Live on KEXP

You know that feeling you get when you hear something that's just the right kind of new? Seattle-born, Brooklyn-based Kassa Overall is redefining jazz for a new era, chopping and screwing live improvisations to make his own densely experimental and colorful world. In May, he unveiled his third release in less than two years, 'SHADES OF FLU,' a play on Madlib's iconic 'Shades of Blue' that has been called "a gift for the Corona-weary masses." For Live on KEXP, Troy Nelson explores the influences and personal journey that led to the one-of-a-kind style of music that Overall describes as "backpack jazz" before Overall and band burst into one of the most unique live sessions KEXP's ever hosted.  Recorded 03/02/2020. Prison and Pharmaceuticals My Friend Darkness In Mind Who's On The Playlist? Watch the full Live on KEXP session on YouTube.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Singer/songwriter Andy Shauf is a master storyteller who adeptly weaves complex stories and tenderly realistic emotions with softly strummed folk rock. Earlier this year, he released his sixth studio album, ’The Neon Skyline,’ via Anti- and received critical acclaim for his skillful songwriting that centered around the concept of one man’s perspective of a particular night in a dive bar. For Live on KEXP, Troy Nelson details Shauf’s upbringing in a tiny town in Saskatchewan, from Radio Shack to Christian pop-punk as well as his musical journey from the tiny record label P is for Panda to a Polaris nomination. Jeff Tweedy even makes an appearance to bestow accolades upon the Canadian musician so you know Shauf is legit. Recorded 02/25/2020. Neon Skyline Thirteen Hours Try Again Things I Do Watch the full Live on KEXP session on YouTubeSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chicago poet and R&B songstress Jamila Woods is a budding phenom and self-love champion who radiates radically positive energy. Last year, she released her sophomore full-length, 'LEGACY! LEGACY!' Each of the 13 tracks on the album is named after and inspired by an influential cultural figure who has made an impact on Woods, including people like poet Nikki Giovanni, singer/actor/activist Eartha Kitt, and influential author and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston. This episode of Live on KEXP delves into the “sonic monument to iconic black and brown artists” that is 'LEGACY! LEGACY!' while connecting the dots between Jamila Woods, science fiction writer Octavia E Butler, and a particularly significant recurring date in history - February 24th. Recorded 02/25/2020. ZORA GIOVANNI EARTHA Holy Watch the full Live on KEXP session on YouTube KEXP is a listener-funded nonprofit, and we need your help to keep creating podcasts like this one. Donate now for our Fall Fundraising Drive! Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the past 14 years, Metronomy has released 6 albums that span such a diverse range of genres and sonic textures that it’s tough to pin down exactly how to categorize them. If you must, then you could call them indietronica (or electro-indie, if you prefer). Created and led by English musician Joseph Mount, the band technically includes Oscar Cash, Anna Prior, Olugbenga Adelekan, and Michael Lovett but in its embryonic stage, it's actually a solo project. Delve into why that’s the case and how solitude can be beneficial in this week’s episode of Live on KEXP. “For oft, when on my couch I lie, in vacant or in pensive mood…” Recorded 02/17/2020. Lately The Light Wedding Bells Salted Caramel Ice Cream Watch the full Live on KEXP session on YouTube KEXP is a listener-funded nonprofit, and we need your help to keep creating podcasts like this one. Donate now for our Fall Fundraising Drive! Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Philadelphia’s Dr. Dog have spent two decades specializing in bright, jaunty sing-along tunes that have captured the hearts of a large and rabid fanbase. Troy Nelson delves into the history of our favorite riff-rockers, from bassist Toby Leaman and guitarist Scott McMicken’s high school band Raccoon to the lore of Dr. Dog’s first album The Psychedelic Swamp and all the way up to their most recent record, 2018’s Critical Equation. Along the way, Nelson educates us on the merits of analog recording as well as why it could be “freakin’ genius” for a band to start their own label. Dr. Dog likes to play in the city of Seattle on Valentine's Day - DJ Cheryl Waters says that means they must love us! Believe it or not, this was recorded live February 14th, 