Sharon Van Etten - "Beaten Down," a 2020 single on Jagjaguwar. Sharon Van Etten is on a roll. Following last year’s masterful studio album Remind Me Tomorrow , the singer-songwriter and actress returned in February with the smoldering single “Beaten Down.” The minimal song is dark and spacious, evoking the dubby trip-hop of the ‘90s. Produced by John Congleton, the song focuses on “love, patience, and empathy,” Van Etten said in a statement. “It’s about making life-changing choices and remaining...
Apr 09, 2020•4 min•Ep. 3697
RINSE - "Tell Me Tell Me Tell Me," a 2020 self-released single. Last month, Brisbane artist Joe Agius, member and co-writer of Hatchie, debuted his first material under the name RINSE. Titled “Tell Me Tell Me Tell Me,” the song is an infectious throwback mashup of post-punk, shoegaze, and new wave and was mixed by Jorge Elbrecht (Ariel Pink, Japanese Breakfast, Wild Nothing, Sky Ferreira) and mastered by Heba Kadry (Bjork, Slowdive, Beach House, Deerhunter). Agius has this to say about the song:...
Apr 08, 2020•4 min•Ep. 3696
Andy Shauf - "Try Again" from the 2020 album The Neon Skyline on ANTI- Records. With his latest album, The Neon Skyline , Andy Shauf has crafted his most realized and engrossing work yet. You needn’t look much further than single “Try Again.” Shauf’s songwriting style is all finesse and detail. “Try Again” finds a narrator, presumably Shauf, trying to salvage a relationship that just won’t stick. And while the heartache of the scenario writes itself, it’s Shauf’s scene setting with drunken gaffe...
Apr 07, 2020•4 min•Ep. 3695
Other Lives - “Lost Day” from the 2020 album For Their Love on ATO Records. In January, Oklahoma-bred indie folk outfit Other Lives announced their first album in nearly five years, following 2015’s Rituals . Titled For Their Love , the new record sees them continue their streak of transcendent indie folk that started in 2006 when they released Flight of the Flynns under the name Kunek. Our Song of the Day is the record’s lead single “Lost Day,” a lush jangly rambler filled with cinematic string...
Apr 06, 2020•3 min•Ep. 3694
Tres Leches - “Nieve,” a 2020 self-released single. The latest track from Seattle's Tres Leches is a beautiful example of community, featuring guest appearances from fellow Northwest artists Terror/Cactus, Rachael's Children, and Medejín. The band describe the song as an attempt to "stay alive once more through music." They point to a quote from poet Audre Lorde: “Implicit in survival is joy, mobility and effectiveness… if we do what we need to be doing then we will leave something that continue...
Apr 03, 2020•4 min•Ep. 3693
Lucinda Williams - “Man Without a Soul” from the 2020 album Good Souls Better Angels on Highway 20/Thirty Tigers. "All the money in the world / Will never fill that hole / You're a man bought and sold / You're a man without a soul" Over the past 40 years, Lucinda Williams has built a name for herself with her vivid storytelling, which has earned her four Grammy Awards throughout her career. But her forthcoming full-length, Good Souls Better Angels , will "forgo the personal and narrative-based s...
Apr 02, 2020•6 min•Ep. 3692
Archers of Loaf - “Raleigh Days,” a 2020 single on Merge Records. It's been over 20 years, but indie rock kings Archers of Loaf have returned with the single "Raleigh Days," their first new music since 1998's LP White Trash Heroes . Originally formed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1991, the band exploded on to the scene with their debut album Icky Mettle and the hit single "Web in Front", which landed them a highly-coveted appearance on MTV's Beavis & Butthead . Read the full post on KEX...
Apr 01, 2020•2 min•Ep. 3691
Steve Earle & The Dukes - “Devil Put the Coal in the Ground” from the 2020 album Ghosts of West Virginia on New West Records. In 2010, the Upper Big Branch coal mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia exploded, killing twenty-nine of the thirty-one miners present at the time. It's been called one of the worst mining disasters in American history. And it inspired the latest album from veteran singer/songwriter Steve Earle , titled Ghosts of West Virginia . The project originated with the off-Br...
Mar 31, 2020•3 min•Ep. 3690
Throwing Muses - “Dark Blue” from the 2020 album Sun Racket on Fire Records. Alt-rock icons Throwing Muses return with their first new album in seven years, the fiery tenth full-length Sun Racket , out September 4 via Fire Records. The group originally formed in the early '80s, with it's current line-up of Kristin Hersh, drummer David Narcizo, and bassist Bernard Georges holding steady since the '90s. Recording the new album brought everybody back together from their respective coasts. “ Sun Rac...
Mar 30, 2020•4 min•Ep. 3689
B-Band - "Kavire Del” from the 2013 self-released album Napichideh (Uncomplicated) B-band formed in Tehran, Iran in 2009, combining alt-rock with Persian folklore. Dr. Nasim Niknafs, Assistant Professor of Music Education at the University of Toronto, points out in an interview with Ethnotes that "when you transliterate this name into Farsi, it has another meaning, which translates roughly to 'without any boundaries.' In addition, B-Band is the name of a guitar pickup company. One name, many lay...
Mar 27, 2020•4 min•Ep. 3688
Liraz - “Zan Bezan” from the 2020 album Zan on Dead Sea Recordings Liraz Charhi's family emigrated to Israel during the '70s at the brink of the Iranian Revolution. Nearly 50 years later, it's still a major influence in the music she writes under the name Liraz. "Music in Iran in the ’70s was characterized by resistance to traditional music and a desire to find a universal sound," she explained to the Haaretz Newspaper . Today's Song of the Day translates to "Women, Sing" — it's a call to action...
