KEXP begins Day 2 of Bumbershoot in-studios at the new home with Black Joe Lewis and his band the Honeybears. The Austin blues singer is three years deep into a cathartic rampage. With the release of Electric Slave in 2013, Lewis shed all extra weight from his warpath. The band name is slimmer, the…
"Discovery and exploration" - that's what AEGLive's vice president of Pacific Northwest operations Rob Thomas said was the guiding principle of this year's Bumbershoot bookings. The long-standing festival has held operations at the heart of Seattle for 46 years, always managing to pull in a diverse…
While he's been building steam for quite some time now, California rapper Vince Staples hit most people's radar hard with last year's excellent double LP studio debut, Summertime '06. Here, Vince showcased far more than bloodthirsty hooks and ravaging technique - he also displayed a keen awareness …
"We're here for a rock n roll good time", Ryan Devlin chuckles as Hounds of the Wild Hunt finish another total jam. He points to the Tractor Tavern door. "If you aren't here for a rock n roll good time, you best just turn right around." Tonight, the Hounds open up for the infamous Nashville rock ba…
The MusicfestNW / Project Pabst teamup makes plenty of sense on paper - one had a great location on the Portland Waterfront last year, and one had a truly unique, interesting lineup - and at the end of day one of the newly-combined fests, it turns out it works in practice too. Despite being sold ou…
If there is one singular takeaway from 25 25, it's this: Factory Floor are done introducing themselves. A lot of young bands feel immense pressure coming into their first full-length record, and there's no doubt that the duo of Gabe Gurnsey and Nik Colk Void (then also joined by Dominic Butler) fel…
Throughout Band of Horses' intimate semi-acoustic set at the KEXP Gathering Space, frontman Ben Bridwell repeatedly mentioned that the group's origins were only a few blocks away in a rehearsal space. "This is one of the first songs I wrote for Band of Horses, and I wrote it right down the street i…
Like me, you may be nervous about the prospect of a new Crystal Castles album after the departure of Alice Glass in October of 2014. Alice’s departure came with an excellent statement: “My art and my self-expression in any form has always been an attempt towards sincerity, honesty, and empathy for …
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.
