Lionmilk - "Pastel Memories" from the 2021 album I Hope You Are Well on Leaving Records. As we say at KEXP, " music heals ," and with his latest album I Hope You Are Well , Los Angeles-based musician Moki Kawaguchi — who records as Lionmilk — sought to send comfort to his family and friends during the stressful early stage of the pandemic with his home-dubbed cassettes filled with soothing, ambient electronic music. As COVID-19 continued to loom over 2020, he teamed up with Leaving Records to re...
May 10, 2021•6 min•Ep. 3965
No-No Boy - "The Best God Damn Band in Wyoming" from the 2021 album 1975 on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. On his sophomore album, 1975 , musician/historian Julian Saporiti (recording as No-No Boy ) aims to share the stories of Asian musicians in American folk music, as part of his Ph.D dissertation at Brown University. As the child of a Vietnamese emigrant, who escaped here after her grandfather was assassinated in the Tet Offensive, Saporiti was finally able to find himself reflected in a pr...
May 07, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3964
Hiperson - "Crashing Into Daylight" from the 2020 album Bildungsroman on Maybe Mars Records. Hiperson formed in 2015 when its members were students at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music in Chengdu, China. Since then, the post-punk quintet have graduated to their most sophisticated release yet, their third album Bildungsroman , which was released last year. Their latest is a concept album about a woman recovering from the end of a relationship. Lead vocalist Chen Sijiang told online magazine Kiwes...
May 06, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3963
Morningwhim - "Talking to Myself," a 2020 single on Miles Apart Records. Japanese indiepop quartet Morningwhim were so inspired by Brooklyn band The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, that not only do they share a similar buoyant, charming style, but they even used the same artist on their album covers, Winston Szeto Chmielinski, who painted The Pains' 2001 album Belong , and now the artwork for today's Song of the Day, "Talking to Myself." Read the full post on KEXP.org Support the show: https://www...
May 05, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3962
本日休演 (Honjitsu Kyuen) - "Allergies" from the 2021 album MOOD on Mastard Records. With their fourth full-length MOOD , Kyoto-formed/Tokyo-based band 本日休演 (Honjitsu Kyuen) continue to mix and meld genres, a skill clearly demonstrated on today's Song of the Day which started out as an homage to Prince, adds touches of traditional Japanese folk, and then goes into a rap. "When I listen to music, I still use [an] iPod, which plays different music seamlessly," frontman Takujyuro Iwade tells Tokion . "...
May 04, 2021•5 min•Ep. 3961
파란노을 (Parannoul) - "아름다운 세상 (Beautiful World)" from the 2021 album To See the Next Part of the Dream on POCLANOS. “ I just hope there will be more active losers like me in the world,” South Korea-based shoegaze musician Parannoul says in the description of his sophomore album, To See The Next Part of the Dream . A self-described student writing music in his bedroom, Parannoul utilizes waves of fuzz and sensational melodic hooks to manufacture a fantasy world. To See The Next Part of the Dream is...
May 03, 2021•5 min•Ep. 3960
Kylie V - "On My Mind" from the 2021 self-released album Big Blue. Singer/songwriter Kylie Van Slyke — who records as Kylie V — has been active in the Vancouver music scene since the age of 14. Their 2018 debut EP, Lotus Eater , was recorded on their iPhone. Now at age 17, their debut full-length, Big Blue , is a more sophisticated affair. Van Slyke recruited Sound Fountain (aka engineer, producer, musician, and artist Harley Small) to help co-produce the LP, with Small also helping out on instr...
Apr 30, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3959
Flock of Dimes - "Price of Blue" from the 2021 album Head of Roses on Sub Pop. Wye Oak's Jenn Wasner returned to her solo project Flock Of Dimes for an album about heartbreak, titled Head of Roses . In a press release, she explains, "Part of the journey for me has been learning to take responsibility for the parts of things that are mine, even when I’m in a lot of pain through some behavior or action of someone else. If I’m expecting to be forgiven for the things I’ve done and the choices I’ve m...
Apr 29, 2021•6 min•Ep. 3958
Anjimile - "In Your Eyes" from the 2020 album Giver Taker on Father/Daughter Records. On his debut album, Giver Taker , Boston-based musician Anjimile was inspired by “faith, addiction, and [their] own transition.” Today's Song of the Day examines the unfair perceptions of others, with Anjimile explaining in a press release, “This is another song about grappling with homophobia and ultimately recognizing that I am what I am. It’s a somber song, but the sorrow is for those who would live their li...
Apr 28, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3957
Miss Grit - "Grow Up To" from the 2021 self-released album Impostor. Under the moniker of " Miss Grit ", songwriter Margaret Sohn explores the struggles of “impostor syndrome” on her aptly-titled EP Impostor . Self-produced at Brooklyn’s Virtue and Vice Studios, Impostor reflects on Sohn masking her half-Korean heritage in the predominantly white suburbs of her hometown in Michigan, and the apprehension she felt after the success of her debut EP Talk Talk, and feeling like she was "someone who w...
