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Tuesday, Sep 26 2023, 4PM
Tested in front of audiences at their live shows in the spring of 2023, ‘The Trenchcoat Museum’ is a stand-alone single from Leeds’ finest post-punkers Yard Act. Billed as an “advert or trailer” for their upcoming sophomore album by frontman James Smith (although it won’t be included on its tracklist when it arrives) it’s another fine piece of scabrous lyricism, with a remix by none other than Arthur Baker on the flip!
www.normanrecords.com
Yard Act performed live in the KEXP studio in 2022. Watch the performance here: youtu.be
Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons have been Chemical Bros for almost 35 years, and "For That Beautiful Feeling" is their tenth album. They'll also be releasing a book about their time-tested partnership, "Paused in Cosmic Reflection," on Oct. 26.
tinyurl.com
Slowdive will perform at the Showbox SoDo in Seattle on Tuesday, October 10!
New music from Slowdive. The band's fifth album six years after the group’s monumental self-titled album.
slowdive.bandcamp.com
Watch Ride performing "All I Want" and five other songs Live on KEXP in 2017: youtu.be
Ride’s reunion album is the British group’s first since returning the stage in 2015...with modern production touches courtesy of DJ Erol Alkan. pitchfork.com
Shoegaze band, Dharmacide, from Madrid, Spain released Horses/Divorces this month.
dharmacide.bandcamp.com
Death Cab For Cutie will be performing with The Postal Service on October 6th and 7th at Climate Pledge Arena. - deathcabforcutie.bandcamp.com
- www.deathcabforcutie.com
“‘An Arrow In the Wall’ is about the warning signs all around us in the 21st century that society-at-large is in decay,” said vocalist and guitarist Ben Gibbard in a press statement. “The arrow lodged in the wall might have missed this time, but it would be naive to assume the next one won’t also.”
www.nme.com
Sea Lemon's new Stop at Nothing EP came out just last month! sealemonmusic.bandcamp.com
Earlier this summer, John Richards selected Sea Lemon's "Cellar" as a KEXP Song of the Day. You can get a free download of the track, and subscribe to get all of our DJs' great picks, here: www.kexp.org
“‘Vaporized’ was the first song I wrote that I knew specifically would be for the new EP. The song is all about my personal health anxieties and fear of death, which is something I’ve dealt with since I was little. The chorus’ “I thought he was buried alive/out of my mind/I thought she was vaporized/out of my mind” is playing on the most unlikely, almost impossible ways to die because I think making light of my personal anxieties can help me from spiralling. I have insomnia a lot and wake up in the middle of the night, and used to have this tendency to read headlines while I was awake (a terrible idea), wondering if some horrible accident might happen to me too. The song instrumentally gets a little heavier and more intense each chorus, which implies this impending doom feeling that gets worse and worse as I worry.”
- SEA LEMON
loudwomen.org
Caroline Polachek recently performed live on KEXP hosted by DJ Kevin Cole! www.youtube.com
World Premiere! The single is out tomorrow, the album in 2024.
www.brimheim.com
“Literally Everything" is Danish/Faroese Brimheim's first single since her January 2022 debut album, "Can't Hate Myself Into a Different Shape”. The song teases her sophomore effort and is the first to be released by Tambourhinoceros.
Brimheim’s debut album Can't Hate Myself Into a Different Shape was one of the most celebrated Danish albums in 2022 and also captured attention from international audiences with performances at The Great Escape, Eurosonic Festival, Reeperbahn Festival, By:Larm, Iceland Airwaves and a live session at KEXP.
Happy Birthday to James Blake (Litherland) born on this day in 1988!
"Big Hammer" is a far cry from the introspective electro-soul of Blake's last album, the stunning Friends That Break Your Heart. Check out the track's official music video, which follows a frolicsome crime spree from the perspective of the bandits' getaway car.
youtu.be
edm.com
‘The Sea’ premiered on BBC Radio 1 in July 24 as the station’s Hottest Record. Writing on social media, Romy explained how the tune had been “inspired by night drives in Ibiza and moments of second-guessing my heart on Brighton beach”.
See the official video here youtu.be
www.nme.com
Everything but the Girl's Tracey Thorn celebrates a birthday today in 1962 - happy birthday!
Tracey Thorn is the lead vocalist for both Everything but the Girl and Massive Attack. Massive Attack's "Protection" celebrates its anniversary today!
Big birthday shout out to Bryan Ferry who was born on this day in 1945!
