photos by Ron Henry

Check out the full set here.

Come on down to 113 Dexter Ave. N. and visit the station from now until 6 pm. We have plenty of candy, costumes and photographers on hand.

photos by Ron Henry

Click for more photos:
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Kevin and Lisa are Ghostland Observatory
photo by Ron Henry

I thought it would be cool for Kevin and I to dress up for Halloween in one of those couples’ costumes - my idea was Sonny and Cher, Kevin being Cher, of course. Last week I said to him, “dude, we have to figure out Halloween costumes” and he replied, “so how attached are you to the Sonny and Cher idea? What if we were Ghostland?” Halloween perfection … I wish I’d thought of it! Kevin has a remarkable way of morphing into a rock star, Aaron Behrens in particular. My part was easy - a wig and then get mom to make a light blue Thomas Turner cape for me (thanks, mom!). Kevin wrangled a pair of sunglasses, a tight t-shirt, and jeans, and I braided his hair in the bathroom this morning. Voila! Ghostland Observatory. A perfect tribute to a band we love, who I’m pretty sure would give our costumes the thumbs up.

Boo! Welcome to the Halloween edition of Video Roundup. The the newest video from Band of Horses‘ epic Cease to Begin, the timely titled “Is There a Ghost,” calls to mind a whole cemetery’s worth of ghost stories told in video form. Sit back, light a candle, and let the seance begin:

Band of Horses - Is There A Ghost

Spoon - The Ghost of You Lingers

The White Stripes - Walking with a Ghost

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I had a crazy experience in the pledge room today, one of those minutes where you feel REALLY connected to the people you’re with, even if you don’t necessarily know them well. I kept it under wraps though, because it’s hard to have a transcendent experience with strangers if you haven’t all decided to have one together, especially if they’re all busy answering pledge drive phones and you’re troubleshooting a computer problem.

It started with John’s 1994 themed show this morning. I heard John say that a Lucsious Jackson record came out that year. I really loved that band – girl power! And while I didn’t get to hear if he played a song, just the thought of the band made me a bit nostalgic.

Then the All-Vinyl show swept me away on a trip down memory lane with every song. I got rid of my records in 1994 and stopped listening to my cassettes in 2000 because my player broke, and I never replaced most of the music because I’m cheap. So it was like discovering new music again – but music I could sing with on the first go through. I happened to be in the booth when John pulled out Fishbone. That was such a good record.

Later, he played U2 and it felt to me like the whole room, the whole building really, was moving together. It was just such a great song. I can’t even remember which song (and I know I could go look it up on the playlist, but the song is not even really the point). It was that we – all my new pledge drive friends, my awesome co-workers, the interns — it seemed to me, in my moment of feeling SO GOOD, that everyone anywhere who could hear the song and the songs that came before, were moving together for the simple pleasure of it, because the music was just so gorgeous. I LOVE stuff like that…

I was smiling like a goof from ear to ear and wishing that I were out in the grass somewhere in the middle of summer with a huge sky above my head. The power of music is sometimes more than I can take.

photo by Jason Evans

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 featured selection, chosen by Afternoon Show host Cheryl Waters, is Melody Day by Caribou from the 2007 album Andorra on Merge.

Caribou - Melody Day (MP3)

What started as a homemade electronic endeavor six years ago has turned, with a few detours along the way, into an elaborate mix of krautrock, electronica and 60’s-influenced psychedelic pop. Caribou, aka Dan Snaith, originally went by the name Manitoba, which is also a Canadian province. Snaith was forced to change the name after being sued by Handsome Dick Manitoba, a washed up punk rocker who went on to become a wrestler. After finishing a PhD in Mathematics, Snaith spent a full year working on Andorra, his most ambitious album to date. Aside from the vocal support of Junior Boys’ Jeremy Greenspan on She’s the One, Snaith claims responsibility for every sound on the record. Focusing his efforts on lush, intricate melodies, better-than-usual Caribou percussion, and more front and center vocal tracks, Snaith has given us a lot to look back upon and a lot to look forward to. With the West Coast leg of their tour all but finished, the five-piece touring band heads back east, wrapping up their North American jaunt with a show in Toronto 11/10. Sample the goods over at their MySpace page, but treat yourself to this video for Melody Day before you go:

