Kevin Cole

Musician/producer Jonathan Wilson performed a superb and special private set for our cameras a few years back; check it out: blog.kexp.org

Originally from Missouri, Nash moved to New York City in 2006. Nash performed in clubs on the Lower East Side such as The Living Room and Rockwood Music Hall. In 2009, he independently released his debut solo album, New York Town which was recorded at The Magic Shop in New York's Soho neighborhood. New York Town was eventually picked up by Dutch label Contintental Records Services in Europe and the UK. bit.ly

The album encompasses genres that range from dance-punk to electronica. The album was critically acclaimed upon release and was nominated for the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album. Many singles were released to promote the album, including the band's breakout "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House", which reached number one on the UK Dance Chart in March, 2005. bit.ly

Coming out June 29th, The Now Now was produced by Simian Mobile Disco’s James Ford, who also produced the latest Arctic Monkeys album, Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino. Albarn is warning fans to hear more of his vocals on this new album: “I thought I should make a record where I’m just singing for once. It’s pretty much just me singing, very sort of in the world of 2-D but kind of come out and he’s singing very expressively. I feel really good about it. I feel really really good about it.” bit.ly

Catch the nifty video for the track here: bit.ly

SP703 in our Sub Pop Count Up! The Thermals formed in Portland in 2002 and were known for incorporating political themes and religious imagery into their signature lo-fi sound. Hutch Harris and Kathy Foster had previously played together as the duo Hutch & Kathy. They added Jordan Hudson (of M. Ward and The Operacycle) on bass and began performing as The Thermals. On August 22, 2006, The Thermals released their third studio album, The Body, The Blood, The Machine on Sub Pop. It was produced by Brendan Canty of Fugazi. The band claims that the album “tells the story of a young couple who must flee a United States governed by fascist faux-Christians." In April of this year, The Thermals announced that they would be disbanding. Over the course of their 16 year career, they released seven studio albums, two live albums, a number of EPs, and countless singles.

"Breed" is a song written about being trapped in middle-class America. The song was developed by the band during live performances in 1989 when they toured Europe with their Sub Pop labelmates TAD. In an interview with Sub Pop founder Bruce Pavitt, he explained that the song was "hypnotic," and a stylistic breakthrough for the band. He stated that "audiences would become ecstatic. They were experiencing Nirvana. And when you're experiencing really good, primal rock n roll, you break into a trance." The original version was recorded at Smart Studios with producer Butch Vig. bit.ly

Seattle’s Versing are a formidable at the art of blending hooks with twisted distortion. One of Versing’s strongest qualities is their constant pursuit of new sounds and idea, with songwriter Daniel Salas getting sharper and sharper with each release. Enjoy this local artist feature ( blog.kexp.org ) as well as an archived Song of the Day, which you can download and enjoy for your pleasure: bit.ly

TacocaT's third studio, produced and engineered by Erik Blood. Emily Nokes on the band's evolution: "Our earliest phase now sounds to me almost like kids' music. Bree told me the other day that her favourite band was currently 'old' Tacocat. I thought it was too embarrassing to listen to, but I went back and played some stuff and the songs were so simple and funny. We didn't aspire to sound like anything – it was more about playing to our ability level at the time. We would write songs about Anna Nicole Smith or candy – and it was just as good as we could do. A lot of our music comes from conversations. Lost Time has a much more serious side to it, which is how things feel right now. So, we are more inspired by what is happening around us than any specific music style." bit.ly

The song opens with an overdriven bass intro played by Lemmy. For the lyrics, he said he "used gambling metaphors, mostly cards and dice—when it comes to that sort of thing, I'm more into the one-arm bandits actually, but you can't really sing about spinning fruit, and the wheels coming down." bit.ly

Brownout is a band from Austin, Texas, that began as a funk-centric offshoot of the Grammy-winning pan-Latin Grupo Fantasma. Over the past decade, the group have released several albums of hard-hitting originals and iconoclastic cover versions. And if translating Iommi riffs, Ozzy vocals, and Bill Ward fills into blazing horn sections and funk breaks worthy of War on their Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath series was outlandish, taking on the legendary Bomb Squad productions that made Public Enemy sound like a cleansing fire fits Brownout in a more unsurprising, but still exciting, way. bit.ly