Apr 27, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3956
Japanese Breakfast - "Be Sweet" from the 2021 album Jubilee on Dead Oceans. Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast is one busy lady. Mere months following the release of her memoir Crying in H Mart , she's releasing her third album, Jubilee, on June 4th via Dead Oceans. Today's Song of the Day is the first single, the joyous, upbeat “Be Sweet.” “I wrote ‘Be Sweet’ with Jack Tatum from Wild Nothing a few years ago. I’ve been holding onto it for so long and am so excited to finally put it out there...
Apr 26, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3955
Night Beats - "New Day" from the 2021 album Outlaw R&B on Fuzz Club. Danny Lee Blackwell — who records as Night Beats — returns June 4th with his fifth album, Outlaw R&B , an album he says "is music for the borderless, the free, the outcasts and the forgotten." He continues in his press release, "The outlaw is the runner. Those whose minds aren't sold by perfect pitch and clean fingernails. Through this medium you can escape the confines of mental feudalism and bask in the euphoric glow ...
Apr 23, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3954
Wax Tailor - "Just a Candle (feat. Mark Lanegan)" from the 2021 album The Shadow of Their Suns on Lab'Oratoire. French producer Wax Tailor returned this year with his first new album in five years, The Shadow Of Their Suns , a star-studded affair featuring special guests like Del the Funky Homosapien, D Smoke, Gil Scott-Heron, Adeline, and, on today's Song of the Day, Mark Lanegan of The Screaming Trees . In a statement to Under the Radar , Tailor explains: “I started working on the demo, early ...
Apr 22, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3953
The Reds, Pinks & Purples - "Don't Ever Pray in the Church on My Street" from the 2021 album Uncommon Weather on Slumberland. With his project The Reds, Pinks and Purples , San Francisco-based singer/songwriter Glenn Donaldson pays tribute to his hometown with his third and latest album, Uncommon Weather . The Inner Richmond district is captured in muted, pastel colors on the album artwork, giving it a nostalgic feel, mournful for the days when it was a reasonable place for musicians and art...
Apr 21, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3952
Morcheeba - "Sounds of Blue" from the 2021 self-released album Blackest Blue. Trip-hop trailblazers Morcheeba return with their tenth album, Blackest Blue , which comes out this Friday. Vocalist Skye Edwards and multi-instrumentalist Ross Godfrey used the lockdown to really take their "time to write songs and really get to hone them." Edwards adds in their press release, "There weren’t so many pressures so we could really take our time getting the songs right." Today's Song of the Day is a dream...
Apr 20, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3951
Yard Act - "Dark Days," a 2021 single on Zen F.C. Leeds-based post-punk band Yard Act found inspiration in an animated cave dweller for their latest single "Dark Days." Singer/songwriter James Smith says it's “the last of four singles before we start work on the album, of which none of those songs will be on.” For today's Song of the Day, he shares in a press release: With 'Dark Days.' I wrote the first verse and chorus hook quite fast but then I didn’t know how to finish it. The demo Ryan [Need...
Apr 19, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3950
We're taking a week off from posting podcasts and other online content, but you can always find a live DJ streaming on KEXP.org, the KEXP App, or 90.3 FM in Seattle. New episodes will return to your Song of the Day feed on Monday, April 19th! Until then, visit old episodes or explore our other podcasts, Sound & Vision, Live on KEXP, and The Weekly Mix. And if you haven't had the chance yet, there's still time to take the KEXP Podcast Survey . Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See...
Apr 12, 2021•55 sec
EsePax - "Senzu Bean (feat. Dre'Zy)," a 2021 single on El Ambiente. Seattle DJ and hip-hop artist EsePax managed to get Renton-based MC Dre'Zy "out of retirement" (as he says ) for the new single "Senzu Bean," named for the mystical beans in the Dragon Ball manga series. Read the full post on KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Apr 09, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3949
Lorine Chia & D*L*P - "Go Far (feat. Bigmouf’ Bo)," a 2021 self-released single. Cameroonian-born, LA-based singer Lorine Chia has had a decade-long career collaborating with rappers like Machine Gun Kelly, Wiz Khalifa, and The Game. On today's Song of the Day, she teams up with producer/composer Devin " D*L*P " Parker, with guest vocals from nglewood, Chicago's Bigmouf’ Bo , a former contestant on Chance the Rapper's Netflix series Rhythm + Flow . Read the full post on KEXP.org Support the ...
Apr 08, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3948
The Lasso - "No Illusions (feat. Ill Camille & A. Billi Free)" from the 2021 album 2121 on Mello Music Group. Detroit-based producer Andy Catlin records under the name The Lasso , an apt title as he's able to round up a dozen guest rappers and vocalists for his latest album 2121. ( Today's Song of the Day brings in the vocal talents of New Mexico-based vocalist A. Billi Free and Los Angeles-based rapper Ill Camille .) These collaborators received instrumental demos created throughout 2019 an...
