Kevin Cole

You're tuned in to DRIVE TIME -- our drive to make the world a better place through the power of music! Thanks to Larry Mizell, Jr for a great Afternoon Show! This album is #26 on the Top 90.3 Albums of 2021 as selected by KEXP listeners -- with this track featuring a guest appearance by Robert Smith of The Cure! Watch the official video: youtu.be

According to frontman Yannis Philippakis, Wake Me Up is meant for the dance floor. Foals wrote the song during the second lockdown in London, as they had access to a small studio. "Obviously as everyone knows, it was a pretty bleak time and it was kind of depressing and we didn't really want to add to any of that heaviness," said Philippakis, describing the new track's process. (bit.ly) Cheryl Waters hosted Foals Live in the KEXP Studio in 2013: youtu.be

NEW MUSIC from Beach House! They're performing at The Paramount in Seattle on Sunday, Apr 3 at 7PM -- get tickets: tinyurl.com Beach House announced their eighth album, "Once Twice Melody," and they revealed elaborate plans to roll it out over the next few months in four chapters leading up to the album’s official release in February. The song "Runaway" is part of Once Twice Melody‘s second chapter - bit.ly

Happy birthday to Robin Guthrie, born on this day in 1962 -- co-founder of the influential Scottish band Cocteau Twins! He's performed multiple instruments throughout his career, and was partnered romantically with lead singer Elizabeth Fraser until 1997 Persephone is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and became the queen of the Underworld after being abducted by Hades

Released in 2004, 'Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) was Arcade Fire's debut single. The album's title came because multiple members had recently lost family: Régine Chassagne's grandmother died in June 2003, Win and William Butler's grandfather (swing musician Alvino Rey) in February 2004, and Richard Reed Parry's aunt in April 2004.

“No one tells Confidence Man what to do. Who said a Holiday can’t last forever? Spend big and live free, that’s our motto. And it can be yours too. A vacation is just sunburn at premium prices but a holiday is a state of mind.” -- Janet Planet, 1/2 of Australian band Confidence Man. confidenceman.bandcamp.com

Directed by Alex Theurer and Charles Scott, the video for this track features science fiction costumes and was filmed in Bryce Canyon National Park and the redwoods of California. Check it out here: bit.ly Nick Littlemore 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

[during air break] Norwegian DJ, songwriter and producer. Fun fact, his stage name is a tribute to house music producer Todd Terry. bit.ly toddterje.com

NEW MUSIC from Seattle's own Smokey Brights! They're opening for Thunderpussy in a 21+ show at The Showbox on Friday, April 22 -- get tickets: tinyurl.com You can get hyped ahead of the show by checking out "Honey Eye" performed live at The Mothership in Tacoma: youtu.be

Minnesota band Cloud Cult, led by Craig Minowa. During college, he agonized over the choice to focus on environmental science or music composition, but believed that focusing on the environment could do more to make the world a better place -- he formed Earthology Records on his organic farm, powering it with geothermal energy, using recycled materials, and donating all profits to environmental charities Cloud Cult have played Live in the KEXP Studio multiple times, with a 2011 set including this track: youtu.be

“In this song I wanted to focus on the feeling that there’s a real strength in the human spirit when you try to look for beauty even in difficult situations. Of course, in some situations that becomes more and more difficult. But I just wanted to ponder on that and wonder what life would be like if I lived it like that.” The title music for the new Netflix documentary 'Convergence: Courage in a Crisis' is Kiwanuka's first new music in two years. www.michaelkiwanuka.com

This album is #3 on Kevin Cole's Top 10 Albums of 2021! www.kexp.org Guy Garvey explains in an official statement: “We love patient, quiet, whole albums like the last Talk Talk records. John Martyn’s Solid Air and Bless the Weather, PJ Harvey’s Is This Desire?, Chet Baker Sings, the Blue Nile’s Hats, Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love & Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks. We’ve always written songs like this, but it felt natural to make an album that focuses on the gentler side of our music. There have been challenges, but through them writing together remotely was a lifeline. It’s bruised and wistful, nostalgic, and thankful. We’re so lucky that all our family and friends are safe. It’s about that love." bit.ly

#5 on KEXP Listeners' Top 90.3 Albums of 2021 -- The War on Drugs are playing The Paramount Theatre on Monday & Tuesday, February 21-22, 2022. www.stgpresents.org The War On Drugs performed with LA indie duo Lucius live on Ellen today! Watch the live performance after Drive Time: youtu.be

