KEXP DJ Greta Rose on Australian producer and DJ HAAi

Martha - Hope Gets Harder from the 2022 album Please Don't Take Me Back on Specialist Subject. British pop-punkers Martha have been spreading messages of anarchy since 2014 when they released their debut album Courting Strong. They’ve dropped three more records since, with the latest being this year’s Please Don’t Take Me Back. The record proves that the band from a small town called Pity Me continue to pity no one, especially the Powers That Be controlling the state of the UK. Our Song of the Day, “Hope Gets Harder,” hones in on this idea, targeting the rich and powerful who are killing hope and optimism at a rapid rate. “Drain the blood from every diamond /On this damp and hateful island,” they cry over a sprititedly brisk riff before closing the song with the pointed claim, “Every day the hope gets harder/ England is a funeral parlor.” In a lengthy statement about the song, the band don’t mince words on what they mean by that: “‘Hope Gets Harder’ is a song about England: a uniquely fucking terrible idea,” the band said in a statement. “A place governed by the most absurdly mediocre people in history. Selfish, rich, thick, malevolent ghouls propped up by a bootlicking, self-congratulating, stenographic, client-journalist news media that puts North Korea to shame. England is a grey, damp artifice, vibrating to a quasi-fascist background hum, where the majority live miserable hopeless lives, so that a tiny minority can live in extravagant luxury. As we lurch violently from one crisis to the next, it feels like the light of any hope for the future is slowly dying. But we have to try and find hope in one another, and together we have to fight like hell for a more socially and ecologically just world. No fate but what we make for ourselves. Abolish england. Fuck the king.” Watch the cleverly illustrated music video for “Hope Gets Harder” by Nathan Stephens-Griffin and read the full post at KEXP.org.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

24 Nov 20222min

Metronomy x Jessica Winter - “I lost my mind,” a 2022 single on Because Music. Following the release of their seventh LP Small World, Metronomy return with a "reimagined" version featuring re-worked versions of tracks from that album from Sébastien Tellier, Bolis Pupul, and on today's Song of the Day, London-based singer/songwriter Jessica Winter.  Winter cited Kylie Minogue as an inspiration for the reimagining, saying in a press release, “As soon as I heard the held high notes in the chorus I thought the song could go in a Kylie direction; the key change at the end then went quite ABBA.” She added, "“Everything on the track was made from analogue synths and drum machines and there’s real strings on there too; if you listen closely you can hear a hook pinched from a different track on Metronomy’s latest album.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

23 Nov 20224min

Fanfara Station - “Lafoo” from the 2022 album Boussadia on Garrincha Edizioni Musicali. On their latest LP Boussadia, the trio Fanfara Station aim to celebrate the culture of each band member.  Multi-instrumentalist Marzouk Mejri grew up in Tunisia; not only does he bring an inspiration of North African rhythms to the group, but he explores traditional woodwind and percussion instruments in his music. He met DJ/producer Marco Dalmasso (aka Ghiaccioli e Branzini) after relocating to Italy in the '90s; his electronic expertise elevates Mejri's compositions to dance-floor bangers. American horn player Charles Ferris arrived from San Francisco on a Fulbright scolarship to research the chants of Campania,  The album was recorded in Tunisia, in order for the artists to "immerse and breath the culture," and most of the tracks were born from live improvisations, to "capture the energy of their concerts." Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

22 Nov 20223min

Mykki Blanco - “French Lessons (feat. ANOHNI and Kelsey Lu)” from the 2022 album Stay Close to Music on Mykki Blanco/Transgressive. On today's Song of the Day, poet/musician Mykki Blanco pays tribute to fellow speak-singer Lou Reed.  “The song is a reflection on the possibility of true love, on the notion that one truly can experience what we see in the Hollywood films,” Mykki states in a press release. “The song is also this ode in a way to Lou Reed. I’m not what I would consider a singer at all, I’m a talk-singer so I look to people in history who have that same style: Tom Petty, Jonathan Richmond of the Modern Lovers, Lou Reed – these are all AMAZING ‘talk singers’ and I feel comfortable in that style vocally. The song was originally composed by FaltyDL and it encapsulated so much sonically of what I was trying to articulate with my own music. FaltyDL has a way of touching on the spiritual subtleties of life. He is able somehow to create mystery out of banality, to create tranquility and fill a room with zen like vibrations, something unnameable and yet so familiar a feeling.” The song features a guest collaboration with Kelsey Lu. (On the album version of the song, ANOHNI contributes to the track.) Mykki continues, “Kelsey Lu I’m sure will go on to become one of the legendary artists of my generation. A classically trained virtuoso with a voice that sounds ancient like a bell ringing for the first time, like something out of a Greek odyssey. I have been a long time super fan of Kelsey’s and collaborating with her on this song has been a very special moment for myself and FaltyDL.” Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

