LADANIVA - "Vay Aman" from the 2020 EP Ladaniva on Planete B. Ladaniva is the musical partnership between Armenian singer Jacqueline Baghdasaryan and French multi-instrumentalist Louis Thomas. Founded by the duo in 2019, they went viral in the early days of the pandemic with the release of the video for our Song of the Day, “Vay Aman.” Set in a sunny locale with faces full of joy, it’s hard not to smile while watching their effervescent playing. Ladaniva’s music takes influences from all around ...
Jan 24, 2022•3 min•Ep. 4150
Jayomi - "Julia" from the 2021 self-released album Midnight Love Note. Local band Jayomi has been wowing underground audiences with their dreamy take on indiepop for a few years now but didn’t release recorded music until 2019’s W et Burrito. The album was the band’s attempt to recreate the sad yet beautiful nature of those late romantic composers through the lens of modern day indie pop music. Since the pandemic, the lineup has slimmed to just frontman Jon Wu and his partner Ruka Bleu. Together...
Jan 21, 2022•3 min•Ep. 4149
Parcels - "Somethinggreater" from the 2021 album Day/Night on Because Music. Australia-born, Berlin-based five-piece Parcels make groovy electropop, blending funk and disco in intoxicating fashion. Their 2018 self-titled debut blew up with a little help from Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, better known as Daft Punk, who produced the album’s lead single “Overnight.” But the assist from one of the world’s most popular disco duos hasn’t led Parcels to rest on their laurels. With t...
Jan 20, 2022•3 min•Ep. 4148
Bully - "Just For Love," a 2021 single on Sub Pop. If you somehow missed SUGAREGG , the third studio album from Nashville’s Bully , when it was released a year and a half ago then it’s definitely time to circle back. Furious and fiery, Alicia Bognanno put her all into the record, which just finally got to be played on live stages this past December. Ahead of that nine-date east coast tour, Bognanno revealed a new single called “Just For Love.” Co-produced by John Congleton during the SUGAREGG se...
Jan 19, 2022•3 min•Ep. 4147
Ibibio Sound Machine - "Electricity," a 2021 single on Merge. Just about three years ago, when the world was in a very different place, KEXP celebrated International Clash Day by venturing across the pond to London for a showcase of upcoming artists that radiate the spirit of the Clash in vibrant, diverse ways. One of the most electrifying performances over those four days came from electro Afro-funk ensemble Ibibio Sound Machine . Fusing the polyrhythms of West African funk, highlife, disco, an...
Jan 18, 2022•5 min•Ep. 4146
Beach House Once - "Twice Melody" from the 2022 album Once Twice Melody on Sub Pop. As longtime fans and champions of Baltimore-based band Beach House , the excitement over the dream pop duo’s partially-released double LP Once Twice Melody is feverish, to say the least. With two of the four chapters already released, it’s clear to see Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally have a masterpiece on their hands with their eighth studio record. Our Song of the Day is the album’s title track and the lead sin...
Jan 17, 2022•5 min•Ep. 4145
Floored Faces - "I'd Be Broke" from the 2021 self-released album Kool Hangs. Floored Faces are the latest to emerge from Seattle’s heavy rock scene, drawing influence from Northwest greats like the Melvins, Tad, and the Sonics. Fusing that heavy rock energy with psychedelic and indie, the trio makes songs just as melodic as they are dense. Our Song of the Day, “I’d Be Broke,” is an excellent example of this harmonious fusion. Anchored by a sludgy, throbbing riff, flourishes of bright guitar and ...
Jan 14, 2022•4 min•Ep. 4144
Constant Smiles - "Run to Stay" from the 2021 album Paragons on Sacred Bones. Since 2009, Constant Smiles have been churning out roughly an album a year, amassing a pretty enormous discography that’s now 15 records deep. Led by Ben Jones, the band is more of a collective, with more than 50 members providing contributions over the past 13 years. While Constant Smiles have tried out a number of varying sounds over the years, their latest release sees the collective join the Sacred Bones family for...
Jan 13, 2022•3 min•Ep. 4143
Lætitia Sadier - "New Moon," a 2021 single on Drag City. Laetitia Sadier’s heavenly croons became familiar to us via Stereolab back when they appeared on the scene in the early ‘90s. On our Song of the Day, “New Moon,” Sadier proves her vocals have not only remained intact but, like a fine wine, have grown with age. The lead single off her forthcoming, as yet untitled, solo record is founded by a sultry bossa nova beat with dreamy guitar strums and poetic, somewhat esoteric, lyricism. “Dreaming ...
Jan 12, 2022•4 min•Ep. 4142
Bonobo - "Rosewood" from the 2022 album Fragments on Ninja Tune. Since the late ‘90s, Simon Green has been sharing his sweeping electronic grooves as Bonobo to much acclaim. 2022 will see him unveil his hotly anticipated seventh full-length Fragments . Created during the pandemic, the songs were made out of fragmented pieces of ideas the British-born, LA-based producer put together while on lockdown with the help of some notable names like Jamila Woods, Joji, Kadhja Bonet, and Jordan Rakei. Our ...
Jan 11, 2022•4 min•Ep. 4141
Carrie Biell - "Come By" from the 2022 self-released album We Get Along. As one-quarter of Moon Palace , which she founded with her twin sister Cat Biell, Carrie Biell makes warm and rambling indie rock with a hint of desert psychedelia. For her solo work, which she’s been releasing since 2001’s treasured and difficult to find Symphony of Sirens , her music is much more intimate, stripped-down, and nearly always downtempo. Our Song of the Day, “Come By,” sounds like it could easily be a Sharon V...
Jan 10, 2022•3 min•Ep. 4140
Eternia & Rel McCoy - "Home (feat. Shad & SHEAL)" from the 2021 album FREE on Fat Beats. This past September saw two of Toronto’s hip hop stars team up for a collaborative album titled FREE . Juno-nominated rapper Eternia and Juno-winning producer Rel McCoy put together twelve tracks that flex their skills while shining a light on some of the criminally underrated talent that’s coming out of Canada. Our Song of the Day, “Home,” sees two of those underrated talents join them, Juno-winning...
Jan 07, 2022•3 min•Ep. 4139
NeONE the Wonderer - "Nose Dive" from the 2021 album Future Bubblers 5.0 on Brownswood Recordings. Nathan Lawrence might have a limited body of work at NeONE the Wonderer , just a smattering of singles going back to early Summer 2020, but what the UK-based artist has out showcases a fully-formed artist with a captivating point of view. Our Song of the Day, “Nose Dive,” displays his penchant for jazzy, grooves, intoxicating soulful croons, and effortless flows on topics both personal and metaphys...
Jan 06, 2022•4 min•Ep. 4138
Earl Sweatshirt - "Tabula Rasa (feat. Armand Hammer)" from the 2022 album Sick on Tan Cressida, inc/Warner. Former Odd Future member Earl Sweatshirt is gearing up to release his latest album, Sick , this month and the anticipation couldn’t be higher. His first release since 2019’s introspective Feet of Clay , Sick is still mostly a mystery other than the two singles released ahead of its arrival, “2010” and “Tabula Rasa.” The latter track is our Song of the Day and for good reason. Featuring the...
Jan 05, 2022•4 min•Ep. 4137
Waahli - "DERIVE (feat. Webz)," a 2021 single on Wyzah Musk Prod. Born and raised in Montreal to a Haitian family, Waahli is one of the leading members of Hip Hop supergroup Nomadic Massive . He is revered as a trilingual emcee (English, French, Creole), guitarist and beatmaker. In 2018, he broke out on his own to release the debut solo album Black Soap and has since followed that up with 2020’s Soap Opera EP (Waahli is also an organic soap maker, hence his thematic focus on the sudsy cleaning p...
