In Our Headphones

Pearly Drops - "I Cry While You Sleep (Dream, Ivory version)" from the 2023 EP Haunted Expansion Pack  on Cascine Helsinki-based duo Pearly Drops pull '80s influences through their prismatic synthpop sound. Their latest EP — titled  Haunted Expansion Pack —  features special remixes of tracks off their sophomore LP,  A Little Disaster , which came out earlier this year.  Today's Song of the Day is...

Berry Galazka - Leash from the 2023 Leash EP on Climax Records & Sweat Entertainment Each artist we're featuring this week is a Music Moves Europe Awards nominee. The MME Awards are the EU-funded prize for emerging artists. There are 15 nominees for these prestigious awards and the winners will be announced Thursday, January 18 at the ESNS festival in Groningen, NL. Listeners/viewers can vote...

Ana Lua Caiano - "Mão na Mão" from the 2023 self-released album Se Dançar É Só Depois Portuguese multi-disciplinary artist  Ana Lua Caiano  studied classical music for eight years, and then studied jazz for four years at the prestigious Escola De Jazz Luiz Villas-Boas, the oldest jazz club in Europe. In 2017, she joined the acoustic ensemble Os Vertigem, but when the pandemic hit and she couldn't...

Panthervision - "Wish You Were Here (Baby it's Christmas)" a 2023 single on Fetish Pop This week, we are continuing a long-held tradition of featuring Christmas-themed Songs of the Day, selected by Brian Foss, one of the hosts of KEXP’s punk show Sonic Reducer. He will be hosting his 20th annual Punk Rock Xmess on Saturday, December 23rd from 9 PM to midnight PT, and then tune in on  Monday, Decem...

Problem Patterns - "Christmas Number One" a 2020 self-released single This week, we are continuing a long-held tradition of featuring Christmas-themed Songs of the Day, selected by Brian Foss, one of the hosts of KEXP’s punk show Sonic Reducer. He will be hosting his 20th annual Punk Rock Xmess on Saturday, December 23rd from 9 PM to midnight PT, and then tune in on Monday, December 25th from 7 AM...

Ricardo Autobahn - "Christmas Isn't Halloween," a 2020 single on Banoffee Sound Today's Song of the Day isn't  Ricardo Autobahn 's first Christmas hit, not by a long shot. Under his birth name of John Matthews, he had a smash single with his band Cuban Boys in 1999, with the track "Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia" reaching #4 on the UK charts on Christmas week, and topping the infamous John Peel's...

Longboat - "Christmas Socking" from the 2018 self-released album Come and Get Your Christmas This week, we are continuing a long-held tradition of featuring Christmas-themed Songs of the Day, selected by Brian Foss, one of the hosts of KEXP’s punk show Sonic Reducer. He will be hosting his 20th annual Punk Rock Xmess on Saturday, December 23rd from 9 PM to midnight PT, and then tune in on  Monday,...

SQUISH! - "SNIFF MY PISS FOR CHRISTMAS," a 2023 self-released single This week, we are continuing a long-held tradition of featuring Christmas-themed Songs of the Day, selected by Brian Foss, one of the hosts of KEXP’s punk show Sonic Reducer. He will be hosting his 20th annual Punk Rock Xmess on Saturday, December 23rd from 9 PM to midnight PT, and then tune in on  Monday, December 25th from 7 AM...

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Zaid Kreshan - "Shadeed" from the 2023 compilation album By the People, For the People on House of Afandi Records Cairo-based Jordanian artist  Zaid Kreshan can often be found doing production for Arabic Pop artist Zaid Khaled (and as a content creator for SceneNoise), but he steps to the forefront for today's dreamy, yet frenetic Song of the Day.  Read the full story at KEXP.org Support the show:...

Oun Jweinat - "Love We Battle" from the 2023 compilation album By the People, For the People on House of Afandi Records DJ/producer Oun Jweinat divides his time between Liverpool, England, and Amman, Jordan, where he's part of the music-collective-turned-record-label House of Afandi, who've released this week's Songs of the Day.  Jweinat began mixing and DJing at the age of 11, inspired by his old...

Arabian Panther - "Gaza’s Tears" from the 2023 compilation album By the People, For the People on House of Afandi Records French/Lebanese DJ/producer  Arabian Panther has long used his music as a platform for social justice. He performs on stage obscured behind a black keffiyeh, as a sign of support to the Palestinian cause and to his roots. To him, the "Arabian Panther" is a fictional character,...

Moktar - Free Palestine from the 2023 compilation album By the People, For the People on House of Afandi Records Egyptian-Australian artist  Moktar proudly infuses influences from his Middle-Eastern heritage into his techno, house, and electro compositions. (His father is a famed Egyptian conductor and composer of Arabic and folk music.)  As he states on Instagram , "I’ve witnessed many talented m...

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 Las...

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...

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...

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 t...

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 Sto...

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...

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...

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 H...

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 scor...

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 gettin...

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...

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 Mi...