The Roxy Music singer added that part of "Love Is the Drug" was inspired by the Caribbean patois of his Trinidadian friend, Christian. "He worked for Roxy doing wardrobe. Christian was a very amusing, laid-back guy. If there was ever a problem, Christian would say, 'T'ain't no big t'ing.' I liked the phrase, so my opening lyrics to the song were:
T'ain't no big thing
To wait for the bell to ring
T'ain't no big thing
The toll of the bell"
www.songfacts.com
New from Singapore band Subsonic Eye - one of Kevin's current favs!
They perform at Vera Project on October 15th.
The fourth album from this Singaporean band is another fantastic set of catchy, confident, and energetic rock jams that pairs the band's propulsive guitar attack with sweet melodies, shape-shifting rhythms, and a youthful urgency that consistently delivers. With the band’s potent blend of shoegaze, post-punk, twee, math rock, and other rock-adjacent styles serving as the foundation for the expressive vocals of Nur Wahidah, All Around You captures an irresistible indie pop/rock sound. www.kexp.org subsoniceye.bandcamp.com
“Little Mascara,” an underrated song toward the end of Tim, is a blueprint for modern pop songwriting, worthy of rigorous study by anyone looking to understand what gives a pop song momentum and what keeps a listener engaged from measure to measure. Inspired by Southern gothic stories like those of Williams and Flannery O’Connor, “Little Mascara” was the first fictional character study in the Mats catalog. The bouncy mid-tempo number describes a struggling mother pining for the love she deserves from the deadbeat father, left always with only a little mascara running down her cheek.
pitchfork.com
store.rhino.com
“Born for Loving You” was recorded at the same time as “Vampire Empire,” while the band was embarking on a 2023 tour, which concluded this summer. The singles were recorded in at Teatre de ca l’Eril Studio in Guissona, Spain. The band co-produced “Born for Loving You” with Dom Monks.
americansongwriter.com
Arlo Parks has announced the first North American tour behind her sophomore album, My Soft Machine, out this past May. The 18-date run kicks off February 29 in San Diego. She performs in Seattle at the Showbox SoDo on March 8!
Arlo Parks shares the "Purple Phase" video youtu.be
www.thefader.com
Celebrating Johnny Appleseed today!
Appleseed (real name: John Chapman) was an American nurseryman who introduced apple trees to the Midwest, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. He was also a conservationist and missionary during the earliest days of the United States.
nationaltoday.com
Watch Joe and The Mescaleros sing this song in the official video youtu.be
The Seed was originally written and recorded by an artist named Cody ChesnuTT. Cody is featured on The Roots' version of the song. The Roots' version of the "Seed 2.0" is a genre-bending song - most critics couldn't figure out exactly what to call it. Alexis Petridis probably found the best descriptor when he wrote in the Guardian he called it "an individual hybrid of distorted rock, hip-hop and psychedelic soul, blessed with a fantastic chorus."
www.npr.org
www.songfacts.com
The Seed was originally written and recorded by Cody ChesnuTT. Cody is featured on The Roots' version of the song.
www.npr.org
See the official video here youtu.be
"Stardog Champion" is one of the most popular songs from Mother Love Bone, a Seattle band that was on the vanguard of the grunge scene but came to an abrupt end when their frontman Andrew Wood died on March 19, 1990, just days before the song was set for release on the band's debut album, Apple.
Wood called the song a "fake, kinda patriotic rock anthem of sorts." In it, he takes a grandiose persona that seems to rise to stardom from humble beginnings. At the end of the song there's a children's chorus that seem to be his followers, singing as the song fades out.
www.songfacts.com
Daníel Hjálmtýsson will be LIVE on KEXP Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 4PM for Drive Time!
Reykjavik Calling: Iceland Airwaves Off-Venue on Thursday, October 5th.
KEXP, will host a free concert featuring Icelandic artists Daníel Hjálmtýsson and GRÓA.
KEXP DJ Kevin Cole will co-host the evening with DJ Hermigervill.
Thanks Cat in San Juan, PR for this request!
On this day in 1995, Prince releases The Gold Experience!
Japanese group CHAI was Live on KEXP this month!
Unlike WINK, this self-titled collection of songs finds CHAI returning to their roots, drawing inspiration from their Japanese cultural heritage and the music that raised them. “Everything reflected in the lyrics expresses our experience as Japanese women,” MANA says, explaining why they chose to self-title this album.
www.subpop.com
chai-band.com
Nia Archives will perform at Neumos in Seattle on October 25 @ 8pm!
The song is the artist’s first new release since ‘Off Wiv Ya Headz’ back in June, which interpolates A-Trak’s huge version of Yeah Yeah Yeahs‘ ‘Heads Will Roll’.
www.nme.com
This album was released on this day in 1980! Request going out to Brian in Maple Leaf!
