If you're anything like me (and who isn't?), the first Icelandic band you ever heard of was The Sugarcubes. If you were a college radio DJ in the early '80s, though, you might have gotten wind of Þeyr (pronounced "Theyr," more or less) before the rest of the U.S. got wind to the crazy stuff going d…
KEXP’s Dusty Henry talks about Iceland’s DIY music scene and how it’s more about doing it together than doing it yourself. A panel discusses Iceland’s music culture, music's impact on Iceland’s economy, and how Iceland helps financially support musicians. Panelists are: Sólveig Matthildur, from the…
Holy hell, what an epic finish! Legendary Icelandic band HAM took over Kex Hostel for our final show of the day from Iceland Airwaves. And when we say took over, we really mean it. These heavy rockers formed in 1984, but it was a series of opening gigs for The Sugarcubes in 1988 that began to garne…
Closing out this year’s video stream live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves music festival were legendary Icelandic rock band HAM. It was with a few gigs opening for the Sugarcubes in 1988 that HAM’s popularity bloomed, especially in Nordic countries (this part of the world does love their heavy …
Each time we've gone back to Iceland over the past five years, we've been fortunate to discover and share with KEXP listeners quite a few bands who might not otherwise leave their shores. For every Sugarcubes and Sigur Rós, we found dozens of others, like Hjaltalín, Ásgeir, Of Monsters and Men (bac…
Our third live show of the day from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves was Mammút. This rock band won acclaim with their latest album Komdu til mín svarta systir (Come to Me, My Dark Sister), scoring eight nominations at the 2013 Icelandic Music Awards. Eventually they snagged wins for best album, song…
KEXP can’t get enough of today’s first act, Samaris. They’ve been featured as song of the day, highlighted on several Music that Matters podcasts and yearly top-10 lists, and even played at the station’s New Home Opening in Seattle earlier this year. Today we have the pleasure of having them open d…
During the 2019 Spring Fundraising Drive, we'll down the most-played albums in KEXP’s history, going back over a decade of airplay. See the list.
KEXP celebrates Mixtape Week, August 26-30.
During KEXP’s Spring Fundraising Drive, we counted down the most-played albums in KEXP’s history, going back over a decade of airplay. See the list.
KEXP counts down the top albums of the last 50 years as voted on by our listeners in conjunction with our 2022 fall fundraising drive.
