' band The Dap-Kings, to assist her on capturing the sounds from that time period while blending them with contemporary R&B and neo-soul music.

The end of “Freedom” features a clip of Hattie White, Jay Z’s grandmother, during her 90th birthday celebration. “I had my ups and downs, but I always had the inner strength to pull myself up,” she says. “I was served lemons, but I made lemonade.” In 2017, Beyonce released a video for "Freedom" that celebrate the International Year of the Girl: bit.ly

In an interview with MetroLyrics, Nick Littlemore explained that the writing of the album was influenced by frequent touring and travel and the "tyranny of distance," primarily from family. In the same interview, Littlemore again reinforced the impact of distance, stating, "When we came back together, initially it felt like a secret affair and it was great, but then as you run deeper into that relationship again, there were things that we communicated to each other." Elaborating, he said, "We [communicate through] the nature of song... I think there was a large part of what we were writing about was distance and longing, and I guess some way of kind of sending out a message to the wider world, like that there is a force field that protects all of us and no matter where you are, if you feel for someone and they're in your heart, then you're always with them in some sense." bit.ly

Kyle in Ballard writes: "Growing up KEXP was always there as the soundtrack each morning in the way to school. Now I’m an elementary teacher and my team and I listen to KEXP everyday after school while we plan! Also, my class of third graders came to tour KEXP and y’all were amazing and answered all of the weird and random questions the kiddos had, they didn’t stop talking about it for weeks." This sultry track was conceived by Love And Rockets guitarist Daniel Ash, who also handled lead vocals. "I'd gone to a party on Saturday night, and I was married at the time, and I saw this woman over the other side of the room, and I was completely transfixed which is very odd because I was freshly married," he said. "It was very weird, but I was completely infatuated by her and so much so that I couldn't go near her to even speak to her, it was just this overwhelming thing. I can't explain it to this day. That's why the first line is, 'I don't know what color your eyes are.' Because I didn't get that close, I just saw this person in the distance."

Meredith in Snohomish writes: "My favorite thing about KEXP is the exposure to world music, modern latin, and all new music. it keeps me up to date on the music scene" The video for this new track shows the devastating footage of racial oppression and police brutality in protests for justice, before it transforms into an emotional display of Black strength, excellence and achievement. "We kicking out the old regime / Liberation, elevation, education / I said 'America, yousa lie' / But the whole world 'bout to testify," Janelle proclaims in the heartfelt lyrics. bit.ly

Dessa performed live in the KEXP studio in April 2018. Watch the full performance, starting with "Fire Drills" here: bit.ly You can help us bring live music to the community, both now with our remote and lawn concerts and going forward, by supporting KEXP now! www.kexp.org "With 'Fire Drills,' I wanted to write about the experience of traveling as a woman, and often as a woman alone," Dessa writes via email. "I didn't want to be scolding or vengeful — I wanted a song that could serve as a little portal into a particular way of looking at the world. In the interest of keeping themselves safe, women are discouraged from participating in vast swaths of human experience. We're advised to travel in the daylight, in groups, and on familiar roads. But wandering lost alone has value, man. And getting home before dark every night means you miss all the fireworks. Asking women to live smaller lives is not an acceptable solution to the problem of a dangerous world.