Tag: kexp

Exfiltration Radio: Summer Sun

An hour of sunny, dreamy happy music for late spring/summerish afternoons.

It’s spring here in New England which means that the days are finally warm enough for flowers to open and we can finally turn the heat off. Just in time for summer to come along in two weeks!

This set of Exfiltration Radio started when I found a song I had been looking for ever since I was living in Seattle that first summer of 2001 and listening to KEXP. There was a happy, sunny track that I kept hearing, perfect for the warm-but-not-hot, breezy summer days, but it literally took me over twenty years to track it down to a 2001 album by Swedish producers Koop, with guest vocals by Yukimi Nagano. There was also a burgeoning playlist of songs from that summer that I never committed to the blog or to Art of the Mix; unfortunately it was wiped out when I had to rebuild my iTunes library file one year, but a few of the tracks came from there.

And a few are definitely out of left field. I find OMD’s “Genetic Engineering” to be a happy, bouncy song; not all will agree. And The Blue Nile’s “Tomorrow Morning” appeared in the playlist yesterday, after listening to Peace at Last for the first time in many years.

  1. Youth – Langston Hughes (The Voice of Langston Hughes)
  2. I Feel – The Sundays (Blind)
  3. The Lifting – R.E.M. (Reveal)
  4. Dreams – The Cranberries (Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? (The Complete Sessions 1991-1993))
  5. Kiss Me – Sixpence None the Richer (Sixpence None the Richer (Deluxe Anniversary Edition))
  6. Summer Sun – Koop (Waltz for Koop)
  7. Genetic Engineering (312MM Version) – Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark (Dazzle Ships)
  8. Sweetness And Light – Lush (Ciao! 1989-1996)
  9. Alison – Slowdive (Souvlaki)
  10. Temptation [7″ Version] – New Order (Movement [Collector’s Edition])
  11. Lost Outside The Tunnel – Aztec Camera (1981 – Cassette)
  12. Today is the Day – Yo La Tengo (Summer Sun)
  13. The Big Sky – Kate Bush (Hounds of Love)
  14. Tomorrow Morning – The Blue Nile (Peace at Last (Deluxe Version))
  15. Um Canto De Afoxé Para O Bloco Do Ilê (Ilê Ayê) – Caetano Veloso (Brazil Classics 1: Beleza Tropical)

We have taken control as to bring you this special show and we will return it to you as soon as you are exfiltrated.

Old music Wednesday

It’s been a crazy week as the house (and our children) adapt (poorly) to daylight savings time. So I’m cheaping out on the blog today but using the opportunity to plug a few things that I listened to in my “dark period” and want to remember and come back to. I listened to both these KEXP in studio sessions via their Live Performances podcast and only later found out that they were also available via their YouTube feeds. Note: Until I get the blog redesigned, you’ll need to embiggen the videos to actually watch them; sorry!

Lavender Diamond: The amazing voice of Becky Sharp. Some of the production on their 2012 album teeters on precious, but I keep coming back to this live performance that strips all the veneer off the songs and leaves them raw and beautiful. The second song in, “Everybody’s Heart’s Breaking Now,” is legitimately heartbreaking.

Dum Dum Girls: Completely different sort of band and sound. Dee Dee comes across as Siouxsie via Mazzy Star in this in studio, but the fun here is the sound and the interplay between the band members.