Earlier this year, we got a sneak peek at the new alt-J album as the UK trio stopped by KEXP for an in-studio session. Now, the entire LP is out -- a release KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls, "their most adventurous, ranging from catchy prog-pop and solemn atmospheric folk ballads to decidedly o…
"You don't need to do that same ol' shtick." That's apparently what Aaron Dessner of The National told Scott Hutchison, founder and frontman of UK group Frightened Rabbit. Since their 2003 debut album, the Scottish group have become known for their anthemic guitar-based songs, punctuated with lyric…
The owls may not be what they seem, but neither does David Lynch. As a director, writer, musician, actor, artist, even furniture designer, he truly does it all. It's no surprise that his surrealistic influence extends to the music world, so on today, his 69th birthday, KEXP pays tribute to Lynch wi…
When it comes to Mike Krol, it's not three strikes and you're out. For the LA based, Milwaukee born songwriter, the third time's a charm, or rather, a Turkey. His third LP, and recent Merge Records release, avoids incarceration with a liberating blast of hook-filled garage rock, smart self-reflecti…
Spring is springing with excellent new releases, including the highly-anticipated debut (of sorts!) from Melbourne, Australia artist Courtney Barnett. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls the release, "a masterful set that improves upon her promising early releases with even sharper songwriting and …
It's a big week for new releases, so let's get right into it. First thing on your shopping list: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' latest, Push The Sky Away. Fifteen albums in and Cave & Co. still create unique stunners. As our Music Director, Don Yates, says, it's "a masterful set of brooding, mi…
Brooklyn-based artist Mitski shares a video today for the track "A Burning Hill," a stand-out from an already outstanding LP, Puberty 2, out now on Dead Oceans. Director Bradley Gray captures singer/songwriter Mitski Miyawaki around town, wearing a button down shirt as mentioned in the lyrics. Via…
As previously reported, Chris Cornell of the legendary band Soundgarden has passed away. We now have footage of the very last song Soundgarden played before Cornell's death last night in Detroit. "Slaves and Bulldozers" was a deep cut from the album Badmotorfinger and is an interesting choice in l…
Matt Johnson's The The is yet another band (or musical project, if you prefer, since it seems to have been Johnson and whatever troupe of brilliant musicians he could round up when it came time to make a record) that I never listened to in their heyday/my youth, and I can't quite figure out why. Ma…
The Los Angeles band, Las Cafeteras, named themselves after a community space in El Sereno, L.A. where group members met one another and started to learn and play Son Jarocho music together, influenced by regional Mexican folk music. The band feminized the name to honor women, they note. Modern day…
Throughout Okkervil River's in-studio session, frontman Will Sheff keeps breaking into giggles. And if you look closely around the room, you'll see plastic action figures perched on the keyboard or suspended from the mic stand. It's that sense of childlike wonder that Sheff taps into for the band's…
While we're all waiting for the warm weather to officially take hold (we've been given an enticingly cruel taste of it here in Northwest), Vampire Weekend has created the perfect summer album to fuel your anticipation. At times wistfully nostalgic, percolatingly peppy and even fiercely energetic, M…
It's surely no coincidence that a couple of these new releases came out on the eve of the 2016 Presidential Election. Veteran Chicago rapper Common shares his 11th full-length, an album KEXP's Music Director Don Yates calls, "a powerful set of politically charged hip hop with gritty, cinematic, sou…
From heartbreak to the end of the world: that's how DJ Troy Nelson describes the trajectory of albums from singer/songwriter Marissa Nadler. "I think this is album seven or something? I don't know," she says with a smile and a shake of her head. Over the past 16 years, this ethereal singer/songwrit…
When Courtney Barnett sings about "Three Packs a Day," she's not talking about smoking. (I mean, c'mon. Haven't you listened to the lyrics of "Avant Gardener"? She's not that good at breathing in.) Instead, the brand-new single from the Australian singer/songwriter is an ode to ramen. While dietit…
Portland-via-New Zealand band Unknown Mortal Orchestra share a fantastically animated clip for the track "Necessary Evil," off their latest Jagjaguwar release Multi-Love. Artist and director Sean Solomon says, "The video is an abstract love story about two characters whose insecurities and paranoi…
The biggest surprise of the summer is the latest from veteran Chicago band Wilco, who snuck out their ninth full-length late last week. KEXP Music Director Don Yates describes the album as "a smartly crafted blend of stomping glam-rock, buzzing motorik post-punk, atmospheric space-rock jams, plaint…
Fearlessly dabbling in the gaudy with their electro pop sound, Future Bible Heroes began as a project of The Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt and DJ Christopher Ewen, but gradually evolved into a substantial group of talented musicians. Eleven years after the release of their sophomore album, Etern…
When Laura Marling first emerged out of the West London folk scene in 2008, her age (then 18) belied her eloquent lyrics, deft guitar playing and strong voice, but as her has career progressed, critics have stopped using her age as a talking point and begun championing her consistency. Her fourth a…
Iron and Wine, the music project of singer/songwriter Samuel Beam, delivers simple, folk ballads that evoke powerful complex emotions. With each album Beam seems to be reinventing himself; from the minimalistic, soulful melodies of The Creek Drank the Cradle and Our Endless Numbered Days to the mor…
