Kexp Song Of The Day

Angélica Garcia - "El Que," a 2023 single on Partisan Records The title to today's Song of the Day roughly translates to English as "the fact that," and songwriter Angélica Garcia describes the lyrics as "a specific inner monologue that I have navigated most of my life." The Brooklyn-based artist continues in a press statement, "Keeping myself and my body safe as a woman is such a careful dance that I often play out in my head, like a lion tamer facing a lion. The vocals were done in one take, and the performance required so much of my energy I couldn’t sing for two days afterwards. The chorus gets its power from all the backing voices coming in to support me from another realm, and it’s where I name the danger. When you’re exorcizing a demon, you have to call it by its name." The track was produced by Chicano Batman’s Carlos Arévalo, and marks the first time Garcia has released a single in her native language.  Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/lis

This week’s Song of the Day picks were chosen by Sharlese, in honor of Halloween week. For more dark sounds in various wave and synth genres, check out her show Mechanical Breakdown, Friday nights/Saturday mornings from 1-3 AM PT.  Vancouver-based duo Wire Spine has been weaving their industrial-influenced darkwave sound since 2015. It's been a few years since their debut full-length, Bury Me Here, but we're excited to share their brand new single as today's Song of the Day. On Facebook, founding members Robert and Jesi say to "keep an eye out for details about the full album release." Wire Spine is playing Sunday, November 12th in Seattle at Substation with Actors, Dead Spells, and Graveyard Gossip. Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brixx - Erotomania (feat. Kim Little) from the 2023 album Erotomania on SYNTHICIDE This week’s Song of the Day picks were chosen by Sharlese, in honor of Halloween. For more dark sounds in various wave and synth genres, check out her show Mechanical Breakdown, Friday nights/Saturday mornings from 1-3 AM PT.  Melbourne, Australia-based DJ, producer, and composer Brixx teams up with Kim Little aka Hnymlk on today's Song of the Day. The single comes off Brixx's latest LP, Erotomania, which was inspired by film scores from Wang Chung's soundtrack for To Live and Die in L.A. to cinematic composers Harold Faltermeyer, Brad Fiedel, and Claudio Simonetti. “I wanted to create a soundscape that was an amalgamation of the musical palette defined by these films — icy synths, gated drums and arpeggiated bass,” Brixx says in a press statement. “The challenge was to create instrumental pieces I could imagine in such a film, and then to use the defining elements of these scores to create music that could also be played on a

XTR Human - "I Want More" from a forthcoming full-length out 2024 on Wie ein Gott Records This week’s Song of the Day picks were chosen by Sharlese, in honor of Halloween. For more dark sounds in various wave and synth genres, check out her show Mechanical Breakdown, Friday nights/Saturday mornings from 1-3 AM PT.  With today's Song of the Day, German post-punk project XTR Human shares an early listen at their forthcoming full-length out 2024 via Wie ein Gott Records. Johannes Stabel, the long-time mastermind behind the act, describes today's featured track as "a deep dive into an unyielding urge to consume."  Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nature Nvoke - "Shadow" a 2023 self-released single This week’s Song of the Day picks were chosen by Sharlese, in honor of Halloween. For more dark sounds in various wave and synth genres, check out her show Mechanical Breakdown, Friday nights/Saturday mornings from 1-3 AM PT.  Cleveland-based musician Nate Eberhardt explores the gamut of genres, first through hip-hop and punk rock, but now, with his project Nature Nvoke, through darkwave electronic music. He reflects to Black Techno Matters about the moment he discovered this style: It was like nothing else I'd ever heard before. It wasn't just about the sound; it was about how it made me feel. That's when I realized that making music is not just about telling a story or giving people something to dance to; it's also about what happens in your head when you listen to it. And that's why this project is so important: because when we take our own experiences and make them into something bigger than ourselves, we're able to share them with others who may need t

