Seven years ago, it started off as “the Mom Show,” a remembrance of KEXP’s Morning Show DJ John Richards‘ mother, who passed away from cancer. Since then, it’s become an annual event of remembrance that bonds all KEXP listeners through their own memories of friends and loved ones lost but not forgotten. With songs like Sia’s “Breathe,” LCD Soundsystem’s “Someone Great,” and Alexi Murdoch’s “Orange Sky,” John’s playlist is at times poignant and even sad, but it’s also ultimately happy, hopeful and a celebration of life. As John himself says, it’s “for everyone and everything we’ve lost and to always remember who and what we haven’t.”
Each year The Mom Show is also one of the most requested shows by KEXP listeners who either missed it the first time or want to hear it again. Thanks to our Streaming Archive, you can hear it on demand for the next 14 days:
| Time | Band | Song | Album | Label |
| 6:05 | Liars | The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack | Drum’s Not Dead | Mute |
| 6:11 | Ólafur Arnalds | Þú ert jörðin | ...and They Have Escaped the Weight of Darkness | Erased Tapes Records |
| 6:14 | The Cinematic Orchestra | To Build a Home | Ma fleur | Ninja Tune |
| ---- air break ---- | ||||
| 6:23 | Erik Satie | Gymnopédie No. 1 | The Gymnopédies | http://youtu.be/S-Xm7s9eGxU |
| 6:26 | Apparat | Sweet Unrest | The Devil’s Walk | Mute |
| 6:29 | M83 | Soon, My Friend | Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming. | Mute |
| 6:31 | Sufjan Stevens | Seven Swans | Seven Swans | Sounds Familyre |
| ---- air break ---- | ||||
| 6:42 | Ray LaMontagne | All the Wild Horses | Trouble | RCA/BMG/Stone Dwarf |
| 6:45 | Bill Monroe | My Last Days on Earth | The Country Music Hall of Fame: Bill Monroe | |
| 6:52 | The Cure | Plainsong | Disintegration | Elektra |
| 6:54 | Peter Gabriel | It Is Accomplished | Passion: Music for the Last Temptation of Christ | Geffen Records |
| ---- air break ---- | ||||
| 7:00 | Depeche Mode | Enjoy the Silence | Violator | Intercord Tonträger |
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| 7:06 | Sonic Youth | Superstar | If I Were a Carpenter | A&M Records |
| 7:09 | Simon & Garfunkel | Bookends Theme | Bookends | Columbia Records |
| 7:10 | Eddie Vedder | Rise | Into the Wild | Sony BMG Music Entertainment |
| 7:14 | Alaska in Winter | The Beautiful Burial Flowers We Will Never See | Dance Party in the Balkans | Milan Records |
| 7:16 | Beirut | After the Curtain | Gulag Orkestar | Ba Da Bing! |
| ---- air break ---- | ||||
| 7:22 | Alexi Murdoch | Orange Sky (live on kexp) | ||
| 7:27 | Golden Smog | Please Tell My Brother | Weird Tales | Rykodisc |
| 7:29 | Black Rebel Motorcycle Club | Mercy | Howl Sessions | RCA Records |
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| 7:36 | Cat Stevens | Father and Son | Tea for the Tillerman | Island Records |
| 7:40 | Michael Franti and Spearhead | Never Too Late | Live At KEXP Vol One | KEXP |
| ---- air break ---- | ||||
| 7:48 | The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers | Lisa | Esopus, Volume 4: Imaginary Friends | |
| 7:52 | Chocolate Genius | My Mom | Black Music | V2 |
| 7:57 | Jeff Buckley | Hallelujah | Grace | Columbia Records |
| 8:04 | The The | Love Is Stronger Than Death | Dusk (Remaster) | Sony |
| ---- air break ---- | ||||
| 8:12 | The Verve | See You in the Next One (Have a Good Time) | A Storm in Heaven | Hut Recordings |
| 8:15 | Love and Rockets | Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven | Earth · Sun · Moon | Beggars Banquet |
| 8:20 | DeVotchKa | How It Ends | How It Ends | Cicero Recordings |
| 8:27 | Cloud Cult | No One Said It Would Be Easy | Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes) | Earthology Records |
| ---- air break ---- | ||||
| 8:32 | LCD Soundsystem | Someone Great | Sound of Silver | DFA Records |
| 8:38 | Sia | Breathe Me | Colour the Small One | Astralwerks |
| 8:42 | Sigur Rós | Með suð í eyrum | Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust | EMI Records |
| 8:47 | Moby | God Moving Over the Face of the Waters | Everything Is Wrong | Elektra Entertainment Group |
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| 8:57 | Ben Lee | We’re All in This Together | Awake Is the New Sleep | |
| 9:01 | R.E.M. | Everybody Hurts | Automatic for the People | Warner Bros. Records |
| 9:06 | Elliott Smith | A Fond Farewell | From a Basement on the Hill | Domino |
| ---- air break ---- | ||||
| 9:13 | Fleet Foxes | Your Protector | Fleet Foxes | [no label] |
| 9:17 | Band of Horses | The Funeral | Everything All the Time | Sub Pop Records |
| 9:23 | Elbow | Station Approach | Leaders of the Free World | V2 |
| ---- air break ---- | ||||
| 9:29 | Snow Patrol | Run | Final Straw | Fiction Records |
| 9:36 | The Waterboys | This Is the Sea | This Is the Sea | Ensign Records |
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| 9:43 | Clem Snide | I Love the Unknown | Your Favorite Music | Sire Records |
| 9:45 | U2 | Running to Stand Still | The Joshua Tree | Island Records |
| 9:49 | Pearl Jam | Release / Master/Slave | Ten | Epic |
| ---- air break ---- | ||||
| 9:55 | Maps | Don’t Fear | We Can Create | Mute |
| 9:59 | TV on the Radio | Family Tree | Dear Science | 4AD |
| ---- air break ---- | ||||
| 10:07 | Johnny Cash | We’ll Meet Again | American IV: The Man Comes Around | American Recordings |
2 Comments
Thank you for posting this playlist. I lost my father suddenly in September, and as I grieve I long to be connected to music that can express what feels unspeakable to me as well as longing to be connected to others in their grief. This show is a profound gift to the KEXP community.
I really appreciate your honesty and openness. Your playlist is spot on and hits and emotional chord that resonates deep within. I’ve been longing to hear many of these songs and artists recently. It’s serendipitous that tonight I didn’t go for a run. Keep this show running! Lonely and missing the NW all the way from Saudi Arabia I stream KEXP as an emotional gateway to home.