UKNY for July 4
Lianne La Havas (photo by Holly Fernando, PR)
Driven by my admiration for British and international bands that weren't always getting the airplay they deserved Stateside, "UKNY," which launched on Saturday, July 6, 2013, begins its eighth year this evening, returning to Saturday nights at 11pm (between Binky Griptite's "The Boogie Down" and "The Grateful Dead Hour"). And what better way to mark the 4th of July than with British musicians?
There's a mix of a bit of everything tonight, from Lianne La Havas's passionate cover of Radiohead song (which also served as a template for her forthcoming self-titled album, released July 17) to Jorja Smith's lucent recording of a St. Germain classic (with a very timely video to match of this year's global protests for racial justice), originally found on French producer Ludovic Navarre's 2000 album Tourist.
Also, Paris/Bristol collective This is the Kit returns with a new song for a bad year, Melbourne's Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever and Bananagun, Lagos superstar Yemi Alade, West Yorkshire's Working Men's Club, the mysterious Coco (from whereabouts unknown), and the Leeds collective Fold with their 2017 take on an alternate American anthem.
That's "UKNY," now on Saturday nights at 11pm on 90.7 and streaming online, also available in the Weekend Archives after broadcast, and easily tracked down via your smart speaker too.
Songs played:
1. (Melbourne, AU) Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, “Falling Thunder,” Sideways to New Italy
2. Albert Gold, “Satellite,” single
3. Coco, “One Time Villain,” single
4. Fold, “Making America Great,” Written in the Sky EP
5. Jorja Smith, “Rose Rouge,” Blue Note Re:imagined
6. (Boulogne-Billancourt, FR) St. Germain, “Latin Note,” Tourist
7. Lianne La Havas, “Weird Fishes,” Lianne La Havas
8. (Lagos, Nigeria) Yemi Alade, “Boyz,” single
9. (Melbourne, AU) Bananagun, “People Talk Too Much,” The True Story of Bananagun
10. Working Men’s Club, “A.A.A.A.,” Working Men’s Club
11. This is the Kit, “This Is What You Did,” Off Off On
12. Fenne Lily, “Alapathy,” BREACH
13. Massive Attack, “Weather Storm,” Protection (show closing theme)
