Evie

Speaking of 'Superfly"... This song is the title track from Mayfield's 1972 soundtrack album for the film of the same name. It reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart. The lyrics celebrate the craftiness and determination of the film's main character -- the song plays over the film's closing credits. This track has been sampled widely, from the Beastie Boys' "Egg Man", The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Ready to Die Intro", Goldie Lookin Chain's "Pusherman" and Nelly's "Tilt Ya Head Back" featuring Christina Aguilera. Mayfield himself sampled the original song in "Superfly 1990", a duet he recorded with rapper Ice-T. bit.ly

Another deep source of samples -- for the Beastie Boys' "Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun", for "Angel" from Massive Attack, and "Song of Life" by Leftfield. "Apache" from the same album has been called one of the most heavily-sampled recordings in history -- check out the trailer for the documentary "Sample This", which heavily features this band: youtu.be

RELEASED ON THIS DAY in 1989 Speaking of "Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun"... featuring samples from 'Lost Bongo in Belgium' (Incredible Bongo Band) *and* Mississippi Queen (Mountain), as well as 'Time' from (Pink Floyd, DSoTM) and 'Put Your Hand in the Hand" (Ocean) Learn more in the retrospective from Medialoper: tinyurl.com

Mike Doughty (Soul Coughing) and longtime collaborator Andrew “Scrap” Livingston’s put together a new project, Ghost of Vroom, after Doughty's 2016 solo album -- and after scrapping plans to reunite Soul Coughing. The band's name is a reference to a once-planned companion piece to Soul Coughing's 1994 "Ruby Vroom". www.ghostofvroom.com

Battles formed in New York City in 2002 with Ian Williams, John Stanier, Dave Konopka, Tyondai Braxton. All four members boasted impressive pedigrees within the world of experimental rock: Here's a biography: bit.ly -- 'Juice B Crypts' is the fourth full-length album from Battles, and it features special guest Ismael Butler of Shabazz Palaces on this track. battles.bandcamp.com

Digable Planets, featuring Seattle's own Ishmael Butler, are headlining a free Sunset Concert TONIGHT at 8PM in Westlake Park, as part of the city's "Welcome Back" push: bottomline.seattle.gov (please stay safe as you get welcomed back, we gotta keep the variants under control) Digable Planets played live on KEXP at KEX Hostel in Reykjavik during 2016's Iceland Airwaves. Enjoy Live Video: youtu.be

Proclaiming "things are starting to feel better," Chong the Nomad's exuberant dance-heavy video is available for streaming here: bit.ly She'll be performing at the Day In Day Out Festival this Labor Day Weekend at the Fisher Green Pavilion at Seattle Center. For more information, head over to www.dayindayoutfest.com She's also playing the Treefort Music Festival on Boise starting on September 22!

London electro/dubstep artist SBTRKT (aka: Aaron Jerome) is a self-taught producer! The project's name was intended to remove the identity of any one person from the music, and SBTRKT even performed with a mask on to preserve that concept! www.sbtrkt.com

Ora the Molecule are playing the Flaam Festival in Nitra, Slovakia that begins on August 20. See the whole lineup: www.songkick.com Ora The Molecule is a multinational avant-garde pop music group, creating an unexpected sound that combines timeless nostalgia, smooth pop, and retro electronica. This is a new sound in the Pop music landscape with emotional Calypso-tinged melodies, always irresistible and danceable. orathemolecule.bandcamp.com

"Excuse me? (What?)" UK duo Wet Leg hail from the Isle of Wight and are comprised of Rhian Teasdale (who previously made music as RHAIN) and Hester Chambers. According to their press release, the decided to start a band together while atop a ferris wheel and cite everything from The Ronettes and Jane Birkin to Bjork and Ty Segall as influences.: bit.ly The video is just as awesome as you'd expect: youtu.be

Sleaford Mods teamed up with "no wave" artist Billy Nomates, the project of Tor Maries. Read more about her at the UK Guardian's "One to Watch" feature: tinyurl.com DJ Morgan hosted Sleaford Mods for Live on KEXP at Home recently, they closed out the set with this fave: youtu.be

Janelle Monaé's new single from the new Netflix animated series 'We The People", produced by Barack and Michelle Obama. The series centers on civic engagement, with musicians like Monaé, H.E.R., Andra Day, Brandi Carlile, and Adam Lambert. The singer spoke to Rolling Stone last year about using music to urge change: '“What is a revolution without a song?” she said. “I started thinking about all the people on the front line. What could be my gift to them? It was this song to remind them that the tables are turning. We’re seeing that progress is being made, even in the midst of dealing with such traumatic events. We have figured out a way to be the solution. I wanted this to be my gift because revolutionaries need love too. They need inspiration, and they need an anthem. This is my stab at that.”' Read more: tinyurl.com

