Kevin Cole

"It’s funny, when we were talking about getting into music as a job, we were like adamant that we wouldn’t do 'banking’ hours'. If we’d wanted to do banking hours, we’d have gone into banking, we thought. But actually, it turned out to be about double banking hours." ~ Arthur Delaney bit.ly Watch Delaney and Company play an achingly gorgeous, epic set from our studios when they performed, incidentally, during banking hours: blog.kexp.org

Jimmy Smith: “Chordally-speaking, it’s one of the most interesting things we’ve done. It goes from major to minor. As my girlfriend’s dad always says: major to minor is the key to great songwriting, look at The Beatles. You put a minor note over a major chord, and it ends up as something kind of menacing but really warm as well.” Yannis Philippakis: "Some music nerd told me it has a ‘tierce de picardie' – the end bit doesn’t resolve in the way it’s supposed to." bit.ly Watch the Foals perform some gorgeous tracks off Holy Fire live in our studio: blog.kexp.org

Producer Matt Thorne: "The arrangement was on the cutting edge for the time, curious to say. The combination of very repetitive rhythm machines (then known as ‘drum boxes’) with traditional acoustic solo instruments was something Soft Cell and I had pioneered in 1981, as on Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret which juxtaposed jazz-savvy clarinet and saxophone solos with the classic drum box of its time, the light-sounding-but compelling Roland 808. (The group 808 State even named themselves after it, although until I knew for sure I was hoping that they had adopted Hawaii’s area code through some distant surfer connection.) Matt [Johnson, aka The The] had defined most of the crisp melody lines on his original demo. The person to call for sax and flute, I was advised by man-about-musical-town, Jimmy Biondolillo, was Crispin Cioe of the Uptown Horns. Later, he confided that he thought that both Matt and I were on acid. Not us, I assured him, but thanks for the compliment." bit.ly

BfL currently only has a smattering of European dates between now and October (find them here: www.batforlashes.com/), but that will hopefully change once The Bride comes out in July!

"One song ( The Clock) began at [Yorke's] house, under the influence of an album of Arabian music, full of very quick, repeated guitar riffs. He made something similar, using tiny looped fragments that eventually became the ground for a gliding, droning song about losing control while pretending 'that you are still in charge.' But the piece took a manic detour when he tried to finish the lyrics by playing it on guitar. 'It sounded like this mad, Johnny Cash skiffle tune,' he said, shaking his head." bit.ly

"'The National Anthem' is thought to have been previously attempted at recording sessions in 1994 and 1997, but according to Radiohead member Colin Greenwood, the band decided it was 'too good to use it as a b-side for OK Computer singles.' In the album recording, the bass is played by lead singer Thom Yorke, who wrote the riff at age 16. In the recording sessions, band members Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood conducted the session musicians, though Yorke lacks formal musical training. Yorke stated in an interview, 'The running joke when we were in the studios was, 'Just blow. Just blow, just blow, just blow,'' referring to the chaotic wind section sound. Although the recording sounds chaotic, each instrument is playing a solo to the riff." bit.ly

Vocals were done by Daniel Pearce, known for being a finalist on "the ITV reality TV show Popstars: The Rivals. He won a place in the boy band One True Voice, who subsequently released two top ten singles." While also collaborating with Dizzee Rascal, he has gone on to found "the funk, rock and soul band Shuffler alongside three members of British band Jamiroquai, bassist Paul Turner, guitarist and songwriter Rob Harris and drummer Derrick McKenzie. Pearce is the lead vocalist of the band, who play both original material and covers and released their debut self-titled album Shuffler in 2013." bit.ly

"The songwriting credits — among Liam Howlett and Keith Flint — include Kim Deal of alt-rock group The Breeders. The looped wah-wah guitar riff in 'Firestarter' was sampled from The Breeders' track 'S.O.S.' from the album Last Splash. Because of the use of a sample from a 1984 single 'Close (to the Edit)' songwriting credits also list Art of Noise's then-members: Anne Dudley, Trevor Horn, J. J. Jeczalik, Gary Langan and Paul Morley. The 'Empirion Mix,' which does not include these samples, is credited solely to Howlett and Flint." bit.ly

"'Oh Well' was composed in two parts, 'Part 1' being a fast electric blues song with vocals (lasting 2:19), 'Part 2' being an entirely different instrumental piece with a classical influence (lasting 5:39). The original 1969 single features the first minute of 'Part 2' as a fade-out coda to the A-side and then 'Part 2' begins again on the B-side. Later releases varied in length. At concerts, only the first part was played, and live versions of the song have been released on many Fleetwood Mac live albums throughout their career such as Live and Live at the BBC, as well on the B-sides of singles. After Green's departure, the song was sung by various other members, including Bob Welch, Lindsey Buckingham, Rick Vito and Billy Burnette. The first part of the song features a fast blues guitar riff played by Green, joined subsequently by Danny Kirwan and bassist John McVie, before a musical silence, punctuated only by Mick Fleetwood's cowbell percussion..." bit.ly

Celebrating Jeff Beck's 72nd birthday! Incidentally, fellow Yardbirds band member "Graham Gouldman wrote the song at the age of 19 while working by day in a gentlemen's outfitters near Salford Docks and playing by night with the semi-professional Manchester band the Mockingbirds. He said: 'I was sleeping most of the time because I'd been gigging with the Mockingbirds the night before, and then during the day when I'd got any spare time I'd write in the shop. I used to shut up the shop at lunch time and sit in the back writing.'... We went down to Denmark Street and went round all the publishers trying to find a song ... we didn't get any songs that we liked or we weren't given any songs period and the Beatles had started and I thought 'well, I’m gonna really have a crack at song-writing.' I had dabbled a bit, but they were really my inspiration and gave me and I think a lot of other people the courage to actually do it." bit.ly