2020. That’s like right before… Recorded 02/14/2020. Ladada Over Here, Over There Buzzing In The Light Under The Wheels Watch the full Live on KEXP session on YouTubeSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listening to Yīn Yīn, you might expect the band to hail from the country from which their main source of inspiration is derived: Thailand. Instead, the quartet were surprisingly born and bred in the city of Maastricht in the Netherlands. That doesn’t stop them from skillfully employing their twist on 1960s psychedelia from South East Asia, alongside a long list of other inspirations including disco, rock, dub, funk, and western. HAW PIN! This expression of unity is posted everywhere in Maastricht during the ongoing pandemic. Recorded 12/07/2019. Pingpxng One Inch Punch Chông ky Dis̄ Kô Dis̄ Kô Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Burien’s biggest musical export Travis Thompson has been building buzz since signing a record deal with major label Epic last year to release his latest album Reckless Endangerment. Filling the KEXP stage with a full band, the young rapper spits his flows gracefully and effortlessly like a seasoned pro. Troy Nelson traces Thompson’s trajectory from spitting rhymes over Lil Wayne beats to open mics to Macklemore to major label signing. For those unfamiliar, Nelson also explains the geographical relationship of Burien to Seattle and the complications of repping a small, largely-unknown city. Everyone’s always from the biggest city near to where they're really actually from.   Recorded 01/07/2020. The Move Malice Mad Mad World Don’t Run Watch the full Live on KEXP session on YouTube (This session was previously aired on the KEXP Live Performances podcast)Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brother band Moundrag brag about their lack of guitars, which may not seem like a big deal, but you try making heavy progressive psych without it! Camille and Colin Goallen created the band from a former 4-piece project called Smooth Motion. Troy Nelson dives into a history lesson on other notable bands that have spawned from less-notable projects while also giving us the 411 on Moundrag, who hail from a small town outside of Rennes, France. The capital of the region of Brittany is where KEXP caught Moundrag for this Live on KEXP session at the fantastic Trans Musicales festival, where they wowed the audience with a fun, energetic set consisting of costumes, dueling vocals, furious percussion, wailing keys and more gongs than there are members in the band. Dang we miss going to local music shows. Recorded 12/04/2019 My Woman Hangman The Priest & The Whore Watch the full Live on KEXP session on YouTubeSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Swiss six-piece L’Eclair make eccentric grooves inspired by an eclectic combination of sources including dub, funk, krautrock, ambient, and prog. A jam band at heart, the Geneva band can stretch sets out for hours at a time, if the audience so desires. Which, they usually do. We hop the pond for a dash of European culture on this week’s Live on KEXP. Witness Troy Nelson attempt to educate listeners on the history of and difference between L’Eclair, the band, and eclairs, the French pastry, while reciting Charlotte Brontë. Imagine him with a wood pipe in hand, if necessary. “I could not go in: too resistless was the delight of staying with the wild hour.” Recorded 12/08/2019. Dallas Coke Mountain Castor MacDavid Disco Dino / Suite / Suite No. 2 Watch the full Live on KEXP session on YouTubeSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welsh band The Joy Formidable have spent the past decade making stadium-ready indie rock opuses that sound larger than life itself. In 2019, after releasing four great albums, the band celebrated the 10-year anniversary of their debut EP, 'A Balloon Called Moaning,' with a deluxe re-issue and a major tour behind the album. That’s when the band found themselves amongst the glimmering lights of KEXP’s in-studio session room to play four songs. Troy Nelson details the history of the band, from the hallowed halls of KEXP in late 2019 to their roots as a band called Tricky Nixon, while also weaving in some education on the history of impeachment amongst American presidents. Kierkegaard said “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Recorded 12/17/2019. The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade Y Bluen Eira While The Flies Passerby Watch the full Live on KEXP session on YouTubeSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.