I've been watching live-in-studio shows on KEXP's YouTube channel for years now. It's home to many memorable performances from over the years, and a top-tier source for finding new music.
London Grammar, 2013
Khruangbin, 2018
Glass Beams, 2024
Stromae, 2015
What might be my most re-listened live song ever was recorded for this show. Nihls Frahm plays Says, a slow-burn electronic sequencer piece that opens up into a sonic supernova. It's like hearing to the cinematography of Terrence Malick. Listening even now, after 100 plays before, I'm getting goosebumps and a lump in my throat.
Pics or it didn't happen
The studio opened in about 2015, in KEXP's new headquarters at the Seattle Center. It was designed by WSDG, the company of John Storyk, who was behind Electric Lady Studios. The listening room is dark and behind glass windows made of two panes separated by an air gap for soundproofing. The panes are tilted out of parallel, which keeps the window from turning into a resonator.
The live studio itself is a rectangular room with rope lights (red today, but sometimes white or blue) adorning the walls. Large, red paper flowers decorated the room today, for Widowspeak's new album, Roses.
No photos allowed at all, even before the band enters the room. Licensing requirements, I believe. So, no pics.
There is a SubPop mini-store at the KEXP cafe, and as a keepsake afterward, I grabbed a copy of Vol.1 from Angine de Poitrine. They're an oddly costumed Québécois duo who made a big splash with a KEXP video earlier this year.
Widowspeak
Widowspeak are based in Brooklyn, with Tacoma roots and a busy couple days in Seattle. Thursday night, they played a sold out show at Neumos, KEXP on Friday morning, and another set at Easy Street Records in the afternoon.
I spent a few years bartending at a laid back neighborhood hangout in Oregon, and played a lot of Widowspeak at times. They've got a restrained and intimate style, with vox that pull you in. Vibey. The 2020 album Plum is fantastic. I love their cover of Dire Straits' Romeo and Juliet, and Molly's delivery is in peak form.
We got to hear the first four tracks from their new record, Roses. This one has a little more Americana Telecaster twang than some of their earlier releases, but still keep their hazy groove. I loved Rob's slightly out-of-tune guitar hook in the title track:
The DJ Cheryl Waters hosted the show and led a brief interview where Molly talked about how she approaches songwriting. She often writes love songs, because of the theme's universal presence in our lives. But she likes to use love as a frame for other ideas, almost as a genre itself. She likened it to Star Trek, famously using the science fiction of far-off worlds as a lens for telling stories about ourselves of today.
This got me thinking about the time I saw a Tiny Desk Concert, something for another time. If you know of other exceptionally cool Seattle experiences, shoot me a message.