Just another day at work. I walk around the corner and see my co-worker Cyrus spread on the floor. He SAID it was part of the Halloween decorations for tomorrow’s party here at the station. He also said a few choice phrases that I don’t understand….”Ask and you shall receive,” “I’m on salary” and “Don’t wake the monster.” Any of those would be good captions for this photo. In fact if you want to comment on this blog post and think of the best caption for this picture…. The person who thinks of the best caption will receive a candy bar from me personally.

If you want to come down to the station on Halloween, between 12 and 6 pm, with your costumes, kids, or just yourselves. We’ll have plenty candy on hand and even take a snapshot of you too … for, uh, forensics.

KEXP
113 Dexter Ave. N.
(near the intersection of Dexter and Denny)

This week, we have two reviews, one from Boston and the other from Milwaukee.

• Shout Out Louds, Paradise Music Club, Boston 10/24 by Miriam Lamey
• Wilco and Andrew Bird, Eagle’s Ballroom, Milwaukee 10/9 by Jeremy Farmer

Shout Out Louds, Paradise Music Club, Boston 10/24

review and interview by Miriam Lamey
photos by Thana Taliep

The sassy, Swedish Shout Out Louds trooped onstage at the Paradise Rock Club to an enthusiastic, yet smaller-than-average, crowd last week. You can thank the first Red Sox World Series game for that, a fact that singer Adam Olenius teasingly addressed during the set. Yet Olenius and the band, consisting of Ted Malmros (bass), Carl von Arbin (guitars), Eric Edman (drums) and Bebban Stenborg (vocals, keys), played a sparklingly edgy set including a range of tracks from their latest release of dark, twinkly indie pop, Our Ill Wills. Avoiding any cloying sentiments, Shout Out Louds seemed rather business-like as they strode through their high energy set that was projected just loud and clear enough to not force the audience to reach for their earplugs. Highlights from the performance included a hot rendition of “Illusion,” in which the jumpy, innovative percussion and light guitars contrasted beautifully with a tuneful melody and pretty harmony accents. The moodier, Bright Eyes-like “Suit Yourself” presented a more intense vibe, as the heavier drums and soul-searching melody gave the tune plenty of attitude. The track’s intermittent synth accents rang warmly and fully through the venue. Shout Out Louds closed their set with the high-energy single “Tonight I have to Leave It” and certainly put a smile on everyone’s face. The Shout Out Louds wrap up their North American tour in LA on November 5th, before heading back to Europe for a range of shows in Norway and Sweden, plus one date in London.

Prior to their Wednesday night show, I managed to grab Adam Olenius for a brief chat about the tour so far and their recent album.

Miriam: First of all, how’s the tour going so far?

Adam: Really good. It’s our second headlining tour. You know, it feels good…nice venues and all that. We had a really rough start for the bus broke down for two days. I like being on tour to work and play and when there’s time off and there’s nothing to do, you get in this really horrible tour depression. Everyone was really exited to play, but there was this downfall for two days. But then it went really well so the last couple of shows have been really good.

Miriam: Nice. So what’s the best stop been so far?

Adam: I really liked Canada. I really liked Toronto. We played Montreal yesterday, but Toronto – we just had so many friends there. They take us out, there’s always nights…it stinks! [laughs] Um, and the West coast is great – San Francisco and Seattle and I like the bigger cities. The small ones are nice, but I like cities. Stockholm is a small city; you can walk, you can take bikes. Tomorrow it’s New York and there are going to be so many friends there. It’s going to be great to go down there but, you know, it’s so stressful. I do wish I was in Stockholm. It’s great to do that, but you have to be such a good host and I’m not a very good host [laughs.]

Miriam: You’ve opened for people like the Kings of Leon and the Strokes. What was your best opening experience?

Adam: I have really good memories of opening for the Kings of Leon just because they were in big places, but not that big. The Strokes in the UK were in really big places and it was at about the time we’d just released our record and people really knew the songs. We’re really good friends with The Magic Numbers from the UK. We did a European tour, in smaller venues, and we were double headliners and we were with really good friends. I mean, it’s important being a bigger band and doing bigger shows and to keep that kind of magic and energy. Sometimes that kind of gets lost in these big arenas, but so far we’ve managed to keep it up.

Miriam: Your second album that just came out, Our Ill Wills – how is that different to your first album? What is different about it?

Adam: Well, just it’s another step. We tour so much that we knew each other better musically and together we had so much time to get influenced by things and ideas, so it’s like we collected them – bringing a bag home of ideas. But the album’s a little bit bigger. There’s more of a cinematic feeling to it and we’re just better in every way.

Miriam: [laughs] That’s great. So what ideas and influences did you use for your second album?

Adam: We focused more on the rhythms and drums influenced by more electronic and dance music, but also more rhythmic music, from Northern Africa and South America. There’ s a lot of percussion and drums. And I think the way that I wrote the words – it seems like all the instruments have a different rhythm. At first you might hear the song a bit slower, but then you just go dance to it - more of a, I don’t, know dancing, walking kind of thing.

Miriam: Right, there’s more movement.

Adam: Yeah.

Miriam: I noticed you deal with a lot of heavier emotions in your lyrics. How do you keep the overall tone of the songs so upbeat?

Adam: I think we have a more of a sad lyric and when it’s played loud you’re getting rid of a lot of energy, like you’re getting that thing out of you. And you need sort of a melody to really take that feeling out of you, honestly. Because otherwise, I’d just stand there whining!

Miriam: Do you primarily write all the songs, or do you all work together?

Adam: I write most of the songs, but on this album, we arranged them together a lot. Bebben wrote her first song on the record and she sings it herself. Karl and Bebben are more involved in writing the melodies with me. It depends on what kind of song it is. If it’s a very personal song, I need to write it on my own, but there are some songs we made collectively that we really wanted on this album. It’s important to us that that thing doesn’t get lost.

Miriam: What else are you listening to at the moment?

Adam: I just bought these great records the other day. Old Brazilian music from the Seventies. It’s very funky, there’s lots of rhythm. And I do listen to many things – I like Panda Bear from Animal Collective, the solo album that came out this year. I like The National. I’ve listened to a lot of Dylan lately. I think I’m old enough to appreciate Dylan.

Miriam: [laughs] Well, you hit a certain age, and that’s it!

Adam: [laughs] Yeah, I’m old enough now, so bring it on! But I try to listen to a lot of Swedish music, especially when I’m there, so I like the new Jens Lekman album.

Miriam: I’m going to see him Monday!

Adam: He’s playing here in a few days. He just texted me the other day. He’s playing New York now or just a few days after us. That’s really sad – he’s a great guy. But there’s a lot of Swedish stuff I listen to. I think it’s important to get influenced by your own local scene.

Miriam: I was going to ask about that! What’s the local scene like where you’re from? How would you fit in there? Do you fit into a “scene” at home?

Adam: Yes, we do. The bands are so different from each other and they all kind of borrow from each other. The genres are very mixed up which I think is very great…very, creative. Everyone kind of makes everything up. I don’t know – there are bands that travel abroad, like Peter Bjorn and John. They’re Stockholm based and The Concretes are from Stockholm and we heard about them all the time. I think I belong to the Swedish scene and I’m not sure about the Stockholm. Well, yeah, maybe I do – I don’t know! I couldn’t live anywhere else!

