Jason McCue - When He Drinks

DAM - "Hada Yid’ie Sitna" from the 2019 album Ben Haana Wa Maana on Cooking Vinyl. Formed in the late '90s, DAM have been called "the first Palestinian hip hop crew and among the first to rap in Arabic." Since the very beginning, the group have used their lyrics to speak out about the trials of being Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. On their third and most recent release, Ben Haana Wa Maana (which translates to "Between Both Worlds"), DAM explore the subject of self-love. “We know that we had hit hard times. We always talked about the darkness we live in,” founding member Tamer Nafar said in a press release. “But this time we changed our attitude. As we say in one of our songs 'Hada Yidi’e Sitna'; This is not a darkness of a tomb, we are in a darkness of a womb.” In an interview with The National, they explain that today's Song of the Day is "the story of kids fighting on the streets before somebody calls their mothers." Songwriter and rapper Maysa Daw (who joined the collective in 2012) explains, "In that song, we’re calling for women to take the leadership and guide us in a better way." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

17 Kesä 20213min

Thee Sacred Souls - "Give Us Justice," a 2020 single on Daptone Records. With today's Song of the Day, San Diego-based trio Thee Sacred Souls reflect on the deaths of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, singing "there'll be no peace / until there's justice." The Grammy-nominated band The Black Pumas declared it "the song that will define 2020 for me" in Rolling Stone magazine. "The song kind of wrote and spoke for itself," vocalist Josh Lane told KPBS. "I might not have been someone who was murdered... but in a certain situation I could've been any other people who lost their lives to police brutality or brutality in general." As the band states on their Bandcamp page, "proceeds from this single will go to promoting the freedoms, rights, and wellbeing of black people, spread across various organizations which they will continue to research over time, starting with The Movement for Black Lives." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

16 Kesä 20212min

Al-Bara’em - "Ishraq" from the 2021 Al-Bara'em EP on SMNTCS. A few years ago, Houston-based music journalist Sama'an Ashrawi found out a surprising fact about his Dad: back in the 1960s-'70s, his father and all but one of his aunts and uncles were the founding members Al-Bara'em ("The Blooms" in Arabic), Palestine's first original rock band, and the first Palestinian rock band to feature women on stage. “At a family gathering — either Thanksgiving or Christmas — one of my uncles told me that recordings of the band existed,” Ashrawi told The Arab News. “In that moment it became something very sacred to me. It was bigger than our family history; it became immediately clear that it was Palestinian cultural history. People needed to know about this.” After the revelation, Ashrawi headed to Palestine on a research trip, unearthing recordings and photographs, including the live shot seen above, from a sold-out performance at the Jerusalem YMCA in December 1973. He's currently filming a documentary of his discoveries, and hopes to recruit younger musicians under supervision of his uncles to record some previously unrecorded songs. “I’m so grateful, mashallah, that all the members of the band are still alive, and that’s what makes it even more urgent to get the full story of the band out as soon as possible.” Of today’s Song of the Day, Ashrawi explains to KEXP, “During Al-Bara’em member Samir’s recording of the demo in the early 1980s, a gospel choir happened to be just outside in the studio lobby while Samir was recording; when he stepped outside to take a break, he found that the choir were harmonizing to his melodies and was quite touched. He told them he’s from the same place as Jesus and asked if they’d like to record their harmonies, which you can now hear over the end of ‘Ishraq.’” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

15 Kesä 20214min

Mndsgn - "Hope You’re Doin’ Better," a 2021 single on Stones Throw Records. On his latest LP Rare Pleasure, L.A.-based producer Mndsgn (real name: Ringgo Ancheta) finds influence in the soundtracks of the '70s and '80s, stating the repetitions "echo the recurring motifs we experience in life, sometimes being revisited by the same lessons in different shapes and forms." With today's Song of the Day, in particular, he channels an emotional experience into a laid-back summery groove. In a press statement, he shares: “During the holidays in 2018, my father had a complete mental breakdown. It was during a family party which made it all the more dramatic and equally traumatic for everyone that was there. I stayed in LA that year so I received the news remotely. It was heartbreaking to say the least. In the following months, he plunged into a deep downward spiral that involved him quitting his job, isolating himself from family, including myself & giving us an alarming concern that he could potentially end his life if he continued down the path he was on. It was a desperate cry for help.” He adds, "Although communication between each other was severed, it allowed the opportunity to truly acquaint myself with the concept of loving from afar... a song I think many can relate to when we feel communication is still sought after even when we feel it isn’t available.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

