Here’s the Brooklyn band Takka Takka performing “Everybody Say” during KEXP’s broadcast from Gibson Showroom during CMJ, filmed by New York Noise.

We had already thought the Brooklyn band Takka Takka was good, but their in-studio session, the first of 20 that week, was absolutely stunning. Normally with the first performance of a week-long broadcast, you never know what you’re going to get (well, it’s usually the bumpiest ride of all). Takka Takka, though, were a sheer joy. After you watch this video, be sure to check out photos from the session and read more about the band here.

Here’s another video from KEXP’s broadcast from the Gibson Showroom during CMJ: Deerhoof performing “The Tears and Music of Love,” filmed by New York Noise.

Check out photos from the session and read an exclusive interview with the band here.

photos by Christopher Nelson:

Photos by Ron Henry:

Come down to the KEXP Halloween Open House right now! Until 5PM, we’ve got plenty of treats for trick-or-treaters, and we’re giving station tours and taking photos. Here are just some of the great costumes that we’ve seen so far:

Ron Henry

We’re celebrating Halloween at KEXP by inviting you to come down and tour the station. Come to KEXP’s Halloween Open House between 11am and 5pm for Trick-or-Treat’ing, Halloween photos in the Spooky Live Room, station tours, and more. Bring your kids, take a long lunch break, or take a field trip, and come down to 113 Dexter Ave. N. and meet other KEXP fans and staff.

As you can see, preparations are already underway:

Here’s Lykke Li performing “I’m Good I’m Gone,” live on KEXP from the Gibson Showroom during CMJ, filmed by New York Noise.

You can also download the the full performance from Lykke Li as one of our Live Performances podcasts, in addition to four other CMJ performances and a whole lot more:

review and photos by Liza Zinina

Yelle’s second visit to the Seattle has proven to be even more electrifying and inspiring then the first. The spring show at the War Room was simply a warm-up for what was yet to come and the finished product captivated the ready-to-jump crowd with the beats and the energy emanating from the stage. Julie Budet, known to us as Yelle, is enthusiastic and upbeat, she is not afraid to sing about the naughty bits or women’s rights.

Reflecting back to the show in April, I thought of Yelle as a new hipster chick in legwarmers, still a little timid and possibly overwhelmed by the mostly American crowd. Back then she didn’t even have an album out Stateside, only an import. This time around however, her and her right hand man, GrandMarnier, conquered the stage of Neumo’s like experienced pros. Yelle’s electro vibe attracted a young and ready to jump crowd of the Seattle’s finest. Live drums, keys and not a backup track in sight, except for some sound effects emanating from GrandMarnier’s laptop guaranteed a show to remember. The starlet’s aerobics-inspired moves on stage went right along with the pseudo-slam-dancing of the crowd.

Yelle’s stage presence and her supple moves turn concertgoers on like a firework — a firework of French spunk and the language’s optimism. While my knowledge of French is limited to “oui” and “merci,” there is no language barrier — the energy is more then enough to hypnotize and force the uncontrollable jumping, singing along and hand waving.

While appearing to be a happy and simple 25 year old from Saint-Brieuc, a commune in France, Yelle’s lyrics are no joke. The fame came after a song titled “Je Veux Te Voi” was posted on her MySpace, it ultimately referred to “size” and was aimed at a member of Parisian TTC. She has since toured around most of the world and there is no stopping her. While chatting with Darek Mazzone, Yelle and her bandmates mentioned how inspired they are with the scenery and the scale of the country, since this time they are traveling in a van, taking in what they see and experience. Who knows, maybe their next album will have some banjo rhythms? We shall wait and see.

photos by Doron Gild
review by Sheryl Witlen

One of the loudest band performances of the week is sure to come from Brooklyn’s own Freshkills. Vocalist Zach Lipez, drummer Jimmy Paradise, guitarists Johnny Rauberts and Tim Murray, and bassist Mitchell Jordan know how to claim your attention and stain your memory. With dark music thick with heavy guitar riffs and pounding drums, Freshkills don’t sulk into the scene… they bash your senses raw with fierce aggression. These Williamsburg rockers keep good company with screamers such as Team Robespierre, Goes Cube, and The Arms. Their second and recent effort — self-titled, self-released, and produced by Alex Newport (At the Drive In, Two Gallants) — blends post-hardcore with post-punk, creating a biting, yet still danceable mix. The Portland Mercury described this young talent as “a combination of the spazzy kid who threw desks and chairs at the teachers and the bully who pushed that same kid into lockers, Freshkills use a combination of tech-y, frantic breakdowns and relentless pummeling to get their way. Unpredictable and confrontational, the band doesn’t ask or compel listeners, they demand.” It is rumored that the band was contacted by the New York City Parks Department during an attempt to seek rehabilitation funds for Staten Island’s second-most-well known landmark: The Fresh Kills landfill, from which the band indeed took its name. Whether or not the band can put a more positive spin on what was once the largest dump in the world, one thing is for certian: Freshkills’ music isn’t so easily discarded.

View more photos / slideshow.

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 Kevin Cole, is “Radio Retaliation” by Thievery Corporation and is the title track from their 2008 album on Eighteenth Street Lounge Music. 

Rob Garza and Eric Hilton are Thievery Corporation, a Washington, D.C. based DJ duo who perform with an international cast of supporting artists. From the heart of the nation’s capital, or “Babylon” as they often refer to it, Garza and Hilton write music and lyrics strongly influenced by their stances on politics and current events. In fact, when the band released their new album, Garza proclaimed: “Radio Retaliation is definitely a more overt political statement. There’s no excuse for not speaking out at this point, with the suspension of habeas corpus, outsourced torture, illegal wars of aggression, fuel, food, and economic crises. It’s hard to close your eyes and sleep while the world is burning around you. If you are an artist, this is the most essential time to speak up.”

Also continuing their “outernational sound” on the new album, Thievery Corporation enlist a line of multinational guest musicians, including Anoushka Shankar (daughter of Ravi Shankar), Femi Kuti, and Seu Jorge, as they mix genres of Latin, dub, Indian, lounge, rock, Reggae, and many others. On the title track, it is Sleepy Wonder, the rapid-fire Reggae DJ listeners will know from the duo’s previous albums, who delivers the message, which Hilton describes as “an exodus of conscious people who are willing to acknowledge something is wrong with the ‘official version’ in news and culture.”

Thievery Corporation are playing a couple of festivals in early November and then taking a break until they perform a New Year’s Eve party in San Francisco. Get more details on their MySpace page. For now, here’s a brand new video for “Radio Retaliation”: