Keepin Track of KEXP - KEXPlorer

Ever been curious about what the most popular song on KEXP is? Or what DJ plays the most Mudhoney…?
Today I stumbled on a site called KEXPlorer that tracks every song that is played on KEXP, when it was played, how many times it has been played before, and who played it. You can search out artists, filter by DJ or by most popular this week this month or this year. Even go back as far as 2001 and see what was hip-happenin.
Pretty cool site, especially if you’re at all interested in seeing to progress of Seattle music over the past 7 years.

Popularity: 26%

Who is this JITMAN? The John-In-The-Morning-At-Night show

KEXP DJ, icon and all around presence, John Richards stabs another year dead and to celebrate the station has announced this year’s JITMAN lineup (that’s John-in-the-Morning- at-Night for those out of the Seattle hip lingo loop) happening Friday, March 7th at Neumo’s at 8:00.
This event continues the theme of previous JITMAN shows by showcasing the best up-and-coming artists who are getting significant air play on John’s morning show as well as being host to the John Richard’s Birthday Bash.
The lineup does not include any NW bands this time around, but John has instead invited some far away friends, that he has been touting for years, to come fill our hungry heads. At the top of the bill are the Duke Spirit dark, blues-tinged psych-rock from London. Also performing are stylish British indie-rockers The Voom Blooms, (KEXP has a free sample track from their EP-Nine Ships here) and Tulsa, the atmospheric indie-pop band from Boston. (KEXP has a free sample track from their 2007 EP here) Both the later bands are making their virgin pilgrimages to Seattle.

The show will be aired on KEXP’s Nite Life (Fri nights from 9-1) which also means that the station’s Friday Night Gem, Michele Myers will be there to DJ between sets and throughout the night. That is a party in and of itself.

Proceeds will, as always benefit the station and help keep KEXP listener powered. For more info visit the station at KEXP.org

Popularity: 28%

Sound Off! The under 21 Battle of the Bands

For the seventh year running, EMP hosts the all under 21 NW Battle of the Bands Competition, Sound Off! The event is meant to give young performers a once in a lifetime chance to showcase to Seattle what they have. In the past, bands such as Schoolyard Heroes, Idiot Pilot, Mon Frere, The Lonely H, Dyme Def, Capitol Basement, The Lonely Forest and Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head have all battled it out in the finals and into our playlists.

But before we get to the final, we get to work through The Semifinals (which should be noted, happen in THREE parts) begining this Sat the 9th and continuing on the 16th and the 23rd. The semi’s feature 4 bands apiece and the winner of each will proceed to the Final on sat Mar 1st. Each round costs all of 7 bucks for students and EMP members, 10 for the rest of us to get in. All shows happen in the Sky Church which is almost worth sitting and staring at even without a band playing.

Here’s the lineup for each of the “semi”finals with finals TBA.
I’ve heard most of the first night’s bands on KEXP’s Audioasis with Lisa Wood last Friday. I personally think New Faces have a solid shot. The lead singer-all of 16- has already come into a full rich baritone voice without any of the Peter Brady crackles. I have yet to listen to the bands for the remaining nights but I have links to all their MySpace pages if you want to hear them out.

With the track record that this event has, I’d recommend checking out as many of the rounds as you can.

Semifinals round 1 - Sat Feb 9th f- 8:00 features
The Batteries, Carnation, WA listen
The Dead Are Judged, Marysville, WA listen
New Faces, Port Townsend, WA listen
and
Southgate, Pendleton, OR listen

Semifinal round 2 Sat, Feb 16th - 8:00 features
KnowMads, Seattle, WA Listen
The Nextdoor Neighbors, Olympia, WA Listen
Pat Goodwin, Seattle, WA Listen
Scribes, Seattle, WA Listen

Semifinal Round “3″ Sat, February 23 features
Deer City, Issaquah, WA Listen
Kusikia, Tacoma, WA Listen
Man Down Medic, Seattle, WA Listen
Shotty, Kirkland, WA Listen

FINAL happen Sat March 1 - 8:00

Popularity: 28%

2007 Reviewed: Brits, Tango, Music to Drink Beer to (and possibly makeout to) & More

The New Year is nearly here so that means it’s time to review the big happenings of 2007. And since this is a music blog, that means music happenings (as it relates to my life of course) of 2007. I’m always torn on what to share here b/c I am more, how shall I put it, “mainstream” than my counterparts on NWmusicblog and probably its readers too. And I say “mainstream” in the sense that I mostly rely on KEXP for the music I listen to. However KEXP isn’t very mainstream in the larger scheme of radio. So I don’t really know where I’m going with that… Ok, here goes…

Oh, and I’m not going to do a top 10 or anything, god forbid I rank anything b/c all below are #1s in my book.

Let’s start with the easiest…

Popularity: 44%

Feral Children Go Wild For Yule Benefit, Yeasayer Lights Scented Candles

I’ll be honest, I was a bit under whelmed by a few of the performances during the KEXP Yule Benefit this past Saturday night (12/8).  The 5th annual installment of the holiday show took place at the Showbox after three consecutive years of being held at Neumos; and frankly, the venue might have been a bit too large for the lineup the listener-powered radio station chose to feature.  Either that, or they botched it by not booking Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings (who sold out up the hill at Neumos the same night).  And for all the brazen self-promotion listener-powered KEXP continuously doles out over the airwaves (seriously, do they have to push Live At KEXP during every freakin’ airbreak?), you’d think they could at least drum up a bigger headliner. 

Popularity: 36%

Stars at Triple Door today (Playing on 90.3 at 4:30pm)

Late last night, I got a call from a friend with an offer for free admission to yet another KEXP VIP show at the Triple Door.
“Stars is playing,” reported Barney. “Wanna go?”
“Who is Stars? Never heard of ‘em.”
Neither had she.
By 12:30 this afternoon, there was a significant lineup already forming. We got decent seats 2/3 back, sharing a booth with quiet strangers who may have known as little about this band as me and my Canadian friend. DJ Shannon nervously introduced them and they got around to their rocking soon after 1pm.
By the third song, we formulated our assessment of the group: they were band nerds in high school. I’ll call this a double-edged sword. Their musicianship was top-notch and they obviously have been playing together long enough to be this tight. But the flip side is that they kinda take themselves a little too seriously, confining themselves to very small patches of space on stage. It was as if they were in a tightly-packed house party full of invisible people.
This didn’t keep them from performing on various instruments: the male lead monkeyed around with a synth, trumpet and some unidentified mouth organ sorta keyboard thing. The female lead switched between acoustic and electric guitars, in addition to sharing that trumpet and lead vox. (We imagined the lead male was pouting when she did this.) They also felt free enough to babble a bit between songs, introducing them briefly and joking around a bit.
The lead guitarist (”he looks like a too-tall George Harrison!” says Barno) expertly and efficiently commanded a Stratocaster, a Telecaster and a hollow-body six-string during the set, and the bassist had a variety of instruments handed to him by a mysterious arm that waited in the wings. I think the drummer was an extra in “The Secret of my Success” or perhaps “Pretty in Pink” as the Cool Guy at the party who had the Free Drugs. His white-framed wayfarers and pink pants were the bees knees.
I hesitate to jump on this bandwagon, but we agreed that Stars has a Radiohead-esque aura to their music. The also share the same tone as Two Loons for Tea, with a late-80s pop influence. I think I want to hear them in my car to capture the atmosphere of their work, minus their relatively stiff and introverted stage presence.  

Stars headlines an all-ages Showbox performance tonight at 8pm with Miracle Fortress. (Not to be confused with Miracle Baby, one of my favorite underrated sensations of the late 90s.)
Also, KEXP is broadcasting this afternoon’s show at 4:30pm. Check out the archives for the whole show. Apparently one of the songs was about f*cking someone to death.

Popularity: 20%

Incredible Source for New (FREE) Music - Yup, more KEXP

Seeing that there has been a lot of KEXP talk on here about who gave what, who ain’t givin crap, who hates who, who loves who, etc, I’ve thought I’d avoid the politics of it all and let you know about a little sum-sumthin’ KEXP can do for YOU.

A couple times a month I’ll be listening to the KEXP and hear a song with such a strong hook or great refrain that I just can’t get it out of my head for days, weeks even. They have such a great ear for finding songs that I end up singing before falling asleep and wake up humming. Now as the cycle goes on and the playlists change, those songs tend to fall off the charts and slip into the ether. What I have discovered is that the KEXP Podcast GIVES you most of these songs for FREE!!! Once a day, some DJ’s most favoritest song gets posted/podcast/whatever just for you.. ta have!

Popularity: 30%

My KEXP donation

I done squeaked in my KEXP pledge this morning. I like a lot of other stations, but something just tugged at the corner of my soul. Kinda like those Greenpeace kids in front of Whole Foods… but John and Cheryl were more effective. I didn’t give enough for Riz to come over cook me dinner or for Stevie Zoom to give me a personal tour of the studio, but hey, it’s something. 

Popularity: 24%