Marco Collins

Produced by Cocteau Twins mastermind Robin Guthrie, “Primitive Painters” was a massive swirling wall of sound, featuring Martin Duffy’s keyboards and an absolutely lovely chorus where they other Cocteau Twin, Elisabeth Fraser, singing a gorgeous counterpoint on the chorus: Oh you should see my trail of disgrace (Yeahhh, ho you should see my trail of disgrace) It’s enough to scare the whole human race I said, oh you should see my trail of disgrace (Yeahhh, ho you should see my trail of disgrace) It’s enough to scare the whole human race, yeah, eminence In the end, Guthrie just piles on the vocals, so that the entire track becomes a huge pile of vocals singing “whole human race” and “yeahhhhh,” every which way, occasionally punctuated rainfalls of Verlainesque guitar licks. medialoper.com

By demonstrating that the spirit of punk could live in traditional Irish folk music, the Pogues were one of the most radical bands of the mid-'80s. Led by , whose slurred, incomprehensible voice often disguised the sheer poetry of his songs, the Pogues were undeniably political -- not only were many of their songs explicitly in favor of working-class liberalism, but the wild, careening sound of their punk-injected folk was implicitly radical. While the band was clearly radical, they also had a wickedly warped sense of humor, which was abundantly clear on their biggest hit, the fractured Christmas carol "Fairy Tale of New York." The group's first three albums -- Red Roses for Me, Rum Sodomy & the Lash, If I Should Fall from Grace with God -- were widely praised in both Britain and America, and by 1988 they had earned substantial cult followings in both countries. Yet 's darkly romantic, wasted lifestyle, which was so key to their spirit and success, ultimately proved to be their downfall. By the end of the decade, he had fallen deep into alcoholism and drug addiction, forcing the band to fire him if they wanted to survive. The Pogues carried on without him in the early '90s, playing to a slowly shrinking audience before finally disbanding in 1996. open.spotify.com www.pogues.com

"If this pandemic had a soundtrack that portrayed its sudden isolation—the solitude of a lockdown that forced one to consider the self in good times and bad, the reckoning that only art could pierce the veil of a sadness which fear of the unknown brings—it was Nick Cave’s solo performance, Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace. Bathed in amber, dressed in black with long fingers adorned by silver rings, Cave and his sleek Fazioli Concert Grand piano were the centerpiece of a stark, globally streamed July 23 event, filmed by cinematographer Robbie Ryan in one take with two cameras. " - floodmagazine.com

Travis Stewart known as Machinedrum has produced and composed over a dozen albums under various aliases since his first independent release in 1999. Covering an astonishing variety of styles with ease, through solo Machinedrum work and with collaborative projects Sepalcure, JETS, Dream Continuum, or other mutations, Stewart has established himself as electronic music's true Renaissance man. Support the Artist Here: machinedrum.bandcamp.com

Kid Cudi’s new album, Man on the Moon III: The Chosen, features a heartfelt duet with Phoebe Bridgers called “Lovin’ Me.” The album dropped Dec. 10 and also features collabs with the late Pop Smoke, Skepta and Trippie Redd. “Lovin’ Me” starts with echoey, ethereal chords with Cudi vocalising over them. It picks up the pace slightly as the drum track comes in and Cudi begins singing the first verse, with lines such as “At times I really didn’t show / What was wrong with me, wrong with me / I told myself I cannot grow / Without lovin’ me, lovin’ me.” Brigders takes over for the second verse, singing low, sultry vocals. The pair sing the next chorus together, while the background vocals swell. They vocalize together during the outro before the song fades on Bridgers’ voice. The song’s lyrics suggest it is about realizing you can’t grow as a person until you love yourself and asking God for guidance. music.mxdwn.com

One-hit-wonder project of Gregg Alexander who dissolved the New Radicals in 1999 to focus on production and songwriting work, winning a Grammy Award for the song "The Game of Love" in 2003. Later he co-penned songs for the film Begin Again, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

There wasn't much thought put into this song. According to bassist Alex James, "We didn't think about it all." He added that he had a "really bad, sweaty" hangover the day they wrote the song. Producer Stephen Street revealed in an interview that "Damon [Albarn]'s guide vocal was pure babbling but it worked so well I suggested we went with it." The song's title was a placeholder from its demo tapes, which never got replaced.

Local Seattle Group! “Diana” is a dreamscape of self-discovery, beckoning its listeners down new emotional rabbit holes with every song. The album leads with a playful high priestess energy, charting the atmospheric waters of the Divine Feminine while embodying the soul of Sade and the unflinching punk eye of Siouxsie Sioux and Pat Benatar. It’s a multifaceted gem, much like frontwoman Diana herself “As a trans person from the South, I really want someone in that position to feel seen when they listen to the album. You have to be open to it on a certain level, open to weird times. It’s very introspective. The album named itself before I was even named Diana. It was very clear that there was another part of my psyche that was trying to communicate with me through these songs.” A community effort propelled deeper by the intense self-work catalyzed by COVID, “Diana” embarks on a futuristic journey driven by the devotion of friends and the dedication to one’s own divinity. Though her days of singing in Huntsville churches are long behind her, with ARTMS, Diana sings the divine gospel of the goddess in all of us. ARTMS invites you to walk the labyrinth within on their debut LP “Diana,” out 12/4 on Youth Riot Records and Den Tapes. Listen to lead single “Berlin,” out now on all streaming services. - Reilly Hannigan youthriotrecords.com dentapes.bandcamp.com

"Save the Children" is a 1971 song written by Al Cleveland, Renaldo Benson and Marvin Gaye and issued on Marvin's 1971 album, What's Going On. While not issued as a single in the United States, the song was issued as a single by the Tamla-Motown label in the United Kingdom where it peaked at No.41 on the charts in December 1971, whereas the other major US single releases initially failed to chart in Europe. The song was a continuation of the message "What's Going On" delivered, about love, this time, for the children. www.lyrics.com

Did you know that 20-year-old Nigerian-French sensation Arlo Parks was our guest DJ on 'Midnight in a Perfect World last month'? Check out her selections: www.kexp.org

This was written by lead singer Sade Adu and Ray Saint John, who was a member of Sade's previous band Pride. The song is about a fashionable man who lives a jet-set lifestyle. He's very popular with the ladies, and breaks a lot of hearts in his travels. With the lyrics, "Across the north and south, to Key Largo, love for sale," it's implied that the women he uses also supply his wealth. It's also clear that he does not return the affections of these women, as Sade sings near the end, "His heart is cold." www.songfacts.com "Smooth Operator" was released in July 1984 on 'Diamond Life'. The song became Sade's first top-10 entry in the US, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100! Watch the music video here: youtu.be

John Kammerle, Valérie Warren, Chris McDonnell are Olympia's-own Daisies! This track is off their new album with DJ Rap Class, who said on their Bandcamp page: 'Daisies is a project about love. A new idea that comes from the past. Daisies make everyone so high on the way they express through their music what it means to feel human and be alive , but being in a band with them is like working with aliens. They aren’t like anyone else on this planet.' daisies.bandcamp.com

Set My Heart on Fire Immediately is the fifth studio album by American singer Perfume Genius, released May 15, 2020 through Matador Records as the follow up to 2017's No Shape. Mike Hadreas told Cheryl Waters: “I like a specific amount of restlessness” and it shows in this album. It’s the perfect amount. Live At Home in 2020: www.youtube.com From Pitchfork: “Mike Hadreas’ fifth album glides between sublime melodies and grimy, guttural dissonance, embracing the joys and burdens of the human body and its innumerable, intangible yearnings.”

Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in reaction to television reports of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. It was first recorded in a single day on 25 November 1984 by Band Aid, a supergroup put together by Geldof and Ure and consisting mainly of the biggest British and Irish musical acts at the time. The single was released in the United Kingdom on 3 December 1984 and aided by considerable publicity it entered the UK Singles Chart at number one and stayed there for five weeks, becoming the Christmas number one of 1984. The record became the fastest selling single in UK chart history, selling a million copies in the first week alone and passing three million sales on the last day of 1984, on the way to displacing Wings's "Mull of Kintyre" as the biggest-selling single of all time in the UK. It held this title until 1997 when it was overtaken by Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997", released in tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales following her death.[5] The original version of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" has sold 3.8 million copies in the UK to date.In a UK-wide poll in December 2012, it was voted sixth on the ITV television special The Nation's Favourite Christmas Song. en.wikipedia.org

I won't let you down / I will not give you up / Gotta have some faith in the sound / It's the one good thing that I've got / I won't let you down / So please don't give me up / Because I would really, really love to stick around This article documents the powerful influence of this song and its related video: www.biography.com

“Better Place” by the French producer Godford is exactly what I needed to hear this weekend. It’s a bit melancholic, insanely gorgeous, features a captivating vocal samples and has the right dose of energy to get you through the late nights. It’s hard for me to have a favorite moment of the song but I love the feelings this emits and how it keeps you hooked from start to finish. It’s not too short or too long either and by the end, I just throw it back on repeat to experience the lush melodies coming from this. www.ruralsounds.com

PVA have shared ‘Talks’ from their upcoming debut EP ‘Toner’ — check out the new track below. Produced by the Speedy Wunderground’s Dan Carey, ‘Toner’ was released Sept. 30, 2020 to tie in with the news that the three-piece have signed to Ninja Tune imprint Big Dada. “‘Talks’ is about how we invent games in order to avoid expressing our true feelings or take the risk of being hurt,” Baxter explained about the track. “The song also takes inspiration from real relationships and the fictional relationship between John and Abigail Marston (the two main characters in video game Red Dead Redemption).” www.nme.com

You’ll be forgiven if you missed the fact that Hot Hot Heat called it quits in 2016. The band, fronted by Steve Bays, had slowly drifted into semi-obscurity over the preceding decade before releasing their final album, Hot Hot Heat, that year. And it’s honestly a shame because they really don’t get enough credit for being at the forefront of the dance-punk scene before there was even a name for it (it really irks me that they were initially labelled “emo”). Years before artists like Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, and MGMT would make the concept of bringing rock to the dancefloor a regular occurance, Hot Hot Heat was doing it. Which is why it brings me such joy to announce that Bays is back and has joined forces with Jeremy Ruzumna of Fitz & The Tantrums and Erik Janson of Wildling for a supergroup of sorts called Left Field Messiah. Fully embracing the genre-melding ethos that Hot Hot Heat introduced and Fitz & The Tantrums have expanded on, the band was created as an act of rebellion against creative stagnation and integrates everything from soul, dark funk, and indie rock to make one fun-as-hell album. kexp.org

The Fixx are a new wave rock band from London, England founded in 1979. The band's hits include "One Thing Leads to Another", "Saved by Zero", "Are We Ourselves?", and "Secret Separation", all of which made the U.S. Top 20, as well as early MTV Video hits "Red Skies" and "Stand or Fall" and mainstream rock chart hits "Driven Out" and "Deeper and Deeper", the latter of which was featured on the soundtrack of the 1984 film Streets of Fire. en.wikipedia.org

Singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile teamed up with Soundgarden to release versions of two Soundgarden classics, “Black Hole Sun” and “Searching With My Good Eye Closed.”Released on September 26th as part of Record Store Day, the collaboration brought Carlile and her backing band together with Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil, bassist Ben Shepherd and drummer Matt Cameron. Here's a live performance at a Chris Cornell Tribute Concert in 2019 that included Peter Frampton on guitar: www.youtube.com

Salaam Remi’s new album Black On Purpose is 17 tracks and has a number of guests including Busta Rhymes, Doug E. Fresh, Jennifer Hudson, Chronixx, Spragga Benz, Common, James Poyser, Teedra Moses, and D-Nice. www.salaamremi.com

Control was a breakout album for Janet Jackson, featuring very assertive songs like "What Have You Done For Me Lately" and "Nasty." Her record company even turned down "How Will I Know," which went to Whitney Houston, because it didn't fit the tone of the album. "When I Think of You" was one of the lightest songs, but it was her biggest hit from the album and the first of her 10 US chart-toppers. www.songfacts.com

It begins with Rosalía singing the verse in Spanish, then has her switch to English in the pre-chorus before The Weeknd comes in for the chorus, in English. It’s an impactful beginning, but perhaps the most notable moment of the song is near the end, when Rosalía sings the final break in Spanish, almost a cappella, before The Weeknd comes in for his finale. The Rosalía remix, which sources say has been in the works since early fall, arrives almost exactly a year after the track’s original release on Nov. 29, 2019. Great anniversary gift. While there's no formal video, The Weeknd posted a Dylan Coughran-directed lyric video with images from the photo shoot. www.billboard.com Check it out below. youtu.be

This song was inspired by the California wildfires of 2020. From Rhye's FB Page: "The spirit of the song is about overcoming obstacles and the need to come up with positive solutions together. It’s a fun song to remind us to dance our way through problems so as not to be overcome by them." New album out in January! www.rhyemusic.com

While all but one track was recorded pre-pandemic, Painted Shield was largely a socially distanced project, the two swapping Dropbox files as they could while Gossard and his Pearl Jam buddies were also brewing their exploratory new album, “Gigaton.” Although the two records are completely different sonically, there’s a similar adventurous spirit coursing through Painted Shield, the band rounded out by Seattle singer/keyboardist Brittany Davis and drumslinger Matt Chamberlain, who logged a brief stint in Pearl Jam before making his career as an in-demand session player for everyone from Frank Ocean to Bob Dylan. www.seattletimes.com

Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in 1990 in Seattle, Washington. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, as well as Matt Cameron, who joined in 1998. Keyboardist Boom Gaspar has also been a touring/session member with the band since 2002. en.wikipedia.org

Darkside is an electronic collaboration between producer Nicolas Jaar and artist Dave Harrington. Enjoy their live 2013 KEXP performance here: kexp.org

Check out this AMAZING Tiny Desk concert from NPR's series. www.youtube.com

Yvette Marie Stevens, better known by her stage name Chaka Khan, is an American musician, singer and songwriter. Her career has spanned nearly five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus en.wikipedia.org

Punisher is the second studio album by singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers, released on June 18, 2020 by Dead Oceans. Bridgers first established herself with her 2017 debut, Stranger in the Alps, a widely acclaimed emo-folk effort. Live from Home: www.youtube.com Phoebe had a huge year. The dark times let her shine brighter under the spotlight. Phoebe Bridgers is a master of collapse. The 25-year-old California native writes songs for those moments when things fall apart, when language fails, when you long for so much distance that you need a spaceship to reach it. From there, she is able to find a sense of purpose, or at least make a plan. “When I get back I’ll lay around/Then I’ll get up and lay back down,” goes a couplet in “I Know the End,” the closing track of her stunning new album Punisher. Across the song’s two halves, she tethers the anxiety of leaving home to a vivid depiction of an actual apocalypse: lightning crashes, fire rises, people scream. “Yeah, I guess the end is here,” she deadpans. Her delivery is light, insistent—the casual tone you use to convey passing thoughts to the closest person in the room. pitchfork.com

The 26-year-old superstar was at his creative peak when he accidentally overdosed. Circles is a project completed by Jon Brian after Mac passed away in 2018. You can read tributes to the late & great Mac Miller here: bit.ly

Katie of Waxahatchee wrote: “This was the first song I wrote in this batch of songs, and I’ve been performing it live for almost two years. It’s meant to be an extremely unsentimental love song, a love song with a strong dose of reality. It was written early on in a relationship, where the feelings were super intense, but also fear or apprehension were sort of keeping me from totally relaxing in it yet. Sort of like ‘it’s annoying that I love you so much’—totally unromantic, which sort of makes it really romantic to me.”

Edie Brickell & New Bohemians is an alternative rock jam band that originated in Dallas, Texas, in the mid-1980s. The band is widely known for their 1988 hit "What I Am" from the album Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars. Their music contains elements of rock, folk, blues, and jazz. en.wikipedia.org

Ernest Weatherly Greene Jr., known professionally as Washed Out, is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. en.wikipedia.org Watch the live performance at KEXP here: www.youtube.com

Burial does it again, just in time for the holidays: burial.bandcamp.com