Fear of a Black Planet features elaborate sound collages that incorporate varying rhythms, numerous samples, media sound bites, and eccentric loops, reflecting the songs' confrontational tone. Recorded during the golden age of hip hop, its assemblage of reconfigured and recontextualized aural sources preceded the sample clearance system that later emerged in the music industry. Fear of a Black Planet explores themes of organization and empowerment within the black community, social issues affecting African Americans, and race relations at the time. The record's criticism of institutional racism, white supremacy, and the power elite was partly inspired by Dr. Frances Cress Welsing's views on color. bit.ly

Recorded right here at Little London Plane last year during Upstream Music Festival 2017. Fiery live performance at KEXP of this Seattle organ trio on the heels on their debut LP from Colemine Records. Lamarr on his beginnings on the organ: I was about 22 years old. Back then I was playing trumpet & drums. I ended up getting a call to play drums with organist Joe Doria and guitarist Dan Heck at the Art Bar. I was fascinated watching Joe play the organ. I remember when I was young in church the pastor’s wife played organ but I never really payed attention to it. One day a drummer comes and sits in and I asked Joe if I could play the organ and he said, “Yeah, if you can.” So I sat down and we played a blues and I played the organ like I’ve been playing it all along. Pedals and all. I pretty much learned how to play organ by watching Joe do it every week. So right then, I wanted to play the Hammond." More from our exclusive interview here: blog.kexp.org

SP704 in our Sub Pop Count-Up! KEXP is playing a track from every single Sub Pop release in their catalog, in order. We’ll be playing Sub Pop songs an average of 8.3 times per day, 24/7 until Sub Pop’s 30th Anniversary celebration in August. Comets on Fire is a noise rock band from Santa Cruz, CA formed in 1991 by Ethan Miller and Ben Flashman. The band’s debut album was released in 1999 on Jello Biafra’s label, Alternative Tentacles. It drew comparisons to Butthole Surfers, Hawkwind, and MC5. In 2003, Comets on Fire signed to Sub Pop and landed a whole new fan base by touring with Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, and Mudhoney. In 2006, Sub Pop released Avatar, which showed the band shifting away from psychedelic noise jams in favor of a more classic rock sound.

When Talking Heads frontman David Byrne started dating costume designer Adelle Lutz in 1982, the new relationship inspired Byrne to do something he’d never even tried before: writing a love song. Taking the music from a simple instrumental vamp that he and his bandmates had cooked up during a jam session, Byrne strung together a series of short, loosely connected phrases in praise of domesticity. For someone whose rock ’n’ roll reputation had been built on ironic faux-sincerity and “songs about buildings and food,” Byrne made a startling and touchingly personal leap with lyrics like “I’m just an animal looking for a home,” and, “You love me ’til my heart stops.” bit.ly

After a hiatus from recording music due to writer's block, Badu communicated with several hip hop producers over the Internet and worked on new music using the GarageBand software program on her laptop. Once the songs were composed, she went on to record most of the album at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. New Amerykah Part One is an esoteric concept album titled as a pun on Badu's first name and a reflection of the record's political leanings. It features social commentary and themes related to the plight of the African-American community, including poverty, urban violence, complacency, and cultural identity. The record's densely produced music incorporates funk, R&B, hip hop, soul, jazz, and electronica styles. bit.ly

Bloom, as the title implies, is about growth. Parisalexa wouldn't be the first artist to self-examine and open themselves on record, but its the elegance, grace, and perspective she brings on the record that makes her latest EP so special. She invokes Tupac Shakur's famous poem as she describes the album, saying, "Sometimes you’re going to have a nice place to grow, but sometimes you just need to be a flower blooming in the crack in the sidewalk. And that's ok." bit.ly

"A lot of my favorite artists throughout the years have used music as a form of talking about the state of the world and social justice, so I just thought that’s what I need to talk about right now. And if I didn’t say something and try my best to make a statement on how I believe people should treat each other, then I’m going to be really upset that I missed that opportunity... I think what hit me really hard with Hillary’s loss was just the deep, deep cultural stereotype women — all women — face. Women are against women, and men are against women. Like, women have to rise above so much to get ahead. I feel guilty that sometimes I hate being a woman. I hate it because there’s so much weight on your shoulders at all times. Maybe I’m just really sensitive. I needed, especially at that time, a modern anthem. I wanted to talk about family values, money, and how hard it is for people to get by in this country. And then I wanted to talk about domestic abuse. I wanted it to be as inclusive as possible." bit.ly

