In Our Headphones

Big Red Machine - "Phoenix (feat. Fleet Foxes & Anaïs Mitchell)" from the 2021 album How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? on 37d03d. Last month, The National’s Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon released their second album under the name Big Red Machine, titled How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?. The album features a heavyweight line-up of guests, including Taylor Swift, Sharon Van Etten, This Is The Kit, Ben Howard, Naeem, Lisa Hannigan, My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Nova, and on today's Song of the Day, Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes and Tony Award-winning singer/songwriter Anaïs Mitchell.  "'Phoenix' was one of the last songs we wrote for this record," Dessner says via a press release. "I was thinking about The Band and the Grateful Dead... maybe imagining this Big Red Machine album was some version of The Last Waltz. Justin first heard it while driving and immediately the chorus melody came into his head. I shared the sketch with Robin Pecknold, who I've been a fan of forever and who I'd been dreaming would join us on this record. Robin wrote the verses and pre chorus as a kind of dialogue with Justin, recalling a conversation they once had backstage in Phoenix. Later Anais wrote words to the chorus and The Westerlies added their magic to the instrumental. JT Bates rumbles around in rare form on the drums on this song. I think it's what I always imagined Big Red Machine would sound like." Pecknold adds, “It was a high, high honor to work on this song, and beyond that it was a really interesting creative challenge. Justin’s vocals and the beautiful chorus were already in place before I got my hands on it, so I felt my job melodically and lyrically was to set his entrance up in the best possible way. I felt like a pilgrim putting questions to an elusive sage, not needing clear answers, but happy for the chance to ask.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Public Service Broadcasting - "Blue Heaven (feat. Andreya Casablanca)" from the 2021 album Bright Magic on Play It Again Sam. London-based post-prog band Public Service Broadcasting pay tribute to silent-film actress and singer Marlene Dietrich on today's Song of the Day.  The inspiration was drawn from bandmember J. Willgoose, Esq.'s recent move to Berlin, which inspired the group's forthcoming full-length Bright Magic, out September 24th via Play It Again Sam. The track features guest vocals from Andreya Casablanca, of the Berlin band Gurr. “The lyrics highlight her power of self-manipulation, her ambition, her bravery and her lack of compromise on vital matters of character — ‘I am all my own invention /I’m in my blue heaven’ and so on,” he explained in a press release. “It’s named after the jazz number ‘My Blue Heaven’ which she sang regularly and which she said first made her dream of America.”  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Haunted Youth - "Coming Home," a 2021 single on Mayway Records. Belgian dream-pop project The Haunted Youth (the creative outlet for musician Joachim Liebens) bring dreamy waves of synth and chiming guitar on their latest single "Coming Home." Today's Song of the Day is an irresistible end-of-summer anthem.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 The Violent Hearts - "Everything and Nothing," a 2021 single on Dinner For Wolves. After the break-up of their previous band Sharks, musicians James Mattock (vocals/guitarist) and Carl Murrihy (bassist) teamed up with drummer Aidan Sinclair (of the band, Computers) to form the post-punk power-trio of The Violent Hearts. Channeling classic punk bands like The Clash, The Jam, and the Buzzcocks, The Violent Hearts breathe new life into the genre on today's Song of the Day.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Goat - "Fill My Mouth" from the 2021 album Headsoup on Rocket Recordings. Experimental Swedish group GOAT have just released the rarities collection Headsoup, a compilation of B-sides, standalone singles, and two brand new tracks. Today's Song of the Day is one of those new songs, the first music we've heard from the mysterious, masked musical collective since their 2016 full-length Requiem. The song's jazzy, percussion-heavy, trip-tastic sound shows the band haven't lost any of their psychedelic power.  Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On their latest single, local duo Tres Leches reflect on the "positive changes that come to you when you start doing things for yourself instead of trying to prove other people wrong."  "Moving to the U.S. from Mexico when I was 14, I didn’t really know anything about the language or the culture," band member Ulises Mariscal said in a press release. "Even though there were barriers I still managed to find work and go to school. People would tell me that I wouldn’t make anything of myself and want me to conform to something I wasn’t. That’s what I think about during the part of the lyrics that say, 'si no te sientas ya veras'. "I found that after trying to please those people and do everything you are supposed to do, you still feel like you’re not enough. But in the end, those experiences taught me what is important is that the things you are doing make you happy. And those negative comments shouldn’t take away your time and energy; you need to conserve that for the things you love to do because those things are what are going to be the most impactful." Today's Song of the Day is a first listen at their next full-length, due out in early 2022 via Devil in the Woods. Tres Leches are playing September 18th at the Neptune Theatre, and November 11th at Freakout Festival. – Janice HeadleySupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Berlin-based Peruvian artist Sofia Kourtesis turned towards her home on her latest EP, Fresia Magdalena. "Fresia" is her mother’s name, and "Magdalena" is the district of Lima, Peru, where her family currently resides. "Her whole life she’s fought hard for the people of Magdalena, Peru," Kourtesis says in a press release. "This is my tribute to her and the other activists around the world working hard to better the lives of others. We as musicians have a responsibility to help our communities to have their voices heard, changes are needed." Today's Song of the Day is a tribute to Kourtesis's father. "‘La Perla’ is about staring at the sea, It's the first thing I’ll do when I return to Peru," she continues. "My dad used to say staring at the sea is like meditation, it clears your head. This song is for him. It's hard for me to listen to La Perla as it wrote it during a time I lost my dad to leukaemia. This song is for him, descansa en paz papa." – Janice HeadleySupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cuban vocalist, flautist, and percussionist Yaité Ramos Rodriguez pays tribute to a folkloric legend with her musical moniker La Dame Blanche, or "the white lady" in French. "She doesn’t have a very good reputation but I wanted to pay tribute to her," she explained to French news and current affairs public radio station RFI. "I represent her as black, a mother, with a daily routine just like many other women in the world. People smile when I say I’m the white lady. It’s quite ironic." The daughter of Jesús 'Aguaje' Ramos, trombonist and bandleader of the Buena Vista Social Club orchestra, La Dame Blanche grew up around music, establishing herself as a classically-trained flautist. With her own music, she combines hip hop, cumbia, reggae, and more to her mastery of the flute.  Today's Song of the Day was inspired by lockdown. She writes on her Bandcamp page, "'Veneno' is one of the many songs I wrote during the pandemic, declaring my despair and the value of a caress, a kiss, a friend." – Janice HeadleySupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's Song of the Day is a promise kept: before the 2021 Copa América international men's football championship (or as Americans call it, "soccer"), Argentinean DJ/producer Gonzalo Julián Conde (better known as Bizarrap) proposed that if his country beat Brazil in the finals, he would record a song with rappers Nicki Nicole and Duki. True to his word, the trio released the track "YaMeFui" following Argentina's first win in 28 years in the Copa América. – Janice HeadleySupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mexican-American singer-songwriter Omar Apollo [real name: Omar Apolonio Velasco] has had an inspiring rise to fame: while living in an attic and working two jobs (at Jimmy Johns and Guitar Center), he uploaded one of his songs to Spotify where it got 20,000 streams in a day. Shortly thereafter, his career blew up, culminating in his debut album Apolonio, released last year.  On today's Song of the Day, the 24-year-old singer/songwriter worked with producers Carter Lang and Chromeo to craft the lovesick synth-laden track.  Omar Apollo is scheduled to perform Sunday, October 17th at The Showbox in Seattle. – Janice HeadleySupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.