photo by Kyle Johnson

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. Each and every Friday we offer songs by local artists. Today’s featured selection, chosen by Morning Show Host John Richards, is “Raindrops” by Grand Hallway from their self-release album Promenade.

Grand Hallway are an 8-piece orchestral pop outfit made up of members from such local KEXP favorites as The Maldives, Voyager One, Sleepy Eyes of Death among others. Regardless of the collective’s impressive resume, this particular project is earning well-deserved praise from fans and the music community alike. Grand Hallway got their start in 2006 and have two other releases and several West Coast and Japanese tours under their belt. Today’s song, “Raindrops,” is the opening track on the their second full-length album, Promenade, which recounts the dissolution of one relationship and the blossoming of another as narrated by singer/songwriter Tomo Nakayama (Asahi, Jen Wood Trio). This song’s soaring melodies and choral vocals will sweep you off your feet at first listen.

You can catch Grand Hallway tomorrow night at the University of Washington HUB w/ The Maldives and Colonies (it’s a benefit for the UW Fisheries Dept.) or on Nov 13th at The Sunset with Final Spins. After that, they head out for a short tour before playing part of the KEXP Yule Benefit on December 12th w/ The Thermals, Cave Singers, and the Builders and Butchers. Check out their MySpace page for more dates.

Here’s a video for “Seward Park” from their 2007 album Yes is the Answer:

photo by Dave Lichterman

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of 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. Each and every Friday we offer songs by local artists. Today’s featured selection, chosen by Morning Show host John Richards, is “How You Like Me Now?” by The Heavy from their 2009 album The House That Dirt Built on Counter Records.

It’s about time good ‘ole fashion jungle blues danced into musical vogue and onto the airwaves. We can thank big, bad UK band The Heavy and their enticing psychedelic, freak beat voodoo charm. With their 2009 sophomore release, The House That Dirt Built, you can bet the four chaps from Noid, England, are here to stay. So watch your back — these sinister funk masters will find a home in the deep, dark pit of your soul before you know it.

After growing up trading reggae, hip hop and soul records, vocalist Kelvin Swaby and guitarist Dan Taylor decided to take their tuneful infatuation one step further and jam. What started as purely messing around on a guitar and slicing up soul beats on a sampler soon turned into a regular open mic night extravaganza. After booking some gigs and dumping disappointing drummers after bassists, Spencer Page (bass), Chris Ellul (drums) and Hannah Collins (vocals/keyboards - left the band in 2008) completed what we now know as The Heavy.

Aside from jailbait ballad “Sixteen,” the brassed out “How You Like Me Now?” is the shining star on the brilliant bare bones record. With scorched guitar, classic funk horn and James Brown-like vocals, Swaby says the song is a raw look at how people mask their vices in relationships. Once discovered, all most of us can say is “How you like me now?”

For more about The Heavy or to get your groove on, check out their MySpace page or website. If you missed them when they were in town last week, you’ll have to wait a while for them to return to the Northwest. For now, sit back (or get up) and enjoy a tasty live version of today’s Song of the Day recorded live in in the KEXP studio on October 30:

photo by Tonia 'Pataccara' Chiaramonte

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJ’s think you should hear. Each and every Friday we offer songs by local artists. Today’s featured selection, chosen by Morning show host John Richards, is “the photoshopped prince” by port-royal from the 2009 album dying in time on n5MD.

Built somewhere at the crossroads of Mogwai’s soaring instrumentals and Joy Division’s pop melancholia, Italian born port-royal first saw the light of day in a dark basement somewhere beneath Genoa’s city center. It was here that founding members Attilio Bruzzone and Ettore Roberto (eventually joined by Ettore’s brother Michele on drums), armed only with a Tascam 4-track cassette recorder, a piano and one guitar, began hashing out the ideas that would ultimately inhabit their first EP, Kraken (2002, on Marsiglia Records) and subsequent break-out LP, Flares (2005, on Resonant Recordings).

