The guys of indie band The Lonely Forest represent much of what it is to be born-and-bred Pacific Northwest musicians. The four, from Anacortes, WA, were launched into the local music scene in 2006 when they won EMP's Sound Off! competition. This under 21 battle of the bands has been the catalyst f…
I've covered a lot of obscure bands in the (gulp) 9 years I've been doing this series, but The Invisible really takes the cake. Interestingly, their album Dystopia seems to be available on all the usual internet music services, but the only smidge of information I can find on them is a discogs list…
Seattle's Lemolo specializes in the kind of dark, introspective, and haunting music that fit so well in the old live performance space at KEXP's Dexter studio (and will surely fit in the new one as well!), which is perhaps one reason we keep asking them back. Ahead of the release of their 2015 albu…
Middle kids, in general, struggle for attention. Middle Kids (the band), on the other hand, have had little trouble getting noticed during their short career. The Sydney trio released their first single, the Ryan Adams-esque “Edge of Town," before they had even played a show. Shortly thereafter, po…
Swedish band Little Dragon share a video for the track "Underbart," from their fourth and most recent release, Nabuma Rubberband. Directed by Grant Singer, the clip features a cameo appearance from a wigged-out Don Bolles of the legendary punk band The Germs. Check it out below, and check out the …
One of Iceland's most popular musical exports, after Björk and Sigur Rós, has to be Of Monsters & Men. We were fortunate to discover this talented young band early and capture them on video as they practiced for their first ever performance at Icelandic Airwaves Festival back in 2010. They've s…
For years, Phillip Peterson has been around Seattle composing music, producing music and mixing for bands like the Seattle Symphony and, recently, Shaprece. Now, his band, Tennis Pro, is screening a movie at SIFF, Big in Japan, about touring Japan, and is preparing to play Capitol Hill Block Party.…
Red Wedding (and my selection of this album for this particular week may or may not be related to the start of the new season of Game of Thrones) was a pretty obscure band even by Review Revue standards. It sounds like they had quite the reputation as a live band around L.A., but they only released…
Hey Marseilles are another band that feel close to the KEXP DNA - a group of Seattle boys that developed a sound quite unlike anything else coming out of our city, they've brought their talent through our studio before, so they were a perfect band to fit into a day of celebrating both our past and…
Seattle confectioners Full Tilt Ice Cream will be celebrating the release of their new flavor Mudhoney, the ice cream, with noneother than Mudhoney, the band! According to their press release, "Mudhoney ice cream mixes satisfying riffs of in-your-face cinnamon with a mellow backbeat of honey and f…
If surf rock is making a comeback with the rise of bands like Seattle’s La Luz, then Portland-based band The Shivas may well be ahead of the curve. Their head-bobbing rhythms and cute, airy background vocals envelope the ears like a warm tropical day. The band can rock, too, like on their song “Sta…
History seems to have mostly forgotten the London band Birdhouse - or The Birdhouse, depending on whom you consult - with references to their work turning up at baseline music information sites such as Allmusic and Discogs, but not much analysis or information beyond that. The only way I even found…
Duluth-based band Low, whose members are going into their 20th year as a band together, have released "Just Make It Stop" from the Jeff Tweedy-produced The Invisible Way out on Sub Pop on March 18th. The album will be their 10th, and the slowcore pioneers have upped the tempo on this track -- it's…
photo courtesy of the band
Hovvdy chats with KEXP about their new record True Love, how divorce can bring siblings together, and the "forehead sweat energy" of Texas and also premieres a live video of the band playing album highlight "Blindsided"
Indie-folk singer and guitarist Angel Olsen performs a plugged-in set with her band on The Midday Show. Her debut LP "Burn Your Fire For No Witness" was released on Jagjaguwar. Olsen has formerly toured as a member of Bonnie "Prince" Billy's band and The Cairo Gang. Recorded 3/…
BSH. BSH. BSH. BSH. The sound of four defiant cymbal crashes spreads out across Pike Street. It's Seattle band COSMOS’ turn at the main stage. Melding hip hop, jazz, and funk in a high-energy set, the Seattle band proves yet again why they won last year’s Sound Off! contest, an annual battle of the…
It's hard to believe, but LAKE are celebrating their tenth anniversary as a band this year. The charming Northwest outfit formed in Olympia, debuting at frontman Eli Moore's birthday party, and since then, have released eight full-lengths, four of those on legendary local label K Records. Over the …
Good morning! How about a little funky Afropop, all the way from Iceland, to start your morning? That's how we began our broadcast from Iceland Airwaves last month, with the 13 member Samúel Jón Samúelsson Big Band blasting you awake at 6AM. Now you have the luxury to enjoy the SJS Big Band wheneve…
As the sun began to set on The Gorge Amphitheater, The Head and the Heart played a memorable set at Day 1 of Sasquatch Music Festival, representing Seattle in the Eastern Washington Sasquatch setting. Despite Josiah Johnson still being absent from the band, the band still demonstrated their ability…
