After an incredible first day of Iceland Airwaves, this cold, wet Reykjavik morning has bleary-eyed festival-goers seeking coffee and comparing schedules for the day. Here at KEX Hostel, guests and staff are enjoying the calm before the storm of Airwaves activity, and the KEXP is setting up for ano…
Rounding out an unbelievable first day of KEXP’s Iceland Airwaves broadcast live at Kex Hostel are garage rock legends The Sonics. Formed in Tacoma in 1960, The Sonics are widely regarded as the first garage and first punk band, and have had a wide-reaching influence on the course of garage, punk, …
Uncanny timing! As KEXP broadcasts from the Iceland Airwaves Music Festival, we've got news from headliner, Björk. The Reykjavík-born artist has announced a virtual reality (VR) video for the Vulnicura track "Notget" is on the way. Watch a trailer below. Björk has previously released VR Videos for…
Taking us into the rainy Reykjavik night is a hard-hitting set live at KEX Hostel from Icelandic psych-rockers Singapore Sling. Though the band was formed in 2000, founder Henrik Björnsson had been writing their songs for years before. He made some 8-track demos on his own, and then put the band to…
In a town as small as Reykjavik, densely packed with so much talent and collaboration, the term "supergroup" gets thrown around so much that it starts. That being said, Icelandic electronic band Gangly is a true supergroup. The band is a collaboration between three Icelandic powerhouse musicians: S…
The crowd at Kex Hostel is abuzz with excitement in anticipation of the triumphant return of Icelandic indie-rock band SUÐ (appropriately, Icelandic for “Buzz”). The band originally formed in the late 90’s, releasing only one album, 1999’s Hugsunarvélin, and played together until 2003. After reconn…
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. This week, we are featuring songs by …
We have reached day one of Iceland Airwaves Music Festival, and the anticipation in Reykjavik is palatable. Locals and visitors alike are milling about town, getting ready for the big week to come. Here at KEX Hostel, KEXP is putting the finishing touches on preparations for an incredible week of l…
It's been announced via Facebook that guitarist Dave Rosser has been diagnosed with inoperable colon cancer. Rosser has been a long-time member of all Greg Dulli's bands (The Afghan Whigs, The Twilight Singers, and Gutter Twins). The Afghan Whigs have scheduled benefit shows for December 10th in N…
In 2018, KEXP celebrated the 30th anniversary of local record label Sub Pop with a four-month retrospective, "counting up" every catalog number in their vast discography of over 1,200 releases. Dig into the archives of our catalog coverage, featuring in-depth coverage on the history of their releases.