On April 11, 1994, Oasis released their debut single, “Supersonic.” The song was written and recorded in one day at The Pink Museum studio in Liverpool -- the whole recording was completed in 11 hours and was never remixed. Mat Whitecross directed a 2016 documentary about the rise of the band called "Oasis: Supersonic" that included interviews, concert video, and backstage footage -- and per Noel Gallagher, left out "the monstrous drug taking" -- tinyurl.com

This is the first album where Makthaverskan worked with a producer -- HOLY's Hannes Ferm -- and Lauren O'Neill says the collaboration turned cinematic, with the tracks hopping around a relationship breakdown. 'This song seems to get at Makthaverskan’s central meaning best: one way or another, whether it feels slow or fast, there is always an end. But music is a good way to remember, to preserve. A song can be a moment crystallised, a method of making sure that time is never truly lost. An amber casing in which to keep it, if you like. För allting.' -- tinyurl.com

Happy birthday last week to Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye from the Patti Smith Group -- they both turned 75 on December 27!

Bloc Party will release their sixth album, 'Alpha Games', next spring. Via Twitter they wrote, “Thank you for waiting patiently, we’ve missed you and we can’t wait to share everything we’ve been working on.” bit.ly www.blocparty.com

#8 both on Kevin Cole's Top 10 of 2021 and KEXP Listeners' Top 90.3! Aaaaand it was Drive Time producer Rachel Stevens' favorite album of 2021... 'The sum of all of these songs is much greater than its parts... But 'Sometimes I Might Be Introvert', as a whole, has peaks and valleys and a heartbeat through it all—the perfect pace for a run, a year, a season, a life.' Read more of Rachel's piece "For Your Consideration...": www.kexp.org

This version was recorded live at the Kennedy Center in 1972 -- the first year KEXP was on the air, under the call letters KCMU! Tune in tomorrow for spotlight features on music made in 1972 -- kexp.org

New single from Philadelphia artist Orion Sun, featuring Rostam on production! Morian Thomas' video for the track features Orion Sun on a California farm, imagery of a legacy the singer says “is long filled with strength and knowledge, overflowing with resilience and beauty.” Read more and find a link to the video at Stereogum: tinyurl.com orionsun.bandcamp.com

Happy birthday to Portishead singer and lyricist Beth Gibbons, born on this day in 1965! Sampling War’s “Magic Mountain” in this classic Portishead track. Geoff Barrow said of this song: "[It] kind of needed a solo, so I just kind of scratched the start of "Magic Mountain." I wasn't really ever a scratch DJ, as such, but I was always madly into DJ Premier. You don't need loads of notes to make it sound cool, and that's what Premier did with his scratching. He didn't have to do anything. It was an incredible technique, but still it would just be so cool. He's the most soulful scratch DJ there's ever been." Read more from their interview with DJ Morgan for the 25th anniversary of "Dummy": kexp.org

This album brings together Portishead's Beth Gibbons (born on this day in 1965) with Talk Talk bassist Paul Webb (aka Rustin Man) in a folktronica set -- this track featured on the soundtrack to Wim Wenders' "Palermo Shooting", and on the French film "Russian Dolls" (Les Poupées russes)

Born on this day in 1955 -- Mark Hollis, co-founder, lead singer, and principal songwriter of the band Talk Talk. Hollis died in February 2019 -- the biography "A Perfect Silence" about Mark Hollis is due from Rocket 88, written by Ben Wardle, in Spring 2022 -- including interviews of Hollis' friends, musicians, collaborators, and executives. Learn more about the upcoming bio: tinyurl.com

Joan says: ''Damon Albarn introduced me to Afrobeat legend, Tony Allen, at the Africa Express event “The Circus” in London in 2019. Tony and I played Nina Simone's I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free and made a pact to record together in the future. In November of that year, our pact was realised. My old friend and fierce musician Dave Okumu joined Tony and me in a Parisian studio, where we improvised, untethered by form or tempo.' Read more and pick up this amazing album: joanaspolicewoman.bandcamp.com

Spiritualized are playing The Neptune on April 7th, 2022; get tickets for this all-ages show: bit.ly J. Spaceman (aka Jason Pierce) plays 16 different instruments on this upcoming album -- recorded at 11 different studios, including his home! This track was inspired by J. Spaceman’s (aka Jason Pierce) experiences in lockdown, with the frontman saying: “I felt like I’d been in training for this my whole life.” www.spiritualized.com

Bernard Sumner of New Order was born on this day in 1956!! The best-selling 12" single of all time in Britain came in a die-cut sleeve that resembled a floppy disc -- a sleeve so fancy Factory Records lost money on each copy. The later 1988 and 1995 versions were packaged in conventional sleeves to help balance the books... -- The lyric was written by the group's guitarist/lead singer Bernard Sumner, who copped to being (along with the rest of the band) under the influence of LSD while making the song.