When Chicago invaded Milwaukee
Wilco and Andrew Bird at Eagles Ballroom, Milwaukee 10/9/07

words and photos by Jeremy Farmer



In early September, two of Chicago’s finest musical outputs played separate headlining sold out gigs. One was in the back lots near the Hideout, and the other was at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. Both represent Chicago in its purest forms, but in different manners. One is obviously more rock and roll than the other, while the other is obviously more a treat on the eyes. Yet both were a great example of what these two separate acts have risen to. Andrew Bird, playing the main slot of the Hideout Block Party, and Wilco, from its days playing clubs throughout the environs of the Chicago cityscape, culminating to a homecoming show of sorts at the newest gem of the downtown area. It is about persistence for both acts, and well-deserved payoffs. A Cinderella story of sorts I suppose, but staving off the need to get nostalgic and sappy about it, it is really just proper rock and roll.


Both of these acts, in newer forms than they once were, with different members and outputs etc, took their combined musical endeavors north of the border (the fabled Wisconsin border) to our neighbor Milwaukee. It was sure to be a treat. Andrew Bird, in a “rare solo performance” and Wilco, playing to a crowd indoors (which is becoming harder to experience in Chicago, what with the rampant super fandom abounding through the streets).


I have trouble criticizing anything Bird has done since Weather Systems, and his set, while short, was pretty sweet. Though he did suffer from the Milwaukee echo chamber that is the Eagle’s Ballroom, he did prove that a broken down Bird is still a winged creature of a magnanimous sort. After all, when he does tour with a band, he is Andrew Bird, not the Andrew Bird band, etc. His music stands on its own, when he is standing on his own, if you will. 


Quietly, he spoke, “Hello, I’m Andrew Bird, so nice to meet you. I’m from Chicago”, and the crowd bellowed out in fellow representation. It looked as if I was not the only one to make it up from home.



If there was one thing that the crowd could not be accused of, it was lack of passion. Much of the crowd was familiar with Andrew Bird, a few of them mentioning his set at Bonnaroo last summer and how amazing it was, but you could tell from the break between acts that what everyone was really ready for was Wilco. I spoke to a few of the kids up front and they had driven from exotic places like Green Bay to see the show. One of the oddest aspects of the show that struck me was that there was no other photographer for Bird, and only one other for Wilco, who quickly left after the mandatory three song limit. (As these big ole shows, us photogs have only the first three songs to shoot the band).


Wilco began the show, amid cheers and mass screaming, to the second song (You Are My Face) off their new album Sky Blue Sky. Like this new stage of Wilco or not, you would be stretching the limits of truth by claiming they do not have their shit together. They are a conglomerate of styles and approaches, of experience and dress, but they are a solid unit of Wilcodom. The initial part of their extended set focused on newer material with the second song coming in at “I am Trying to Break Your Heart” from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, followed by dabbling in A Ghost is Born, and always coming back to Sky. As they moved through their catalog they left the older material for the end, and as I was singing along to “I Got You (At The End of the Century)” as if unsure which one they meant, and okay with either one.

For more photos of the performance, check out Jeremy’s Flickr site: Andrew Bird & Wilco.

Monday morning started out really emotionally for me.

So it’s barely 7am on Monday morning. I was soaking in a hot tub, trying to quell the butterflies in my stomach before coming into the station, and I hear that our friends Angela and Ray have made a $3,000 challenge pledge. Tears sprung to my eyes as I listened to how quickly their gift inspired others to make their own contributions. As soon as I could get to my laptop, I wrote a note to let them know how much we appreciated this big jump in giving level for them, and for encouraging others to do the same. (They not only inspired others to make gifts, but also inspired $4,000 in additional challenges during the course of the morning!) We’re going to get together when we can so that I can give ‘em a couple hugs, that’s for sure.

