It may be Halloween, but this week's batch of new releases is pretty heavy on the Christmas theme, with collections out from She & Him, Jennifer Nettles, Kacey Musgraves, and Neil Diamond. I'm sure there will be more to come. For non-holiday albums, KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes the latest from German producer Michael Mayer. It's "a series of collaborations with a variety of other artists including Gui Boratto, Friendly Fires' Ed Macfarlane, Hot Chip's Joe Goddard and other musical luminaries, with the end results ranging from warm, hypnotic techno and house grooves to moody electro-pop." The Hidden Cameras are back! Frontman "Joel Gibb left Berlin and returned to his native Canada for his seventh album. He's joined by an impressive supporting cast including Feist, Rufus Wainwright, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Neil Tennant, Ron Sexsmith and Bahamas for a warm, well-crafted blend of country, folk and more." Connan Mockasin and Sam Eastgate (aka LA Priest) team up as Soft Hair, and their debut is "a solid set of warped psych-pop, funk and electro-pop."
On their third album, Brooklyn trio Slothtrust present "a fine set of bluesy, '90s-influenced garage-rock with a dynamic sound featuring fuzzy guitars, shape-shifting rhythms and Leah Wellbaum's clarion vocals and emotive lyrics." The latest from veteran Austin artist Alejandro Escovedo is "a collaborative affair that was recorded in Portland with Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey co-producing the album and co-writing all of the album's songs with Escovedo. Other musical luminaries help out, including guitarist Kurt Bloch, drummer John Moen, saxophonist Steve Berlin and vocalists Kelly Hogan and Corin Tucker. The end result is a well-crafted set of anthemic, hook-filled rock with emotive lyrics revolving around the power of music, friendship, loss and mortality." And Scottish duo Honeyblood bring "a solid set of '90s-influenced grunge-pop with fuzzy guitars, pounding rhythms and catchy pop hooks."
It's surely no coincidence that a couple of these new releases came out on the eve of the 2016 Presidential Election. Veteran Chicago rapper Common shares his 11th full-length, an album KEXP's Music Director Don Yates calls, "a powerful set of politically charged hip hop with gritty, cinematic, sou…
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. This week, we are featuring songs by …
Last week, we got the seventh solo album from Conor Oberst. This week, we've got a box set from his old project, Bright Eyes. You get six remastered, reissued vinyl copies of Fevers and Mirrors (2000), LIFTED or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground (2002), I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morn…
