They don't call it the land of fire and ice for nothing. Geographically, Iceland is a land of extremes, from its vast glaciers to its active volcanos. But there must be some space in the middle where the two meet. In Norse mythology, that space, between fiery Muspelheim and icy Niflheim, is where l…
You'll never hear the sound of yearning like you will through the sonic lens of Daughn Gibson. The one-time trucker from Nazareth, Pennsylvania, is a new signee to Sub Pop, and this week, he releases his second LP, Me Moan, his first for the label. Gibson is a curiosity - his Sub Pop bio reads like…
KEXP is proud to support Pickathon and happy to announce the release of this year's daily schedule. The three-day festival at Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley, OR (very close to Portland), on August 2-4, includes performances by over 45 artists on 7 stages, but one of its most unique features is that…
Few bands have influenced Seattle's sound like Mudhoney. Twenty five years ago, to this month, Mark Arm and Steve Turner rejoined after leaving Green River to form a group that would weather all storms of the so-called "Grunge" scene. Their initial, poorly selling but highly influential single and …
This week's short list of new releases sees some old names returning with fresh new sounds. 80's electronic alternative icons Depeche Mode return with their thirteenth studio album, perhaps their strongest effort yet in this post Y2K world. Delta Machine contains the familiar tropes: dark eroticism…
Much has been made of The Ruby Suns' globetrotting tendencies, both internationally and musically. American born band founder, Ryan McPhun, left California for New Zealand in the mid '00s and joined Auckland group The Brunettes before forming The Ruby Suns to make blissful, psychedelic multicultura…
Radiohead fans are tweaking for today's release of Thom Yorke's new project, Atoms for Peace. The group - featuring producer Nigel Godrich on keys, Ultraista's Joey Waronker on drums, Flea on bass, and Forro in the Dark founder Mauro Refosco on additional percussion - formed originally as the backi…
Beach Fossils have done a lot of growing in the past couple years. Their 2010 self-titled debut was pleasing to the ear and to the heart with it's quiet, introverted finesse. But in 2011, by trimming some lo-fi fat off their tracks, they created a timeless experience with the What A Pleasure EP. Su…
Seattle super-group Walking Papers played a killer session in the KEXP studio for Audioasis, where they shared three songs off their Mike McCready (of Pearl Jam)-produced self-titled debut from October last year, released on Sunyata Records. Such an assured sound from a band that just released a d…
Watching these videos you might be thinking: political outrage hasn't seen this much ferocity in music since Rage Against the Machine disbanded a dozen years ago. The fact is, Raymond "Boots" Riley and his band The Coup have been making socially outspoken jams for just as long and have turned out e…
Portland's Moon Duo made maybe one of their most surprising moves yet: showing up and playing a set as a trio. Alright, that's not totally true. They did play with a third member on the KEXP Stage at the Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival, but the band is constantly taking surprising new avenues…
Punk trio Dude York has made a name for themselves in Seattle for being a guarantee for at least a half hour of overflowing joy. As "America's Band," they cannot tell a lie and totally followed through on the promise on Day One of the Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival. Even when they had techni…
The alias of Georgia native Ernest Greene, Washed Out burst on to the music scene in 2009 with his defining and refreshing chillwave sound, and he's been a staple on KEXP's airwaves ever since. His style has evolved over the years, exploring various shades of dreamy and psychedelic electronic pop. …