Angela and Ray are long time donors who have been very involved with KEXP, even though we can’t see Ray as much as we’d like. He is stationed aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln and is often away at sea. Angela stays in Seattle and holds down the fort. She’s one of those infectiously enthusiastic people, a pre-school teacher, who just can’t say enough nice things about whatever the topic. It seems that every time they make a gift, I end up with tears in my eyes because they feel so deeply about the station.

A couple hours later, we got the following email from Ray, which made for more happy tears:

John, Cheryl, Leesa, Tom and whoever else may be reading this:

First, let me say thank you for your kind words [of thanks], they are really nice to read and lift my spirits out here aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of smoky Southern California. So many times I question my reason for having chosen such a challenging duty station and then I think of how great Seattle is and most especially how much KEXP means to me and how important it is to my life. I remember looking for something to listen to on the web as a way to verify my network was maintaining good connectivity six years ago. I tried various “free” services, like Virgin Radio, V2 radio and various other web feeds from around the world. By some great stroke of luck I found KEXP and within a month was a member and have not stopped listening. I bought a web capable phone to listen to KEXP when I am out of town or in areas that are beyond broadcast range in the area. I get rooms around the Pacific Rim with internet connections so I can get my “fix” of KEXP. My CD collection, already extensive, has grown exponentially and I keep a notepad handy to write down what I am hearing so I can remember what to buy the next time I am in Sonic Boom in Ballard. I pine for my KEXP and miss it almost as much as Angela. ☺ The other guys I work with listen to the same songs over and over, but I put my headphones on and never hear the same song twice in the same day, much like KEXP. I am proud to be a member and only wish I could give more, do more and tell more people about one of the rarest and most endangered resources on the planet; a commercial free, listener supported, DJ programmed radio station that gives back to its community through charity events and programming. I look forward to the day in the not too distant future where I can hear John on the way to work, Cheryl at lunch and Kevin on the way home; Kid Hops on my Saturday morning, Quilty while I shop the market and sleep to the awesome overnight personalities. You are the ones who rock and it is a privilege to be a part of the greatest radio station the world has ever seen. Keep providing your best, we will always be here.

Ray Stockstad, Proud KEXP listener, supporter, member

You finally get a break from the budget busting weeks previous of new releases — but that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook entirely. There are a handful of worthwhile albums that require your attention.

The soundtrack to the Joy Division biopic Control comes out today and includes songs from the seminal band and others by their equally formative contemporaries like Velvet Underground, David Bowie, Kraftwerk, The Buzzcocks, and New Order. As Joy Division continues to influence bands today, it’s only fitting that (at least) one of them appear on the album:

The Killers - Control (stream)

Also out today is the offbeat Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There, which features seven stages of the songwriter’s life portrayed by six very different actors including Richard Gere, Christian Bale, and Cate Blanchett. The soundtrack includes a similarly diverse mix of artists covering Bob’s songs, such as Steve Malkmus, Tom Verlaine, Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, Cat Power, Richie Havens, Sufjan Stevens, and Los Lobos. If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the trailer to the movie:

You can divide out the rest of your cash between indie albums by Ian Ball of Gomez, country rapper Buck 65, and Swedish songstresses Kate Tucker and Sally Shapiro. Also worth considering are releases by Nicole Atkins, Pusifer, The Carribean, and Charalambides. Check out a complete list at Largehearted Boy and sample of few of these releases here:

Kyle Andrews - Get Mad (MP3)

Nicole Atkins - Neptune City

Ian Ball - Failure (MP3)

Buck 65 - Shutter Buggin (MP3)

The Caribbean - Bees, Their Vision and Language (MP3)

Charalambides - Do You See? (MP3)

Puscifer - Queen B.

Sally Shapiro - He Keeps Me Alive (MP3)

Kate Tucker & The Sons of Sweden - Faster Than Cars (MP3)

Thanks to Stereogum and all of the labels and distributors who make songs available for potential buyers to sample.