Influential British trio and longtime KEXP favorites Saint Etienne released a wonderful cover of Neil Young's song "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" as their breakout debut single nearly 30 years ago, and they're still going strong today. With each new release, they continue to find ways to tweak an…
Alt-J have shared an incredibly cinematic video for "Pleader," off their latest album Relaxer, released back in June. Directed by Isaiah Seret, the exact plot is difficult to derive but according to the band: "When we set out to make a video for 'Pleader,' Joe sent the following one-line brief to d…
There's not a lot out there in Internet-land about Third Circle - or even about their label, Rouska - despite the fact that pretty much everybody at KCMU in 1986 seemed to agree that their debut release was some version of "good." Discogs and this one other blog post agree that Third Circle was mos…
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of 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. Today’s song, featured on The Midd…
On this day in 1992, the number-one hit song in the U.S. was "How Do You Talk to an Angel" by The Heights. The Jacksons: An American Dream, which chronicled the rise to fame of the Jacksons, premiered on ABC and movies like A River Runs Through It, Glengarry Glen Ross, and the Steven Seagal classic…
A catchy melody doesn't just get stuck in your head – it lives there. You sit with it, sometimes for days or even years, ruminating on it whether you want to or not. Writing just one of these songs can be an accomplishment. Portland songwriter Mo Troper does this 15 times over on his latest album, …
A brand new song from Björk has emerged called "Blissing Me," along with a video premiered via Amazon Music UK. The song recounts the story of Björk and a fellow "music nerd" crush “sending each other MP3s, falling in love to a song,” according to the lyrics. It's a beautiful change after 2015's h…
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of 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. Today’s song, featured on The Midd…
Australian psych band King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard set a lofty goal at the beginning of the year to release five albums this year and by George, they just may do it. So far they've released three: Flying Microtonal Banana, Murder of the Universe, and Sketches of Brunswick East. Today they'…

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.