Kevin Cole

Take four men dressed in suits and ties. Add a bunch of customized, refurbished organs and one drum set, and what do you get? Apparat Organ Quartet. Born at a Kitchen Motors performance in 1999 in Reykjavik, Iceland, the band mixes music and performance art. Using an array of farfisas, Russian synthesizers, stylophones and whatever other electronic machines the sanitation department delivers, Apparat twists technology into music. From taking over the grocery store speaker system with their own music to incorporating Morse code and telephone transmissions into songs, Apparat Organ Quartet is making "machine rock and roll" with the help of plenty of interesting toys. www.pbs.org

Brimheim is open about the ‘dark muddy place’ from which she began writing the album alone, before a profoundly successful collaboration with producer Søren Buhl Lassen. After only eight months in the studio! they emerged with the 11 swamp flowers that would create ‘can’t hate myself into a different shape’. The ferocious momentum has continued from there. Joyfully (and with some astonishment) the Nordic music industry has embraced Brimheim’s experimental-minded artistry. Being cozy in her queerness, and candid about personal psychological discord - interviews frequently explore a wide and varied terrain. www.brimheim.com

Extended 12" single mix. On this day in 1981 The Human League had their only UK No.1 single with 'Don't You Want Me.' According to its creator, Roger Linn, this was the first hit song to use the LM-1 drum machine. Introduced in 1980, the LM-1 was the first programable unit that sampled real drums rather than creating them synthetically. It became the basis for many hits of the era, with acts like Culture Club, Peter Gabriel and Gary Numan using it to make backing tracks. Its most prolific proponent was Prince, who used it on songs like "Little Red Corvette" and "When Doves Cry." -- See the official music video for this enormous hit: www.youtube.com

Shout out to Katie in Seattle for the inspiration for this song! Watch Caroline Polachek's live performance of "Sunset" on Drive Time with Kevin Cole on KEXP, May 4, 2023! Watch it here youtu.be

Wayne Coyne told NME in 2013 that he considers this song to be his proudest moment. He explained: "A part of you makes it and you don't really think that much of it. Then someone comes up and says, 'we used that song at my mother's funeral'. You can say it's just a dumb song, or you can say, 'I understand.'" www.songfacts.com

Check out this 11/6 review from KEXP's Chris Sanley. "The sophomore album from Will Anderson, the founder and architect of Hotline TNT, is a tantalizing collection of fuzzed out power pop, drawing upon shoegaze, punk and indie rock to tell his tales of love and loss. His first release for Third Man, the New York based musician has truly leveled up with Cartwheel marking an exciting new era for the project." kexp.org

An anthem for our dark times. See Nada Surf's KEXP Live Full Performance at the Triple Door in Seattle from 2020! www.kexp.org

Tilly Rodina's, KEXP's Director of Community Engagement, fav album of 2023! DAIISTAR performed Live on KEXP in November -- stay tuned to our YouTube channel to be notified when the set posts: www.youtube.com daiistar.bandcamp.com

Inspiration for this song struck in 1989 when Mike Edwards was listening to the Simple Minds' version of "Sign O' The Times," which they recorded on a 1989 EP titled The Amsterdam. The song, written and originally recorded by Prince, is his perspective of the troubling events of the late '80s. While Edwards listened to the music, he watched the Berlin Wall coming down on television. "I never thought that I'd see such a thing in my lifetime," he told The Guardian in 2018, "and I wanted to write a sort of updated but positive 'Sign O' The Times' to reflect what was happening." www.songfacts.com

Trio from Atlanta, Omni, will release Souvenir, their fourth album and second for Sub Pop, which packs their biggest punch yet. Inactive during the majority of the pandemic–the longest downtime in their history–they approached this recording with lots of pent-up energy. megamart.subpop.com

New music from MPLS legends Arcwelder mixed by J Robbins! Arcwelder started in 1987 under the name tiltawhirl. In the 1990’s they put out 6 records on Touch & Go and Big Money Records. After 20 years they've been recording new songs. www.arcwelderband.com www.arcwelderband.com

Sunny Day Real Estate will be playing a show from their reunion tour @ Seattle's The Moore Theatre on Thursday, February 15th, 2024. Get your tickets now! sunnydayreal.estate

The debut album, Lighthouse, will be out in March from the Luxembourg based band. Pre order it here francisofdelirium.bandcamp.com See the original video for Blue Tuesday youtu.be

From Sydney, Australia. Classically trained piano player Hannah Joy and multi-instrumentalist Tim Fitz (Hannah's husband) first met in 2014, and Fitz began to produce her solo work as well as playing in her band. www.allmusic.com Check out the video for “Dramamine”: youtu.be

** Drive Time Best of 2023! ** Vote on your top 10 favorite albums here: www.kexp.org New sophomore record from Melbourne's Angie McMahon. angiemcmahon.com Angie McMahon will perform in Seattle @ Madame Lou's on March 11, 2024 @ 7:30pm. Get your tickets now! www.thecrocodile.com

Bjork wrote this song between 1997 and 2001, but has just released it to join Iceland’s fight against Norwegian-owned commercial farming operations that threaten to disrupt native ecosystems. Proceeds from "Oral" will be used to support a legal case against the fisheries, brought forth by residents of the town of Seyðisfjörður on the eastern side of Iceland. Here's an interview with Bjork about the song and her ROSALÍA collaboration: tinyurl.com

In an interview, Zaho de Sagazan shares her writing process, "It always starts from the piano. First piano and voice, and then I dress up the piano and voice with something else. To me, a song should start by piano and voice, this set up should be enough for a song before adding any electronics to it (but I like electronic elements as much as piano/voice!). So I start with piano, voice and then, I go to the studio with my friends to add electronics to my songs. It takes time to write a beautiful song. It’s rare that I write a great song in one day, usually it takes years." www.15questions.net

** Drive Time Best of 2023! ** The soulful group is composed of Croatian pianist and vocalist Sara Ester Gredelj and Slovenian drummer Nina Korosak-Sercic.