Apr 07, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3947
Noname - "Rainforest," a 2021 self-released single. Since the release of her outstanding 2018 debut, Room 25, Chicago rapper Noname (real name: Fatimah Nyeema Warner) has stepped away from music a little, focusing on social justice by reading books on anti-capitalism, sharing resources and links to non-profit organizations on Twitter, and then in 2019, launching the Noname Book Club, a way for her to "highlight progressive work from writers of Color and writers within the LGBTQ community" with b...
Apr 06, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3946
Beautiful Chorus - "I Am (feat. India.Arie)," a 2021 self-released single. Beautiful Chorus is a group that truly lives up to its name. The project was launched in 2021 by Alexandra Love, previous vocalist for Solillaquists of Sound and Chakra Khan. With Beautiful Chorus, she aimed to "spread a harmony-infused soundscape of interconnectedness, ease, and joy," a goal they've surely surpassed with their beautiful, introspective pieces. Today's Song of the Day pairs them with the Grammy Award-winni...
Apr 05, 2021•5 min•Ep. 3945
Boom Bap Project - "Hagler Vs. Hearns," a 2021 self-released single. Nightclubber Lang, Destro Destructo, and DJ Tre are the NW hip-hop trio Boom Bap Project , who first hit the scene at the turn of the millennium. The Trox-produced “Hagler Vs Hearns,” their first new music in almost 15 years, is the lead single to their upcoming album Return Flight , featuring beats from Trox, Vitamin D, and Craig Rip. The group call the song "an ode to the greatest fight in boxing history and a nod to the lege...
Apr 02, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3944
Juan Wauters - "Presentation (feat. Nick Hakim & Benamin)," a 2021 single on Captured Tracks. On his latest single "Presentation," Juan Wauters , a longtime resident of Jackson Heights, pays tribute to New York City in this collaboration with artists Nick Hakim and Benamin . "'Presentation' was made one night when Nick, Benamin and I met at Nick's studio in Brooklyn," Wauters stated in a press release. "Nick and I had only met a few times before and Benamin and I met that night. We all hit i...
Apr 01, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3943
Cheekface - "Listen to your Heart.” "No." from the 2021 album Emphatically No. on New Professor Music. L.A.-based trio Cheekface bring their signature sense of humor to their sophomore release Emphatically No. , out now via New Professor. Today's Song of the Day challenges the toxic positivity of self-help. "This is obviously a song about the negative messages your brain sends to you when you are suffering with a mental illness," guitarist/vocalist Greg Katz told Flood Magazine . His songwriting...
Mar 31, 2021•2 min•Ep. 3942
Vegyn - "B4 the Computer Crash," a 2021 single on PLZ Make It Ruins. Back in 2019, LA-via-London producer Joe Thornalley (better known as Vegyn ) was struggling with depression, an episode that influenced his latest EP, Like a Good Old Friend , out now via Plz Make it Ruins. “A friend let me stay at their house and they happened to have a piano,” he told The Face . “I was like ‘cool, OK, I’m just gonna try and figure this thing out.’ My chords are definitely weird, but to me they’re not weird....
Mar 30, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3941
Figmore - "Rosie," a 2021 single on Fresh Selects. Figmore combines the talents of Renton-raised producer 10.4 Rog (stream his Midnight in a Perfect World mix here ) and JUICEB☮X , a rapper, multi-instrumentalist, and producer from Westchester, NY. Now based in Los Angeles, the duo combine psych, R&B, and hip-hop on their debut album Jumbo Street (out now via Fresh Selects). Read the full post on KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...
Mar 29, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3940
Branik - "Monster," a 2020 self-released single. Seattle singer/songwriter Branik says she "writes songs that sometimes make my friends cry." Today's Song of the Day will have them sobbing. In a statement to the Daily Listening , she explains, "When I wrote ‘Monster’ I felt like I had, yet again, lost everything I had been working so hard to make wonderful. It had been a year and a half of being left by the people that promised to love me and have my back. That December, I was sitting in tears o...
Mar 26, 2021•4 min•Ep. 3939
Do you have feedback on KEXP's podcasts you'd like to share with us? Things you'd like to hear more of, or things that could be improved? We want to hear from you. The survey closes on April 7, 2021, so don't wait! Take our Podcast Survey today. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Mar 25, 2021•27 sec
St. Vincent - "Pay Your Way In Pain" from the 2021 album Daddy's Home on Loma Vista Recordings. On her sixth album, Daddy’s Home , St. Vincent (real name: Annie Clark) looks to the past, specifically the ‘70s, to inspire the present. “There’s something interesting about what the early ‘70s were, and the parallels between then and now – even socially,” Clark told NME . “You had the idealism of the ‘60s come crashing down and the flower child thing had dissipated and made room for a way grittier, ...
Mar 25, 2021•3 min•Ep. 3938
