Hearing his voice, you'd hardly believe that Jake Bugg was born in 1994. His song “Trouble Town” speaks to a world of experience, and the British singer isn’t yet 20 years old. “In this trouble town, troubles I’ve found. In this trouble town, word soon gets ‘round,” he sings. He may be young, but t…
KEXP broadcast live from KEX Hostel at Iceland Airwaves is Icelandic artist Pétur Ben. He first came into the spotlight following his collaboration with Icelandic virtuoso Mugisonm and the following year he released his debut record, Wine for My Weakness, and won an Icelandic Music Award for best a…
Congratulations to James Blake for winning the 2013 Mercury Prize award yesterday. As previously reported on the KEXP Blog, he had some stiff competition against Arctic Monkeys, Savages, David Bowie, Disclosure, Laura Marling, Foals, among others. Watch video from his Spring 2013 KEXP session here…
Next on the KEXP broadcast live from KEX Hostel at Iceland Airwaves is KEXP favorite Mono Town. The Icelandic indie-rock trio, comprised of Bjarki Sigurdsson (vocals, guitar), Börkur Hrafn Birgisson (guitar) and Daði Birgisson (piano), formerly of B.Sig, have a bit of a Britpop-meets-spaghetti-wes…
Next on the KEXP broadcast live from KEX Hostel at Iceland Airwaves is an Icelandic/Swedish folk duo My bubba. Their earlier efforts (released under the moniker “My bubba & Mi”) are deeply rooted in southern americana and folk. The songs are sparse, allowing their pure, delicate voices and entr…
Opening day two of the KEXP broadcast live from KEX hostel at Iceland Airwaves is Icelandic singer-songwriter Snorri Helgason. His music has classic American folk sensibilities, reminiscent of the likes of Harry Nilsson and Nick Drake. some with sparse instrumentation, and words sung so quietly and…
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. This week, we present songs by art…
This week, KEXP is broadcasting for the third year in a row, during Iceland Airwaves Music Festival. Now through Friday, November 1, we're bringing you five bands a day performing live at KEX Hostel in Reykjavik, including Emilíana Torrini, Moses Hightower, Petúr Ben, John Grant, Ásgeir and many ot…
Rounding out tonight’s broadcast live from KEX Hostel at Iceland Airwaves is Borko. Though it is not uncommon for Icelandic musicians to have their fingers in many pots, Borko (Björn Kristiansson) takes the idea to a whole new level. He immerses himself in essentially every aspect of local music, …
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.
