Live on KEXP

You may not be able to expect how little time the prolific Californian garage rock luminaries will take between albums or what their lineup will look like, but you can always be sure that you'll end up feeling like frontman John Dwyer looks: frenzied, smiling, and seemingly perpetually covered in sweat. Setting up as a trio for a rip-roaring, career-spanning set in the KEXP Gathering Space, Thee Oh Sees burn with so much scrappy energy you can practically hear the mosh pit before it begins. Recorded 11/25/16 - 6 songs: I Come From The Mountain, Tidal Wave, The Dream, Sticky Hulks, Gelatinous Cube, Encrypted Bounce

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To name your debut LP The Epic takes quite a bit of confidence, but in the case of Kamasi Washington, it's the only title that would make sense. The Californian saxophonist, composer, and bandleader's sweeping style of jazz is nearly overwhelming in its scope and scale, but Washington's virtuoustic performance (and those of his impeccable band) captures its stirring energy with aplomb in this two song (but 20+ minute) set from the KEXP studios with DJ Larry Rose. Recorded 12/2/2016 - 2 songs: Re Run, The Rhythm Changes

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Angel Olsen excels in hitting those long, sustained notes that speak volumes, and her songwriting pairs perfectly with her rich vocals, unwinding slowly to unfurl affecting, personal narratives. Her 2016 album MY WOMAN is full of those stories - accented by plenty of those heart-shattering vocal lines - many of which are on display in this stellar session from the Cutting Room Studios in New York City.  Recorded 08/30/2016 - 4 songs: Heart Shaped Face, Those Were The Days, Give It Up, Shut Up Kiss Me

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Against Me! have always operated with as much self-awareness as they have articulate, external fury, and their latest album, 2016's Shape Shift With Me, continues the more introspective-leaning trend that Laura Jane Grace began on her 2014 opus Transgender Dysphoria Blues. But that hardly means their music is any less blisteringly anthemic, so it's easy to shape shift with Laura Jane Grace and co. on this incendiary session on the Midday Show with Cheryl Waters. Recorded 10/26/2016 - 4 songs: 333, Crash, Delicate, Petite, and Other Things I'll Never Be, Suicide Bomber

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Drive-By Truckers have never shied away from writing about social themes, but in the light of recent events, the long running Georgia outfit recorded one of their most striking and overtly political records to date in 2016's American Band. Joining Greg Vandy in the Roadhouse, the band play four incisive and honest tunes from the record and Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley discuss the events and tensions that led “the record to write itself”. Recorded 09/29/2016 - 4 songs: Ramon Casiano, Ever South, What It Means, Once They Banned Imagine

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Since their formation in 1979, Fishbone's kinetic, funky mixture of rock and ska has remained a singular sound, not least because of Angelo Moore and company's blend of social commentary and clever humor that, thirty years on, seems more incisive than ever. Still vibrant,  still relevant, and still stuck in your throat, the Los Angeles group performs four songs from their catalog on the Afternoon Show.  Recorded 11/10/2016 - 4 songs: Forever Moore, The Suffering, Chim Chim's Badass Revenge, Kung Fu Grip

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just over twenty years after their initial dissolution, Digable Planets took the stage for their longest reunion to date in 2016 and it's not only remarkable how in step with each other Butterfly, Ladybug Mecca, and Doodlebug are, but also how prescient their astute, complex lyrics and aqueous, groove-laden production would turn out to be twenty years later. Backed by a full band, the Brooklyn trio are in full force in this session from Kex Hostel during KEXP's Iceland Airwaves 2016 broadcast. Recorded 11/4/2016 - 5 songs: The May 4th Movement, Black Ego, Pacifics, What Cool Breezes Do, Jettin'

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Only a little over a year before the release of their debut full-length, What I Saw On The Way To Myself, Moji Abiola and Frosti Jón Runolfsson had met on an otherwise unnoteworthy night in a Reykjavik whiskey bar. The result of that chance meeting, however, was a powerful, stirring group whose blues-streaked rock music feels far more lived in than the songs' actual age. Performing live from the Kex Hostel in Reykjavik during KEXP's Iceland Airwaves 2016, Moji and the Midnight Sons' session is one for nights both fueled and untouched by whiskey. Recorded 11/4/2016 - 5 songs: Another Mile, Keep My Memory, Carmen's Lament, Island, Cut Me Down

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fufanu's electrifying live performances are what the Reykjavík outfit's sterling reputation is built on. After previously displaying it during a remote broadcast from Iceland Airwaves, the group finally made their long awaited debut in the KEXP studio in Seattle this fall, joining Cheryl Waters to rip through a whirlwind set (featuring songs from their as-yet-unreleased album) and discuss their creative process. Recorded 10/14/2016 - 4 songs: Sports, Circus Life, Bad Rockets, Now

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Kate Tempest released a song titled "Europe Is Lost" in late 2015, she showed a eerily foreshadowing fury that preceded the seemingly unending discord of 2016. On the track's parent album, 2016's Let Them Eat Chaos, Tempest reaffirms her status as a singular figure that's both thrillingly evocative and frighteningly prescient. Tempest doesn't hold anything back during this performance on KEXP's broadcast from Iceland Airwaves 2016, which is a marvel from start to finish. Recorded 11/04/16 - 7 songs: Picture a Vacuum, Lionmouth Door Knocker, Ketamine For Breakfast, Europe is Lost, We Die, Whoops, Brews/Don't Fall In

Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.