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Polaris Prize Winner Backxwash Finds Comfort in Horrorcore Oct 27, 2020

Show notes

Backxwash was announced the winner of Canada’s prestigious Polaris Music Prize last week. Backxwash describes her music as industrial hip hop and horrorcore.

She talks about how issues of mental health and her identity as a Black trans woman come up on her latest album, 'God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It,' and how she finds comfort in addressing these issues within the genre of horrorcore.

Check out the recent episode of The Weekly Mix featuring Backxwash's "Spells"

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How to Write a Song With Jeff Tweedy Oct 23, 2020

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Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco fame) set a goal for himself during the pandemic—to write one song a day. The resulting work makes up his latest album, ‘Love Is The King.’ He also just released a new book, ‘How To Write One Song,' sharing tips around his creative process.

Tweedy discusses the habits that helped him develop this prolific writing style, sometimes writing a song in just 15 minutes. He also shares the word games he uses to help conjure lyrics when he’s feeling uninspired.

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Kevin Morby's 'Sundowner' Puts Midwest Twilight Into Sound Oct 22, 2020

Show notes

Kevin Morby feels a sense of melancholy when the sun goes down. That feeling inspired his latest album, ‘Sundowner.’ The album was written after Morby moved from LA to his hometown of Kansas City. He says this record was his “attempt to put the Middle American twilight—its beauty profound, though not always immediate— into sound.”

Many of the songs paint a picture of campfires, stars, dead deer on an open road and storms. And while the sunsets mark a darkening chapter of his day, he says they are particularly beautiful in the Midwest.

“They say it’s 'God’s country' or 'big sky country' and the clouds are so big out here and the clouds sort of act as these projectors for the light and just kind of hold on for a really long time,” Morby says.

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The Fight to Keep Music Live Oct 20, 2020

Show notes

It’s now been seven months since music venues have been able to hold shows. Steven Severin of the Seattle venue, Neumos, talks about the efforts to rally for federal and state aid as well as the recent #KeepMusicLiveWA fundraising campaign to save independent music venues.

“If we don't get some type of funding, and soon, the venues are going to go away and they're not coming back,” Severin says.

Sound & Vision also hears from folks who worked in live music before the pandemic hit and have had to find jobs in different industries altogether—from wine to welding. For some, the switch is for good.

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Deep Sea Diver's Journey of Healing and Empathy on 'Impossible Weight' Oct 16, 2020

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Seattle’s Deep Sea Diver is out with their third album, 'Impossible Weight.' The album was written after frontwoman Jessica Dobson's experience with depression.

“I just hit this crazy wall where everything turned black and I couldn’t see a foot in front of me,” Dobson says.

On the journey to heal and overcome that sadness, Dobson started volunteering with a non-profit that works with unhoused, drug dependent Seattle-area residents. Conversations with folks there inspired the song, "Switchblade." Dobson says those conversations helped her tap into a stronger compassion for herself and empathy for others.

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Bob Mould’s 'Blue Hearts’ Beats With Protest Oct 15, 2020

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Bob Mould has been making music for more than 40 years. His career started when he played in the punk band, Hüsker Dü, which was prominent in the 80s. Mould is now out with his 14th solo record, 'Blue Hearts.'

Mould discusses some prominent themes from the new album, as well as parallels he sees in politics of the 80s and today, and the importance of music as protest. He also talks about the role of musicians to use their platforms to speak out on issues like climate change. In the song "Next Generation," he urges listeners to actively engage with politics and their communities with the lyrics, "Please pay attention, take to the streets for your rights."

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The Cheater's Guide to Spotify Oct 13, 2020

Show notes

The Cheater’s Guide to Spotify is a series on Medium by OneZero author, Peter Slattery. In the series, Slattery lays out various ways people game the Spotify system to rack up streams. In this episode, he talks about some of those methods, like creating playlists of popular soundtracks and adding in music that wasn’t part of the soundtrack to give a song more streams, faking a big name featured artist on a track, and increasing search optimization by using an artist name like “White Noise” or “Stress Relief.”

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Fleet Foxes on the Significance of Nature in 'Shore' Oct 08, 2020

Show notes

Fleet Foxes recently released a surprise album at the exact moment of the fall equinox, 6:31am PT on September 22.

Frontman Robin Pecknold discusses the significance of the equinox on the record, tells stories behind some of the songs, and shares how he found a renewed appreciation for music during the pandemic.

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/sound/

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Matthew James-Wilson on "What It’s Like to Be Black in Indie Music" Oct 06, 2020

Show notes

Pitchfork published an article last week titled, “What it’s Like to Be Black in Indie Music.” Its author, Matthew James-Wilson, talks about his personal experience in the scene as well as what he gathered from various musicians he interviewed for the story.

He says the artists he spoke with were “playing to largely white crowds and feeling like their music was subject to a predominantly white gaze because of the audiences they were playing to or the ways their music was being marketed.”

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/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sylvan Esso’s Love for Radio DJs and Dancing Oct 01, 2020

Show notes

Sylvan Esso is out with their third studio album, 'Free Love.' Sylvan Esso has said that this record is “about being increasingly terrified of the world around you and looking inward to remember all the times when loving other people seemed so easy, so that you can find your way back to that place.”

Amelia Meath of the pop duo breaks down some of the stories behind the music, explains how dancing is a major theme on the record, and shares her love of radio DJs, as demonstrated in the song “Frequency.”

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/sound/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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