In the years following their initial releases, port-royal’s core players shifted and reshifted musical gears by way of the usual member juggling, erratically moving between styles — at times burying their post-rock influences beneath a barrage of turbulent house beats and nebulous synth haze — only to peel it all back and discover their shoes still looking quite lovely, often within the same record. While on the surface this may seem troubling, port-royal’s many faces are not the result of rudderless schizophrenia but rather the product of a band steeped in a quest for individuality.

dying in time (on Oakland’s n5MD Records), port-royal’s 2009 follow-up to the ironically titled, ambitiously assembled Afraid to Dance (2007, on Resonant Recordings), finds the band once again layering sounds in a manner that reaches for the sweet-spot between post-rock divinity, introspective pop and it’s-all-good candy-coated accessibility.

“the photoshopped prince” bobs up and down on a blue wave of organic sounds, robotic rhythms (think Octant or Land of the Loops) and laterally swelling, ghostly vocals. Clearly influenced by band’s like Mogwai (CODY era) and Sigur Ros, this track rejects traditionally minimalist post-rock arcs, instead peaking quickly and packing tightly, seeming a sort of panic stricken, asthmatic child of slowcore, techno, house and electronica.

Currently, port-royal has live dates scheduled only in Poland. Keep checking their MySpace page, though, for further updates. For now, here’s the beautifully filmed, bad-dream-on-a-bus new video for “balding generation (losing hair as we lose hope),” another song on the new album:

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJ’s think you should hear. Each and every Friday we offer songs by local artists. Today’s featured selection, chosen by Morning show host John Richards, is “Float” by Sissy Wish from her 2009 album Beauties Never Die on Afternoon Records.

If you happen to like quirky Nordic pop chanteuses (and why wouldn’t you?), we may have something right up your alley. In case you haven’t heard all the buzz (8.0 Pitchfork ratings tend to generate some of that), Sissy Wish is one of Scandinavia’s latest musical sensations. In fact, she (née Siri Wålberg) was nominated for the Norwegian Grammy (Spellemannsprisen) in 2005 for her debut album, You May Breathe, and has already been receiving an incredible amount of airplay in her home country of Norway. After sticking strictly to a familiar pop sound on stateside tours in 2007 and 2008, Sissy Wish has changed directions with her new album, Beauties Never Die. Gone are the acoustic melodies from before, now replaced with much better electronic ones. And not those cheesy electronics either, but something you’d expect from a unique persona like Siri Walberg. Call it New Wave, Dance, or Pop; we call it fantastic. She’s already taken over Norway and Europe; Sissy Wish is hoping this is just the start.

Sissy Wish just completed her first world tour, including North America. No future dates are yet scheduled, but you can find out more information on her website or listen to additional tracks on her MySpace page. For now, here’s a recent clip of Sissy Wish performing in “Ya Ya Ya” in Oslo earlier this year, and yes, she is wearing a shirt made out of cassette tapes:

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. Each and every Friday we offer songs by local artists. Today’s featured selection, chosen by Morning Show host John Richards, is “When Did The Lights Go Out” by Pixie Carnation from the 2009 self-released Fresh Poems EP.

Formed in Malmö, Sweden, in late 2007, Pixie Carnation is an amalgam of childhood friends Tobias Helkvist and Ola Pålsson along with a full backing band complete with drums, cellos, violin, and piano. In May of this year, the group self-released their debut EP, Fresh Poems, which features three tracks of Americana-inspired pop.

Opening up with a half minute of a practicing string section in what sounds like an orchestra about to break into a full rendition of a classical piece, “When Did The Lights Go Out” switches directions quickly as the swinging strum of an electric guitar comes in with a kick drum and snare following not too far behind. Immediately you start to think that maybe The Boss has entered the room and you wouldn’t be too far off the mark. Helkvist sings of simpler times when we weren’t afraid, didn’t have to look over our shoulder, and didn’t lock our doors; all things that bring Bruce’s imagery to mind. As the song progresses you don’t get any indication that the band is from anywhere but the U.S. as the vocal stylings come through entirely American in a way that even some U.S. bands somehow don’t seem to be able to achieve. Simply structured yet toe-tappingly catchy, “When Did The Lights Go Out” is the kind of rock song that gets its vocal melody stuck inside of your brain but you’re okay with it.

Currently the Scandinavian septet does not have a touring schedule currently posted, but if you happen to reside in the southern reaches of Sweden, keep an eye out for dates in the band’s home town of Malmö. For the rest of us, the band keeps a regularly updated Facebook group as well as a Myspace page where tour dates will be available as they are added. Here’s a quick clip of their performance at the BootBooHook Festival in Hannover, Germany, back in August:

photo by Adam Scott

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. Each and every Friday we offer songs by local artists. Today’s featured selection, chosen by Afternoon Show Host Kevin Cole, is “Old Bachelors in Cleveland” by The Foghorns from their album A Diamond As Big As The Motel 6 available on Beefy Beef Records.

This week DJ Kevin Cole has taken us on a musical journey that has spanned not only several genres but also the globe. Today’s artist has done that as well. The Foghorns are the brainchild of Bart Cameron who originally hailed from Wisconsin and formed the band as an outlet to play bluegrass/rock music before moving to Brooklyn, NY, where he performed with members of the Cobble Hillbillies. As if that wasn’t enough, after receiving the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship, Cameron packed his trunks once again, this time for Iceland. There in addition to his studies, he spent a few years touring the country (often only with a bucket player as accompaniment) and playing music festivals including the Iceland Airwaves music festival. Cameron and the rest of the touring band now reside in the Emerald City and bring us their fifth studio release from the Wisconsin-based label Beefy Beef Records (where according to their website, “so much is at steak”). Today’s song “Old Bachelors in Cleveland” is in a similar vein as fellow Seattlites The Duchess & The Duke (folkadelic) but still maintains its bluegrass roots and instrumentation (namely the slide guitar). The lyrics, laden with melancholy and the harmonies of Cameron and vocalist Katie Quigley invite listeners to continue that journey Bart Cameron started so long ago.

You can catch The Foghorns at the Blue Moon on November 13th and a few other places around town. Check out their MySpace page for dates. There’s plenty of videographic evidence of The Foghorns various incarnations between Seattle, Brooklyn and Iceland and their YouTube channel. Here’s a version of “Sleepy Waltz” recorded at the Tractor Tavern just three days ago!

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. Each and every Friday we offer songs by local artists. Today’s featured selection, chosen by Afternoon Show host Kevin Cole, is “The Travelers” by Brother Ali from his 2009 album Us on Rhymesayers Entertainment.

In 2009, many argue that we as a nation have finally achieved equality between all people. Many believe religion, sex, class, ability, sexual orientation and especially race are no longer deciding factors of a person’s rights or freedom. After hundreds of years, many comfortably contend that we’ve moved beyond our country’s discriminatory past and have come to a point of acceptance and even colorblindness of those different from ourselves. Well, Minnesota-born emcee Brother Ali raps to differ.

Like his last five releases, Ali’s 2009 album Us isn’t for the casual listener. With ANT’s soulful and lush beats and Ali’s brutal, preacher-like lyrics, the hip hop record demands attention, stirring up emotions of anger, sadness, guilt and joy. Ali also moves away from his usual autobiographical reflection of his life as an Albino Muslim and shifts to an overall examination of society. He aims to shake awake and crack open the consciences of the socially sedated who live in the fogged reality of today’s one-sided history, disconnected from the past. “The Travelers” most obviously and brutally touches on this fact, serving as a vivid chronicle of a slave’s journey from their homeland and life in America. Over a dismal xylophone riff, the first verse translates the bewilderment, anguish and fury of a person being ripped from their loved ones, culture and livelihood. The second verse soon flips to the perspectives of those directly and indirectly responsible for the inhumane act. Ali admits that his fans don’t want to hear a song about slavery, but he’s determined to talk about something that has irreparably stained our souls. “You’re a human being, and so anything that happens to humanity happens to [all of] humanity,” Ali says about “The Travelers.”

For more about Ali’s philosophy, tour dates and to hear additional songs off the new album, check out his MySpace page, where you’ll also find out where he’s headed next while on tour. Not stop scheduled for Seattle yet, but maybe in the new year. For now, sit back and take in this incredibly moving glimpse behind the scenes of the new album:

live at Bumbershoot Music Lounge
photo by Dan Muller

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. Each and every Friday we offer songs by local artists. Today’s featured selection, chosen by Afternoon Show host Kevin Cole, is “The End” by Vivian Girls from the 2009 album Everything Goes Wrong on In The Red.

