In early October, KEXP was thrilled to host an evening with leftist icon and buck-the-man songwriter Billy Bragg, as part of Songbook: KEXP’s Music & Literature Series. Over the summer, Bragg released his second nonfiction book Roots, Radicals, and Rockers: How Skiffle Changed the World, said t…
Even with a full band backing her on stage at the KEXP Gathering Space Stage on the second day of the Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival, it seemed like Seattle singer songwriter Shelby Earl hardly needed a mic. Her voice rang clear, powerful, and true even when she stepped back from her mic to …
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. Today’s song, featured on the Afterno…
Shelby Earl's voice is a coveted gift. Google her name plus the word "heartbreaking" and you'll get endless results. With her mournful vibrato and aching howls, it's no wonder she's an artist many turn to in their most aching moments. However, that's just one facet of what Earl's capable of. On her…
Though a man of few words in person, singer/songwriter Dan Bejar finds his voice through music, which rang out loud and clear when his project Destroyer stopped by the KEXP studios. With his tenth full-length, Poison Season, what began as a mostly-solo project of Bejar's has expanded into a eight-p…
John Richards brings together some of his favorite tracks from around the world that he's been banging' on the Morning Show this summer all while Beth Orton performs in the studio down the hall. 1. Psychic Ills - I Don't Mind 2. Ghosts I've Met - Songbirds 3. Faye - Ancient Bones 4. Ages and Ages …
Morning Show host John Richards presents a new Runner Powered Podcast. 1. Caspian - Sad Heart of Mine 2. Sharon Van Etten - Words 3. Youth Lagoon - The Knower 4. !!! - Sick Ass Moon 5. Other Lives - Reconfiguration 6. Roger Lion - A Dead Man's Song 7. José González - Leaf Off / The Cave 8. Holy …
Morning Show host John Richards presents Volume 4 of KEXP's Runner Powered Podcast series. This newest installment is a pure energy boost sure to keep you on track during your next run. 1. Explosions in the Sky - Your Hand in Mine 2. Dan Deacon - Feel the Lightning 3. Eternal Death - Song 4. Joh…
While he may not have enjoyed the widespread attention that Kendrick Lamar received last year for his fantastic To Pimp A Butterfly, rising Oakland rapper Vince Staples deserves just as much credit for pushing the culture in new directions with his own 2015 LP, Summertime '06. Staples' first full-l…
New Zealand singer-songwriter Marlon Williams brought his band and their foot-pounding vintage folk to the KEXP studios in support of his first solo record. Longtime the front-man of The Unfaithful Ways, Williams relocated to Melbourne to record and release his eponymous solo album. The rocksteady,…
Don't think Pond a lesser Tame Impala. Though they drink from the same cosmic pool as their fellow Perthians (and share members, past and current), the Australian five-piece ride a heavier wavelength. Friends Nick Allbrook, Jay Watson and Joseph Ryan formed the band originally to play whatever the …
From PWR BTTM to Patti Labelle, music by “out” artists and our allies powers KEXP's DJ El Toro through happiness, hopelessness, and hardship … and always steers me back towards love. 1. The Julie Ruin - I Decide 2. Lisa Prank - Starting Again 3. Alex Anwandter - Siempre Es Viernes En Mi Corazón…
Wolf Parade are releasing their first album in seven years, Cry Cry Cry, on October 6 via Sub Pop. Today they've unveiled the album's second single "You're Dreaming" which was inspired by the shock and confusion following the 2016 U.S. presidential election. It's accompanied by a cut-out visual mad…
Grandaddy released their first album in over a decade, Last Place, back in March and today they've shared a video for the track "Brush with the Wild." The video, directed by Aaron Beckum, follows the story of a heartbroken man who tries to throw out all the things that remind him of his ex, only to…
During hour six of KEXP's live broadcast from Upstream Fest + Summit, The Maldives brought their harmonic alt-country to our performance space at Little London Plane in Pioneer Square. The Maldives played five tracks from their latest record, Mad Lives, a concept album about a man's life and death …
You may have seen those "Life of Pedro" tees that Kanye West has been selling. Well, now Father John Misty offers his own version: Life of Padre. The sleeves also read "Juan" and "Misty," I guess because he couldn't find a Spanish version of the word "Misty." It may be a joke, but it's also kinda …
The main reason I pulled this album out is because Richard Lloyd! Television! Not only did I recently see his legendary old band, sadly without him, but it turns out that the man himself is embarking on a very rare solo tour which will bring him to our own beloved Columbia City Theater this Septemb…
Fireworks, indeed! The Dead Weather - the supergroup of Alison Mosshart, Jack White, Dean Fertita and Jack Lawrence - have announced their third album, Dodge & Burn, will be out in September via White's Third Man Records. A press release claims the band will not be touring in support of the al…
Recently, Seattle Weekly posted a piece called "A Year of Emergency". While the piece deals with the city's prevailing homelessness epidemic, the societal range to which the phrase could be extended this year is nearly infinite. Human empathy is facing a year of emergency, and for better or worse, …