Jean-Christophe Le Saoût, better known by the stage name Wax Tailor, is a French trip hop producer from Vernon, Normandy. He has released six studio albums collaborating with other artists. This track features samples from Doris Day's famous 'Que será, será', introduced in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller 'The Man Who Knew Too Much" -- as well as vocals from that same film. It also samples "And We Will Not Come Again" by Galt MacDermot

“I hold this one so close to my heart. ‘Competition’ comes from a state of always comparing yourself to others and how ruthless that competitive nature can be towards yourself and towards others. The song is a reminder of how much stronger we are together.” – Amber Mark bit.ly www.ambermarkmusic.com --- You must see the stunning choreography in the video for "Competition.": youtu.be

David Byrne recruited students from the Detroit School of Arts, for the singer’s celebratory “Everybody’s Coming to My House” video, a track off Byrne’s LP 'American Utopia'. Speaking about the video, Byrne said: “When I saw what the DSA students did with my song, it completely changed the way I thought of the song. In fact, it changed the meaning of the song — I realized it was about inclusion, welcoming and not being alone.' The students directed the video as well: youtu.be

James Murphy nods to "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" by the Talking Heads on this track -- as well as hosting callbacks to 'Dance Yrself Clean' Electronic Beats posted a great article about songs sampled in LCD Soundsystem hits back in 2017: www.electronicbeats.net

“The beat makes me think of a New York street strut, Sesame Street style,” Pond leader Nick Allbrook said of the track. “But it’s about Fremantle before Alan Bond gave the big ball of gentrification it’s final shove, when it was cheap and harsh and the broken relics of the pre-87 port city were young, groovy cats in a secret idyll wedged between the river and the sea. It’s also about blokes being different versions of whatever the hell we’ve been taught we’re supposed to be.” Read more at NME: tinyurl.com The video by Sam Kristofski is a stunner, but it contains flashes of light so please be careful before opening: youtu.be

UK trio London Grammer consists of moody atmospherics guitar parts by Dan Rothman and keyboardist Dot Major and the hauntingly beautiful voice of Hannah Reid. Cheryl Waters hosted London Grammar Live in the KEXP Studio back in 2013, and the set included this track: youtu.be www.londongrammar.com

Cheryl Waters hosted Japanese Breakfast Live in the KEXP Studio back in 2013 -- they opened up the set with "Diving Woman." youtu.be They're playing Seattle in all-ages shows Sep 25, 26, and 27 at the Neptune -- find out more, including other dates: japanesebreakfast.rocks

“Without a Blush” is the first single from Hatchie’s debut album “Keepsake.” NPR wrote that the song is a sweeping breakup ballad that captures the most nostalgic parts of a relationship's end. "If I could kiss you one more time / Would it make everything alright? / Or would it just make me a liar?" Pilbeam sings. Evie hosted Hatchie Live in the KEXP Studio back in September 2019 -- check out the whole performance after the show! -- youtu.be

Happy belated birthday to Laura Mvula -- on July 23! This British artist’s third album (and first in five years!) Mvula said in an interview: “writing the song was a struggle because I had to really dig for it. But as it revealed itself to me, it struck me down like lightning on the Damascus Road, and I was grateful for it. I was so scared of letting myself down." Read more at Brooklyn Vegan: tinyurl.com Rad 80s vibes in the video: youtu.be

"People, I’ve been sad" is Héloïse Adelaïde Letissier’s first single since "Gone," her summer BDSM barnstormer with Charli XCX, but it shares more with the quieter moments of her 2018 record Chris: call-and-response vocals, gently and robotically stacked in chorus, as well as dramatic mastery of pauses and hesitant space. In her native French, she mourns a difficult childhood with imagistic lines about dead thistles and walking on glass barefoot. A warm, empathetic string section surges below her, as if to say her resilience and beauty are one and the same. The private nature of the track feels genuine and striking; tellingly, it was written, arranged, and produced only by Letissier, who gently rides its momentum without offering any easy, grand resolutions. The song merely ends, a bit stronger now than when it began. bit.ly

sir Was is the alias of Sweden's Joel Wästberg, touring drummer with José González -- he's playing Chats Palace in London on October 21. Find out more: sirwas.bandcamp.com

This 2020 release includes guests like OHMME, Lala Lala, V.V. Lightbody and Tomo Reeder. Cheryl Waters hosted the Chicago foursome Live in the KEXP Studio back in 2016 -- youtu.be twinpeaksdudes.com

'Hey Evie, hey Jim! Just wanted to say hi 👋 because Evie asked us to ;-) How about some Blood Orange?' -- Raman from Central Illinois This is the third album by Dev Hynes recording as Blood Orange. Freetown Sound takes its name from Freetown, Sierra Leone, where Hynes' father was born. The album features Carly Rae Jepsen, Zuri Marley, Debbie Harry, Nelly Furtado, writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, slam poet Ashlee Haze, and others.

Larry Mizell, Jr features 'Aquemini' on a recent "OG Thursday" set, a weekly feature on his Afternoon Show. You can catch Larry every weekday from 1PM to 4PM on The Afternoon Show: kexp.org Featuring a sample from Genesis' 1973 "Dancing With the Moonlit Knight" When asked, Big Boi explained the song's title as being Southern slang for a "a girl that is superfine, bad, sexy, intelligent and jazzy all at the same time." The track relates a story of ill-fated romance, with André 3000 describing the infatuation during an encounter with a woman at a club and Big Boi noting the hopelessness of the relationship as the song progresses. Read more: bit.ly

By request from Sean! 'Hi Evie, Any chance of a Tracy Chapman? Fast Cars? Still restoring my ‘88 land cruiser. Not “ A Fast Car” but a classic...' Chapman said: "It's not really about a car at all... basically it's about a relationship that doesn't work out because it's starting from the wrong place." bit.ly

KEXP presents The True Loves (with Smokey Brights) -- playing Zoo Tunes at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle on Wednesday, August 11th! www.zoo.org Troy Nelson interviewed The True Loves for Live on KEXP at Home on May 27, 2021: youtu.be www.truelovesband.com

Pete Rock & CL Smooth hail from Mount Vernon, New York -- the duo were a mainstay of 1990s East Coast hip hop, and this album has been called one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. This track contains a sample from "Our Generation" by Ernie Hines. Check out the video: youtu.be

The music video for "I Miss You" was animated and directed by John Kricfalusi of Spümcø, best known for the Ren & Stimpy cartoons, which Björk admired. It was also directed by Erik Wiese and produced by Stephen Worth. When Björk saw the storyboards, she said that Kricfalusi had "made [her] very cute," and was so pleased that she reportedly exclaimed, "It's like Christmas!" The video won a 1997 Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject. bit.ly You can watch the video here: bit.ly

In mid-June, Dominican/Mexican-American singer Ambar Lucid unveiled her highly anticipated EP 'Get Lost In The Music'. Emily Fox interviewed Ambar Lucid earlier this month for KEXP's Sound & Vision. . Ambar Lucid talks about how a trip on magic mushrooms inspired the title track of her new EP, 'Get Lost in the Music'. She also talks about a documentary about being reunited with her dad years after he was deported to Mexico, and how she hopes to heal her own and others' generational trauma through her music. kexp.org ambarlucid.com

The Dum Dum Girls cover of this track from 1986's "The Queen is Dead" was called one of the 100 best covers by the Canadian music blog My Life in Music Lists: tinyurl.com "Their version is bigger, brasher, and faster. The arrangements are the same but the sound is completely different. There are noisy guitars and heavy-footed bass drumming, and Dee Dee’s vocals are exuberant and thrilling in the pure emotion created by fresh love."

Yves Tumor will be at Neumos on November 3rd! Find all the tour info here: yves-tumor.warp.net Streaming now, this surprise EP can be pre-ordered on vinyl for delivery this October: yves-tumor.ffm.to

On this debut album, Myles MacInnes, aka Mylo said "I'm just having fun. It's got to have impact, otherwise I just don't see the point". This album has been acclaimed as one of the best of the 00s and among Robert Dimery's "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die"!

Arlo Parks has shared of "Hope": "The song surrounds isolation, being present in your pain and knowing that you’re not the only one on the planet feeling low. I think especially in times like these it’s important to focus on the inevitability that things will get better." DJ Gabriel Teodros hosted Arlo Parks in a KEXP Live at Home session: youtu.be arloparks.bandcamp.com

Light in the Attic re-issued this rare gospel gem in 2010 -- you can learn more about the album and the complex legacy of Chicago pastor, activist, choir leader, and perhaps, scammer (?) -- TL Barrett: lightintheattic.net

Happy birthday and congratulations to Skylar for her first vaccine! Happy 12th birthday!! Stevie Wonder told NPR: "I've always been a lover of music. And the thing with 'Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing,' when I did the demo, I was just saying some things. You know, I didn't speak Spanish. But that's, I think, part of the whole excitement of me being raised in the Midwest. You had radio stations that you have maybe a couple hours of Spanish music. You have some Italian music. You have some gospel music. You have some jazz. You have all these various varieties of music. Now, you hear some Arabic stations. You hear all of the various accents. And so like, I never imagined that I would be going to these places, but I'll praise to God I was able to - being able to travel to so many places. And so that was me mocking sort of the sound of it."