El Ojo y La Navaja - "Cuerpo Muerto" from the 2021 self-released album Extimidad This week’s Song of the Day picks were chosen by Sharlese, in honor of Halloween. For more dark sounds in various wave and synth genres, check out her show Mechanical Breakdown, Friday nights/Saturday mornings from 1-3 AM PT.  Today's Song of the Day comes from El Ojo y la Navaja, a minimal synth project out of Mexico masterminded by musician Erick Arévalo. For this featured track, he collaborated with Paola Gaona aka Fatal Error, an artist from Colombia. You can find the song on his debut LP Extimidad, which he says was inspired by "the sinister mental illness and despair brought on by obsession." Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Small Paul - "Miner for a Dream" from the 2023 self-released album Come Alive & Live Again When you've got four talented musicians in your COVID bubble, the only thing to do during the pandemic is start a band! This is how Ballard-based quartet Small Paul came to be, featuring housemates Kevin Murphy from The Moondoggies, Chris King and Malcolm Roberts from Chris King & The Gutterballs, and Seth McDonald from All Star Opera. Their debut LP, Come Alive & Live Again, was produced by Erik Blood. Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jungle - "Dominoes" from the 2023 album Volcano on Caoila Records/ AWAL. British production duo Jungle return with their fourth LP, Volcano, and this time around, they've tapped into some collaborators like Erick The Architect, Bas, Roots Manuva, Channel Tres, and JNR Williams. The result is a full-length co-founder J Lloyd tells NME is "actually really the most honest record we’ve made." “In my head, I see us as like Daft Punk or Chemical Brothers – that sort of duo that makes electronic music," he continues. “But we’ve always had this soul side and this love for soul music, so it’s always been a little bit more song-based. The new record is just an extension of that journey.” Today's Song of the Day reflects this new direction, with its effervescent vibe and warmth.  Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Activity - "Department of Blood" from the 2023 album Spirit in the Room on Western Vinyl The latest LP from Brooklyn band Activity — titled Spirit in the Room — is appropriately "haunting." Songs take inspiration from the loss of vocalist/mutli-instrumentalist Travis Johnson's mother to pancreatic cancer, including today's Song of the Day.  “The grief was (and sometimes is) this colossal thing,” he shares in a press statement, “and I kept finding myself thinking of how I could find her or get in touch with her, like there was a phone number or address and I just had to find it.” As he explains to Flood Magazine, “Department of Blood" tackles these frustrations, “the feeling of knowing you’re being manipulated by something way more powerful than you and also knowing you can do absolutely nothing about it. Just that resignation. It seemed to work.”  Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Grandaddy - "The Town Where I'm Livin Now" from the 2023 album Sunday: Excess Baggage on Dangerbird Records Long-time KEXP faves Grandaddy recently a digital-only collection of rarities and b-sides titled Sumday: Excess Baggage. With a career spanning three decades, there are a lot of gems within, including today's Song of the Day, a dreamy tribute to songwriter Jason Lytle's home in California. “I like making songs like this," he shares in a press release. "Lots of bleak but sweet visuals. Everyday stuff available for everyone to see…but some of us just end up with the twisted work of documenting it.” On the collection, he continues: “After many years of hammering away at writing and recording as Grandaddy, Sumday seems to be the center of it and where it all peaked. To the journalists we were, ‘On the verge of greatness, underrated, overlooked, unsung.’ It was a tumultuous and exciting time for us for sure. Also very exhausting." “Revisiting this material and reflecting on those times has been a double edge

Tycho - "Time to Run" a 2023 single on Mom + Pop Records It should come as no surprise that our host of The Runcast should choose the track "Time To Run" for today's Song of the Day. Like KEXP DJ John Richards, Scott Hansen — the producer behind long-running electronic project Tycho — is a runner. As he explains in a press statement: “Music has always served as a kind of meditation for me, long before I started creating it. As a competitive runner throughout my early life, I would play back loops of songs in my head to cope with the stress of races, focusing on rhythmic elements to help pace myself and stay calm. There is a unique form of clarity that I have found through the meditative practice of running, it is a fundamentally human experience and when I feel the deepest connection between the mind, body and nature. ‘Time To Run’ is my attempt to translate these ideas into music. My goal was to approach the composition from a new angle and let the rhythmic elements take the lead. I cast the melodic elements

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Dabda - "Flower Tail" from the 2023 album Yonder on Electric Muse Records Korean quartet Dabda / 다브다 call their unique brand of math-rock "Pastel Psychedelic," which you can hear in the soft, dreamy sonic waves they weave on their latest EP Yonder.  Though based in Seoul, the band found inspiration in a recent trip to Thailand, describing it as "an intense experience." "The gap between the manufactured nature in vacation spots, which we usually are comforted with, and the nature that exists wildly was interesting," they continue in a press release. "We tried to capture the changing of air according to the season when the songs were made and I hope that the various temperaments of nature contained in each song will comfort and liberate the listeners." Today's Song of the Day "tells the story of a voyage through the horizon, sailing on a flower boat in the tropical sea. At the same time, the song is about the ones who set sail and leave for somewhere. In southern Thailand, the bow of a long-tailed wooded boat i

