Live on KEXP

Latest Episodes:

Habibi Nov 03, 2020

Show notes

According to Rumi, “The Wound is the place where the Light enters you.” Iranian American band Habibi know this better than most and use their simple, catchy songs that blend garage, psych and surf with the Middle Eastern influences they grew up adoring to spread love, positivity and change.

Led by Brooklyn-via-Detroit duo Rahill Jamalifard and Lenny Lynch, activism plays an integral role in the spirit and ethos of the band. Troy Nelson delves into how the Michigan music scene shaped their influences and the long-held cognitive dissonance within the US’s relationship to Iran.

Recorded 03/06/2020.

Angel Eyes
Hate Everyone But You
Stronghold
Come My Habibi

Watch the full Live on KEXP session on YouTube

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Polyrhythmics Oct 27, 2020

Show notes

Seattle-based collective Polyrhythmics specializes in a flavorful blend of progressive funk, psychedelic rock and modern afro-beat. As Troy Nelson explains in this week’s episode of Live on KEXP, it’s music for the "heads.” Their songs take time to unravel, rewarding patient listeners with a lush and intricate experience that defies the current song trends for something more gratifying. When the world is a whirlwind, don’t forget– take the time to let something develop.

Listen to Troy Nelson wax poetic about the value of music “heads” as well as delving into the often-limiting current trends happening with music ahead of Polyrhythmics’ spirited set featuring four songs from 2020’s 'Man From The Future.’

Recorded 02/21/2020.

Digital Cowboy
The Cutdown
Yeti, Set, Go
Chelada

Watch the full Live on KEXP session on YouTube.

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kassa Overall Oct 20, 2020

Show notes

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/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andy Shauf Oct 13, 2020

Show notes

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 YouTube

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jamila Woods Oct 06, 2020

Show notes

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/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Metronomy Sep 29, 2020

Show notes

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/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Dog Sep 22, 2020

Show notes

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 YouTube

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yīn Yīn Sep 15, 2020

Show notes

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/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Travis Thompson Sep 08, 2020

Show notes

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/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Moundrag Sep 01, 2020

Show notes

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 YouTube

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected