Kevin Cole

“The Brighter The Light” emerged while Juan waits (somewhat) patiently in Brooklyn for Nancy Whang to return from touring with her ‘side gig,' LCD Soundsystem. Taking the tiniest splice of a demo vocal and sprinkling it throughout, Juan spun off the work being done for the next LP and created a new piece altogether, offering the smallest glimpse of what is to come, but ending up with something with a completely different purpose: his DJ set. Follow the link to hear various remixes of this sparkling new track: bit.ly

When the big beat boom gradually subsided, the Chemical Brothers initially sought refuge within a carefully crafted version of house music both epic and psychedelic. Still, the duo are fusion fans at heart, and their fifth studio album, Push the Button, finds them easing back to their true love -- pulverizing stylistic boundaries while they seek out clever hooks to hang their production caps on. The first half of the record is heavy on collaboration, beginning with the clear highlight, "Galvanize," which features guest Q-Tip riding a delicious mid-tempo groove and the brothers teasing out an ingenious Middle Eastern string sample over the course of several breakdowns and over six minutes. bit.ly

Released on June 22, 2004, it features singer Jeff Tweedy on lead guitar more than any previous Wilco album. The band streamed the album online free, and offered a five-song EP to purchasers. Tweedy entered a rehab clinic shortly before the release of the album, delaying its release by two weeks. It also shortened its promotional tour. Despite this, A Ghost Is Born's opening week was the best sales week for the band at the time and the album was met with good reviews from major publications such as Rolling Stone and PopMatters. The album earned Wilco a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. bit.ly

Shaun Fleming, aka Diane Coffee, childhood friend of the experiment rock duo Foxygen, joined the group as the live drummer, beginning with tours promoting the band's "We Are The Twenty First Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic". 2012, Fleming left Agoura Hills, California, for New York and while still touring with Foxygen, began writing and recording what would become the debut Diane Coffee LP My Friend Fish. Though his means were limited (recording a makeshift drum set with his iPhone voice memo app, using detuned guitars in lieu of a bass), he was able to complete the album in just shy of two weeks. bit.ly Peel came out on October 20, 2017.

“Our focus was really not a live band, but a recording project. I had put out a number of 7-inch releases with an artist named Lucky Brown on a label called Tramp Records in Germany and was really into vinyl and really into releasing singles and funk music on vinyl. And Grant was really into this concept, so we sort of put together players and started writing music with the goal of recording a session that several different 7-inches would come out of. So we did. We kind of got the players together. One of the first times we were actually all in the same room together was at that first recording session where we recorded our first EP, and shortly after that, we accomplished our goal. We got a couple different labels to pick up some tracks from those records and put them out as 45s.” ~ Ben Bloom

Paul's Boutique was initially considered a commercial failure by the executives at Capitol Records, as its sales did not match that of the group's previous record, Licensed to Ill, and the label eventually decided to stop promoting the album. The album's popularity continued to grow, however, and it has since been touted as a breakthrough achievement for the Beastie Boys. Highly varied lyrically and sonically, Paul's Boutique secured the Beastie Boys' place as critical favorites in the hip-hop genre. Often called the "Sgt. Pepper of hip-hop", the album's rankings near the top of many publications' "best albums" lists in disparate genres has given Paul's Boutique critical recognition as a landmark album in hip hop. bit.ly

KEXP spent a whole day honouring this amazing album; relive the stories behind the scenes here: bit.ly

Born in Washington, D.C., to a Sudanese father and an African-American mother, Amir Mohamed grew up in Maryland, influenced by soul and rap as well as myriad musicians on both sides of his family. He was all set to attend the Art Institute of Philadelphia to pursue visual art when a friend of his introduced him to hip-hop production. He was so enamored of it that he changed his plans and concentrated on making beats, ending up with the track "Musik Lounge" on DJ Jazzy Jeff's 2002 record Magnificent. Part of the Low Budget crew, which included fellow D.C.-area MCs and producers Kenn Starr, Cy Young, and Kev Brown, Oddisee released his solo debut Foot in the Door, mixed by Jazzy Jeff, on Halftooth in 2006. bit.ly

I don’t even converse with the media anymore. Kids don’t have to look to the magazines or charts to find music. I’m sure the media has some influence, but it seems like there’s so much more of an organic, cross-pollination of tastes online. (The internet) leveled the playing field. That’s trickled over to not just people making music, but people who love to listen to it. dpo.st

In early 2005, the band decided to scrap all of the songs they had written for the record so far and re-invent their style. Karen O said, "We're not interested in making 'Fever To Tell Part 2'. The pressure is to re-invent ourselves. We don't know how we're going to do it yet but I think it's in our best interests to try and explore other directions." Guitarist Nick Zinner added, "It seems like a necessary step and the obvious thing to do is not repeat what you've played. I was disappointed by a lot of band's second records recently over the past year or two because it sounded like B-sides from the first record." In an interview with Blender magazine, the band said during the writing and recording that they had almost broken up, calling that time one of their "darkest" moments. bit.ly

All Them Witches played an incendiary set in our studios not too long ago, and is the favourite of one of our star videographers, Scott Holpainen. Check out why here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnMpu9c_-uQ

After the release of their nine song debut album Strap It On, the band found themselves at the center of a major label bidding war, eventually signing to Interscope for a reported budget of US$1 million. In the wake of the grunge band Nirvana's recent success, many touted Helmet as the next big thing. Regarding the band's label as "the next Nirvana", Hamilton said "They were interested in us before Nirvana even broke. And that's good, because we're obviously not it. I actually had an A&R guy at one label tell us that we were the next U2. At a certain point it just becomes ludicrous." bit.ly

Nirvana was formed in Aberdeen, Washington by Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic in 1987, that had signed to Seattle independent record label Sub Pop. The band released their debut album Bleach in 1989, with Chad Channing on drums. However, Channing left Nirvana in 1990, and the band was in need of a permanent drummer. During a show by hardcore punk band Scream, the group's drummer, Dave Grohl, impressed Cobain and Novoselic. When Scream unexpectedly disbanded, Grohl contacted Novoselic, made his way to Seattle, and was soon invited to join the band. Novoselic said in retrospect that when Grohl joined the band, everything "fell into place". Meanwhile, Cobain was writing a number of new songs. At the time Cobain was listening to bands like The Melvins, R.E.M., The Smithereens, and the Pixies.

Feeling disillusioned by the heavy detuned rock popular in the Seattle grunge scene upon which Sub Pop had built its image, Cobain—inspired by his contemporary listening habits—began writing songs that were more melodic. A key development was the single "Sliver", released on Sub Pop in 1990 (before Grohl joined the band), which Cobain said "was like a statement in a way. I had to write a pop song and release it on a single to prepare people for the next record. I wanted to write more songs like that." Grohl said that the band at that point often made the analogy of likening their music to children's music, in that the band tried to make its songs as simple as possible. bit.ly

"Wait in the Car" was released on October 3, 2017 and is part of an upcoming seven-inch series to be issued by 4AD. The song will be available on three different seven-inch records, limited to only 1,500 copies. Rolling Stone described the song as "a classic Breeders bruiser, clocking it at two-minutes and packed with punchy drums, sugar-rush power chords and lead riffs". During a BBC interview with Lauren Laverne on October 13 2017, Kim Deal revealed that the band expected to release a new album in 2018 possibly on the 4AD label. bit.ly

The song title apparently translates into both "wretchedness" and "mediocrity." The album title is pronounced "Oesch Magziu." Go nuts here: glintshake.bandcamp.com

The instrumental first version, called "People Phobia", was composed by guitarist John McKay in 1977. The first time the band heard it, they were on a tour bus.

The song was named after the Hong Kong Garden Chinese take-away in Chislehurst High Street. Siouxsie was quoted as explaining the lyrics with reference to the racist activities of skinheads visiting the take-away:

"I'll never forget, there was a Chinese restaurant in Chislehurst called the 'Hong Kong Garden'. Me and my friend were really upset that we used to go there and like, occasionally when the skinheads would turn up it would really turn really ugly. These gits would just go in en masse and just terrorise these Chinese people who were working there. We'd try and say 'Leave them alone', you know. It was a kind of tribute".

She also stated: "I remember wishing that I could be like Emma Peel from The Avengers and kick all the skinheads' heads in, because they used to mercilessly torment these people for being foreigners. It made me feel so helpless, hopeless and ill." bit.ly

"I use a Strymon Reverb Big Sky and I use an Eventide Mix Pedal, so it’s basically a mixer slash pre-amp, where there’s a output for headphones. It’s not the best option obviously, but it’s the best for right now, I tried the in-ear Radio System, but for our sound, since I wire the reverb into my ear I already have the effected sound for myself cos I wanna know exactly what it sounds like. It’s gets tricky cos I get stuck by my stool and I have to hang out in that one spot, so I still need to figure it out. The headphone’s wire is pretty short so it’s a little awkward sometimes, but it’s the cheapest way for now. Maybe people are forgiving of me being awkward and wrapped up in wires! [laughs]" ~ Lyubov Soloveva bit.ly

Celebrating the 52nd birthday of Amanda Gabrielle Brown, an Australian composer, classically trained musician, singer and songwriter celebrated for her role as the violinist of the band The Go-Betweens, and more recently, a session musician and soundtrack composer. bit.ly

With much of the recording budget for Tallula spent on two songs, the remaining sessions with a new producer were hurried and the band was unhappy with the initial results. Vocalist and guitarist Robert Forster said, "We were sort of cursed. We had the engineer that we were using on Liberty Belle, Dicky Preston, and working with Dicky was good. We then went on to the next one and we were put into this horrible studio it was over a practice room or something. And so Dicky didn't do a good job I think on Tallulah, so it had to be rescued and remixing a little but which always sounds horrible but it actually worked out okay with Mark Wallis." bit.ly

This is the band's only full-length album with former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr as a member. It has a strong nautical theme and was originally envisioned as a concept album about a boat crew that dies in every song. In an interview, Isaac Brock said of Johnny Marr: "He made a cautious commitment to write and record with us, and then the tighter we got, he was like, ‘okay, let's tour too.' Then he was pretty much a member of the band—not pretty much; he's a full blown member of the band. It's really fuckin' nice."

According to Brock, Marr was involved in songwriting on the album, and will even tour with the band in support of it. In the interview, Brock described We Were Dead... as a "nautical balalaika carnival romp". Johnny Marr later responded to Brock's comments by saying "Isaac contacted me and asked if I'd help Modest Mouse write the new album. I was intrigued and played with the band in Portland a couple of times. We hit it off and wrote three great songs straight away, something clicked, it felt right from the off. I have a new Healers album pretty much done, but we've been having such a good time playing these new Modest Mouse songs. When people hear the record they'll see why, we're very good together." bit.ly

"I’m a big believer that the tiniest little things you do have a significant effect: 'I’ll do the brave, kind thing versus the self-serving, ego-driven fear thing that gets me the piece of pizza or the tax cut or anything else.' When you choose to do the small thing, the petty thing, the selfish thing, it affects everything." ~ Matt Berninger theatln.tc

From the UK outfit's Bandcamp, we find this: "When the city starts to encroach on the forest, nature will find a way to reclaim what is rightfully hers. Snapped Ankles come as messengers. On debut album Come Play The Trees they hold a mirror up to us. They’re here to plant the seed. They’re here to have a good time, but never at the expense of their natural habitat." Head over thataway and discover more treasures from these noble savages: bit.ly

Grant Hart was born in South St. Paul, Minnesota, the youngest child of a credit union employee and a shop teacher. Hart described his family as a "typical American dysfunctional family... Not very abusive, though. Nothing really to complain about." When Hart was 10, his older brother was killed by a drunk driver. Hart inherited his brother's drum set and records; he soon began playing in a number of makeshift bands as a teenager. Hart met future Hüsker Dü bandmate Bob Mould while working at a record store. Mould, then a college freshman, would buy marijuana from Hart. At first Hart dismissed Mould as "an upstater pretending to be a Manhattanite," but the two soon became friends. Grant tragically passed away on September 13, 2017, at the age of 56. He is sorely missed. bit.ly

The band's sixth studio album, released on October 6, 2003 on Rough Trade Records. Producer Trevor Horn, former member of The Buggles and producer of groups like Yes and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, oversaw the production of the album, and gave it a more polished, pop-friendly sound, which stood in sharp contrast with their previous lo-fi, folky albums (although songs like "Lord Anthony" hearkened back to their old sound). In particular, the danceable track "Stay Loose" proved to be the first in a series of songs (such as "Your Cover's Blown" and "Sukie in the Graveyard") that further diverged from their roots. bit.ly

Speaking of transcendental, Stephin Merritt of Magnetic Fields performed a swoonworthy set of music from the men's bathroom at old KEXP. It's probably one of our most memorable "in-studios" ever: blog.kexp.org

"I got the title from an old coin laundry joint in Seattle that was full of high powered dryers labeled, 'Speed Queen.' I always imagined a 'Speed Queen' as this mythical character with a checkered past who led a female motorcycle gang. Then when I started writing the song, it became clear that I was writing about my partner. Molly Sides. That’s where the line, 'I was looking for her, she was looking for me,' came from, among other things…” ~ Whitney Petty bit.ly

Watch Thunderpussy perform that song, along with a few others, in this breathtaking in-studio session here at KEXP: blog.kexp.org

Most of the members of what would eventually become Creation were initially members of The Mark Four, a British beat group based in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. By late 1963, The Mark Four was a quintet consisting of Kenny Pickett (vocals), Eddie Phillips (guitars), Mick "Spud" Thompson (rhythm guitars), John Dalton (bass), and Jack Jones (drums). This line-up played regularly in the UK and in Germany before issuing two non-charting singles for Mercury Records in 1964.

Dalton then left the band, later joining The Kinks as a replacement for Pete Quaife, and was replaced by new bassist Tony Cooke. Around the same time, Thompson left the band and was not replaced.

In April 1966, the group signed a management deal with Tony Stratton-Smith. He promptly suggested replacing Cooke with new bassist Bob Garner (previously of the Tony Sheridan Band), and a name change. The band took him up on both suggestions: it was Pickett who came up with the name The Creation, based on a reference he found in a book of Russian poetry. bit.ly

Written by Paul Weller and produced by Vic Coppersmith-Heaven and The Jam, "Start!" was the lead single from the band's fifth album Sound Affects. "Start!" is based on both the main guitar riff and bass riff of the Beatles' 1966 song "Taxman" from the album Revolver, written by George Harrison.

Beastie Boys covered the song on their 1999 single, "Alive." 808 State sampled the song on their 1993 single, "10 X 10." Manfred Mann's Earth Band covered the song on their 1987 album, "Masque" under the name "What You Give Is What You Get (Start)." bit.ly

"I don’t feel reflected by the current power structure, and I want to us to use this platform to validate people who feel marginalized and to let them know that we’re here resisting too, and that when you’re in the corner, we’re in your corner fighting with you." ~ Peter Richards bit.ly

Strand of Oaks performed an epic set in our starry Dexter studio some moons back. Through the magic of pixels and Internet technology, relive that magic here: blog.kexp.org

Run the Jewels will play Seattle on March 3rd, 2018. Speaking of which... "The Run the Jewels touring shit is something that I’ve personally never seen. I’ve never been part of something that’s been received this way, in the sense of energy. We’ve always had good energy, but the energy for the Run the Jewels shows is unbelievable. Even if we’re tired and physically drained, even if we’re not talking out loud for a day, we know the second we get on stage for a Run the Jewels show, shit is about to go batshit insane. And we’re playing five-thousand person venues now.

I’ve always loved performing, but performing with a friend, with someone’s who’s got my back, with someone who’s a showman, someone that you can really flow off of. You’re not gonna find two guys who are more appreciative of it. ‘Cause we’ve been through every iteration of this business. We’ve seen it all. We’ve done our own thing, we’ve seen it get big, we’ve seen it dip, we’ve seen it come back again." ~ El-P bit.ly

Check out Shredders' new release here: shredddders.bandcamp.com

Paul McCartney and self-sabotage.

Paying tribute to Jeff Buckley, who was born on this day in 1966. Raised as Scott Moorhead, Buckley was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, he amassed a following in the early 1990s by playing cover songs at venues in Manhattan's East Village, such as Sin-é, gradually focusing more on his own material. After rebuffing much interest from record labels and his father Tim Buckley's manager Herb Cohen, he signed with Columbia, recruited a band, and recorded what would be his only studio album, Grace, in 1994. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine listed him at number 39 on their list of greatest singers of all time. In the December 2013 Mojo, Grace was named the 12th best album of the magazine's 20-year lifetime. He tragically passed away on May 29, 1997 at the aged 30 in Memphis, Tennessee. bit.ly

"Slacker"

Michael Tighe, a guitarist who joined Buckley late in the recording of Grace, brought with him what was to become the main riff on "So Real" that is played during the verses.

Buckley has stated, "I love 'So Real' because it's the actual quartet that you see in that picture right there that you have on the wall, on the album. And that one I produced live all one moment, the vocal is the first take, all one take. It was three o'clock in the morning." bit.ly

Zeppelin.

David Bowie had once declared Grace this one Desert Island Disc. In 2004, Buckley's version was ranked number 259 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time." The same year Time called Buckley's version "exquisitely sung," observing "Cohen murmured the original like a dirge, but... Buckley treated the... song like a tiny capsule of humanity, using his voice to careen between glory and sadness, beauty and pain... It's one of the great songs." bit.ly

“I don’t believe I’m an author. But for this moment, it’s the first time. I don’t really know what I sound like, what the lyrics sound like especially. I wasn’t scared about being personal. It’s an open dialogue to myself, to my sister, to my father. It’s really very personal in the way that I did it very selfishly. I did it because I wanted to express these things at the time, and I didn’t think of how people would respond or what they would get from that. It’s only now that I’m thinking what would people perceive.” bit.ly

Anne Erin "Annie" Clark (born September 28, 1982),[5][6] better known by her stage name St. Vincent, is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. After studying at Berklee College of Music for three years, she began her music career as a member of the Polyphonic Spree. Clark was also a member of Sufjan Stevens's touring band before forming her own band in 2006.

Clark's parents divorced when she was three years old, and she moved to Dallas, Texas when she was seven years old with her mother and two older sisters. From her parents' blended families, Clark has eight siblings: four brothers and four sisters. She began playing the guitar at the age of 12 and, as a teenager, worked as a roadie for her uncle and aunt, Tuck Andress and Patti Cathcart, of the guitar-vocal jazz duo Tuck & Patti. bit.ly

This album was released the same day as Scott McCaughey's other project, The Minus 5's Killingsworth. The album was recorded at the behest of former Soft Boys member and friend Robyn Hitchcock, who offered to produce it. McCaughey had previously approached Hitchcock to produce an album 20 years prior, but the two couldn't arrange for an in-studio collaboration until they had toured together and several of the Fellows worked on his Jewels for Sophia. bit.ly

The fifth album by American rock band The Minus 5. Produced by Scott McCaughey and Jeff Tweedy, it is a collaboration between McCaughey and Wilco, recorded at SOMA Studios Chicago in September and December 2001. Released on Yep Roc in 2003, it also features contributions from Peter Buck of R.E.M., Ken Stringfellow of The Posies, Sean O'Hagan of The High Llamas, with Jessy Greene providing strings. The double-vinyl version adds five songs not included on the CD. bit.ly

A supergroup consisting of Scott McCaughey on vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass, and percussion; Steve Wynn on vocals, guitars; Linda Pitmon on drums, percussion, piano, vocals; Peter Buck on 12 and 6 string guitars, Fender VI bass, banjo; Mike Mills on bass, vocals; Josh Kantor on piano and organ, Alex Gonzalez (Escoba) on trumpet.

Posted earlier today by Mary Winzig, Scott McCaughey's wife: "Scott McCaughey, the ever-smiling, sunglasses-wearing front man of the bands The Minus 5 and the Young Fresh Fellows, and side man to countless bands — including M. Ward, The Baseball Project, Tired Pony, and R.E.M. — suffered a stroke while on a West Coast tour with Alejandro Escovedo. He is in stable condition.

Loved by many and a best friend to all, Scott brings a very bright light to the stage. In his ever-changing hats and loud sports coats, Scott exudes such joy while he performs.

“Scott McCaughey is one of the unsung heroes of rock n roll. A true believer and one of the most creative people I have ever met.” says guitarist Peter Buck.

The road to recovery will be a long one, and we believe it will come through music. We can’t wait to see him back in action. The collective energy of the entire creative community is powerful enough to overcome this hurdle. With the love and support of all of you, Scott will continue to share his love of music with the world.

We promise to provide continued updates and will share any messages of support you want to send with him."

Our thoughts and love are with Scott and his family.

One practical piece of advice from KG&TLW to fellow musicians: “The main thing: people should definitely check their test pressings. You get a test pressing and all manner of things can be wrong with it. But if you trust your ears, and it sounds fine, you can usually go ahead. We also thought it’d be funny to not give people any other art aside from the front cover. They can make their own back cover and spine. We’ll give people the info and the lyrics if they want to put together other bits and pieces, but that’s open to interpretation too. I don’t know what people are gonna do, or if people have thought through that part yet. Good luck to them. I hope it turns into a creative thing. My main hope was that it would help form some things… I mean, the whole world’s probably gonna end soon anyway. But it’s nice to connect with people, and I hope this release can do that.” bit.ly

Order this from SB's Bandcamp! Limited Edition One-Sided 7" Vinyl + Free Postcard, shipping out on or around December 8, 2017. Of 500 pressings, it looks like 30 copies remain. Ordering info here: sunflowerbean.bandcamp.com

Watch this smashing local trio perform this rousing piece at Little London Plane, from KEXP's live broadcast from Upstream Music Festival 2017: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pewiyky-Hbw

Celebrating the 37th Anniversary of the release of this album. Though initially poorly received, Lennon was murdered three weeks after its release, whereupon it became a worldwide commercial success, and went on to win the 1981 Album of the Year at the 24th Annual Grammy Awards.

Following the birth of his son Sean in 1975, Lennon had put his career on hold to help raise him.[3] After five years of little musical activity aside from recording the occasional demo in his apartment in New York, Lennon felt ready to resume work.

In the middle of 1980, Lennon made a sailing trip through treacherous waters from Newport, Rhode Island, to Bermuda. During the journey, his yacht encountered a prolonged severe storm, and most of the crew succumbed to profound fatigue and seasickness. Lennon, free of seasickness, was eventually forced to take the yacht's wheel alone for many hours. He found this terrifying but invigorating. It had the effect of both renewing his confidence and making him contemplate the fragility of life. As a result, he began to write new songs and reworked earlier demos. He commented later, "I was so centered after the experience at sea that I was tuned in to the cosmos – and all these songs came!" Ono also wrote many songs, inspired with new confidence after Lennon had stated that he believed that contemporary popular music such as the B-52's "Rock Lobster" bore similarities to Ono's earlier work. bit.ly