In Our Headphones

Jesse Markin - "Exodus (feat. Akua Naru)," a 2021 single on VILD. Born in Liberia and raised in the 100% white Finnish town of Viljakkala, singer/songwriter Jesse Markin turned to music to find himself. His 2019 debut album, Folk, landed him the "Newcomer of the Year" and the "Critics’ Choice" awards at the Emma Gala (the Finnish equivalent of The Grammys). (And, last fall, he participated in Finland's own version of the TV show Dancing with the Stars, where he placed seventh!) His follow-up full-length, NOIR, will be out June 11th; he's shared a few singles from the release already, including today's Song of the Day, which finds Markin teaming up with American rapper Akua Naru. "Before, I was scared to even reach out to certain artists to see if we can work together," he told American Songwriter. "Now though, the internet has made me feel like we’re on the same level, in a sense. I can reach out to anyone.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

IAMNOBODI - "Let It Roll Interlude (feat. Phonte & BeMyFiasco)," a 2021 self-released single. West Coast producer IAMNOBODI is hardly a nobody. Born in Düsseldorf, Germany as Dede Ademabua to a father who's a blues and jazz singer and a mother who is described as a music connoisseur, he's been making music almost all his life, starting out as an MC at the age of 13. Now a Grammy-nominated producer, he released a new EP last week titled The Interludes.  Today's Song of the Day can be found on that release. The track brings in Phonte, a fellow Grammy-nominated rapper/singer/songwriter/producer who is also a member of the North Carolina group Little Brother and one-half of the duo The Foreign Exchange, and Bianca "BeMyFiasco" Rodriguez, a previous collaborator with Phonte whose mellifluous voice also appears backing jazz pianist Robert Glasper.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Avi Loud - "Breezy" from the 2021 Flower Chased the Sunshine EP on Heckworld Radio. A photographer and multi-disciplinary artist, Avi Loud aims to use his work to "spotlight and collaborate with underrepresented artists, aligning with like-minded folks interested in uplifting their communities through music, dance, and shared experience." Born and raised in Seattle, he's currently based in Los Angeles which influenced his second EP, Flower Chased the Sunshine. Via Bandcamp, he states, "Inspired by the upheavals and transitions made during the chaotic year of 2020. I was lucky enough to have the space and time to engage in deep reflection and self-discovery, only to find (again) that everything I need, I already have within." Today's Song of the Day was chosen by DJ Mike Ramos, who says: "Avi Loud is a half-Vietnamese, half-Jewish multidisciplinary Seattle artist whose mixed background and influences shine through in his music. 'Breezy' from his Flower Chased the Sunshine EP blends elements from techno, house, juke, and UK drill beats with melodic synth leads reminiscent of ‘90s West Coast G-Funk. Airy and wavy but still knocking hard through the speakers, 'Breezy' sounds like the LA sun beaming down through the windshield as you speed down the highway with the windows cracked." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Khana Bierbood - "ลูกรัง / Dusty Lane" from the 2019 album คนแปลกหน้าจากดินแดนบูรพา​ /​ Strangers from the Far East on Guruguru Brain.​ It will come as no surprise that คณะ เบียร์บูด/Khana Bierbood (translated as "Strange Brew" in Thai) is signed to Guruguru Brain, the label founded by Go & Tomo of Kikagaku Moyo. Both bands share a psychedelic surf rock sound, one that Khana Bierbood infuses with traditional Thai influences. Even though the band is 13-years-old now (formed in Bangsaen, Chonburi, way back in 2008), they just released their debut full-length last year, Strangers From The Far East.  Today's Song of the Day was chosen by Tia Ho, Social Media & Digital Community Analyst, who describes the track as "the soundtrack of a spaghetti western in a Thai surf town. Thank you, Kikagaku Moyo, for introducing us to Khana Bierbood!” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Empat Lima - "Climbing Clouds," a 2021 self-released single. Australian-based trio Empat Lima were influenced by 1960s girl groups from South East Asia, particularly Surabaya-based 1960s all-female garage rock band Dara Puspita. (They even cover their 1967 single "Au Go Go" on their debut EP Satu BOOM!.) "Although they are amazing musicians, it is the energy and spirit of their sound that captured our attention and continues to inspire us," explained bassist and founding member Sooji Kim in an interview with the Australia‐Indonesia Youth Association. "These women were revolutionary, and it is this energy that we hope to capture in our music."  As a Korean and second-generation Australian, Kim looked to Indonesia to connect with her Asian roots, living in Jogjakarta and attending Indonesia’s Institute for the Arts (ISI). "Korea not being that convenient or close by, I guess I just turned to the nearest neighbours," she admitted to Art Radar Journal. "I went over there to live, to explore my ‘Asian-ness’ really, the sorts of values that were not being expressed here in this Western culture."  The band's connection to Indonesia inspired Kim to launch WANITA: Women’s Art Network Indonesia to Australia, an organization designed to facilitate networks between the female arts communities in Jakarta and Melbourne. "Within the last few years there’s been an escalation of expressions of racism, which seems to be more accepted," Kim said back in 2015. "And it really concerned me and started to feel like a personal issue, something that I felt like I wanted to do something about within the communities that I could express it within…I feel like if we develop more communication and connection with women in our neighbouring countries and we do it at a level where we can implement some sort of change, even though it seems like it’s in a very tiny way, I feel like there’s nothing negative about it  –  it has some potential to make a start." I (Janice Headley, Digital Content Producer -- hiya!) chose this song for this week's Song of the Day podcast after discovering the band on the Typical Girls, Volume 5 compilation (as written about in the March edition of In Our Headphones). Their post-punk-tinged surf-pop is right down my alley, and learning about their efforts to elevate South East Asian art and music just made me love them even more. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wastewomxn - "Natural Ones" from the 2020 self-released album Wastewomxn. A self-described "queer transatlantic Afro-Asia band," Wastewomxn was formed by Adedamola Bajomo (London), Tobi Adebajo (Essex), and Kyoko Takenaka (Los Angeles). On their self-titled debut album, they craft soulful songs, infusing R&B, punk, gospel, and hip-hop. In an interview with Color Bloq, Takenaka explains the cultural collaboration: I think both cultures share this return to ancient knowings and practices of healing especially, and that's where we bond directly a lot. Whether that's different healing modalities or rituals that we are incorporating into our work, or through the expression of movement and art. If we were always centering English, then we wouldn’t have that. To tie it to queerness — this concept of “unbinary alien” —  I think that's something we embrace as diasporic cultures in saying we have been othered in western society [while simultaneously asking,] what does it look like when we actually value those roots and ancient knowings and then connect directly. During this pandemic, I think a lot of people are seeing that american and western is truly not the way and already failing, so people around the world are going back to their roots in different ways saying 'hey what do we already know about survival and interdependence and [what] can we bring that to the table.' Today's Song of the Day was chosen by Wei Wei Xiao, Community Engagement Coordinator. “'Natural Ones’ extraterrestrial energy captures the diasporic feelings of cultural alienation and yearning for rootedness," she shares. “Lyrically, the song interweaves Japanese, English and Yoruba to tell stories about what it means to forget, remember, and reclaim your roots.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 release these meditative tracks to all.  As he told KEXP's Dusty Henry, "Whenever I would feel anxious or depressed – and that was a lot throughout the past few years of my life – I was expressing that through music. It always helped me feel better. That's the power of music, in a way. It helps you get through a lot of the tough times in your life. During those moments, I couldn't express it in making a beat or making all "hype music." I would feel more connected to like my improvisational side. So I guess that's how I represented those emotions by playing solo piano music or making loops and such." Today's Song of the Day was chosen by Isabel Khalili, Podcast Producer & Licensing Administrator, who says, "I love the backstory of this Lionmilk record, and how he used music to soothe his community through trying times. This (aptly named) song transports me to a big green field surrounded by rolling hills and a pastel sky. I hope it takes you somewhere nice too." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 predominantly white music genre via his research. “Even though I grew up in Nashville and grew up loving that music and literally in the industry,” he says via a press release, “there was always something that didn’t fit, because I look the way I do.”  Today's Song of the Day, in particular, tells the tale of the George Igawa Orchestra, an all-Japanese jazz band formed by residents of the Heart Mountain War Relocation Center, a Japanese internment camp in Wyoming. Saporiti explains the song: An all Asian American big band who formed in a Wyoming concentration camp during WWII — how could I not be captivated by that story?  I went to a jazz college, studied jazz history, and never learned about ANY musicians who looked like me. It was only after I moved to Wyoming and saw this photograph of the George Igawa Orchestra that I realized, as an Asian American musician, I am part of a rich lineage.  A decade later, I have this pile of songs illuminating a diverse array of Asian American and immigrant stories which sadly, seem more relevant now than ever and it all started with the 'The Best God Damn Band in Wyoming.' This band would hit the road to play school proms and town dances only to go back behind barbed wire after the gig. And Igawa himself should be taught about as a musical pioneer who fused Japanese instruments and music with his big band. To play music at all during a situation like the Japanese American Incarceration was astounding and I'm happy that through this little tune a few more people will know about this band.  Who knows, maybe their story can be a gateway into understanding the complex, diverse and rich history of Asian Americans. The George Igawa Orchestra deserves a novel or a movie, but at least, now, they have a song. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Kiwese, “When we decided to record, we started to see the songs as having something coherent. We had a lot of discussion about the character moving from one emotional state to another, experiencing the details of her life as she changed to a new one — even now we are still trying to picture the shape.” Guitarist Ji Yinan agrees, adding, "The ideas in these songs are not static." Chen concludes, "“We see ourselves as story starters. We want to start the story, and let people write the rest themselves.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.