“I really wanted to make an upbeat album. Part of what motivated me to start making it was that I was feeling a bit depressed following the rolling news on Twitter, the world in general, events around the world, political stuff. I started to think that I could either do my nut about it, or I could be creative; which in itself is an act of positivity because you’re bringing something into the world. So I thought, I want to express some of this, and I want it to be in a format that itself is uplifting. I wanted it to be fun to listen to, and fun to make. There’s a deliberate minimalism to it all. I like things that don’t outstay their welcome, and I do find that a lot of records nowadays are too long, ever since we got the capacity for albums to be any length you like. A lot of people seem to think that not having that limit makes something better. But there is still part of me that would rather have ten stone-cold classics than a lot of filler." bit.ly

It’s the Sub Pop Count Up! Here we have SP705. Sub Pop founder Jonathan Poneman saw the band open for Modest Mouse in San Francisco and offered the band a one-off single deal. After the single “New Slang” attracted a ton of positive media attention, Sub Pop decided to sign the band in full. "Before you knew it, my whole life was upside down: I got signed, I quit my job, I moved out of town, the big relationship I'd had for five years ended. All of a sudden my whole life was up in smoke," recalled Mercer. On January 23, 2007, Sub Pop released The Shins’ third studio album, Wincing the Night Away. it was recorded in James Mercer’s basement, as well as Phil Ek’s home in Seattle, all with producer Joe Chiccarelli. It was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album that year. The album’s title is a play on the Sam Cooke song “Twisitin’ the Night Away,” and is also a reference to Mercer’s insomnia. Wincing the Night Away was The Shin’s last album for Sub Pop.

Celebrating Ronnie Wood's 71st birthday today! Wood began his career in 1964, when he joined The Birds on guitar. He then joined the mod group the Creation, but remained with the group only for a short time and appeared on a small number of singles. Wood joined the Jeff Beck Group in 1967 as a bass player. The band released two albums, Truth and Beck-Ola, which became moderate successes. The group split in 1969, and Wood departed along with lead vocalist Rod Stewart to join Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones in the Small Faces. Releasing one album under the Small Faces' name, 1970's First Step, the group then shortened its name simply to the Faces and soon after became one of rock's most notoriously party-hearty outfits of the era (influencing such future bands as the Sex Pistols and the Replacements, among others).

Following the international success of AM, Turner suffered from writer's block, struggling to find a direction for a new album. In early 2016, upon watching Federico Fellini's 1963 film 8½, Alex Turner was inspired by its depiction of writer's block, childhood memories and the science fiction genre. He began writing songs for the album on a Steinway Vertegrand piano he received as a 30th birthday gift from the band's manager Ian McAndrew, in a spare room of his Los Angeles home dubbed "Lunar Surface". During the process Turner recalled piano lessons he had received from his father at the age of eight, commenting that he "never thought [his father's influence] would find its way into [his] compositions as much as it has on this record". Many of the vocal takes on the album remain from Turner's home demos on a Tascam 388 8-track recording machine. bit.ly

Writing credit is given to Attrell Cordes (Prince Be of P.M. Dawn) and Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet, as the song is built around samples of their 1983 hit "True". The song also samples the drumbeat from The Soul Searchers' "Ashley's Roachclip". bit.ly

Recorded on March 9, check out this live performance of "Mic Check' at KEXP's Live Room: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcZb-rO23p4

Performing on Saturday, June 2 at 9:30 pm on The Sound Lot: Amazon Music Main Stage at Upstream Music Festival 2018! ndependently minded and adhering to the old-school D.I.Y. punk mentality, West Coast punk-pop trio Jawbreaker's street-smart -- yet poetic -- lyrics, spirited musicality, and marathon live shows put them a cut above contemporaries like Green Day and blink-182. After a series of EPs and singles, guitarist/singer Blake Schwarzenbach, bassist Chris Bauermeister, and drummer Adam Pfahler released the band's debut album, Unfun, in 1989. Independent label San Francisco Tupelo/Communion signed the group the following year, releasing Bivouac in 1991 and their breakthrough record, 24 Hour Revenge Therapy, in 1993.

