In Our Headphones

MMYYKK feat. Ricki Monique - "Bliss" from the 2023 album The Midst of Things on SwayHeavy Records. On his latest LP, The Midst of Things, Minneapolis-based musician and instrumentalist MMYYKK (pronounced "Mike") reflects on the state of the country today. Today's Song of the Day asks the questions, “Who can I trust in a world of deep fakes? Is there any objective truth in a world with 'alternative facts'? Is there one true reality or is it all subjective?" "This album is also the culmination of my processing of the trauma and hardship I experienced over the pandemic and civil unrest in Minneapolis over the last few years," he explains on his Bandcamp. "The deep levels of depression that come with living in a black body in this country. The rejection, the anger and frustration, and the fear of having my body destroyed simply for expressing that anger in the presence of the wrong white body." He adds, "My goal with this album is to provoke conversations and create engagement around these questions and themes. but also to give you something new and inspiring while opening you up to the full spectrum of my sound and voice." Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

C.S. Armstrong - "SOUL SURVIVOR (feat. Buddy)" from the 2023 album COME AS YOU ARE on TOP OF THE BOOT RECORDS. Today's Song off the Day is more than just a song; as C.S. Armstrong writes on social media, "shit really is my life and a proclamation to never stop." On today's featured track, the Texas-born bluesman teams up with Los Angeles-based rapper Buddy. As Armstrong writes, "I moved to LA in 2015, after living in New York I became more recluse. Wasn’t tryna work with many folks but in my time here I can honestly say @buddy has become one of my fav folks I’ve worked with. Reminds me of a cousin n he always show up for me. You are appreciated man, thank you for your phenomenal contribution to COME AS YOU ARE."Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On her latest EP, California-based artist Dea Galore teams up with L.A. group The Melodiks for a sunny, soulful set of songs. On today's Song of the Day, she invites guest vocalist Georgia Anne Muldrow, who she says has "impacted me and touched my soul since 2009... definitely a pinch-myself experience." The Flow was recorded in 2021, during the quarantine. "The ffirst timewe all made music together was golden and we were hooked," Galore continues. "We would meet up at what I call 'The Womb' haha because of how cozy it feels in there and how creative we got in there." She adds, "I hope you feel the genuine creativity and vibe we all experienced while making this project. We are all deep music lovers/ nerds/ fanatics! I’m so grateful for the experience, and I’m so grateful that we can share it with everyone."Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guests Taylor Hayden, Stephen Ibanez Jr., and Evan House of Bread Pilot discuss their album 'New To You' and their experiences recording it. They reflect on the desire to escape challenging circumstances and feeling overwhelmed.

Glasser - "Vine" from the 2023 album crux on One Little Independent Records Cameron Mesirow — who records under the name Glasser — returns this fall with her first album in a decade, and her third album overall, titled crux. It'll be released October 6th via One Little Independent Records. "Just getting back to making songs was hard for me after the last album," Mesirow explained in a press release. "When I made my first album, I didn’t have an established routine of trying and failing, it was very immediate. The second record was made after a few years of touring, which is a very unstable life, and I still didn’t establish a relationship to creating things regularly. After its release, I didn’t have a center from which to recompose myself. The thing that finally brought me back to music as a positive experience was that I began taking lessons to learn Balkan singing. I wanted to try to learn all this vocal gymnastic stuff that I was listening to in the Bulgarian state television choir records. I started writing songs and working toward an album." Today's Song of the Day combines electronic beats with soaring strings, calling to mind Björk's own dramatic, cinematic soundscapes. “I wanted to create something where all the parts sound like they're very separated,” Mesirow continues. “I was thinking like jazz, actually. It was about getting back to writing music after feeling a bit disconnected from the machinery around making music your profession.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Budos Band - "Frontier's Edge," a 2023 single on Diamond West Records. After six soulful albums and two EPs on Daptone Records, the New York collective The Budos Band are releasing their new EP Frontier’s Edge via their own label, Diamond West. “It’s just a natural growth,” said guitarist Tom Brenneck in a press release. “We’re going further away from the sound of Daptone and into territory they probably wanted to stay away from.” That territory is still a psych-heavy instrumental one, inspired by old school R&B, as you can hear on today's Song of the Day. “Somehow, we wrote six songs in two days,” says drummer Brian Profilio. “Tom was able to take what we were doing and put it together in a cohesive manner.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

bdrmm - "It's Just a Bit of Blood," a 2023 single on Rock Action Records When post-rock icons Mogwai sign you to their label, Rock Action, you know you gotta be doing something right. Such is the case for Hull-based quartet bdrmm, whose second full-length, titled I Don’t Know, was just released by the label back in June. “After touring with Mogwai and forming such a close relationship with them, we feel blessed to have been invited to work with them and their team," the band said via a press release. "To be on the same label as Arab Strap too? I mean, say no more.” On today's Song of the Day, the band capture a favorite live track.  Lead vocalist Ryan Smith shares, “The more we played it, the more it dawned on us it was becoming something special, and an integral part of our set. Lyrically, it stems from my recent mental health awareness. I’d become depressed and very socially anxious, I really felt like I had changed and didn’t know who I was. I am lucky enough to be surrounded by three of my brothers within this band – one literally by blood – and have always been able to be myself with them. It’s about realising what you have and remembering that when you can’t see it.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dengue Fever - "Touch Me Not," from the 2023 album Ting Mong on Tuk Tuk Records. Los Angeles-based Cambodian psych band Dengue Fever return with their sixth studio album Ting Mong, to be released September 15th via their own Tuk Tuk Records. The band explain a "ting mong" is "a decoy or mannequin, similar to a scarecrow, used to fight away evil spirits and plagues." Following the pandemic, couldn't we all use a ting mong to protect us? Today's Song of the Day originated from a melody vocalist Chhom Nimol came up with one day. Her band members built the hypnotic groove around her voice. “We gave ourselves parameters recording Ting Mong, but we smashed the rules we created for ourselves on past albums,” bassist Senon Williams told Flood Magazine. “The songs’ sole purpose was to let Chhom’s voice soar. It was our mood or perhaps the mood of the world that gave us focus on the sublime and the melancholy." Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

High Pulp - "Unified Dakotas (feat. Jeff Parker)" from the 2023 album Days In The Desert on ANTI-. Los Angeles-based jazz collective High Pulp team up with Jeff Parker of Tortoise on today's Song of the Day. The track can be found on the band's adventurous new LP Days In The Desert, out now via Anti- Records. “We have been fans of Jeff Parker (both solo and his work with Tortoise) for years, and when thinking about who the right person may be to collaborate with on this song it became abundantly clear once I threw his name out," explained High Pulp's drummer Bobby Granfelt in a press release. "Jeff’s maturity and humility shine throughout this song. It tells a story and feels more like watching someone make a painting than listening to a traditional guitar solo.” “'Unified Dakotas' was one of the last songs that we wrote, and it quickly became one of the band’s favorite songs from Days In The Desert,” he continues. ”If you listen to the trumpet writing you can hear explicit choices and tones inspired by [the 1959 Miles Davis album] Sketches of Spain; we felt this song called for that color palette: playful, tense, and slightly indignant.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sweeping Promises - "You Shatter" from the 2023 album Good Living Is Coming For You on Feel It Records. Sweeping Promises weren't kidding when they titled their second LP Good Living Is Coming for You. The duo of Lira Mondal and Caufield Schnug used the advance they received from Sub Pop Records to purchase a home in Lawrence, Kansas. In an interview with Pitchfork, they explain how they used the back of the house to build a recording studio where they crafted their latest album. (They've also recorded 40 other bands there in the past year alone!) Lira and Caufield describe today's Song of the Day as “our ode to being a hammer,” something they surely understand after their renovations. Catch Sweeping Promises on September 15th at Madame Lou’s. And check out Martin Douglas's album review for Good Living is Coming for You here.  Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.