14 Kesä 20214min

Damien Jurado - "Tom" from the 2021 album The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania on Field Painting Music. On his 17th album, The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania, Seattle singer/songwriter Damien Jurado introduces the listener to ten stories filled with characters confronting different stressful scenarios: "hurricanes moving toward town, strained connections, amnesiacs in the front yard," his press release details. He credits his cast-driven songs with his childhood love of films and TV, telling Folk Radio, "I’m still following that line with the new material I’m writing. I’m actually going to be recording a new album next month in June. It’s going to be a five-part album, sort of like I did with [his 2012 album] Maraqopa with the trilogy, but bigger. It’s focused around one person and a few other people, like your standard movie or TV show. It’s set in the past with the main character sort of going in-and-out of his own existence.” It's fitting that The Monster... is the first release from Damien’s own Maraqopa Records. “It seemed like the right thing to do financially. I want to be able to put out more music at a rate that’s quicker than I was in the past. Most record labels make you wait two years to release something and I write at such a high rate that there’s no real point in waiting that long. I want to put out two or more records a year and I wasn’t able to do that before,” he continues. "I’m most definitely releasing one or two next year. There’s also going to be some reissues as well. 2022 is going to be a giant, busy year for me.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

11 Kesä 20213min

Yee Loi - "Be Like Johnny" from the 2021 self-released album No One Eats For Free. Taking their name from the Cantonese translation of "two girls," Yee Loi is just that: two sisters from Liverpool, England. Guitarist/bassist Rose is 13-years-old, and drummer Matilda just turned 12 last month. The pair credit learning songs by The Ramones with teaching them how to play music, so it's fitting that their debut single is an ode to frontman Johnny Ramone, who they say "inspired us to achieve our musical goals." Their debut album No One Eats For Free was written and recorded during the pandemic, but the siblings promise it's not a bummer. "It's a special memory of getting through a difficult time," they told Lazie Indie Magazine. "The songs are written about our experiences and our family. One of the songs is about our Gran who passed recently. Every song has a meaning or a story. Sounds like it is a sad thing. But it certainly isn't a sad song album! It really rocks! Heavily influenced by some great rockers." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

10 Kesä 20212min

Split Single - "(Nothing You Can Do) To End This Love" from the 2021 album Amplificado on Inside Outside Records. Jason Narducy can often be found playing bass for Superchunk and Bob Mould’s band; on his own, the Chicago-based musician records as Split Single, and he'll be releasing his third full-length, Amplificado, on June 25th. He continues the high-standard of musicianship he finds in his side projects by recruiting R.E.M.'s Mike Mills on bass and his usual bandmate Jon Wurster on drums. For today's Song of the Day, Narducy sends out a “message of love and support to the LGBTQ+ community,” strengthened through its accompanying video, directed by Jamie Fleischel. In a press release, he shares: The chords and melody for this song sounded like defiance to me. I wanted to write a lyric that matched this sonic mood. The first words that came into my head were “She loves her and he loves him.” So it ended up being an unconventional love song. I’m expressing support and joy for diverse couples everywhere, including but not only my friends that appear in the video. I met Jamie Fleischel years ago but didn’t find out until recently that he was making these great videos for Wilco and Jeff Tweedy. He and his family joined me weekly last fall to write get-out-the-vote postcards and we grew close enough for me to feel comfortable asking him if he’d be interested in making a video. I love how he captured the unabashed joy in the song through the footage of the charismatic kids and loving couples. The visual narrative is in line with the lyrics but also evokes what many of us are feeling with vaccines, more sunshine, and the wicked witch out of office: finally something to look forward to. I hope it makes people smile and I hope it makes people feel less lonely. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

9 Kesä 20212min

SPELLLING - "Boys at School" from the 2021 album The Turning Wheel on Sacred Bones. Bay Area-based artist Chrystia Cabral, who records as SPELLLING, returns with her third full-length, The Turning Wheel, out June 25th via Sacred Bones. In a press release, she details that the album has “themes of human unity, the future, divine love, and the enigmatic ups and downs of being a part of this carnival called life.” Today's Song of the Day is a dramatic seven-minute-long piano-led ballad, with Cabral reflecting on the early stages of her life. She explains that the track “steps back into my younger self, my teenage self to voice my angst, desires and disillusionments. I knew when I created the main motif on the piano that it was striking something really raw and both delicate and fierce. The notes just immediately transported me to the era of my youth, of this time when you are really beginning to confront the mirror of yourself to the outside world.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

8 Kesä 20217min