Absolutely is the second studio album from the British ska band Madness. The album reached number 2 in the UK album charts. The album is named after one of the oft-said expressions of the band's then tour manager and sound man Tony Duffield.
Black Pumas have returned with a new single ‘Mrs. Postman’! ‘Chronicles of a Diamond’ will be released on October 27 via ATO Records. Co-written by the band’s Eric Burton and Adrian Quesada along with keyboardist JaRon Marshall, the song marks the first time Black Pumas have co-written with another musician. The track was also produced by Quesada with co-production by Burton.
www.udiscovermusic.com
Today in 1994, Massive Attack released Protection! Karmacoma was released as a third and final single from their second album.
Happy Birthday to Massive Attack's Tracey Thorn born on this day in 1962!
Polyrhythmics' new album comes out September 29th! polyrhythmics.bandcamp.com
They will perform in Bellingham at the Wild Buffalo on November 4th and later at The Crocodile on November 24th!
www.polyrhythmics.com
Kevin Cole hosted Polyrhythmics performing Live in the KEXP Studio back in 2020: youtu.be
www.polyrhythmics.com
Polyrhythmics' new album comes out this Friday! polyrhythmics.bandcamp.com
They will perform in Bellingham at the Wild Buffalo on November 4th and later at The Crocodile on November 24th!
www.polyrhythmics.com
Kevin Cole hosted Polyrhythmics performing Live in the KEXP Studio back in 2020: youtu.be
www.polyrhythmics.com
Today in 1975 The Rocky Horror Picture Show had its US premiere at the UA Westwood Theater (now called Mann Festival Theater) in Los Angeles.
If you're in the Seattle area, you can catch the classic this Saturday at the Pantages Theater in Tacoma OR on October 13 at the Admiral Theatre in Bremerton!
Indonesian pop trio Grrrl Gang released their latest single “Spunky!”, as part of their debut album released on September 22.
grrrlgang.bandcamp.com
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Singer Angeeta Sentana describes how the song comes from experiencing a manic episode: “I feel like I’m on top of the world, untouchable. I do things without thinking, always chasing after that feeling of instant gratification. I feel extra confident in myself—to a point of grandiose thinking—and that I could do anything”.
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Here's the official video: www.youtube.com
Amy Taylor said: "'Got You' is about that feeling you get when you first start seeing someone and you're excited to see them, no matter what shit they got. You just see them at the pub and it feels like the most exciting thing in the world, like you're so lucky they're even there. It's definitely one of the "sweetest" songs on the album, and less punky. It was kind of inspired by Split Enz.
www.thefader.com
See Idles' 2018 full performance live on KEXP hosted by DJ John Richards youtu.be.
James And The Cold Gun is playing here in Seattle on Tuesday, October 10th, opening for TIGERCUB at Chop Suey.
tinyurl.com
chopsuey.com
Dubbed "South Wales' loudest group," Cardiff’s James and the Cold Gun have returned with a propulsive new track, Chewing Glass, a slice of raw, insistent garage-rock and their first new music since their debut EP, False Start, came out earlier this year.
The track comes to us via Seattle-based label Loosegroove Records, owned by Stone Gossard (Pearl Jam) & Regan Hagar (Malfunkshun, Brad, Satchel).
"What a relief…hard rock with a shot of pure adrenaline," says Stone Gossard, "'Chewing Glass' reminds me of The Damned meets The Dead Boys. Simple and fricken slamming. Thanks again KEXP Seattle for turning us onto James and Cold Gun." bit.ly
Burna Boy will play at Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena on November 5!
Brand new album 'I Told Them..." from Nigeria's Burna Boy. Features include RZA/GZA from Wu-Tang Clan, 21 Savage and J. Cole. burna.lnk.to
Bombino will play live in the KEXP studio this Thursday at 12PM. This session is open to the public!
www.kexp.org
They are playing that night at Neumos!
tinyurl.com
The famed Tuareg guitarist + folk hero of Niger returns with his first album in five years, which showcases his masterful guitarwork and is sung in the Tuareg language, Tamasheq. While still rooted in his signature desert blues sound, Sahel has an overall rich and diverse sonic landscape, intended to reflect the complex tapestry of the people and cultures of the Sahel region in Africa.
www.kexp.org
bombino.bandcamp.com
Recorded between 2003 and 2004 , Danger Mouse and Jemini the Gifted One released 'Born Again' their sophomore collaborative album
dangermousejemini.bandcamp.com