Live Video Ólöf Arnalds

photo by Brittney Bush Bollay

There couldn’t have been a more fitting guest on a rare snowy day in Seattle than Ólöf Arnalds. Just last week, while touring in support of Blonde Redhead, the Icelandic singer stopped by KEXP amid the snowfall and for the second time performed live in our studio. Mixing original songs “Madrid” and “Surrender” from her recent release, Innundir Skinni, with American classics like “That Lucky Old Sun” and Bob Dylan’s “She Belongs To Me,” Arnalds was a charming as ever, playing solo on an acoustic guitar and a charango, made from the back of an armadillo. Check out the videos from her live session here:

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Thursday News Threads

• It’s been a tough run of weeks for musicians: Monday marked the passing of another legend, Richard Wright, who was a founding member and the keyboardist of Pink Floyd. Born in London in 1943, Wright was born the son of a biochemist, and he originally began his career studying architecture. The design and construction of buildings was quickly replaced by a different sort of art: Wright’s passion for music–which produced, by his teens, a proficiency in the trombone, saxophone, guitar, and piano–and, in particular, his interest in jazz, eventually led Wright to team up with Roger Waters and Nick Mason, who performed together in the six-member band Sigma 6. Though Wright soon dropped out of architecture school, he stuck with Waters and Mason, and the three paired with Syd Barrett and Bob Klose to form the five-member group that would become Pink Floyd. Some 40 years later, the five managed to create a rich and diverse legacy, which, just last month, was honored with the Polar Music Prize for the band’s “monumental contribution over the decades to the fusion of art and music in the development of popular culture.” Wright, who made his last appearances in front of an audience last year, will most certainly be missed.

• Cold War Kids, who will be at the Showbox at the Market on the 29th (and at Easy Street Records on that same day), have released their first video from the forthcoming LP Loyalty to Loyalty:

• Look, between now and November 4, it’s just going to get more political: Ted Leo, frustrated by the reception that protesters received in St. Paul a few weeks ago, has released a four-track EP addressing the matter. Proceeds will benefit Democracy Now! and Food Not Bombs.

• Speaking of politics, Matthew Gerken, Christen Kiefer and Jefferson Pitcher have created an album entitled Of Great and Mortal Men : 43 Songs for 43 U.S. Presidencies, which begins with George Washington (Washington Dreams of the Hippopotamus), concludes with George Walker Bush (Though the Night), and covers each of our nation’s leaders in between. (Even Millard Fillmore!) The three will be writing a song about the 44th president and releasing it in November — still too close to say who’ll be the muse.

James Monroe (The Last Cocked Hat) f. Marla Hansen (MP3)

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• Tour dates! A Place To Bury Strangers will be at El Corazon on September 26, Akimbo will be at King Cobra on September 27 (after performing live on KEXP this last Saturday!); People Under the Stairs will be there the next day; MSTRKRFT will be at the Showbox at the Market on October 2, Baroness will be at Studio Seven on October 3, Ron Sexsmith will be at the Triple Door on October 7, Gogol Bordello will be at the Showbox SoDo on October 9, Danielson will be at Vera Project on October 11, and Vivian Girls will be at Nectar Lounge on November 23. Looking further into next year, Bad Plus will be at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley for four nights beginning March 12.

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Thursday News Threads

• After 16 years repping hip-hop music and culture, Vibe magazine has ceased publication. Since its inception in 1993, the magazine has chronicled hip-hop and R&B culture and even published a few books along the way.

• Sometimes being a superfan can pay off: Death Cab For Cutie fan Ross Ching made his own video for the DCFC song “Little Bribes” and now Atlantic has hired him for a future video project.

• Wayne Coyne has recently revealed that Karen O and MGMT collaborated with The Flaming Lips on their upcoming album. Apparently the difficulties of recording the new album, entitled Embryonic, were so great that he forgot he collaborated with them.

• The fallout from these file sharing/digital downloading times has caused some major labels to rethink their strategy and take a few tips from successful independent labels. In fact, Sony has gone so far as to join forces with IODA, who provide distribution, marketing, and technology solutions for many independent labels. Whether Sony will be the changer or the changee in this new arrangement remains to be seen.

• Pirating: the new business model. Seems The Pirate Bay, whose founders were recently sentenced to serve a year in jail and pay $3.6 million in damages, will be sold for over twice as much to Global Gaming Factory X AB, who plan to turn the bit torrent monster to a perfectly legal lapdog. Napster, anyone? …anyone?

• Don’t look for EELS to tour their new album, Hombre Lobo, any time soon. Frontman E (Mark Oliver Everett) tells Spinner that he’d rather not “disrespect the audience by going out there and doing something that [his] heart’s not into.” At least, that’s “right now.” After three world tours in four years, he’s earned a rest… just not too long of a rest… okay, E?

• U2 kicked off their new tour, their first in three years apparently (has it been that long?), at Barcelona’s Camp Nou and paid tribute to Michael Jackson by dedicating their performance of “Angel Of Harlem” to him. Bono, who reportedly called Michael “an unspeakable talent,” dropped lyrics to “Man In The Mirror” and “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” into the song. And in seeming Jacko fashion (too soon for a joke?), the Irish icons are asking fans to wear masks, but this time with the express purpose bringing attention to the incarceration of Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy in Burma, who’s been a political prisoner in her own country for 13 years. From photos submitted to the band’s website, The Edge will select the best to be featured in a gallery on U2.com.

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Saturday Afternoon Artist Charles Bradley

performing live on KEXP from Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop during SXSW
photo by Jim Bennett

The story goes that soul singer Charles Bradley walked into the Daptone Records label in Brooklyn, New York for the first several times wearing plumber gear and carrying a toolbox. He worked on the pipes for a while before being discovered as a vocalist by Daptone’s Gabriel Roth, who found Bradley doing a James Brown-inspired show in a tiny local club in the Bushwick neighborhood under the name Black Velvet.

Charles Bradley grew up largely on the streets of Brooklyn, and was inspired when his sister took him to see James Brown at the Apollo Theater in the 1960s.  Some compare his singing to Otis Redding, and there are some similarities. Charles Bradley’s delivery pushes the envelope of what a man’s voice can do Gucci Shoes for Men[/url, just like Otis.  But Otis had a smooth beats headphones on sale, sailing quality that was sometimes gritty and Charles Bradley’s voice is earthy and rougher.  Otis was from the country, a magnetic performer who died still starry-eyed at age 27 and Bradley is from the city and in his 60s. He’s a seen-it-all kind of man who’s been a cook most of his life, always dreamed of being a big time singer Monster Beats Studio Red Sox, and is grateful for all the good things finally coming his way.

Charles Bradley’s first singles with Daptone were under the name Charles Bradley and the Bullets. After only two songs were released the group broke up and most of the members formed the Budos Band. Charles Bradley and Thomas Brenneck decided to take on a concept album, recording with Daptone’s Menahan Street Band.  2011′s “No Time for Dreamin’” tells the true story of Charles Bradley waking up one day to find that his nephew had killed his brother. Brenneck encouraged Bradley to reach deep down and tell the truth with the writing. And Bradley delivers.  The song “The World (Is Going Up In Flames)” says it all in simple from-the-gut soul style.

Charles Bradley misses his brother, the person who always encouraged him to keep singing. He’s thrilled that Daptone has gotten behind him, helping him to put out his first album “No Time For Dreamin’” at age 62.

Charles Bradley plays Bumbershoot this year at Seattle Center on September 5th!

DJ Michele Myers chooses the music and hosts Saturdays on KEXP from 3-6pm and every week brings you a Saturday Afternoon Artist feature with several songs in-a-row. She’s also the producer/creator of KEXP Documentaries.

Event Preview Girl Walk

If you haven’t heard of the party-rocking mashup art-form known as Girl Talk, your life is about to change forever. Once a biomedical engineer, Philadelphia native Greg Gillis decided one day that he wanted to take songs and bash them together until they stuck. For over ten years, Gillis has been releasing music under the Girl Talk monicker. In 2006, with his release Night Ripper Nike Air Max 2011 Mens, Gillis moved away from the glitch-mash sound that he had been working with to try and create full-album sets of mashups that people could dance to. Taking top 40 hits from the past 40 years, Girl Talk made mashups that anyone could recognize pieces of dre monster beats, no matter what their musical preference was. Night Ripper was met with decent acclaim, but it was with his 2008 release Feed the Animals that Girl Talk caught fire. Gillis had perfected his live show, working manually triggered samples from his famously near-indestructible laptop. Girl Talk shows became a thing of wonder. His most recent release, 2010′s All Day, is the quintessential Girl Talk record. It’s an unadulterated 71 minute set of pure energy, and its available for free on his website.