Mar 26, 2020•4 min•Ep. 3687
Bahram - “گوشت (Goosht)," a 2019 single on Peeleh Records The Huffington Post declared him one of the "50 people shaping the culture of the Middle East." Bahram Nouraei — who records simply as Bahram — uses hip-hop to call out the current political climate of Iran. His breakout single was titled "Nameyee Be Rayees Jomhour" (translating to "A Letter to the President"), which openly criticized the sixth president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Bahram has since relocated to Stockholm, Sweden. Earlie...
Mar 25, 2020•4 min•Ep. 3686
Salome MC - “Odium” from the 2017 self-released album Excerpts from Unhappy Consciousness Salome MC is Iran's first female rapper, and her LP Excerpts from Unhappy Consciousness is the first full-length Persian hip-hop album produced by a woman. This is all the more impressive when you learn that in 2007, the Iranian government denounced rap, with the Ministry of Culture shutting down recording studios where these albums are made, raiding record stores where this music might be sold, blocking we...
Mar 24, 2020•4 min•Ep. 3685
SarrSew - "Farewell, Warden.” from the 2018 album Girih: Iranian Sound Artists on Zabte Sote When Tehran-born, Paris-based artist Sara Bigdeli Shamloo isn’t recording as half of the duo 9T Antiope, she records solo under the name SarrSew. While previous SarrSew tracks were composed for theatre and film (Shamloo was studying Theatre Directing at Tehran University before she dropped out), today’s Song of the Day marks her solo debut single, a haunting, somber chant sung in English over an eerie, y...
Mar 23, 2020•4 min•Ep. 3684
Eyelids - "The Accidental Falls" from the 2020 album The Accidental Falls on Jealous Butcher Records When Larry Beckett offers up his lyrics to you, it's hard to say "no." Beckett was a long-time collaborator with legendary singer/songwriter Tim Buckley, and even wrote the lyrics to the now-iconic and heavily-covered 1969 single "Song to the Siren." He's also the father of the kid who's best friends with Chris Slusarenko's son, putting this creative connection into place. Slusarenko is a member ...
Mar 20, 2020•4 min•Ep. 3683
Cable Ties - "Sandcastles" from the 2020 album Far Enough on Merge Records. Melbourne punk trio Cable Ties return with the album Far Enough at the end of the month, their second album overall, but their first for Merge Records. The Australian group made their debut in April 2015, performing at Wetfest, an annual non-binary-inclusive music festival spotlighting bands emerging from Melbourne's D.I.Y. scene. Since then, they've emerged from the underground with their intense, cathartic anthems. On ...
Mar 19, 2020•4 min•Ep. 3682
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - "Cars In Space," a 2020 single on Sub Pop. Melbourne, Australia's Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever return with the single "Cars In Space," which — along with last year's singles “In The Capital” and ‘“Read My Mind” — marks their first new music since their debut LP Hope Downs . Much like Hope Downs , "Cars In Space" is a jangly piece of pop, harkening back to the '80s Australian indie-pop heyday. The group's dueling vocals are in play, adding another level of ten...
Mar 18, 2020•5 min•Ep. 3681
Hamilton Leithauser - “Here They Come” from the 2020 album The Loves of Your Life on Glassnote Records. Following his 2016 collaboration with Vampire Weekend's Rostam, Leithauser returns this year with The Loves of Your Life , an album produced, recorded, and written all by himself. “All of the songs on my new record are about people,” he explained in a press statement. “Individual, real people. Some are strangers I’ve met, but a lot are friends.” In the case of today's Song of the Day, the frie...
Mar 17, 2020•3 min•Ep. 3680
Yumi Zouma - “Cool for a Second” from the 2020 album Truth or Consequences on Polyvinyl. Dream pop quartet Yumi Zouma have returned with the new album Truth or Consequences , their first for new label Polyvinyl Records but their third overall. Today's Song of the Day is a swoon-inducing electro-pop piece with an '80's-style beat. It's hard to believe the song was almost scrapped. Ryder explained, via a press release, "The song was demoed in Los Angeles and then long forgotten, destined for the s...
Mar 16, 2020•3 min•Ep. 3679
Perfect Son - Lust - from the 2019 album Cast on Sub Pop. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 13, 2020•3 min•Ep. 3678
FLOHIO - WAY2 - a 2019 single on ALPHA. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 12, 2020•3 min•Ep. 3677
FVLCRVM - Words - a 2018 single on Universal Austria. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 11, 2020•4 min•Ep. 3676
alyona alyona - Падло (feat. Alina Pash) - from the 2019 album ПУШКА on HitWonder. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 10, 2020•3 min•Ep. 3675
La colère - La Plage - from the 2020 self-released album La Vague. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 09, 2020•3 min•Ep. 3674
Acid Tongue - Bullies - from the 2020 album Bullies on Freakout Records. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 06, 2020•3 min•Ep. 3673
Ultraísta - Tin King - from the 2020 album Sister on Partisan Records. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 05, 2020•4 min•Ep. 3672
BROKEN UP - Long Long Long - a 2019 single on Wave Records. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 04, 2020•5 min•Ep. 3671
Pottery - Texas Drums Pt I & II - from the 2020 album Welcome to Bobby's Motel on Partisan Records. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 03, 2020•6 min•Ep. 3671
FACS - Teenage Hive - from the 2020 album Void Moments on Trouble In Mind Records. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 02, 2020•3 min•Ep. 3669
Chastity Belt - The Process - a 2020 single on Hardly Art. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Feb 28, 2020•5 min•Ep. 3668
