Spirit Award - Pushing Forward

Daisies - "Blue Cowboy," from the 2023 album Great Big Open Sky on K Records On their latest LP, Great Big Open Sky, Olympia, WA-based band Daisies flex their musical muscle, diverging from their previous trip-hop/electro-pop sound into more organic, folkier territory. That said, today's Song of the Day is true to the "electronic paisley underground" sound we've heard them explore over the past seven releases. Vocalist Valerie Warren girlishly coos the story of a "blue cowboy on the range," and the accompanying music video spotlights some stellar moves from Mario.  Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

15 Sep 20234min

Temple of Angels - "Waving to the Wind" from the 2023 album Endless Pursuit on Run for Cover. It's no surprise that the gothic dream-pop of Austin, TX-based band Temple Of Angels finds inspirations from actual dreams. Their debut full-length — titled Endless Pursuit, and out now from Run For Cover — reflects both the good and bad subsconscious nighttime reflections. “Sometimes a beautiful dream will sneak in past the nightmares, which inspire a lot of my writing as well, specifically these dreams I had as a teenager that took place in a past or future life in some kind of parallel universe,” explains honey-voiced frontwoman Bre Morell. “I’ve been thinking about those dreams for 16+ years and they still consume me.”  Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

14 Sep 20232min

Deeper - "Tele," from the 2023 album Careful! on Sub Pop Records On today's Song of the Day, Chicago-based quartet Deeper gets vulnerable. The track can be found on their latest album, Careful!, their third full-length overall and first for Sub Pop Records. “’Tele’ is a song without its shield,” the band said in a press release. “In past Deeper compositions, we would hide behind jerky guitars and abstract vocals telling a story only we could decipher. With ‘Tele’ we wanted to explore the vulnerability behind our music and give focus to the melody and mood of the song. Replacing guitars with synthesizers and drums with samplers we stumbled upon a new way to approach a Deeper song.” “We wanted to make a darker track that people could dance to,” they continued. “Since the foundation is built on a sampler beat, it’s the kind of song we could’ve only created with the limitations of the pandemic. The electronic components left more space for the rhythm, so our engineer Dave started playing with a busier bass line for the verses and laid down the hook on the first pass. At the end we wanted the synth parts to constantly overtake one another and hopefully make the listener feel like they’re being swallowed into the song.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

13 Sep 20233min

Shamir - "Our Song (clean edit)," from the 2023 album Homo Anxietatem on Kill Rock Stars Last month, Shamir spoke with KEXP's Sound & Vision about his ninth full-length, Homo Anxietatem, and the anxiety that fueled his latest LP. In the video for today's Song of the Day, the genre-defying artist pays tribute to those who have literally stood by his side throughout it all.  "It took about three months to write this song, which is the longest it’s ever taken me to write a song," he shares in a press release. "The music video is a love letter to my band. Grant Pavol and Rhea Freed are the only reason I still play live. I wanted the video to focus on the three of us as a band."  Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

12 Sep 20234min

Fan Girl - "falling (ft Elizabeth M Drummond)," a 2023 single on Mandatory Music Australian pop-punk outfit Fan Girl returns with another KEXP Song of the Day pick: "falling" featuring guest vocals from Elizabeth M. Drummond.  “Lyrically, ‘falling’ is about how the honeymoon period in a relationship is just the beginning. While it can be an electric and pleasurably nauseating period, it’s not the best bit, and it’s often not the real bit," the band told Jammer Zine. "We tracked ‘falling’ at our studio (Taste Police HQ) in Brunswick, Melbourne, feverishly trying to keep the eclectic balance between colour, manic collage, and directness. The amazing Elizabeth M Drummond was kind enough to lend us some vocals, in what became more of a demonic angel choir part. Aaron Cupples [mixing] dealt with the sonic mess and brought it to life with a hot steamy mix. When we were writing and recording ‘falling’, we wanted the verses to be really fun & bouncy, the chorus to be big & crisp like a bullshit FIFA song, and outro to be anthemic but tight.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

11 Sep 20232min

Prometheus Brown - "(East | West) feat. Leua" from the 2023 album Taglagas on Beatrock Music LLC Seattle's own Prometheus Brown has long been an important voice in local hip-hop, dating back to his days as Geologic in the duo Blue Scholars. As the son of Filipino immigrants, he uses the stage to uplift and empower the Filipino community with his lyrics. His first ever musical project as a solo artist has been this four-part EP series, named for each of the four seasons, "after the nonliteral corollary translation for the season's word in Tagalog," as he explains. With Tagsibol and Tag-init released in 2019, he's now released Taglagas, or "fall." He adds, the fourth and final Winter EP, Tag-lamig, should be coming out later this year. Prometheus Brown has also recently joined the KEXP team as a DJ, which you can read more about here. Check out today's Song of the Day below, and revisit his 2022 KEXP in-studio session below that.  Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

8 Sep 20234min

Black Milk feat. Phonte & Raphael Saadiq - "No Wish," from the 2023 album Everybody Good? on Mass Appeal / Computer Ugly Detroit-based producer, MC, and musician Black Milk returned with his eighth studio album Everybody Good? this summer, featuring special guests like Mick Jenkins, Karriem Riggins, and Quelle Chris. On today's Song of the Day, North Carolina rapper Phonte delivers a powerful, confessional, and personal guest verse against a track produced by award-winning artist Raphael Saadiq. It's the only song of the new LP that isn't produced or co-produced by Black Milk himself.  Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

7 Sep 20234min

MMYYKK feat. Ricki Monique - "Bliss" from the 2023 album The Midst of Things on SwayHeavy Records. On his latest LP, The Midst of Things, Minneapolis-based musician and instrumentalist MMYYKK (pronounced "Mike") reflects on the state of the country today. Today's Song of the Day asks the questions, “Who can I trust in a world of deep fakes? Is there any objective truth in a world with 'alternative facts'? Is there one true reality or is it all subjective?" "This album is also the culmination of my processing of the trauma and hardship I experienced over the pandemic and civil unrest in Minneapolis over the last few years," he explains on his Bandcamp. "The deep levels of depression that come with living in a black body in this country. The rejection, the anger and frustration, and the fear of having my body destroyed simply for expressing that anger in the presence of the wrong white body." He adds, "My goal with this album is to provoke conversations and create engagement around these questions and themes. but also to give you something new and inspiring while opening you up to the full spectrum of my sound and voice." Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

6 Sep 20233min