KEXP – Bandwidth

KEXP Presents: Ty Segall

Jim Beckmann — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 15:43:10 +0000

Could there be a better symbol of KEXP’s rebirth in our new home than the “Baby Big Man” that is Ty Segall? Donning a creepy torn-up baby mask and wielding an adult-sized umbilical chord, the station favorite christened a new performance space with its first-ever live broadcast session.

To capture the songs from his latest album, Emotional Mugger, Segall was joined by The Muggers, a who’s-who of today’s psych and garage rockers, including Kyle Thomas of King Tuff, Mikal Cronin, Wand’s Cory Hanson and Evan Burrows, and Emmet Kelly of The Cairo Gang. Raw and raucous, the set spilled over with zany passion, as Segall dribbled, drooled, squealed, bawled and threw lyrical tantrums over blistering guitars, squelching keys and pummeling rhythms. Big baby, bad baby, weird baby — if Ty Segall is the first baby born at KEXP’s new studio, we can only marvel at the generations to come.

SET LIST

“Emotional Mugger/Leopard Priestess”

Watch Ty Segall’s full performance on KEXP’s YouTube channel.

KEXP Presents: Salad Boys

Jim Beckmann — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 12:40:12 +0000

Summing up a two-song barrage in the KEXP studio by New Zealand’s Salad Boys, DJ Kevin Cole remarked that the band sounds like “the best of The Feelies, The Velvet Underground and Yo La Tengo in one song.” While it makes a lovable racket — channeling those and other legendary bands from its hometown Flying Nun label — the Christchurch trio dreams bigger and woozier, infusing all kinds of influences (classic indie rock, fuzzy dream-pop) into its energized psychedelic sound.

Singer-guitarist Joe Sampson took the band’s name from misheard lyrics of The Feelies’ “Fa Cé-La,” thinking he’d heard, “You said it was the salad boys / Everything is all right.” But those last words couldn’t be more true when you listen to Salad Boys’ exhilarating session in the KEXP live room.

SET LIST

“No Taste Bomber”

Watch Salad Boys’ full session at KEXP’s YouTube channel.

KEXP Presents: EL VY

Janice Headley — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 14:35:45 +0000

What a fantastic way to send off the KEXP Live Room at our Dexter/Denny studios. When the members of EL VY arrived at the station in matching polka-dot shirts, we thought they looked cool, but once they stepped into the same room as our studio’s twinkling lights, we realized how special their customized camouflage was.

EL VY isn’t ordinarily one to sink into the background: This debut collaboration between The National frontman Matt Berninger and Brent Knopf of Ramona Falls (and formerly of Menomena) is a stand-out of 2015.

SET LIST

“Need A Friend”

Watch EL VY’s full performance on KEXP’s YouTube channel.

KEXP Presents: Ought

Jim Beckmann — Mon, 23 Nov 2015 15:00:00 +0000

Ought formed just three years ago amid a burgeoning DIY scene in Montreal’s Mile End district. While drawing heavily from sonic inspirations like Talking Heads, Sonic Youth and The Fall, the group fashioned a sound of its own over the course of two albums and two EPs.

Recently, Ought stopped by KEXP to reveal songs from its refreshing new album, Sun Coming Down — which, despite its sometimes anxious post-punk gloom, feels like a sun coming up on a new day.

SET LIST

“Beautiful Blue Sky”

Watch Ought’s full performance on KEXP’s YouTube channel.

KEXP Presents: Destroyer

Janice Headley — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 11:38:35 +0000

Though a man of few words in person, singer-songwriter Dan Bejar finds his voice through music. That voice rang out loud and clear when his band Destroyer stopped by the KEXP studios.

With Destroyer’s 10th full-length album Poison Season, what began as a mostly solo project for Bejar — also known for his work in The New Pornographers — has expanded into a eight-piece touring act, complete with robust horns and harmonies. Shy and soft-spoken, smiling from behind dark sunglasses, Bejar led his band through an expansive, lush set of sophisticated, jazzy pop. Watch him perform “Times Square” here.

SET LIST

“Times Square”

Watch Destroyer’s full performance on KEXP’s YouTube channel.

KEXP Presents: Mike Krol

Jim Beckmann — Mon, 19 Oct 2015 09:03:36 +0000

When it comes to Mike Krol, it’s not three strikes and you’re out. For the L.A.-based, Milwaukee-born songwriter, the third time’s a charm — or, more to the point, a Turkey. Krol’s third album, whose title references the term for bowling three strikes in a row, is a liberating blast of hook-filled garage-rock with smart, reflective lyrics and punkish brevity. (All nine songs span just 19 minutes.)

While he’s a bowler at heart, Krol performs as a cop onstage, arresting concert-goers with fire-fringed police uniforms, flashing sirens and prison props. Before his recent show in Seattle, Mike Krol and his band visited the KEXP studio for a fun and captivating set. Watch him perform “Left Out” here.

SET LIST

“Left Out”

Watch Mike Krol’s full performance on KEXP’s YouTube channel.

KEXP Presents: DeVotchKa

Jim Beckmann — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 15:37:00 +0000

It’s been a few years since we’ve heard from the Denver band DeVotchKa, and in that time its members have been doing the usual: gardening, making babies, growing beards, writing ballets. They just haven’t been releasing new material, at least not yet.

Between occasional shows and a handful of performances with the Colorado Symphony, the longtime KEXP favorites have been recording music, taking their time but promising a new album soon. Anticipating that, they’ve returned to our studio to share a few songs from their amassed catalog of swooning baroque pop classics, complete with illuminated tuba because, as vocalist Nick Urata says, “It wouldn’t be a DeVotchKa set without a sousaphone song.”

SET LIST

“The Clockwise Witness”

Watch DeVotchKa’s full performance on KEXP’s YouTube channel.

KEXP Presents: The Mynabirds

Jim Beckmann — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 12:48:03 +0000

After the release of The Mynabirds‘ 2012 album Generals, principal songwriter Laura Burhenn accompanied The Postal Service on a world reunion tour — and then spent another year making The Mynabirds’ latest album, Lovers Know, while zig-zagging all over the place.

Though spurred by heartbreak, Burhenn’s new songs still convey hope. Here, she and her band visit the KEXP studio to perform “Wildfire” and other songs from Lovers Know.

SET LIST

“Wildfire”

Watch The Mynabirds’ full performance on KEXP’s YouTube channel.

KEXP Presents: SOAK

Bella Pham — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 10:36:00 +0000

At just 19, Bridie Monds-Watson, a.k.a. SOAK, seems to handle success with modest and casual confidence. Her career has taken off quickly, from writing songs in the basement of her home in Derry, Northern Ireland, to flying from country to country performing at music festivals — including Glastonbury this past summer.

Monds-Watson’s success isn’t hard to understand. There’s a quality to her raspy, yet delicate voice that suggests wisdom well beyond her years. Her voice conveys many emotions at once: vulnerability, earnestness, sadness, hunger. SOAK takes listeners to another place with her expressive, poetic lyrics, as she fills the room with raw, stripped-down renditions of songs from her debut album, Before We Forgot How To Dream. Watch her perform “B a noBody” here.

SET LIST

“B a noBody”

Watch SOAK’s full performance on KEXP’s YouTube channel.

KEXP Presents: La Luz

Sam Hart — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 13:18:01 +0000

Armed with songs from its new album Weirdo Shrine, the Seattle surf-rock band La Luz lit up the KEXP studio during its stunning recent live session. Mixing dark reverb with brighter tones, the band delved deeper into sun-drenched songs like this one, “Don’t Wanna Be Anywhere.”

SET LIST

“Don’t Wanna Be Anywhere”

Watch La Luz’s full performance on KEXP’s YouTube channel.