Jan 04, 2022•4 min•Ep. 4136
The Midnight Hour - "Jazz Is Dead (Georgia Anne Muldrow Geemix)" from the 2021 album Remixes JID010 on Jazz Is Dead. As The Midnight Hour, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge collaborate with a long list of incredible musicians to make a fusion of soul, jazz, and hip hop that’s inspired by the sophisticated sounds of yesteryears. Their acclaimed 2018 self-titled debut was star-studded featuring the likes of features from CeeLo Green, Raphael Saadiq, Marsha Ambrosius, Bilal, Eryn Allen Kane, K...
Jan 03, 2022•3 min•Ep. 4135
Alina Pash - "Bosorkanya" from the 2019 album PINTEA:GORY on Bitanga LLC. Alina Pash will be performing at this year's virtual Eurosonic (ESNS) Music Festival and Conference January 19-22. Known for a great number of things in her home country of Ukraine, Alina Pash is a former X-Factor semi-finalist, style icon, and an innovative musician breaking boundaries with her bold use of Carpathian traditional sounds with electronic, hip-hop, and pop. Cited as “100% Bitanga” which translates from the Ru...
Dec 31, 2021•3 min•Ep. 4134
Дeva - "Unglitched," a 2020 single on Move Gently Records. Дeva will be performing at this year's virtual Eurosonic (ESNS) Music Festival and Conference January 19-22 and has also been nominated for a Music Moves Europe Award. Дeva/Deva is the solo project of Budapest-based musician Dorina Takács. Her use of blending traditional Hungarian folk music with pulsating electronic basslines and soaring polyphonic vocals has made her an artist on the rise in her home country. Recalling the layered inst...
Dec 30, 2021•6 min•Ep. 4133
Denise Chaila - "CHAILA" from the 2020 album GO Bravely on narolane. Denise Chaila will be performing at this year's virtual Eurosonic (ESNS) Music Festival and Conference January 19-22 and has also been nominated for a Music Moves Europe Award. The past two years have been ones of extreme highs and lows for Zambian-Irish rapper Denise Chaila. On one hand, 2020 saw her release her debut full-length GO Bravely to rave reviews, prominent television performances, and a slew of nominations, leading ...
Dec 29, 2021•3 min•Ep. 4132
Takeshi’s Cashew - "Sterndüne (Kosmodr∞m)" from the 2021 album Humans In A Pool on Laut & Luise. Takeshi’s Cashew will be performing at this year's virtual Eurosonic (ESNS) Music Festival and Conference January 19-22. Blending genres, cultures, and regions into their own sound that they’ve titled “cosmofunk,” Takeshi’s Cashew can be seen taking just as much influence from sunny ‘60s surf as they do flute-filled Scandinavian folk, German krautrock, and Latin cumbia. Formed in 2020, the young ...
Dec 28, 2021•8 min•Ep. 4131
Anna B Savage - "Corncrakes" from the 2021 album A Common Turn on City Slang. Anna B Savage will be performing at this year's virtual Eurosonic (ESNS) Music Festival and Conference January 19-22. In 2015, Anna B Savage released a straightforwardly titled EP titled just EP , with the four songs named after their tracklist placement. While it may have lacked appellative flair, the warmth and heart that radiated from her trembling vocals caught the ears of some big names like Father John Misty and ...
Dec 27, 2021•4 min•Ep. 4130
Mike Farris - "Havana Santa," a 2021 single on Compass Records. This week, we are continuing a long-held tradition of featuring Christmas-themed songs selected by Brian Foss , host of KEXP’s punk show Sonic Reducer . Brian has been doing a punk rock Christmas special every year since 2004 and has been a Christmas Day on-air DJ since 2012. He will be hosting his non-traditional Christmas broadcast from noon to 6pm on Saturday, December 25th and then will be back on air later that night for Punk R...
Dec 24, 2021•4 min•Ep. 4129
India Ramey - "Cocktail for Christmas" from the 2021 album Christmas Times A'Comin' 2021 on Medicine Show Records. This week, we are continuing a long-held tradition of featuring Christmas-themed songs selected by Brian Foss , host of KEXP’s punk show Sonic Reducer . Brian has been doing a punk rock Christmas special every year since 2004 and has been a Christmas Day on-air DJ since 2012. He will be hosting his non-traditional Christmas broadcast from noon to 6pm on Saturday, December 25th and t...