More recently, a group of professional superfans have made a full-length, unofficial music video to Girl Talk’s masterpiece entitled Girl Walk. Director and cinematographer Jacob Krupnick of the creative collaborative Wild Combination assembled a group of professional dancers to make a film set to All Day. The film was released online and is available to watch in 12 chapters on the website. But who wants to watch a movie featuring professional dancers on the streets of New York City with music by Girl Talk on their laptop?!

This Saturday, February 11th, Neumos will be hosting the Seattle premiere of Girl Walk (get tickets here). This version of the film will not be in chapters, but rather, a full length endeavor at full volume. Seattle local acts Radjaw and Tigerbeat will open with short DJ sets. In short monster beats solo hd headphones, it’s going to be a lot of dance party, and for only 12 dollars, it’s cheaper than going to the theater, but here you can dance and stand up and yell and have a drink or two.

Official Trailer: Girl Walk // All Day from Girl Walk // All Day on Vimeo.

Knit Witting

Going onboard what felt like a party bus from Shoreditch to London Fashion Week helmed by PR legend Mandi Lennard, was exactly the Welcome Back to London jolt that I needed.  Our destination?  First up,Monster Beats Lady Gaga, BFC's Rock Vault where the best of London's directional fine jewellery designer was showcased. Then on to Sister by Sibling's first proper presentation in the Portico Rooms.  Sister by Sibling is into its second season and the autumn winter season definitely gave the knitwear label a far more surer footing.  This trio of Joe Bates, Sid Bryan and Cozette McCreery weren't afraid to remix previous motifs from their menswear offering and kapowow us with loud-as-you-can-shout colour combinations.  

Katie Grand's more-is-more styling helped to amplify what Sibling is all about which is the idea of maintaining classic knitwear shapes but applying the most unlikely patterns to them.  A twin set, nay a tri-set of cardigan, crewneck and vest in highlighter orange leopard print and electric pink and blue Fair Isle would please both the zany granny and the out there club kid as well as a lot of people in between who might take one piece or two.  A knitted faux fur fox stole is another witty knit touch that makes Sibling all the more lovable.  What really hit the spot for me were the sequinned knit jumper and skirts as well as the pom pom adorned skull face, another way of subverting this oft-used badge of rebellion.  Lurex, angora and mohair knits in a similar palette are the more simple foundations of this collection but I think they really need to have the leopard jostling alongside them in order to be a true Sister by Sibling soldier,beats solo headphones, which is exactly who I wanted to be after seeing the presentation.  

A collaboration with Underground, who have done a few shoe collabs this season, means that we get to wear Sibling's Fair Isle knit on pointy creepers as well as an orange leopard print chelsea boots,Beats By Dr.Dre Studio, both likely to go into production.  

A less likely collaboration sees Sibling giving Barbie six of their key looks from the collection and frankly, she's never looked cooler.  

Candy Do-Gooding...

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>> This is more like a general notice board post here but after the image fest below, at least there's a bit of respite!  You may have noticed that my sulky mug is on the homepage of Topshop at the mo (well maybe not for long...).  I have take this opportunity to explain the sulkiness.  This pic was taken just after I got back from Paris Fashion Week in March where I was hella tired and err... I guess wearing a Topshop t-shirt for Fashion Targets Breast Cancer doesn't make you break out with a killer mega wattage smile.  Or is it supposed to?  I'm not sure what the correct charity protocol is here.  Anyhow the cause is obviously a good one - go gets yourself a t-shirt, or better yet donate some money at Fashion Targets Breast Cancer!

(Feels a bit wrong listing out what I wore but in this blue-tinged photo with the tee, I wore a Krystof Strozyna jacket,coach shoe outlet, vintage shirt, orange Wonderment collar,monster beats by dre headphones, Tory Burch trousers, Robert Clergerie vintage shoes)

Second notice of the day, I'll be announcing the winners of the Furla Candy Bag competition soon.  There are actually six winners in total and I've had a pretty giddy time going through all your 'What's In Your Bag' entries.  There's still a wee bit of time for you to enter if you haven't done so.  The event that's being held at London tomorrow night is now open for all - just turn up and say you read this blog.  None of that guest list malarky - tis the future!  Bring a friend if you wish too.  Like I said, drinks, a bit of nosh and discounts..beatsdreheadphonesbuybeatsdreheadphonesbuybeatsdreheadphonesbuy.come come come!