Isabel Khalili's, KEXP's Podcast Producer & Licensing Administrator, fav album of 2023! "trip9love…??? is the third album from Tirzah, produced by long-time musical collaborator Mica Levi. It was written and recorded at both their homes and various corners of South East London and Kent.  After several recording sessions over roughly a year, eventually the music suddenly came into a sound that they wanted to follow. The tracks were built using piano loops on top of one beat, distortion added, then romantic vocal toplines. Poems centre on themes of love, both real and imagined. The world the record finds space in is a lazy club fantasy zone." tirzah.bandcamp.com

Honestly this in-studio performance by Grimes is ICONIC! Check it out via our YouTube channel here www.youtube.com 'Visions' recorded alone at home in her room, Claire Boucher seemingly used quite basic equipment. “Embarrassingly, I recorded the entire album on Garageband. I really want to establish that I no longer use Garageband” she grimaces. “It’s just mostly because I’m using hardware, but Garageband is actually stupid, I know it is. It really can’t do anything, there’s like one type of reverb, y’know? There’s not a lot of stuff in Garageband that’s good. It’s good for recording something like a 4-track, but....” bit.ly

Black Thought's collaborative project with El Michels Affair. This track features KIRBY! Michels says of their collaboration: "Before long, Black Thought was coming around the studio and would jam with us from time to time. Then, fast forward to 2020 and COVID lockdowns, he just hit me up out of the blue, wanting me to send him stuff to write to. We both were looking to stay busy." elmichelsaffair.bandcamp.com

Happy Vinylversary to Little Simz and 'No Thank You' released on this day in 2022! KEXP's song of the day earlier this year: www.kexp.org __ Check out Little Simz's 2021 Live on KEXP at Home session - conversation with Gabriel and an exclusive live performance: youtu.be __ www.littlesimz.com

Font is an Austin-based band made up of Thom Waddill, Jack Owens, Anthony Lawrence, Roman Parnell, and Logan Wagner. Font began playing shows regularly in the beginning of 2022. The Austin Chronicle has described their music as "relentless post-punk with New Wave keyboards and arty, personality-driven singing." tinyurl.com

** Drive Time Best of 2023! ** Leona (vox), Janelle (guitar) and Leanne (bass) are originally from Malta and moved to the UK to complete their lineup with drummer Sofia. genntheband.bandcamp.com

Live on KEXP - Stay tuned for this session to go live on Thursday, December 14!! www.youtube.com

Newest single from IDLES! TANGK is the righteous and vibrant fifth album from IDLES. Pronounced “tank” with a whiff of the “g” - an onomatopoeic reference to the lashing way the band imagined their guitars sounding... idlesband.bandcamp.com The Bristol band is playing an all-ages show in Seattle next year -- Tuesday, May 7 -- at the Paramount Theatre. Get your tickets now! www.stgpresents.org

Where’s My Utopia? is the follow up to the Leeds band’s critically-acclaimed debut record 'The Overload' which arrived in January 2022. The new album is a co-production between Yard Act and Gorillaz member Remi Kabaka Jr. The brand new album out March 1, 2024 features lead single ‘Dream Job’, which is out now. shop.yardactors.com

Happy Vinylversay to The Clash's 'Sandinista' released on this day in 1980! Taking its name from Nicaragua's left-wing rebel force, the album tackles subjects including US foreign policy, Vietnam, and Cold War tensions. Recorded in Jamaica, London and most significantly New York, where the growing hip-hop scene inspired The Clash to write the first ever UK rap record, 'The Magnificent Seven'. www.theclash.com

One of Kevin Cole's highlights from this year's Iceland Airwaves! South Korea's Balming Tiger takes its name from Tiger Balm, that ointment with the ever-distinctive pungency. In an Instagram post, Omega Sapien shared that he wrote "Trust Yourself" during COVID, "when I hit rock bottom. I was constantly self doubting myself and even considered quitting music after all." He also revealed that he was "too self-conscious" and "found myself constantly comparing with other artists, topped with self-criticism to somehow release my negative energy." He went on, "But after those dark path, I realized that I was so much stronger than my trauma. I was no longer the 10-year-old kid lost in another country. I learned that there is nothing to seize but the moment. If you listen to your heart closely, it will guide you to everything. This song is for myself. I wrote this song so I could trust myself. Hopefully this will help you too. Love you all." tinyurl.com

New local band with members from Smokey Brights, PUSA, 45th Street Brass and the True Loves! From the forthcoming self-titled LP "mega cat" out February 16th, 2024! itsmegacat.bandcamp.com

Nusantara Beat's commitment to honoring tradition is only part of their mission. They also strive to showcase the immense diversity of Indonesian music and usher it into the future. By adding their own innovative twists to the mix, they pay homage to the traditional sounds while introducing a fresh and contemporary perspective. nusantarabeat.bandcamp.com

In my top of 2023 David "Dudu" Tassa is an Israeli rock musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer hailing from a Mizrahi Jewish background. He also leads Dudu Tassa & the Kuwaitis which reinterprets classic songs by Tassa's late grandfather and great-uncle, Daoud and Salih Al-Kuwaity, who were Iraqi and Kuwaiti composers.