21 Nov 20223min

Multiplayer - Cosmic Quest from the 2022 self-released album Multiplayer. Matt Williams is a Seattle-based, Phoenix-bred, Kansas City-born pianist and vibraphonist who has worked with a seemingly endless amount of names in multiple jazz communities, many of which might only be familiar to niche jazz aficionados but carry a heavy mantle of respectability. His latest project Multiplayer is an improvisational project that feels both modern and nostalgic. Our Song of the Day, “Cosmic Quest,” comes from his recently-released debut self-titled album and very much feels like one searching the galaxy for something more. With a sparse synth-fueled start, the song's unhurried build feels like a floating object just searching for some purpose. Things tighten up quickly, as the target is acquired and, while we may not feel like we’re moving at the speed of light, we’re still boldly going where no man has gone before. Watch Multiplayer's live session at the old Cafe Racer back in 2019 and read the full post at KEXP.org.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

18 Nov 20224min

Yves Tumor - "God Is A Circle," a 2022 single on Warp. Shortly after the end of spooky season, Yves Tumor dropped the chilling single “God Is A Circle” to the delight of the many fans who have been gripped by the Turin-based artist’s enigmatic take on glam rock. The single follows last year’s EP The Asymptotical World and 2020’s full-length Heaven To a Tortured Mind. Produced by Noah Goldstein (Frank Ocean, Arcade Fire), and mixed by Alan Moulder (My Bloody Valentine, Nine Inch Nails), the song is built upon a beat of labored breaths for a moody post-punk-indebted rocker that features squelching guitars, fuzzed-out bass, and desperate shrieks. Swedish electronic artist Ecco2K and Lebanon-born artist Thoom bestow backing vocals as Yves Tumor sings about detachment and strained relationships, “There’s places in my mind that I cannot go / There’s people in my life I still don’t know.” The song is paired perfectly with a campy horror-movie-style video by Jordan Hemmingway which adds to the ominous feel of the song. Watch the video and read the full post at KEXP.org.Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

17 Nov 20223min

Kelela - "Happy Ending" a 2022 single on Warp It's been five years since we last heard from L.A.-based artist Kelela. Her 2017 debut LP Take Me Apart was a masterful set of adventurous electro-R&B, and her recent return to music — with the singles “Washed Away” and now, "Happy Ending" — show she hasn't missed a beat during that brief hiatus. Today's Song of the Day features production by LSDXOXO with additional production from Bambii. Drawing inspiration from "the rapture of a club crush" (as a press release states), it's fitting that the accompanying video (co-directed by Alima Lee and Kelela) captures the Black rave scene in NYC. Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

16 Nov 20224min

Floating Points - "Problems" a 2022 single on Pluto / Ninja Tune Throughout the year, British electronic musician Floating Points (aka Sam Shepherd) has been releasing some excellent stand-alone singles, including today's Song of the Day. Just last week, he announced the songs will be collected and released on limited vinyl for the first time on December 16th.  Today's featured track is accompanied by a video directed and produced by the creative team Hamill Industries, a frequent Floating Points collaborator. In a press statement, they wrote: "'Problems' is meant to agitate every single room that its ecstatic sound waves reach. We wanted to celebrate it with movement and dance and reshape it through sound, by using techniques that allow the sonification of images. We have used lasers that spin and move with the music, making visible their sinuous shapes. It was important that this video shaped the electrical feeling you get when being on a dancefloor, the urge of dancing when sound waves reach your ears." Read the full story at KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

15 Nov 20224min