photo by Matthew Reamer
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s selection, featured on the Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole, is “Some Place” by Nick Waterhouse from the 2012 album Time’s All Gone on Innovative Leisure.
Frank Fairfield, Pokey LaFarge, Blind Boy Paxton, Cedric Watson -- there’s a long roster of young artists filling the wingtip shoes of their musical forebears, some more dramatically or theatrically than others. 26-year old Huntington Beach-bred Nick Waterhouse appears to have stepped out of the dorm room and into the dust-hung air of a 50′s record shop practically sealed from the passage of culture and time over the past 60 years. We say “practically” because, despite his buttoned up and bespeckled Buddy Holly-esque appearance and much avowed love of 45 singles, his penchant for mid-century R&B bears traces of more contemporary styles. But even the recording process of Time’s All Gone celebrates the past. The full-length debut was recorded at the all-analog Distillery studios. Today’s featured song, from the new album, sounds like it rolled out of there by way of the early 60′s with its blend of rock, jazz, funk, garage, and even a touch of psychedelia. At just two and a half minutes, “Some Place” becomes “all the time” as you flick the switch on our turntable to “repeat” and listen to this retro groove over and over.
Nick Waterhouse was recently at Barboza in Seattle and unfortunately doesn’t yet have any upcoming tour dates listed on his Facebook page, but keep checking back there and at is website, which also offers an array of vintage clips and miscellanea. You can listen to his recent performance live on KEXP’s The Roadhouse with Greg Vandy right now and very, very soon you’ll be able to watch videos from the session as well. For now, here’s the official video for today’s Song of the Day:
