Live on KEXP

What A Time To Be Alive, the latest album from independent stalwarts Superchunk, is easily the band's most politically-charged work, so it's no surprise it ranks among their most furious. Joining Cheryl Waters in the Live Room, Mac McCaughan and co. rip through three tunes reflecting on tumultuous times and a Superchunk classic.  Recorded 02/27/2018. 4 songs - Break The Glass, Lost My Br...

"All the way from Seattle, Tacoma, and the Pacific Northwest,” is how DJ Troy Nelson cleverly introduces Unlikely Friends, the group of PNW musicians featuring members of Math & Physics Club and BOAT whose glimmering, powerful rock outshines the KEXP Live Room's ample lighting. The group join Nelson for this session featuring five songs from their latest LP, Crooked Numbers.. Recorde...

Losing, Bully's second full-length album, is more ragged and furious than its predecessor, but the heart of the band - Alicia Bognanno's reflective lyrics and fiery howl - remain front and center despite the increase in intensity. Joining Cheryl Waters in the KEXP Live Room, the band perform four Losing songs that sound best turned up.  Recorded 02/27/2018. 4 songs - Either Way, Feel The...

While the sometimes New Pornographer is always steady for a clever pop tune or two on that group's records, Dan Bejar's primary project remains excitingly difficult to pin down. On Destoyer's latest album, ken, Bejar's synth-soaked set of songs is full of side-eyed bewilderment and cutting turns of phrase, all of which is on display in this session with DJ Cheryl Waters in the KEXP Live Room. Reco...

Sharp, booming, and a hell of a lot of fun, 2KFG, Kung Foo Grip's aptly titled second album, is an early 2018 standout for Seattle hip-hop. Joining Stas THEE Boss on Street Sounds, the Seattle group perform four tracks from their Keyboard Kid-produced LP.  Recorded 03/09/2018. 4 songs - Mic Check, Blvck Hollywood, Sposed Ta B, I Quit (feat. Misunderstood) Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/don...

Roots musicians Dori Freeman's voice floats with "a certain purity”, to quote Roadhouse host Greg Vandy, that cuts through the noise and grabs the listener. Playing songs from her sophomore record, Letters Never Read, the Virginia songwriter runs through four songs and discusses her musical journey in the KEXP Live Room. Recorded 02/09/2018. 5 songs - Lovers On The Run, If I Could Make Y...

Ahead of his second album, Full Circle Nightmare, Kyle Craft's swampy storytelling got sharper and it shows all over the Louisiana songwriter's newest record. Melding golden-toned rock with a glammy sneer, Craft and his band join Cheryl Waters in the KEXP Live Room for four Full Circle Nightmare songs. Recorded 01/31/2018. 4 songs - Heartbreak Junky, Fever Dream Girl, The Rager, Exile Ra...

The Spook School's music is certainly political - written from the crucial voice of a trans person's perspective - but its vital message has a razor-sharp catchiness and chiming dynamic that makes the Scottish group's songs soar with a stinging grace. Joining DJ Miss Ashley in the KEXP Live Room, the band play four songs from their latest album, Could It Be Different? Recorded 02/09/2018. 4 songs...

Michelle Zauner's second album as Japanese Breakfast, 2017's Soft Sounds From Another Planet, may have a space-adjacent angle to many of its songs, but it's all a lens to an intimate, personal LP that cuts to the bone. Joining Cheryl Waters in the KEXP Live Room, Zauner and her band discuss space and personal exploration alongside four Soft Sounds songs. Recorded 02/15/2018. 4 songs - Diving Woman...

The origins of Johnny Goss and Ola Hungerford's latest LP as Cock & Swan, Dream Alone, lie in a live soundtrack the band created for the Nicolas Winding Refn film “Only God Forgives”. Filled the with sleek, stylish, and dark tones of the film, the Seattle duo join Cheryl Waters in the KEXP Live Room for a performance of four Dream Alone tracks. Recorded 02/09/2018. 4 songs - SILM, PERG (H...

Wolf Parade's return from hiatus in 2016 found the band with renewed energy, plenty of which went into the recording of Cry Cry Cry, their vibrant fourth album. Filled with the spiky, art-damaged energy that runs through their best work, the band perform three Cry Cry Cry tracks and a Wolf Parade classic live from the KEXP Gathering Space. Recorded 01/03/2018. 4 songs - Lazarus Online, Soldie...

The Portland musician Kelli Schaefer channels a trembling thunder on her latest album, No Identity, bursting with power and control with the finesse that only a seasoned songwriter can channel. Schaefer roars into the KEXP Live Room on Audioasis with DJ Sharlese with four No Identity songs. Recorded 02/09/2018. 4 songs - Big Black Box, Underground, Machine, Shiny Black Feathers Support the show: h...

Jen Cloher's self-titled record isn't just her most dynamic, it's likely her most self-reflective as well. Wrapped in these spiraling, sprawling songs is a top-class songwriter expanding her sound with intricate Rust Never Sleeps-esque guitar work. Joining DJ Morgan in the KEXP Live Room, Cloher and her band run through four songs off her self-titled record. Recorded 01/27/2018. 4 s...

After reuniting in 2015 for a series of live dates, Dean Wareham and the other members of Luna gradually worked back into a recording mindset, resulting in an instrumental EP and cover album combo, A Sentimental Education. Joining Kevin Cole in the KEXP Live Room, the band run through two songs from Sentimental and a pair of Luna classics, as well as a top-drawer Prince anecdote. Recorded 1/23/201...

Dan Auerbach's prolific streak has run for two decades now, but after an eight-year break between solo albums, he gathered a number of top-notch musicians for the sublime Waiting on a Song. Joined by the Easy Eye Sounds Revue and Robert Finley (who sings two of his own songs), Auerbach brings a warm, intimate set of songs in this acoustic session in the KEXP Live Room with Cheryl Waters. Reco...

The London-via-Seattle duo FKL's crisp electronic sounds channel kinetic energy with silvery tones, not unlike the grey-skied cities that Sage Redman and Joe Gillick hail from. Joining Cheryl Waters in the KEXP Live Room, the pair discuss the project's inception and relocation to Seattle from London alongside a performance of songs from their debut, Out of Tune. 4 songs - Even, A Differe...

It's easy to get lost in The Barr Brothers' rich, often sweeping take on folk rock, wrapping Laurel Canyon shimmer with a sharp, fine-tuned sense of craft. Brad & Andrew Barr, Sarah Pagé, and their bandmates join DJ Morgan for a return trip to the KEXP Live Room to perform four tracks from their latest record, Queens of the Breakers. Recorded 12/16/2017. 4 songs - Queens of the Breakers,...

When they first announced their reunion in 2014, Slowdive's legacy as one of the definitive shoegaze bands had long been crystallized, and when they returned in 2017 with a masterful self-titled album, their years apart felt like a footnote in a band producing some of their best work three decades in. Joining Cheryl Waters in the KEXP Live Room for one of the most anticipated sessions of the...

Stas THEE Boss's solo debut, S'Women (pronounced “swimming”), finds the Seattle musician sharpening her smooth, R and B-streaked hip hop while she meditates on, in her own words, "an aquatic explanation of failed female companionships”. Joined by Seattle's Jusmoni in the KEXP Live Room, Stas performs four tracks from S'women and discusses futurism, music, and the excellenc...

Four years passed in between Sam Beam's previous album as Iron & Wine and his latest, 2017's Beast Epic, but stepping away from the project to work on other endeavors - duet records, starting a record label, digging into his archives - refreshed him and inspired him to craft one of his most thoughtful and sweeping records to date. Joining Kevin Cole in the KEXP Live Room, Beam and hi...

Ten years before this performance in the KEXP Gathering Space, the Seattle hip-hop group Common Market released Tobacco Road, a key album in the 2000s Seattle hip-hop canon. In celebration of its anniversary, Sabri and RA Scion (accompanied by a full band) reunited for a performance that shows the group hasn't lost a step since their 2009 disbandment. Recorded 12/01/2017. 5 songs - Slow Cure,...

The grimy, industrial Seattle group Haunted Horses initially broke up in 2016, but it wasn't long before they announced their revival as a “new band.” Returning to Audioasis with DJ Sharlese for the third time, the group perform five new songs from their new chapter and talk about why they came back to the project. Recorded 11/18/0217 - 4 songs: Vessel, INTO, Winkle, Pleasure, Cold Medicine S...

The Washington D.C.-via-Brooklyn artist Nick Hakim's spectral R and B is entrancing, a sublime mix of psychedelic tones and luscious vocals that shift around with glistening flair. Joining Cheryl Waters in the KEXP Live Room, Hakim discusses his introduction to music, shifting from visual art to music, and his journey to Green Twins. Recorded 10/24/2017. 4 songs - Needy Bees, Cuffed, Roller Skates...

ГШ (Glintshake), the Russian group fronted by Ekaterina Shilonosova, exploded onto DJ Kevin Cole's radar in 2017 with their raucous and radical take on garage rock. Performing a quartet of songs live from KEX Hostel as part of our 2017 Iceland Airwaves broadcast, the band roar through a set that could've leveled the tiny room they were playing in. Recorded 11/2/0217 - 4 songs: Симпатичный мужчина...

After a few years away to work on other projects, Ted Leo returned in 2017 with The Hanged Man, a personal, arresting record that ranks among his best work. Returning to the KEXP Live Room for the first time in years, Leo and the Pharmacists rip through three Hanged Man tracks and a Pharmacists classic. Recorded 11/8/2017. 4 songs - Can't Go Back, William Weld in the 21st Century, Bottled In Cork,...