So I might have been ranting about various shows this weekend being the best shows I saw - but here's the thing. Yes, they were amazing performances by talented musicians, but Killer Mike's set at the Yeti stage topped all of them. There is something about witnessing a brilliant musician finally re…
At around 3 o'clock, I made my way to the fairly full audience of the Bigfoot stage to catch Cole Smith's (of Beach Fossils) project DIIV. Little did I know I was in for one of the more sun drunk performances I would see - and I mean that in the best and most innocent way. At one point guitarist An…
As clouds began to gather (though they wouldn't actually be super ominous until Earl Sweatshirts set) El-P took stage to a large audience totally ready to get down with the talented east coast rapper. He would later be called a brother to Killer Mike - and his ability to get the crowd moving whethe…
Is it weird that I actually noticed that singer Jason Bartell was wearing the same star studded shirt today at Sasquatch that he was wearing during Fang Island's session in 2010 at KEXP? I only notice because that's one way I think of their music - the sincerity of their power chord power stance pe…
Yes, we waited a long time, we waited through an audience rendition of "Oh Canada", we waited through rumors of the show being canceled. Yes, this was the band so many people had said was the one band they really needed (not wanted) to see this weekend. Yes, I actually walked to the wrong stage ass…
For nu disco bands, there is no greater home than Italians Do It Better. Johnny Jewel and his cohorts have been driving the genre in daring, exotic directions since 2007. Back then, Jewel released a stellar DJ mix of his signees called After Dark. The collection sparkled with all the glitter and fi…
Following the smoky energy of Rose Windows, the Yeti stage was taken over by Secret Canadian's Suuns. The crowd swelled as they dove into their set. At times the trio went into nearly ambient jams, reverb heavy and almost ominous. But mostly the set was rhythm heavy, the audience waving their hands…

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.