#25 on KEXP listeners top 90.3 albums of 2021! -- Curtis Harding is playing a 21+ show at Neumos on January 29, 2022: tinyurl.com Curtis Harding's "If Words Were Flowers," written and recorded over the past two tumultuous years, was inspired by a phrase Harding’s mother told him growing up – “give me my flowers while I’m still here” – which he said he viewed as a reminder to show love and appreciation for the people he cared about before it was too late. Troy Nelson hosted Curtis Hadring Live on KEXP at Home back in November: youtu.be

Black Pumas performed live in the KEXP studio in October 2019, including this amazing track. Enjoy Live Video from the performance, hosted by Cheryl Waters: bit.ly. --- "The creative partnership between Grammy Award-winning guitarist / producer Adrian Quesada and 27-year-old songwriter Eric Burton. Voted Best New Band at the 2019 Austin Music Awards." blackpumas.bandcamp.com

alt-J and Portugal, The Man with special guest Cherry Glazerr will be at the WaMu Theater in Seattle on Tuesday, March 29th, 2022. bit.ly "It’s about being at a festival with your best friends, having a good time, togetherness, and the feeling in life that nothing could be any better than it is right now," explains keyboardist/vocalist Gus Unger-Hamilton. bit.ly

Selected by Drive Time Pit Crew assistant Jim Causey -- an ambient classic inspired by the KEXP podcast episode "Ketamine Music Therapy" with Rachel Stevens! From music originally recorded in 1983 for a feature-length documentary movie called Apollo, later retitled For All Mankind, directed by Al Reinert. The original version of the film had no narration, and simply featured 35mm footage of the Apollo Moon missions collected together roughly chronologically, and set tomusic as it appears on the album. Although the film had some limited theatrical runs at art house cinemas in some cities, audience response was lukewarm. The filmmakers still felt the film could do better if it reached a wider audience, and so they re-edited the film, added commentaries from the Apollo astronauts themselves, re-structured the music, and re-titled the film in the process. Various edits of the film were shown to test audiences for further refining. As all this was going on, the film's release was delayed until 1989. By that time several tracks on the album were omitted from the soundtrack and replaced by other pieces by Eno and other artists. bit.ly

KEXP has hosted Low Live in the KEXP Studio multiple times, including this set hosted by Kevin Cole back in 2012: youtu.be

KEXP DJ Evie hosted Hatchie Live in the KEXP Studio back in September 2019; check it out after today's show: youtu.be Brisbane, Australia's Hatchie (aka Harriet Pilbeam) on this cover of the Jennifer Paige 1998 hit for Secretly Canadian's series of standalone singles celebrating the label's 25th anniversary -- and supporting families experiencing homelessness in Bloomington, Indiana hatchie.bandcamp.com

Geese will be in Seattle playing Barboza on March 29. bit.ly "Took a walk today in our MN snow Kevin. Ice and snow crunching under snow boots. Geese were honking and flying overhead. So many I eventually pondered, just how many migrating geese ARE there?" -- Tanya from cold, snowy Rochester MN

Black Country, New Road will play Barboza in an all-ages show on Thursday, March 3, 2022 -- get tickets: tinyurl.com -- This track that has already become a live favourite with fans since its first public airings earlier this year - It’s a track that frontman Isaac Wood calls “the best song we’ve ever written... We threw in every idea anyone had with that song,” says Wood. “So the making of it was a really fast, whimsical approach - like throwing all the s**t at the wall and just letting everything stick.” blackcountrynewroad.bandcamp.com

Happy birthday to R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, born on this day in 1960!

"LA FAMA" (fame) is the first single from the Spanish singer’s upcoming new album, "Motomami," due out in 2022. On the new song, Rosalía experiments with Dominican bachata for the first time -- a genre that originated in the Domincan countryside in the early 20th century, mixing bolero, son, and the troubadour singing common across Latin America