Song of the Day

ODESZA - "In the Rain," a 2023 single on Foreign Family Collective Beloved Bellingham-based boys ODESZA share a new single, both as a stand-alone track and available on volume two of the Rave.wavs compilation series released via their own Foreign Family Collective label. The duo of Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight state simply, "'In the Rain' was written on the road while performing our The Last Goodbye Tour. We wanted to make something fun and high energy that would particularly work well in a live environment.” Read the full story at KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Golden Features - "Flesh" from the 2023 album Sisyphus on Foreign Family Collective With today's techno-tinged Song of the Day, Australian DJ/producer Golden Features (real name: Thomas Stell) celebrates a city he discovered on tour: Berlin. "'Flesh' was one of the earlier demos from the album's writing process," he shared in a press statement. "It was a direct response to my time in Berlin and a song that encapsulated everything I fell in love with on my journeys. I wrote it trying to express feelings of being under the weight of an eight-hour session in the rave. Overstimulated, anxious, and completely terrified of facing the real world outside. Finally gathering the courage to call it a night experiencing the surreal shift that is walking out of a windowless dungeon into a beautiful sunrise." The track can be found on his second, and most recent, LP Sisyphus, which was released via ODESZA's Foreign Family Collective label. Read the full story at KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Barry Can't Swim - "Dance of the Crab" from the 2023 album When Will We Land? on Ninja Tune Scottish DJ/producer Barry Can’t Swim found inspiration from '70s-era Brazilian group Trio Ternura for today's Song of the Day. The track can be found on his debut full-length, When Will We Land?, which features a joyous and ambitious blend of jazz, house, and Afrobeat. Today's featured track in particular, found inspiration in the funky poly-rhythms of Trio Ternura, as the artist (real name: Joshua Mannie) explained in a press release: “The track started over a year ago, I had just started the album and was digging for samples when I found this amazing record ‘A Gira’ (1973) by a Brazilian group called Trio Ternura. Immediately I could hear the track I wanted to build around it: a summery, groovy, not taking too much away from the original but just giving it a bit more energy”. “Then we had to clear the sample. After some searching, we eventually managed to get in touch with one of the original writers based in Brazil, who is now well into his 70s and doesn’t speak a word of English. Somehow we managed to contact him on FB messenger, and a friend of mine who speaks Portuguese was the middle man. It all came together quite quickly after that, and we’ve now met all the family of the original writers. Quite wholesome really. Thank you to Trio Ternura for letting me sample the record!” Read the full story at KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Middle Kids - "Dramamine" from the 2024 album Faith Crisis Pt 1 on Middle Kids/ AWAL Sydney, Australia-based trio Middle Kids celebrate love on today's Song of the Day. The track was co-written by bandmates vocalist/guitarist Hannah Joy and bassist Tim Fitz, who also happen to be married. This revelation makes the chorus of: "You are the only reason I believe in anything/ I hope you don't take this the wrong way" even more poignant. The single gives a sneak peek at their forthcoming third full-length, Faith Crisis Pt 1. The album was co-produced by Fitz and Jonathan Gilmore (The 1975/Rina Sawayama), and will be released on February 16, 2024, via Lucky Number. Read the full story at KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

M83 - "Mirror," a 2023 single on M83 Recording Inc/Mute It's not déjà vu: if you feel like you've heard this M83 song before, you may have! Today's Song of the Day dates back to the 2011 album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, and was released as a hidden track found as a secret download in the packaging of the CD. For those who don't own a CD player anymore, the song was then re-released as a Record Store Day exclusive 7-inch single in 2012. And now, the fan-favorite track has been re-re-released as a digital single. "It’s a track that never came out digitally and we close our shows with that song," M83 mastermind Anthony Gonzalez told Billboard. "The response of the audience has been great so far, and it’s an unknown song that deserves to be properly released in my opinion.” Read the full story at KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maya Marie & Night Wizards - "The Garden," a 2023 self-released single Earlier this year, Seattle psych-pop band Night Wizards teamed up with soulful siren Maya Marie for the single "The Garden." Now they've reconvened for this sultry electro-pop jam. Here's hoping for a full-length from this collaboration in 2024. Read the full story at KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - "Theia (Extended Mix)" from the 2023 album The Silver Cord on KGLW The Australian psych sextet King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard might be making KEXP history with this 20-minute long track, which I'm pretty sure is the longest Song of the Day offering to date! The single comes from their 25th overall LP (and second of 2023), The Silver Cord, which finds the experimental group delving into electronic music. “We come at electronic music from an amateur angle,” frontman Stu Mackenzie says in a press release. “I play the Juno synthesizer like a guitar, I don’t really know how to play it. But I wanted to be at peace with being the rock band pretending to know how to use modular synthesizers. We’re in uncharted waters, we’re further out to sea, but leaning into it, and we got to a spot where we were really happy with what came out.” As for today's Song of the Day, Mackenzie declares, "It’s for the Gizz-heads," adding, "I love Donna Summer’s records with Giorgio Moroder, and I’d never listen to the short versions now – I’m one of those people who wants to hear the whole thing. We’re testing the boundaries of people’s attention spans when it comes to listening to music, perhaps – but I’m heavily interested in destroying such concepts." Read the full story at KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Autogramm - "WannaBe," a 2023 single on Stomp Records Today's Song of the Day comes from mostly-Northwest new wavers Autogramm: drummer/synths/guitarist/vocalist The Silo now lives in Chicago, while vocalist/guitarist Jiffy Marx and vocalist/bassist CC Voltage hail from Vancouver; vocalist/guitarist Lars Von Seattle resides — well, you can guess! On their third full-length — titled Music That Humans Can Play, released earlier this month — the guys continue to flex their '80s power-pop-influenced sound, calling to mind acts like The Cars, Devo, and Gary Numan. In a press statement, The Silo shares, “'WannaBe' began as a way to say to the most important person in my life that I will stand beside them no matter what their direction, self-opinion, or physical state of being. Upon further reflection, I thought it could apply more broadly to all of our relationships in life: it’s a declaration of love and support to any friend, child, or lover who is going through a change in their self-perception; the idea that gender, occupation, size, skin, are all merely physical manifestations of being and will never matter as much as the person underneath it all.” Read the full story at KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alex Vile - "Stainless," a 2023 self-released single. Tacoma's own Alex Vile began as a solo project of vocalist/guitarist Alexandra Vilenius, but are currently a power quartet featuring Kaelyn Stevens on bass, Leo Quale on lead guitar, and Evan Hartung on drums. While new on the scene, they've been recording with veteran producer Jim Kaufman (Helmet, Everclear, and assistant composer on the score to the horror movie, Saw), who elevates the band's '90s-grunge influence to more modern heights. Read the full story at KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Veldt - "Aurora Borealis (feat. Elizabeth Fraser)," a 2023 single on 5BC Records Back in August, we shared a different track from soul-gaze siblings The Veldt, a duo formed in 1986 by identical twins Daniel and Danny Chavis. Like that previous Song of the Day, this one comes from their "lost" LP, which was recorded in 1989 with the Cocteau Twins‘ Robin Guthrie as producer, but ended up getting shelved when the band was dropped by their label. The track features guest vocals from Guthrie's bandmate, the iconic Elizabeth Fraser, singing back-up towards the end of the song. In a press statement, Danny Chavis shares, “This song was written in 1986 and was included in the first batch of songs we demoed under the name VELDT. Having heard Treasure by Cocteau Twins, this song was inspired by that very album and RUN DMC’s Sucker MCs around the same time that year.” He continues, “This song is about my brother’s love for his newborn daughter, written out of high school and dug out around the time the band had started to get noticed. We had written so many, but it was one of the newest pieces that we had begun experimenting. This would signal our departure from being a band that made people dance to a band that made people confused.” As of last week, the album — titled Illuminated 1989 — is finally available on vinyl, CD, cassette, and digitally via Portland-based Little Cloud Records and 5BC Records. It was re-mastered by Guthrie earlier this year. Read the full story at KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gabriel Teodros - "An Open Letter to My Cousins in Israel" from the 2023 self-released album From the Ashes of Our Homes Today's Song of the Day comes from beloved local artist/activist (and former KEXP DJ) Gabriel Teodros, whose powerful latest LP, From the Ashes of Our Homes, reflects deeply on the theme of losing your home, whether to an actual fire (as in the case of Teodros himself) or to the pandemic, climate change, or war. In the case of today's Song of the Day, that home is Palestine, a place, as he sings, "where the soldiers show up and they look like us." As he writes on Facebook: I wrote this song thinking of all Ethiopians in the diaspora as “cousins” not knowing I had actual cousins in the IDF. I knew it was possible though. Today I just found out one of our little cousins got summoned to the front lines out there. To be scared for someone and scared about what they might do. Sending love to everyone resisting war, resisting occupation, resisting the killing of innocent people. We all have to do what we can to stop a genocide. Resist. Free Palestine. Read the full story at KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kauwila & Inalihi - "Pae ʻĀina to Palestine" from the 2023 album Rise Up: BDS Mixtape vol. 2 on Amplify Palestine This week’s Song of the Day picks were chosen by DJs Miss Ashley, Kevin Sur, Tory, and Isabel Khalili in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle. From Hawai’i to Sudan, these songs represent the global solidarity movement in support of Palestinians and anti-colonialism. The BDS Mixtape series that features three of this week’s songs was inspired by the 1985 Sun City album by artists boycotting apartheid South Africa. To learn more about the music and its connection to the cause, visit Majazz Project and Amplify Palestine. Honolulu-based duo Kauwila & Inalihi note the connection between Hawaii and Palestine on today's Song of the Day. As Kauwila writes on Instagram, "Unearthing our storied solidarities that are nearly two centuries old is a a path towards rejecting western-centric forms of governance as a norm. Those tired models only reproduce the violences of colonization, genocide, patriarchy, capitalism, religious oppression, and state violence to privilege the corporations, militaries, banks of the rich. When we center aloha aina, deep love for the land, we will remember these deep connections between Hawaii and Palestine: We are two occupied nations struggling for liberation, we are too in love with our land and our nation!" Read the full story at KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Riad Awwad, Hanan Awwad, and Mahmoud Darwish - "I'm From Jerusalem" from the 2023 album The Intifada 1987 on Majazz Project In December 1987, the First Intifada of protests and violent riots broke out, carried out by Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories and Israel. Palestinian Riad Awwad was an electrical engineer with a passion for music, and within a week, he began recording this album in the family living room, using instruments he built himself. Today's Song of the Day features Riad's sister Hanan, as well as lyrics by Riad's friend, Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish. He titled the 11-track album The Intifada 1987, pressing 3,000 cassette tapes and circulating them around the Old City of Jerusalem and across the West Bank until the Israeli military intervened. Riad was arrested and detained for several months. To this day, copies of the album remain in the military archives, but in 2020, one copy managed to find its way to artist and music collector Mo’min Swaitat, who established the Majazz Project to release musical treasures like this. Unfortunately, Awwad never lived to see his album pressed and released worldwide like this. He was killed in a car accident in 2005. His legacy lives on, not only in his music, but in the children of the West Bank who he inspired. Before his passing, he founded a school there, teaching children how to create their own electronic musical equipment. Read the full story at KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alsarah & the Nubatones - "Men Ana" from the 2023 album Rise Up: BDS Mixtape vol. 2 on Amplify Palestine This week’s Song of the Day picks were chosen by DJs Miss Ashley, Kevin Sur, Tory, and Isabel Khalili in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle. From Hawai’i to Sudan, these songs represent the global solidarity movement in support of Palestinians and anti-colonialism. The BDS Mixtape series that features three of this week’s songs was inspired by the 1985 Sun City album by artists boycotting apartheid South Africa. To learn more about the music and its connection to the cause, visit Majazz Project and Amplify Palestine. Written in the midst of the 2019 Sudanese revolution, today's Song of the Day is a tribute from Alsarah & the Nubatones to the youth resistance in her birthplace of Sudan. "This song was a call from the diaspora to home," she explains on Bandcamp. "In this song I hope to define myself through the joys of memories past, and those coming up. A song to plan for the joy you wish to have and focus the mind on the essence of who you wish to be so that future may happen." The accompanying music video was directed by Mai Elgizouli, whose aim was to show support for survivors with this clip. She shares, “As I listened to many stories from various young people who felt survivor’s guilt after the traumatic events of the massacre I began to think more about the subject of mental health and the importance of Art and Music, especially during a time like this, in allowing us to come to terms with who we are and realize the importance of our emotional healing.” Read the full story at KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Al-Fajer Group - "Halalalalayya - ه​ل​ا​ل​ا​ل​ي​ا" from the 2022 (reissue) album Al Fajer (The Dawn) on Majazz Project This week’s Song of the Day picks were chosen by DJs Miss Ashley, Kevin Sur, Tory, and Isabel Khalili in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle. From Hawai’i to Sudan, these songs represent the global solidarity movement in support of Palestinians and anti-colonialism. The BDS Mixtape series that features three of this week’s songs was inspired by the 1985 Sun City album by artists boycotting apartheid South Africa. To learn more about the music and its connection to the cause, visit Majazz Project and Amplify Palestine. Formed in Kuwait in 1987, the Al-Fajer Group became known for their fiercely patriotic songs, written in response to the Palestinian liberation struggle. They performed their music acoustically, never using electronic equipment during their sets. Today's Song of the Day kicks off their debut album, Al Fajer (The Dawn) ف​ر​ق​ة ا​ل​ف​ج​ر ا​ل​ف​ل​س​ط​ي​ن​ي​ة, which was written and recorded in 1990, but was never released as the band fled the country after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The London-based Majazz Project / Palestine Sound Archive finally released the LP last year, marking the first time it has been available via vinyl. Read the full story at KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lusine - “Dreaming (feat. Asy Saavedra)" from the 2023 album Long Light on Ghostly International Records Seattle-based producer Jeff McIlwain — aka Lusine — returns with his ninth full-length, Long Light. The album takes its title from a lyric in the title track, written by collaborator Benoît Pioulard: "long light signaling the fall again," reflective of the artist's now 20-year career. “Music making is a struggle and you have to have a ton of patience,” McIlwain shares in a press statement. He adds, “There’s this sort of paranoia where you don’t know what is real, it’s an age of high anxiety and there are all these distractions. It’s like a fun house mirror situation.” Across the eleven tracks on the album, McIlwain's signature loops are as mesmerizing as ever. The LP features guest appearances from Sarah Jaffe, longtime collaborator Vilja Larjosto, the aforementioned Pioulard, and on today's Song of the Day, Asy Saavedra of Chaos Chaos and formerly Smoosh. Read the full story at KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gen & the Degenerates - "Big Hit Single," a 2023 single on Marshall Amplification Plc Records When you ask the Liverpool-based band Gen & the Degenerates to write a "big hit single," well, today's Song of the Day is exactly what you'll get! The cheeky pop-punk track was written in response to a request from their label, Marshall Records. Vocalist Genevieve Glynn-Reeves explains: "If you want the highbrow answer, then 'Big Hit Single' is about the experience of creating art under late capitalism. If you want the lowbrow – and slightly more honest – answer, then 'Big Hit Single' is me trying to wind up our label. They’d made quite a reasonable request… ‘Please can you write more songs like the song that did well and stop experimenting with every genre under the sun in a completely chaotic and hedonistic manner?’ Unfortunately, I have issues with authority… My parents often regale me with the tale of my Year 4 parent’s evening, in which my teacher described me as ‘too wild, in the bohemian sense.’ If Mrs Baker couldn’t get me to behave, then what chance did Marshall Records have? Luckily, they have a good sense of humour over at Marshall.” Read the full story at KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welsh duo Siula are new on the scene but you’d be remiss to not realize it given their big and refined sound. Based out of Cardiff, the group brings together the forces of Cotton Wolf’s Llion Robertson and Artshawty’s Iqra Malik. Arpeggiating synths dance vividly against booming beats. It’s a match made in heaven, ready for the dance floor. - Dusty Henry Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Based out of Pamplona, Spain, Melnas are evoking a refreshed, revamped, and revelatory take on dream pop. Supposedly they started out work on their new album Ahora with a basic premise: “can you make jangle pop and garage rock with synthesizers?” The answer is apparently yes. The song “Bang” is effervescent, yet propulsive. A delicate balance of restraint with booming synthesizer whirls propelling their soft, entrancing melodies forward. Evoking Stereolab and Kraftwerk, the band find themselves in good company with this exciting direction. - Dusty Henry Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The moniker of Robin Paul Braum, Athlete Whippet is always challenging himself to push beyond his own boundaries. Studying music at London’s renowned Goldsmiths, he brings that same academic rigor to his production and dance nights. His latest EP, U Never Listen, finds him singing over his own production as well. “U Look at Me” is a perfect ode to dance floor romance. That look across the room, a glance beckoning to dance. The house beats, dreamy vocals, and banging synthesizer lines make for a euphoric club experience, readily available in your headphones. - Dusty Henry Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.