If you call yourself an Arcade Fire fan and have seen the band at least once in the live setting, there's a good chance that you need absolutely no introduction to Will Butler. When Arcade Fire skyrocketed to the moon amongst the Reflektor hype of 2013, it was clear that the one facet of their musi…
In March 2012, Girls mastermind Lena Dunham told NY Mag, that "[Millennial] lostness and that questioning — I wish I could say that it completely went away when you were getting to do the thing you wanted to do, but unfortunately, that’s not the truth." The most recent season of Girls featured a nu…
As we previously noted, Brooklyn band Parquet Courts make a sound whose exact genre is hard to nail down. Settling comfortably into a blend of seventies and eighties punk, avante rock, 80s pop, and no wave, their songs harken to indie rock's humble beginnings -- think Blonde Redhead but less sad, a…
Tegan and Sara have been writing beautiful, heart-breaking music for quite a few years now. Different fans swear by them for different reasons, but a common thread runs through them all: Tegan and Sara evoke the dynamic emotion of real relationship better than nearly any other band. Ever. Fans used…
On the show this time, it’s the powerful 60’s and 70’s influenced instrumentals of the mighty Budos Band.
Dusty Henry and Martin Douglas dive into the three albums by the Portland band Wipers, the band with the most entries on Kurt's list (unless you count "anything by Kleenex").
.
The very first band we had in during our residency at Breakglass Studios for POP Montreal was Montreal-via-Beirut duo Wake Island. Comprised of Philippe Manasseh and Nadim Maghzal, the two grew up in war-torn Beirut before coming to Montreal where they ended up meeting in college and bonding over t…
Moving homes can be hard. Even if you're staying in the same city, there's a sense of emotional attachment that can be hard to let go of — after all, you're making a major adjustment to the functionality of your everyday life. If you're making a cross-country move, well, you can imagine the interna…
Mere weeks before heading out on his Life Aquatic Tour (yes, inspired by the Wes Anderson film), west coast rapper Vince Staples shares the new single "BagBak." Listen below. Frankly, I don't remember any scenes with a bagbak, but you can definitely envision Bill Murray and his band of interns sto…
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 DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song comes from contemp…
Day 2 of Macefield Music Festival possessed a nice balance of crisp October weather, jangly jams, electrified éclat, and some bona fide rock 'n' roll - such as the rapturous return of Hazel! It's been a minute since the 90s grunge-era band has reunited to play a festival, possibly since 2012's Musi…
Following his fantastic third solo album, Singing Saw, Kevin Morby shares a digital 7” single today titled "Tiny Fires." The acoustic track was written and recorded in Morby’s bedroom in Los Angeles, and features two members of his touring band -- Meg Duffy on slide guitar and bass, and Justin Sul…
On Saturday, February 18th, musician Clyde Stubblefield passed away from kidney failure in his Madison, Wisconsin home. He was 73 years old. Stubblefield rose to prominence as the percussionist for the James Brown Band during the ’60s and ’70s. His improvised backbeat in the song "Funky Drummer" b…
Droning feedback. Static. The mechanical thrust of distorted, blown out drums. These are the first few sounds you hear on CHARMS’ debut album, Human Error, out June 16 on Killroom Records (which you can stream below). Even before the song descends into a flurry of manic, sharp riffs and guttural sy…
As a teenager, Jordan Gatesmith fronted the Minneapolis-based band Howler, whose sneering garage-rock sound caught the attention of UK label Rough Trade. (You can check out their KEXP performance during SXSW 2012 here on the blog, and a 2014 in-studio session here.) After two albums, Gatesmith disb…
For the uninitiated, Kyle Craft can sing. At once raspy, evocative, and grandiose, Mr. Craft's voice sounds straight from his soul, imbuing his music with an immediate punch and anchor. His voice was the clear focal point of an excellent performance at Day 3 of Sasquatch Music Festival at the Yeti …
Leave it to a neuroscientist to create an out of body experience. UK's Sam Shepherd blows minds post-doc with his experimental electronic project, Floating Points, combining jazz, space rock, prog, EDM, classical and other genres that can but shouldn't be named into an out of this world experience.…
Kyle Craft leads a storied life. The Portland-based singer-songwriter trails with him a cast misfit characters and messed up relationships from his former home in Shreveport, Louisiana, to populate is his rollicking full-length debut, Dolls Of Highland. He also carries with him a sound with a past …
Not New York City. Not Los Angeles. Lush’s first U.S. show in 20 years was right here in Seattle. The honor was not lost on the hundreds of fans who lined up early outside the venue to get closer to the stage, and who swarmed the merchandise table immediately upon entering The Showbox, like ravenou…
