Kexp Live Performances Podcast

With three songwriters and a wave of melodic guitars behind them, LVL UP have more depth and nuance than most of their peers, but their music is never ostentatious about its DIY majesty. The Brooklyn quartet join Cheryl Waters in the KEXP studio to tell the story of how they went from being three musicians' side project to a unified band and to play a vibrant, expressive set of indie rock on the Midday Show. Recorded 10/17/2016 - 4 songs: Spirit Was, Pain, The Closing Door, Five Men On The RidgeSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

They're wearing clothes and are normally sized (at least in this session), but make no mistake - Naked Giants rip and roar as powerfully as they would even if they were the unclothed titans their name implies. The Seattle trio enter the KEXP studio, plug in, and charge ahead so hard that two out of the three members don't finish the session with their headphones on (only because the third member taped his to his head) in this session featuring out a pair of tunes from their debut EP R.I.P. and two as-yet-unreleased ones on the Morning Show with John Richards.  Recorded 01/11/2017 - 4 songs: Twist, Dead/Alien, Slow Dance II, Ya YaSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Moscow-via-New York songwriter Regina Spektor has been writing songs to capture a wide spectrum of vivid anecdotes, observations, and narratives for more than 15 years now, but for her latest record, 2016's Remember Us to Life, she atypically anchored herself to one inspiration: her pregnancy and the subsequent birth of her son. Performing solo on a grand piano, Spektor joins Larry Rose in the KEXP studio for a four-song set of songs from Remember Us to Life and a conversation about writing songs with “imaginary production” in mind.  Recorded 01/6/2017 - 5 songs: The Grand Hotel, Older and Taller, Black and White, Bleeding Heart, The Trapper and the FurrierSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's always a special night (or day) when the soul journeymen Lee Fields enters KEXP's studios. Fields' energy is as infectious as that of any frontman half his age, to say nothing of the explosive, colorful sounds of his backing band the Expressions. Joining Larry Rose in the KEXP studio, Fields walks in and conquers the room moments after starting his first song with a confidence that only a man who's been doing it for decades has. Recorded 12/6/2016 - 4 songs: Special Night, I'm Coming Home, Let Him In, Make The WorldSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Their name implies that they have bad posture, but Sloucher are definitely not slackers leaning back in their desks at the back of the classroom. The Seattle outfit's locktight songwriting shows they've been paying attention to their Pacific Northwest indie rock predecessors in this brilliant session on Audioasis with Sean Nelson. Recorded 10/2/2016 - 6 songs: Flower Girl, Constant Questions, Dreams, Certainly, Dear, Waiting To StartSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Finn Andrews first entered the KEXP studios in 2004, he was barely 20 years of age, but his evocative songwriting was already fully-formed. Returning in 2017, The Veils leader is more refined and potent than ever on the Auckland-via-London group's fifth album Total Depravity. Embracing "the chaos of not knowing what going on", Andrews shines through the dark in his return to the KEXP studios with Cheryl Waters. Recorded 11/14/2016 - 4 songs: Swimming With The Crocodiles, Low Lays The Devil, Do Your Bones Glow At Night?, AxolotlSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"With the challenges in our lives, sometimes you have to go in order to truly blossom." That's the theme behind Industrial Revelation's "No Way Out But In", but it could really apply to the musically adventurous Seattle jazz outfit's entire ethos. Their energetic, unpredictable, and beautiful performances have only sharpened over their decade-plus as a group, which is on full display in this session on the Midday Show with Cheryl Waters. Recorded 11/23/2016 - 4 songs: Wait. No. Sound., No Way Out But In, Lord, Let This Be the Last Time, PopKingSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ragged, scrappy, and gloriously unfiltered, Tucson, Arizona's Foxx Bodies only play one kind of music: loud. Leading with the dual-pronged attack of guitarist Bailey Moses and singer Bella Vanek, the punk quartet conjure a magnetically-jagged riot in this eruptive set with Troy Nelson in the KEXP Studio. Recorded 12/1/16 - 4 songs: The Walk, New Recording 25, Annie, HauntingSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Grant Eadie's loping, colorful electronic compositions have been bubbling on tastemaker radars for some time now, but with his self-titled debut LP, the Bellingham-via-Seattle musician has crafted his most kinetic set of songs to date. Accompanied by vocalist Moorea Masa, Eadie joins Cheryl Waters in the KEXP Studio to perform a flowing, aqueous set. Recorded 12/9/2016 - 4 songs: What We've Got, Clay, The Garden Song, Pull Me In, Pts. 1 & 2Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You may not be able to expect how little time the prolific Californian garage rock luminaries will take between albums or what their lineup will look like, but you can always be sure that you'll end up feeling like frontman John Dwyer looks: frenzied, smiling, and seemingly perpetually covered in sweat. Setting up as a trio for a rip-roaring, career-spanning set in the KEXP Gathering Space, Thee Oh Sees burn with so much scrappy energy you can practically hear the mosh pit before it begins. Recorded 11/25/16 - 6 songs: I Come From The Mountain, Tidal Wave, The Dream, Sticky Hulks, Gelatinous Cube, Encrypted BounceSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To name your debut LP The Epic takes quite a bit of confidence, but in the case of Kamasi Washington, it's the only title that would make sense. The Californian saxophonist, composer, and bandleader's sweeping style of jazz is nearly overwhelming in its scope and scale, but Washington's virtuoustic performance (and those of his impeccable band) captures its stirring energy with aplomb in this two song (but 20+ minute) set from the KEXP studios with DJ Larry Rose. Recorded 12/2/2016 - 2 songs: Re Run, The Rhythm ChangesSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Angel Olsen excels in hitting those long, sustained notes that speak volumes, and her songwriting pairs perfectly with her rich vocals, unwinding slowly to unfurl affecting, personal narratives. Her 2016 album MY WOMAN is full of those stories - accented by plenty of those heart-shattering vocal lines - many of which are on display in this stellar session from the Cutting Room Studios in New York City.  Recorded 08/30/2016 - 4 songs: Heart Shaped Face, Those Were The Days, Give It Up, Shut Up Kiss MeSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Against Me! have always operated with as much self-awareness as they have articulate, external fury, and their latest album, 2016's Shape Shift With Me, continues the more introspective-leaning trend that Laura Jane Grace began on her 2014 opus Transgender Dysphoria Blues. But that hardly means their music is any less blisteringly anthemic, so it's easy to shape shift with Laura Jane Grace and co. on this incendiary session on the Midday Show with Cheryl Waters. Recorded 10/26/2016 - 4 songs: 333, Crash, Delicate, Petite, and Other Things I'll Never Be, Suicide BomberSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Drive-By Truckers have never shied away from writing about social themes, but in the light of recent events, the long running Georgia outfit recorded one of their most striking and overtly political records to date in 2016's American Band. Joining Greg Vandy in the Roadhouse, the band play four incisive and honest tunes from the record and Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley discuss the events and tensions that led “the record to write itself”. Recorded 09/29/2016 - 4 songs: Ramon Casiano, Ever South, What It Means, Once They Banned ImagineSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Since their formation in 1979, Fishbone's kinetic, funky mixture of rock and ska has remained a singular sound, not least because of Angelo Moore and company's blend of social commentary and clever humor that, thirty years on, seems more incisive than ever. Still vibrant,  still relevant, and still stuck in your throat, the Los Angeles group performs four songs from their catalog on the Afternoon Show.  Recorded 11/10/2016 - 4 songs: Forever Moore, The Suffering, Chim Chim's Badass Revenge, Kung Fu GripSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just over twenty years after their initial dissolution, Digable Planets took the stage for their longest reunion to date in 2016 and it's not only remarkable how in step with each other Butterfly, Ladybug Mecca, and Doodlebug are, but also how prescient their astute, complex lyrics and aqueous, groove-laden production would turn out to be twenty years later. Backed by a full band, the Brooklyn trio are in full force in this session from Kex Hostel during KEXP's Iceland Airwaves 2016 broadcast. Recorded 11/4/2016 - 5 songs: The May 4th Movement, Black Ego, Pacifics, What Cool Breezes Do, Jettin'Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Only a little over a year before the release of their debut full-length, What I Saw On The Way To Myself, Moji Abiola and Frosti Jón Runolfsson had met on an otherwise unnoteworthy night in a Reykjavik whiskey bar. The result of that chance meeting, however, was a powerful, stirring group whose blues-streaked rock music feels far more lived in than the songs' actual age. Performing live from the Kex Hostel in Reykjavik during KEXP's Iceland Airwaves 2016, Moji and the Midnight Sons' session is one for nights both fueled and untouched by whiskey. Recorded 11/4/2016 - 5 songs: Another Mile, Keep My Memory, Carmen's Lament, Island, Cut Me DownSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fufanu's electrifying live performances are what the Reykjavík outfit's sterling reputation is built on. After previously displaying it during a remote broadcast from Iceland Airwaves, the group finally made their long awaited debut in the KEXP studio in Seattle this fall, joining Cheryl Waters to rip through a whirlwind set (featuring songs from their as-yet-unreleased album) and discuss their creative process. Recorded 10/14/2016 - 4 songs: Sports, Circus Life, Bad Rockets, NowSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Kate Tempest released a song titled "Europe Is Lost" in late 2015, she showed a eerily foreshadowing fury that preceded the seemingly unending discord of 2016. On the track's parent album, 2016's Let Them Eat Chaos, Tempest reaffirms her status as a singular figure that's both thrillingly evocative and frighteningly prescient. Tempest doesn't hold anything back during this performance on KEXP's broadcast from Iceland Airwaves 2016, which is a marvel from start to finish. Recorded 11/04/16 - 7 songs: Picture a Vacuum, Lionmouth Door Knocker, Ketamine For Breakfast, Europe is Lost, We Die, Whoops, Brews/Don't Fall InSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fémina's take on acoustic rock music has plenty of melody, but the San Martin de los Andes, Argentina trio don't ever let their harmonious voices take the backseat to their hip-hop influenced rhythms and almost percussive vocal arrangements. Clara Miglioli and sisters Sofia and Clara Trucco join Darek Mazzone on Wo' Pop to share four songs, the story of the band's beginning, and the state of being an independent artist in Argentina today. Recorded 10/11/2016 - 4 songs: Brillando, Mi Eje, Arriba, Palpita y GozaSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.