In case your head is in the sand Vivian Girls is an all girl lo-fi garage rock outfit hailing from Brooklyn. Back in 2007 these ladies — Cassie Ramone (guitar/vocals), Kickball Katy (bass/drums/vocals) and Frankie Rose (drums/bass/vocals created a great deal of buzz following the release of their widely played single “Wild Eyes” and subsequent self-titled LP initially released on the Mauled By Tigers label. The first press of this 22-minute noisy overture on love and heartbreak sold out in a mere 10-days – adding new fuel to an already blazing firestorm of cult status in the underground community. In the years following this initial burst of attention the band toured extensively with an exciting and diverse pool of bands from Sonic Youth, Jay Reatard, King Khan & the BBQ to Crystal Stilts and Male Bonding.

“The End,” from last month’s Everything Goes Wrong, is all things noisy, angry and raw while staying sonically focused. While the underlying 60’s era garage sound is certainly still here –previously explored notions of heartbreak seem to really come to head here musically. I’m reminded of feelings I used to get when I listened to Black Flag a lot — like GOD, I FEEL BAD FOR THESE INSTRUMENTS. Ramone’s guitar has one of those sounds that makes you wonder “is it too late for me to learn an instrument?” To quote Jonathan Richman, her distortion laden guitar sounds “Tough,” but somehow “barely there / like a bitchy girl who just don’t care.”

Everything is getting annihilated here: drums, cymbals and guitars become weapons in an effort to eradicate some mutual emotional enemy. Or perhaps they’re just trying to break something to feel better. I don’t know; either way, it works. Nothing was wrong, but I feel better.

It hasn’t been so long since Vivian Girls were in Seattle. And according to their MySpace page, they’re on the East Coast heading back to NYC, where they’ll spend the remainder of the year before heading of to jolly old England. However, the girls did perform an exclusive set at the KEXP-sponsored Music Lounge during the 2009 Bumbershoot Music and Arts festival on Labor Day weekend, and we’ve got the video to prove it:

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. Each and every Friday we offer songs by local artists. Today’s featured selection, chosen by Afternoon Show host Kevin Cole, is “Picture Perfect” by Strawberry Whiplash from the 2009 Picture Perfect EP on Matinee Records.

Strawberry Whiplash must be Scottish for Syrupy Indie-Pop. This Glasgow boy-girl duo (Lawrence & Sandra) give their best C86 impression with dreamy pop tunes reminiscent of bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Primitives.  Classic fuzzed out shoegaze guitars with happy vocals are their signature formula; a mixture of sounds partly inspired from local Glasgow bands Strawberry Switchblade and Meat Whiplash. If music releases were books, their 4-Song EP Picture Perfect would be a great short-story. Fuzzed out guitars and dreamy shoegaze lyrics are all on display, dished up in true retro fashion. Nothing beats the sound of a good Rickenbacker. Is it too late to catch the last rays of sunshine? Maybe not.

The band doesn’t have any tour dates listed, but you can always check out their MySpace page for more info or additional songs. And we encourage you to check out the songwriting half of the duo, Lawrence “Laz” McLuskey’s other project, Bubblegum Lemonade, which we’ve featured here before.

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. Each and every Friday we offer songs by local artists. Today’s featured selection, chosen by Afternoon Show host Kevin Cole, is “Perro Loco” by Forro in the Dark from the group’s 2009 album Light A Candle on Nat Geo Music.

Formerly of Brazil but now in New York City, Forro In The Dark spent the last few years not only developing their sound and touring but simply introducing American audiences to their style of music. As their name suggests, Forro In The Dark mix the traditional style of Brazilian forró with a modern pop style to create a sound that will enchant first time listeners and have them coming back again.

From their new album on Nat Geo Music, titled Light A Candle, “Perro Loco” is a single the band hopes will show the world that while forró is Portuguese for “party”, it’s a party that has energy, character, and depth. Its entirety sung in Portuguese, “Perro Loco” is a funky party jam complete with saxaphone, zabumba, pifano flute, and guitars that is, presumably, about a crazy dog (as the title would imply). Even if you don’t speak the language you’ll find yourself singing the chorus after a few cursory listens and appreciating the layers of instrumentation upon further listens.

Forro In The Dark continue their European tour through mid-November with dates in Istanbul, Stockholm, Helsinki, Berlin, and a handful of others. The group lands stateside on November 19th for a date at The Mint in Los Angeles then continuing up the coast with stops in San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle, where they will play the always intimate High Dive in Fremont. Check out their MySpace page for more details. For now, enjoy this video of another song from the new album, called “Nonsensical”: