In Our Headphones

Sólveig Matthildur - "Dystopian Boy" from the 2019 album Constantly In Love on Artoffact Records. As a member of Icelandic trio Kælan Mikla, vocalist/keyboardist Sólveig Matthildur knows her way around atmospheric synth-pop. When she relocated from her hometown of Reykjavík to Berlin, she began to produce music on her own, resulting in the 2016 debut LP Unexplained Miseries & the Acceptance of Sorrow, which went on to win the Icelandic Kraumur Award. Her 2019 follow-up album, Constantly in Love, continued to expand on her goth-tinged new wave, adding a little light to the darkness with the single "Dystopian Boy." The track features L.A.-based artist Deb Demure (aka Drab Majesty) on guitar, and together they craft an ethereal, '80s-inspired track that would fit right into a John Hughes movie. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sinead O’Brien - "Taking On Time" from the 2019 album Speedy Wunderground - Year 4 on Speedy Wunderground. Esteemed London-based label Speedy Wunderground celebrated their 30th release with a new track by Irish poet Sinead O’Brien. O’Brien's work has been published for years, including a short story of hers printed in the London Review Of Books. Punk poet John Cooper Clarke invited her to open for him on a spoken word tour, a moment that changed her life. "He actually introduced me to the music of Mark E. Smith – probably one of my most valuable references ever," she recalled in an interview with Loud & Quiet. Like The Fall frontman, O’Brien recites her lines with a stoic cadence, an oratorical delivery, though hers is thick with an Irish brogue.  “I would love people to dance to it,” she continued. “It’s the pace. I always try to do things faster than anyone will let me, then it gets pulled back just a tinge. Runaway, that’s my feeling. Always.” Read the full post at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

L’éclair - "Suite No. 2" from the 2019 album Sauropoda on Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records. It's not surprising to learn that L’Eclair recorded their latest LP Sauropoda from an undisclosed location in the Alps: their music displays an array of influences as vast as the famous European mountain range itself. From krautrock to disco with Afro-Cuban percussion, the Swiss septet managed to capture an atmospheric groove in a 48-hour recording session.  Bassist Elie Ghersinu explained to Popmatters, "We were just thinking of recording the last jams that we had developed during the last year's shows, and I think we just got inspired in the moment and we recorded some new jams, new songs, and it turned out to be an album. It was not meant to be an album." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Balkan Taksim - "Zalina," a 2019 self-released single. True to their name, Balkan Taksim take the traditional folk music of their homeland and combine it with psychedelic electronic beats that their Romanian ancestors never could've imagined. Formed by multi-instrumentalist Sașa-Liviu Stoianovici, producer Alin Zăbrăuțeanu, and percussionist Cosmo, the band thrive on stage, hypnotizing the hips of the audience. In a press release, Stoianovici explains that today's featured track is "about a strong-minded, beautiful girl and a man who is desperately in love with her. Musically, the song epitomises some of the directions we're pursuing, with its Romanian traditional vocals and keyboard stylings and laid-back yet dance floor-oriented trip-hop electronics."  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jesse Markin - “Run” from the 2019 album FOLK on VILD Music.  Finnish rapper Jesse Markin got his start with the group The Megaphone State, building up a cult following with their soulful samples and smooth, versatile rhymes. While you can still these elements in Markin’s solo music, there’s a newfound intensity that’s risen to the surface on his first LP FOLK. It was a conscious decision to begin addressing serious topics, from love and loneliness to xenophobia and greed.  On “Run” you can feel this immediately with a rush of thundering drums, synthesizer droning, and pitched-up chants. The energy only picks up as Markin jumps in, delivering fiery verses over industrial beats. Through the chaos his voice rises as the most dominant force in the music as he exudes his greatness while sneering at those stuck in their prejudices.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tomo Nakayama - "Get To Know You" from the 2020 self-released album Melonday. This week, Tomo Nakayama, master of cinematic indie-folk and former leader of local band Grand Hallway, flipped the script by releasing his very first dancefloor-ready record, Melonday. A massive departure from his tender, tranquil songs of past, the record is chock-full of groovy pop anthems. Our Song of the Day is the album’s lead single, “Get to Know You.”  “Tell me stories, tell me rhymes, tell me anything you like / Tell me all about the good things that could make you feel alive,” croons Nakayama over a propulsive beat that simmers and shakes. Co-produced with Yuuki Matthews, of the Shins and Teardrops, the song is a bright and beautiful synth-filled banger. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sharon Van Etten - "Beaten Down," a 2020 single on Jagjaguwar. Sharon Van Etten is on a roll. Following last year’s masterful studio album Remind Me Tomorrow, the singer-songwriter and actress returned in February with the smoldering single “Beaten Down.” The minimal song is dark and spacious, evoking the dubby trip-hop of the ‘90s.  Produced by John Congleton, the song focuses on “love, patience, and empathy,” Van Etten said in a statement. “It’s about making life-changing choices and remaining strong enough to see them through.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

RINSE - "Tell Me Tell Me Tell Me," a 2020 self-released single. Last month, Brisbane artist Joe Agius, member and co-writer of Hatchie, debuted his first material under the name RINSE. Titled “Tell Me Tell Me Tell Me,” the song is an infectious throwback mashup of post-punk, shoegaze, and new wave and was mixed by Jorge Elbrecht (Ariel Pink, Japanese Breakfast, Wild Nothing, Sky Ferreira) and mastered by Heba Kadry (Bjork, Slowdive, Beach House, Deerhunter). Agius has this to say about the song: “‘Tell Me Tell Me Tell Me' was recorded late last year at Airlock Studios in Brisbane and sonically sits in the middle of a lot of the music I've been getting ready in RINSE so felt like the right place to begin in. The song talks about a time in my life when I was wrapped up in a lifestyle that wasn't doing great things for my mental health and I lived in a place that only really encouraged that behavior. While I still have many things to figure out, I realized leaving this period of my life that a lot of what I was doing to make myself feel better was really making myself feel a lot worse.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andy Shauf - "Try Again" from the 2020 album The Neon Skyline on ANTI- Records. With his latest album, The Neon Skyline, Andy Shauf has crafted his most realized and engrossing work yet. You needn’t look much further than single “Try Again.” Shauf’s songwriting style is all finesse and detail. “Try Again” finds a narrator, presumably Shauf,  trying to salvage a relationship that just won’t stick. And while the heartache of the scenario writes itself, it’s Shauf’s scene setting with drunken gaffes and awkward exchanges that ground his breezy reflection, culminating in the gut punch of a line “I make a silent toast to the things that I do and don’t miss.” With the light light of strumming acoustic guitars and Shauf’s charming croon, it’s a story you can’t help but be invested in despite it’s inevitably tragic ending. Real the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Other Lives - “Lost Day” from the 2020 album For Their Love on ATO Records. In January, Oklahoma-bred indie folk outfit Other Lives announced their first album in nearly five years, following 2015’s Rituals. Titled For Their Love, the new record sees them continue their streak of transcendent indie folk that started in 2006 when they released Flight of the Flynns under the name Kunek. Our Song of the Day is the record’s lead single “Lost Day,” a lush jangly rambler filled with cinematic strings and heavenly choral vocals. Read the full post at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tres Leches - “Nieve,” a 2020 self-released single. The latest track from Seattle's Tres Leches is a beautiful example of community, featuring guest appearances from fellow Northwest artists Terror/Cactus, Rachael's Children, and Medejín.  The band describe the song as an attempt to "stay alive once more through music." They point to a quote from poet Audre Lorde: “Implicit in survival is joy, mobility and effectiveness… if we do what we need to be doing then we will leave something that continues beyond ourselves." While the band recently had to cancel their spring tour due to the coronavirus, they're using this period of self-quarantine to work on new music. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lucinda Williams - “Man Without a Soul” from the 2020 album Good Souls Better Angels on Highway 20/Thirty Tigers. "All the money in the world / Will never fill that hole / You're a man bought and sold / You're a man without a soul" Over the past 40 years, Lucinda Williams has built a name for herself with her vivid storytelling, which has earned her four Grammy Awards throughout her career. But her forthcoming full-length, Good Souls Better Angels, will "forgo the personal and narrative-based songcraft that has become synonymous with her name and instead speaks to some of the injustices permeating our society." Today's Song of the Day perfectly illustrates this shift. And while she never directly names who the subject of the song is, it's not hard to guess who she's referring to. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Archers of Loaf - “Raleigh Days,” a 2020 single on Merge Records. It's been over 20 years, but indie rock kings Archers of Loaf have returned with the single "Raleigh Days," their first new music since 1998's LP White Trash Heroes. Originally formed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1991, the band exploded on to the scene with their debut album Icky Mettle and the hit single "Web in Front", which landed them a highly-coveted appearance on MTV's Beavis & Butthead. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Steve Earle & The Dukes - “Devil Put the Coal in the Ground” from the 2020 album Ghosts of West Virginia on New West Records. In 2010, the Upper Big Branch coal mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia exploded, killing twenty-nine of the thirty-one miners present at the time. It's been called one of the worst mining disasters in American history. And it inspired the latest album from veteran singer/songwriter Steve Earle, titled Ghosts of West Virginia. The project originated with the off-Broadway play Coal Country, written by playwrights Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, who approached Earle to compose the score. While the play had to cancel its run in New York City due the coronavirus, Earle will release the songs as his 20th studio album on May 22nd via New West Records.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Throwing Muses - “Dark Blue” from the 2020 album Sun Racket on Fire Records. Alt-rock icons Throwing Muses return with their first new album in seven years, the fiery tenth full-length Sun Racket, out September 4 via Fire Records. The group originally formed in the early '80s, with it's current line-up of Kristin Hersh, drummer David Narcizo, and bassist Bernard Georges holding steady since the '90s. Recording the new album brought everybody back together from their respective coasts.  “Sun Racket has always been geographical," Narcizo confirms in a press release. "...a transplanted southerner in New England crash landing in California. A West Coast sound at New England scale, dragged back down to the south where the elements got more aggressive but now with deeper roots.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

B-Band - "Kavire Del” from the 2013 self-released album Napichideh (Uncomplicated) B-band formed in Tehran, Iran in 2009, combining alt-rock with Persian folklore. Dr. Nasim Niknafs, Assistant Professor of Music Education at the University of Toronto, points out in an interview with Ethnotes that "when you transliterate this name into Farsi, it has another meaning, which translates roughly to 'without any boundaries.' In addition, B-Band is the name of a guitar pickup company. One name, many layers!" Today's featured track is a cover of the '70s-era single “Kavire Del” by Marjan, which itself was a cover of a French/Turkish song performed by Ajda Pekkan. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Liraz - “Zan Bezan” from the 2020 album Zan on Dead Sea Recordings Liraz Charhi's family emigrated to Israel during the '70s at the brink of the Iranian Revolution. Nearly 50 years later, it's still a major influence in the music she writes under the name Liraz. "Music in Iran in the ’70s was characterized by resistance to traditional music and a desire to find a universal sound," she explained to the Haaretz Newspaper. Today's Song of the Day translates to "Women, Sing" — it's a call to action for women to join her personal revolution. According to Liraz, "The fight for women’s freedom of expression is in my DNA." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bahram - “گوشت (Goosht)," a 2019 single on Peeleh Records The Huffington Post declared him one of the "50 people shaping the culture of the Middle East." Bahram Nouraei — who records simply as Bahram — uses hip-hop to call out the current political climate of Iran. His breakout single was titled "Nameyee Be Rayees Jomhour" (translating to "A Letter to the President"), which openly criticized the sixth president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Bahram has since relocated to Stockholm, Sweden. Earlier this year, he launched today's featured track, titled “گوشت (Goosht),” produced by Peymandegar and featuring album artwork by Setareh Malekzadeh. On March 20th, he released a new EP titled Gozaar (Transition), out now via Peeleh. Real the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Salome MC - “Odium” from the 2017 self-released album Excerpts from Unhappy Consciousness Salome MC is Iran's first female rapper, and her LP Excerpts from Unhappy Consciousness is the first full-length Persian hip-hop album produced by a woman. This is all the more impressive when you learn that in 2007, the Iranian government denounced rap, with the Ministry of Culture shutting down recording studios where these albums are made, raiding record stores where this music might be sold, blocking websites, and even arresting the artists themselves. Released in 2017, Excerpts from Unhappy Consciousness is the culmination of two years work, said to be an "autobiographical concept album that explores a woman's journey in the light of Hegel's Unhappy Consciousness, with each track correlating to a stage of dialectical life of spirit." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SarrSew - "Farewell, Warden.” from the 2018 album Girih: Iranian Sound Artists on Zabte Sote When Tehran-born, Paris-based artist Sara Bigdeli Shamloo isn’t recording as half of the duo 9T Antiope, she records solo under the name SarrSew. While previous SarrSew tracks were composed for theatre and film (Shamloo was studying Theatre Directing at Tehran University before she dropped out), today’s Song of the Day marks her solo debut single, a haunting, somber chant sung in English over an eerie, yet meditative lullaby until it culminates in an erratic blur of feedback.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eyelids - "The Accidental Falls" from the 2020 album The Accidental Falls on Jealous Butcher Records When Larry Beckett offers up his lyrics to you, it's hard to say "no." Beckett was a long-time collaborator with legendary singer/songwriter Tim Buckley, and even wrote the lyrics to the now-iconic and heavily-covered 1969 single "Song to the Siren." He's also the father of the kid who's best friends with Chris Slusarenko's son, putting this creative connection into place. Slusarenko is a member of Portland supergroup Eyelids, which features members of The Decemberists, Guided by Voices, Elliott Smith, Quasi, and Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks. Eyelids' latest album, The Accidental Falls, is a 13-song collection utilizing Beckett's lyrics, produced by fellow Portland resident, R.E.M.'s Peter Buck. For the title track, Beckett drew from the works of 18th and 19th century German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe for "probably the most rocking translation of Goethe's work to date." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cable Ties - "Sandcastles" from the 2020 album Far Enough on Merge Records. Melbourne punk trio Cable Ties return with the album Far Enough at the end of the month, their second album overall, but their first for Merge Records. The Australian group made their debut in April 2015, performing at Wetfest, an annual non-binary-inclusive music festival spotlighting bands emerging from Melbourne's D.I.Y. scene. Since then, they've emerged from the underground with their intense, cathartic anthems. On today's featured track, the call-and-response vocals of guitarist Jenny McKechnie and drummer Shauna Boyle may call to mind the interplay between Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney, but Cable Ties bring a more '70s-post punk influence, channeling bands like X-Ray Spex and The Raincoats. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - "Cars In Space," a 2020 single on Sub Pop. Melbourne, Australia's Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever return with the single "Cars In Space," which — along with last year's singles “In The Capital” and ‘“Read My Mind” — marks their first new music since their debut LP Hope Downs.   Much like Hope Downs, "Cars In Space" is a jangly piece of pop, harkening back to the '80s Australian indie-pop heyday. The group's dueling vocals are in play, adding another level of tension to a song band member Fran Keaney says "follows the swirling words and thoughts before a break-up." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hamilton Leithauser - “Here They Come” from the 2020 album The Loves of Your Life on Glassnote Records. Following his 2016 collaboration with Vampire Weekend's Rostam, Leithauser returns this year with The Loves of Your Life, an album produced, recorded, and written all by himself. “All of the songs on my new record are about people,” he explained in a press statement. “Individual, real people. Some are strangers I’ve met, but a lot are friends.” In the case of today's Song of the Day, the friend in particular "tends to run from his problems. When the going gets tough, he tends to just cut and run. The song is about the specific moment when the lights are coming up in a movie theater where he’s been hiding out all day, and life’s complications are just coming back into focus.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yumi Zouma - “Cool for a Second” from the 2020 album Truth or Consequences on Polyvinyl. Dream pop quartet Yumi Zouma have returned with the new album Truth or Consequences, their first for new label Polyvinyl Records but their third overall.  Today's Song of the Day is a swoon-inducing electro-pop piece with an '80's-style beat. It's hard to believe the song was almost scrapped. Ryder explained, via a press release, "The song was demoed in Los Angeles and then long forgotten, destined for the scrap heap. A spark of inspiration from Josh in the introduction reestablished that for us, the most conspicuous of melodies are often hidden in modest beginnings.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Perfect Son - Lust - from the 2019 album Cast on Sub Pop.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FLOHIO - WAY2 - a 2019 single on ALPHA.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FVLCRVM - Words - a 2018 single on Universal Austria.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

alyona alyona - Падло (feat. Alina Pash) - from the 2019 album ПУШКА on HitWonder.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

La colère - La Plage - from the 2020 self-released album La Vague.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Acid Tongue - Bullies - from the 2020 album Bullies on Freakout Records.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ultraísta - Tin King - from the 2020 album Sister on Partisan Records.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BROKEN UP - Long Long Long - a 2019 single on Wave Records.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pottery - Texas Drums Pt I & II - from the 2020 album Welcome to Bobby's Motel on Partisan Records.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FACS - Teenage Hive - from the 2020 album Void Moments on Trouble In Mind Records.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chastity Belt - The Process - a 2020 single on Hardly Art.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wye Oak - Fear of Heights - a 2020 single on Merge Records.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Drive-By Truckers - Thoughts and Prayers - from the 2020 album The Unraveling on ATO Records.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Waxahatchee - Fire - from the 2020 album Saint Cloud on Merge Records.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lady Lamb - Arizona - a 2020 single on Ba Da Bing!Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Smokey Brights - Flash Your Lights (Rudy Willingham Remix) - a 2020 single on Freakout Records.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Midwife - Anyone Can Play Guitar - from the 2020 album Forever on The Flenser.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Moaning - Ego - from the 2020 album Uneasy Laughter on Sub Pop.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thrillhouse - One Of These Days - a 2019 self-released single.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cartalk - Wrestling - a 2019 single on DistroKid.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rocketship - What's the Use of Books - from the 2019 album Thanks to You on Darla Records.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Poliça - Sea Without Blue - from the 2020 album When We Stay Alive on Memphis Industries.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TORRES - Dressing America - from the 2020 album Silver Tongue on Merge Records.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jonah Mutono - Circulation - a 2019 single on True Panther/EQT Recordings.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Reminders - Have It All - a 2020 self-released single.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.