Performing twice tomorrow: Saturday, June 2nd, at Upstream Music Festival 2018 in Seattle's Pioneer Square: during KEXP's live broadcast at Little London Plane at 3:30pm, then again at 8:15 pm at The Sound Lot: KEXP Stage.

Fans of Jenn Champion (formerly “S”) have praised her open-hearted lyrics, expertly-deployed melancholia, technical skill, and willingness to forgo conventions, but mostly they’ve praised her for making albums they could cry to. With the release of Cool Choices in 2014, Champion made what many considered the best record of her career, and a lot of people cried to it. On Single Rider, Champion brings with her all those skills and vulnerabilities, but it is not a record for wallowing: it is a record for intense eye contact on the dancefloor. “Sometimes you are sad and you just want to dance about it,” said Champion. bit.ly

Three versions of "Close to Me" were released in 1985: the original album version, the 7" single mix version and the 12" extended mix version. The album version does not feature the brass section part present on all of the other versions, which was adapted from a traditional New Orleans funeral march melody and played by horn section Rent Party for the single mix. The 7" version also includes a long creaking sound of a door closing at the beginning: this originated from the music video shot for the song by director Tim Pope, which features the band trapped in a wardrobe falling off a cliff into the English Channel. en.wikipedia.org

Reshaped is an upcoming EP of remixes of six tracks from last year’s critical darling No Shape, and will feature contributions from Mura Masa (“Slip Away”), Laurel Halo (“Die 4 You”), Jam City (“Just Like Love”), mmph (“Braid”), and “GRAMMY-nominated No Shape producer” Blake Mills (“Every Night”).

An indie band from Busan, South Korea!

The song was written by bassist Dee Dee Ramone in the style of the Beach Boys and early surf rock bands. The song is about Rockaway Beach, Queens, where Dee Dee liked to spend time. Released in 1977, it was the Ramones' highest-charting single in their career, peaking at number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100. In June, 2013, the song was used in a radio ad campaign sponsored by Queens Economic Development Corporation to promote recovery from Hurricane Sandy by drawing New Yorkers back to Rockaway Beach. bit.ly

The band's first LP since 2011’s Eye Contact, featuring contributions from Jorge Elbrecht and drummer Ryan Sawyer. It was produced by band member Brian DeGraw, who released his album SUM/ONE in 2013.

On June 1, 1988, Patti Smith released her fifth album (and first as a solo artist), Dream of Life; all songs were written by Smith and her partner, Fred "Sonic" Smith. This was her first album after the dissolution of The Patti Smith Group. Sounds Magazine listed Dream of Life as one of the best albums of 1988. The cover art is a photograph of Patti Smith by Robert Mapplethorpe.

The album was produced by Annie Clark and Jack Antonoff at Electric Lady Studios in Manhattan, with additional recording at Rough Consumer Studio in Brooklyn, and Compound Fracture in Los Angeles. It features contributions from Doveman on piano, Kamasi Washington on saxophone, Jenny Lewis on guest vocals, and beat production from Sounwave, as well as pedal steel by Greg Leisz and Rich Hinman, and additional guitar and vocals from her uncle and aunt Tuck & Patti, respectively. Model and actress Cara Delevingne, whom Clark had dated before they split in 2016, provided back-up vocals. bit.ly

From her 2017 Okovi, Zola Jesus' powerful song "Soak" tells the story of a murder from the perspective of the victim, a woman who "gets tossed into the water and slowly drowns."

Broadcasting live from Little London Plane at Upstream Music Festival 2018. Zola Jesus will also be performing tomorrow evening (Saturday, June 2) at 6pm at The Sound Lot: KEXP Stage here at Upstream. “If I’m going to do something, I want it to be about the guts of life and nothing superficial, because there’s no time to make music for the sake of making music. It’s got to say something and it’s got to serve a purpose. I feel like people are just craving something real, however difficult or however much it challenges people’s emotions, that’s what people need.”