Highlights this week include the latest from Foxygen. KEXP Music Director Don Yates says the "fifth album from the duo of Sam France and Jonathan Rado is the first to be recorded in a proper studio. Produced by Trey Pollard, the album is a lush set of '70s-steeped orchestral glam-rock incorporating elements of show tunes, soul, country and more, combining inventive, shape-shifting arrangements with dramatic, Bowiesque vocals. Special guests include Matthew E. White, The Lemon Twigs, The Flaming Lips' Steve Drozd and a 40-piece symphony orchestra."
Veteran UK artist Michael Chapman brings a new album -- the LP is "produced by Steve Gunn and features a stellar supporting band including Nathan Bowles, James Elkington, Bridget St. John, Jimy SeiTang and Jason Meagher. It's an excellent set of expansive, beautifully crafted folk-rock recorded to commemorate his 50th year of being a touring musician, with songs often reflecting on mortality and the passage of time. While a few of the songs are new, most are reinterpretations of mostly obscure gems from his voluminous catalog."
Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson revives his Bash & Pop project and returns with his first album in 24 years, "a first-rate set of rootsy garage-pop that's very much in the vein of his main band, with buoyant song hooks juxtaposed with often-downcast lyrics." UK group The Proper Ornaments -- a London-based band led by James Hoare of Veronica Falls/Ultimate Painting and Max Oscarnold of TOY -- return with a sophomore release, "a well-crafted set of gentle, '60s-steeped psych-pop with jangly guitars, stately piano, unhurried rhythms, warm harmonies and wistful melodies." The second album from LA band Cherry Glazerr "features a revamped lineup and a more polished and expansive sound that moves beyond the slacker garage-pop of their debut on songs ranging from anthemic garage-rock to moody guitar-pop." And local label Light in the Attic reissues three early-'70s classics from Erasmo Carlos, a beloved pop star and household name in Brazil.
January ends on a bang as many long-awaited albums hit stores this past Friday. Cleveland's Cloud Nothings return with their fourth LP, which KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls, "their most polished and measured set to date of punkish power-pop. Produced by John Goodmanson, the album combines a dy…
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, unrealeased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Af…
2017 is off and running with some long-awaited LPs out now, like the latest from The xx. KEXP Music Director Don Yates says, "This London trio's excellent third album brings a brighter, more varied and pop-inflected sound to their spectral electro-pop courtesy of band member/producer Jamie xx, thou…