Dec 23, 2021•3 min•Ep. 4128
Phone Jerks - "!Christmas on the Floor!," a 2020 self-released single. This week, we are continuing a long-held tradition of featuring Christmas-themed songs selected by Brian Foss , host of KEXP’s punk show Sonic Reducer . Brian has been doing a punk rock Christmas special every year since 2004 and has been a Christmas Day on-air DJ since 2012. He will be hosting his non-traditional Christmas broadcast from noon to 6pm on Saturday, December 25th and then will be back on air later that night for...
Dec 22, 2021•2 min•Ep. 4127
Attendant - "Roll On May (Misery Christmas)," a 2021 self-released single. This week, we are continuing a long-held tradition of featuring Christmas-themed songs selected by Brian Foss , host of KEXP’s punk show Sonic Reducer . Brian has been doing a punk rock Christmas special every year since 2004 and has been a Christmas Day on-air DJ since 2012. He will be hosting his non-traditional Christmas broadcast from noon to 6pm on Saturday, December 25th and then will be back on air later that night...
Dec 21, 2021•4 min•Ep. 4126
SS-20 - "(No) War Toys On Christmas" from the 1987 EP Daddy's Drunk On Christmas on No Pretense Records. This week, we are continuing a long-held tradition of featuring Christmas-themed songs selected by Brian Foss , host of KEXP’s punk show Sonic Reducer . Brian has been doing a punk rock Christmas special every year since 2004 and has been a Christmas Day on-air DJ since 2012. He will be hosting his non-traditional Christmas broadcast from noon to 6pm on Saturday, December 25th and then will b...
Dec 20, 2021•2 min•Ep. 4125
Advertisement - "The Matador," a 2021 single on Fire Talk. Hot off the heels of their 4-song EP, Freedom , that came out last month, Seattle quintet Advertisement share the new single "The Matador," a song they say is about “being perceived by others as something different than you perceive yourself.” True to the aesthetic they established on their 2020 debut album American Advertisement , band members Charlie Hoffman, Carl Marck, Ryan Mangione, Jesse Rosenthal, and TJ Main combine Fleet Foxes-e...
Dec 17, 2021•3 min•Ep. 4124
Bartees Strange - "Free Kelly Rowland (feat. Armand Hammer)" from the 2021 album Live Forever (Deluxe Edition) on Memory Music. Last year, DC-based musician Bartees Strange wowed us all with his debut full-length Live Forever, a genre-defying release exploring themes of racism and resilience. For the album's one-year anniversary, he reissued the LP in a deluxe edition version, which includes a re-worked rendition of the single “Kelly Rowland”, now titled “Free Kelly Rowland”, featuring New York-...
Dec 16, 2021•3 min•Ep. 4123
Otis McDonald - "Keep It Sexy," a 2020 single on TrackTribe. Otis McDonald began as a studio experiment, where San Francisco-based producer and artist Joe Bagale spent three months writing, performing, recording, and sampling his own recordings. When it came time to release the results, Bagale looked towards two music icons to encapsulate the retro-tinged music he was composing: Shuggie Otis and Michael McDonald. "I don’t take myself seriously, but I take my music very seriously," he told Music ...
Dec 15, 2021•5 min•Ep. 4122
Sweeping Promises - "Pain Without A Touch," a 2021 single on Feel It Records / Sub Pop. On last year's debut LP Hunger for a Way Out , Sweeping Promises premiered an infectious lo-fi post-punk sound, with angular guitars, synthpop sweeps, and Lira Mondal bold, buoyant vocals. Today's Song of the Day is their first single for Sub Pop, who signed the duo up last month. Their new wave groove still firmly in place, the new track shows the group's evolution — but, with the overdubs recorded in co-fou...
Dec 14, 2021•2 min•Ep. 4121
