UKNY for January 24
Yard Act (photo by James Brown, PR)
With their astringent, witty series of three 2020 singles — "The Trapper's Pelts," "Fixer Upper" and "Peanuts" — the canny storytelling of Leeds quartet Yard Act reflects a world that doesn't make much sense right now. There's a discernible Blur-ish swagger to their dance-punk riffs, but it's the wistful cast to frontman's James Smith's prickly tales of suburban whinging and mayhem that's most compelling. On "UKNY" tonight at 11, the latest single from the foursome, keen witnesses to the lockdown, Brexit, and an existential British despair.
By way of Belfast and London, Bicep is back with the duo's second euphoric album, Isles, and 2020 Juno Award winner, Quebec's Dominique Fils-Aimé, is readying a third album exploring the legacy of African-American music, the last of her trilogy. Glasgow's Lizzie Reid has released an exquisite debut EP called Cubicle, while London's firestations are pushing themselves to release three EPs over the next six months.
Also, Welsh producer IsoPHex, the welcome, wiry humor of Dry Cleaning, Melbourne's The Avalanches, the Japanese duo Still Dreams, and more.
That's "UKNY," Sundays from 11pm-midnight, on 90.7, streaming online and available in the Weekend Archives after broadcast.
Songs played:
1. Wings of Desire, “001,” single
2. Dry Cleaning, “Scratchcard Lanyard,” single
3. Bicep, “Sundial,” Isles
4. (Minoh, JP) Still Dreams, “Live with Excuse,” single
5. (Melbourne, AU) The Avalanches feat. Cola Boyy and Mick Jones, “We Go On,” We Will Always Love You
6. Femi Kuti, “Pà Pá Pà,” Stop the Hate
7. Yard Act, “Dark Days,” Dark Days EP
8. (Montréal, CA) Dominique Fils-Aimé, “While We Wait,” Three Little Words
9. (London, UK-FR) Clémentine March, “Elixir (radio edit),” Cheater
10. firestations, “The Circulation,” Melted Medium EP
11. IsoPHeX, “Doppelgänger,” single
12. Lizzie Reid, “Tribute,” Cubicle EP
13. (Gothenburg, SE- Asheville, US) Little Dragon and Moses Sumney, “The Other Lover (radio edit),” single
14. (Minneapolis-St. Paul, US) Sounds of Blackness, “Optimistic,” The Evolution of Gospel
