Live on KEXP

After a few years off, Beach Fossils returned earlier this year with Somersault, the band's finest set of songs to date and also the first to be written and recorded as a band. Dustin Payseur and co. bring four new tracks to the KEXP Live Room with Kevin Cole and talk about Somersault, people actually liking authority figures, and being nervous about asking Slowdive's Rachel Goswell to sing on your song. Recorded 7/11/2017 - 4 songs: Saint Ivy, Be Nothing, Sugar. Closer Everywhere

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Ten years into her career, Javiera Mena's music continues to get more colorful and vibrant while remaining introspective. The Chilean musician's latest album Otra Era is full percolating and percussive electronic sounds that are highly danceable, not least by the dancers that join her in this session on El Sonido with DJ Chilly. Recorded 7/18/2017 - 4 songs: Hasta La Verdad, Sincronía, Pegaso, Cámara Lenta, Otra Era

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Dropping a pair of albums on one day is an ambitious move, but convention has never been for the inimitable Shabazz Palaces. Those records - Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines and Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star - are filled with some of the duo's most engaging work yet, and those records shine through in this session with Stas Thee Boss in the KEXP Live Room. Recorded 7/14/2017 - 4 songs: Since C.A.Y.A., Welcome to Quazarz, When Cats Claw, Shine a Light

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He wasn't a goth - although he had goth sensibilities, by his own account - but John Darnielle and the Mountain Goats' new album Goths is a vivid, humorous account of the lives of the black-clad subculture. Joining Cheryl Waters in the KEXP Live Room, Darnielle discusses growing up all over the United States, the differences between writing songs on piano and guitar, and losing your leather jacket on your first European tour. Recorded 6/6/2017 - 4 songs: Blood Capsules, Andrew Eldrich Is Moving Back To Leeds, Shelved, San Bernardino

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The warm, golden Finnish-style Americana of Tuomo & Markus flows with the aqueousness of jazz and bursts of a post-rock glow. Backed with a crack band, the Helsinki duo join Kevin Cole in the KEXP Live Room to play songs from their latest releases, tell the story of how they became a band, and the importance of libraries in discovering new music. Recorded 6/20/2017 - 5 songs: Over The Rooftops, Life Leaving Your Body, Land of Real Men, Don't Shut Down Your Radio, Jack Straw

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Seven years is a long time between albums, but Land of Talk's Liz Powell took that time to walk away from music and recharge, returning with some of her most affecting songs yet on this year's Life After Youth. Joining John Richards in the KEXP Live Room, Powell plays four new songs and talks about leaving music behind, returning to it, and the unforgettable time she saw Fugazi in Dublin. Recorded 6/28/2017 - 4 songs: Yes You Were, Loving, Inner Lover, This Time

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Eyelids' jangling guitar rock channels elements of American lo-fi and the Dunedin sound, chiming through the indie rock tradition with a DIY scrappiness that certainly comes from the band members' experiences in numerous rock groups (not least, The Decembrists and The Jicks.) Joining John Richards on the Morning Show, the Portland quintet play four songs from their latest record, Or, (and an older tune) and discuss crocheted album covers, band nicknames, and the Sounders/Timbers rivalry. Recorded 6/23/2017 - 5 songs: Falling Eyes, Camelot, My Caved In Mind, Bound To Let You Down, So It Goes

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They'd previously ripped up Kex Hostel as part of the Iceland Airwaves broadcast, so it should be no surprise that the Reykjavik trio Moji & The Midnight Sons torch the KEXP Live Room in Seattle with the same potent soulful hand grenade of a sound. On the heels of their debut album, What I Saw On The Way To Myself, the trio join Stevie Zoom in the studio to play a quartet of bluesy songs from that record and tell the tale of how the cross-continental collaboration first began. Recorded 6/12/2017 - 4 songs: Keep My Memory, Ocean Hymn, If It Fits, Heat Wave

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Crawlspace, the debut album from Tei Shi, is named for the space where the Buenos Aires-born singer would go as a child to confront her fear of the dark, and that bold approach carries through to her skittering, electronic compositions. Joining DJ Chilly in the KEXP Live Room, Tei Shi runs through four tracks from Crawlspace and discusses the origins of her music. Recorded 6/16/2017 - 4 songs: How Far, Year 3k, Justify, Say You Do

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When Alynda Lee Segarra first thought of making a record with a concept storyline, she heard a voice in her head telling her she was too lazy to do it. Fast forward and Hurray For The Riff Raff's striking album The Navigator features a collection of vivid songs featuring a young female Puerto Rican protagonist. Performing a quartet of Navigator songs and in conversation with John Richards about growing up in New York City and traveling around the country as a musician, Segarra fills the KEXP Live Room with a raucous, inimitable energy in this session. Recorded 6/15/2017 - 4 songs: Hungry Ghost, Rican Beach, Living In The City, Pa'Lante

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