"Singer-songwriter Jake Holmes wrote and recorded 'Dazed and Confused' for his debut solo album 'The Above Ground Sound' of Jake Holmes, released in June 1967. Like the other tracks on the album, the song does not include any drums. It was recorded entirely with the trio of Holmes on guitar, keyboard, and vocals; Ted Irwin on guitar; and Rick Randle on bass. It was covered by the Yardbirds (with Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page) for whom he had opened at a Greenwich Village gig, and later inspired a reworking by Led Zeppelin (with Jimmy Page)." "In the early 1980s, I did write them a letter and I said basically: 'I understand it's a collaborative effort, but I think you should give me credit at least and some remuneration.' But they never contacted me." bit.ly

"A key influence on industrial rock, their early music has been described as 'quasi-metal dancing to a tune of doom and gloom', which gradually evolved over the years, incorporating elements of electronic music, synthpop and gothic rock, though always emphasising Coleman's 'savagely strident vocals'. Killing Joke have influenced many later bands and artists, such as Metallica, Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden. Coleman and Geordie have been the only constant members of the band. They've also became notorious largely due to the controversies that arose from their imagery. Typically the images that appeared on their records and on-stage while performing live were bizarre and potentially shocking and inflammatory. Critics noted the black humour and the use of shock tactics both musically and visually to create a reaction. The sleeve of one of their first singles, 1980's 'Wardance'/'Pssyche', had already shown Fred Astaire dancing in a war field." bit.ly'

Watch what PJ Harvey had to say about Brexit at Down the Rabbit Hole Festival: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NIM6nkvlzk

Posted by O'Connor 18 hours ago: "Anne Harris.... YOU JUST GOT FUCKED BY GERRY ADAMS! IRELAND IS OFFICIALLY NO LONGER OWNED BY BRITAIN!!!! CONGRATS TO EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD WHO EVER DIED FOR THE CAUSE OF IRISH FREEDOM, AND ALSO TO ALL THOSE INCLUDING MYSELF, WHO HAVE BEEN PERSECUTED MERCILESSLY BY THE IRISH SO CALLED FREE-STATE FOR HAVING DECLARED SUPPORT FOR SINN FEIN AND THE REPUBLICAN MOVEMENT. OUR DAY HAS COME !!!!!!! (Oh and by the way it's bullshit I jumped off a bridge, some stupid bitch up at Swords Garda station decided she'd like to throw a bit of false and malicious gossip about is all). AM FAR TOO FUCKING HAPPY FOR THAT!! IRELAND 4 ENGLAND 0!!!"

"I was trying to say that, really, a man and a woman can't understand each other because we are a man and a woman. And if we could actually swap each other's roles, if we could actually be in each other's place for a while, I think we'd both be very surprised! [Laughs] And I think it would lead to a greater understanding. And really the only way I could think it could be done was either... you know, I thought a deal with the devil, you know. And I thought, 'well, no, why not a deal with God!' You know, because in a way it's so much more powerful the whole idea of asking God to make a deal with you. You see, for me it is still called 'Deal With God', that was its title. But we were told that if we kept this title that it would not be played in any of the religious countries, Italy wouldn't play it, France wouldn't play it, and Australia wouldn't play it! Ireland wouldn't play it, and that generally we might get it blacked purely because it had God in the title." bit.ly

"The song's distinctive bass line is often attributed to Bootsy Collins and was originally written for him. However, the line was actually performed by Bernie Worrell on three connected Minimoog synthesizers. Collins still contributed to the track by handling drum duties. Lead vocals were by bandleader George Clinton, while Bootsy's older brother Catfish Collins played rhythm guitar. 'Flash Light' continued the 'Fake the Funk/Your nose will grow/Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk' concept that began with Bootsy's Rubber Band's 'The Pinocchio Theory'. The success of 'Flash Light' would greatly influence not only funk music, but also new wave and hip-hop." bit.ly

This song celebrated dancing as a way to freedom, and is the title track off Funkadelic's tenth studio album. "The album was the first album to include keyboardist and frequent songwriter Walter "Junie" Morrison. One Nation Under a Groove also marked the pinnacle of Michael Hampton's development as a guitarist." bit.ly Settle down with some tea or beer (or whatever your pleasure) and enjoy this in-house documentary, produced just for you: blog.kexp.org

"When Gang of Four got started, it was Jon and I kind of amusing ourselves. The songs were a bit jokey. But then we started asking more of ourselves, got a bit more serious about it. That’s when we started writing songs like 'Anthrax', and 'Not Great Men', and 'Nature’s Not In It.' We were trying to invent a language for ourselves, both a musical and lyrical language, to express these ideas that we had buzzing around." More from our exclusive interview with Andy Gil here: blog.kexp.org

For listening Canadians who fondly recognize the riff popularized in CityTV/MuchMusic's then-groundbreaking programme for audiophiles, "The New Music." www.blogto.com/city/2012/09/that_time_when_citytv_knew_music/

"Those leading the push for Brexit are no friends of working people, however. Boris Johnson’s personal credo – 'I am pro having my cake and pro eating it' – should have been their battlebus slogan. They are pitching Britain’s exit from the EU as all gain and no pain. They promise the masses that everything they like will be better and everything they hate will be gone, when in truth what will be gone are the last vestiges of the welfare state that their grandparents built. For the leave campaign is driven by libertarians who seek to create, in the name of free enterprise, an even more precarious economy than that which has left so many of the English working class insecure and disillusioned. How would Brexit affect you? In pursuit of their goal the Brexiters have crossed the line between expressing people’s fears and exploiting them, fomenting rage among those who feel left behind by globalisation." Billy Bragg for The Guardian. bit.ly

Fun fact: This track has been used as the theme song to HBO's "John From Cincinnati."