During KEXP’s fall fund drive, discover the variety of music podcasts we produce at KEXP and hear some of our favorite clips from each one. We’re thankful to the thousands of amplifiers who already donate to KEXP, building the foundation for our community of storytelling, and we want you to join them with a one-time donation or a recurring gift! 50 Years of Hip-Hop: https://www.kexp.org/podcasts/50-years-of-hip-hop/ El Sonido: https://www.kexp.org/podcasts/el-sonido/ Fresh off the Spaceship: https://www.kexp.org/podcasts/fresh-off-the-spaceship/ Live on KEXP: https://www.kexp.org/podcasts/live-on-kexp/ Sound and Vision: https://www.kexp.org/podcasts/sound-vision/ Song of the Day: https://www.kexp.org/podcasts/song-of-the-day/ KEXP Podcasts on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kexppodcasts Donate today: kexp.org/donateSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Subsonic Eye - "Performative," from the 2023 album All Around You on Topshelf Records. Singaporean dream-pop group Subsonic Eye continue their exploration of nature on their latest LP, All Around You. This examination of the natural world around urban landscapes began on their third album, 2021's Nature of Things. "Ticking boxes / charging laptops / separating causes from ourselves," they sing on today's Song of the Day. "Nature is everywhere around you, even in the city," vocalist Nur Wahidah told Whiteboard Journal last year. "It adds something special like cycling to school. It’s not just going to school — enjoying your time outside. I feel like a lot of people would think of it as like, 'oh, I live in the city, that means I can’t go into nature and stuff.' But, I think we all realized that nature is everywhere around us." Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

James and the Cold Gun - "Something to Say" from their self-titled 2023 album on Loosegroove Records Often referred to as “South Wales’ loudest group,” the Cardiff, UK-based garage rockers James and the Cold Gun share their self-titled debut album via Seattle's own Loosegroove Records, the label owned by Stone Gossard (Pearl Jam) & Regan Hagar (Malfunkshun, Brad, Satchel). Gossard describes the band as "a shot of pure adrenaline," and invited the group to open for Pearl Jam at their Hyde Park show.  Frontman James Joseph calls the new LP, "a no frills rock and roll ripper recorded ourselves in the garage where we first started jamming as a band, we think it’s a great introduction to what we’re about at our core, loud, energetic guitar rock." Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

DAIISTAR - "Speed Jesus" from the 2023 album Good Time on Fuzz Club Records Austin, TX psych-rock band DAIISTAR shine on their debut LP Good Time. The album was produced by Alex Maas of The Black Angels and engineered by James Petralli of White Denim. Formed in the Spring of 2020, Alex Capistran (vocals/guitar), Nick Cornetti (drums), Misti Hamrick (bass) and Derek Strahan (keys) escaped the doldrums of the pandemic through sonic waves of guitar.  “To us, these songs were a glimmer of light," Capistran says in a press release. “Starting a band at the peak of the pandemic to some might seem ill-timed, but to us it was a way to escape for a moment. There was something to look forward to and we kept our heads in the future. These songs guided us through some dark times and hopefully they can do the same for you. GOOD TIME is here.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Drew Martin - "Second Nature," from the 2023 album Where's Your Feet on Kritter Records Kānaka Maoli singer/songwriter Drew Martin recently returned to Seattle from Maui, releasing his latest LP Where’s Your Feet?. As he writes on Instagram, "There’s some joy on this record, there’s some grit on this record, there’s some chicken skin on this record." Drew utilizes a Hawaiian slack-key guitar in his folky blues-style songs, as you can hear on today's Song of the Day.  Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Miiesha - "Made for Silence," from the 2022 self-released album Smoke & Mirrors Though still in her early-20s, R&B artist Miiesha is already a five-time ARIA nominee (like the Australian GRAMMYs) and NIMA (National Indigenous Music Awards) award-winning artist. Her 2019 debut LP, Nyaaringu, explored themes of growing up in Woorabinda — an Aboriginal community in Queensland — with interludes of her late Grandmother's voice woven between the songs. ("For me, she was and always will stay with me as the strongest voice in my life, so I felt she had to be a part of this with me," Miiesha told Stack in 2020.)  On today's Song of the Day, Miiesha continues to explore her grief at the loss of her grandmother, as well as examine her complex relationship with her mom.  "I wasn't in a good place in my journey [when I wrote this song]. This was around the time that my Nana passed, and I was also going through a tough time with my mum. My writing sessions were really dragging on because I was going through it; I r

Bobby Sanchez - "the premonition (lethalneedle)" from the 2023 album Melancholy Tgirl on Harawiq Records "Indigenous people is who I pray for / The past can be painful so we face forward" A veteran Song of the Day featured artist, American-Peruvian Indigenous songwriter Bobby Sanchez kicked off 2023 with their sixth EP, titled Melancholy Tgirl. The three-song release continues Sanchez's mission of using art to speak out for Indigenous rights, as well as for LGBTQ+ rights, environmental preservation, immigration, and more.  Sanchez's Indigenous blood originates from Ayacucho, Peru; she was born and raised on Lenape and Siwanoy land. Sanchez found her voice through poetry at seven; by age 15, she was attending poetry slams and open mics, which soon evolved into hip-hop compositions. Today's Song of the Day features fierce verses against a delicate looped piano piece, resulting in an empowering, thoughtful groove.  Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/lis