There was something magical about the Sunday night Sasquatch Music Fest performance by The Shins. Or maybe it just felt "magical." The stage was covered in giant paper flowers, with stems taller than the musicians and blooms bigger than their heads. (Ego jokes aside; everyone seems to have perfectl…
Canadian indie legends Metric have undoubtedly "made it." They're at the glorious stage in a career where they have the commercial success to justify any off-kilter choice they make, while still being independent enough that they have the freedom to make those off-kilter choices without any corpora…
First band on air for the 2013 Iceland Airwaves broadcast, live from KEX Hostel, is the 14-man Samúel Jón Samúelsson Big Band. First formed in early 2000 for a short series of performances in their native Iceland, the band was reformed in 2007 and released their first studio album Fynkur. In addit…
Pitchfork published an article last week titled, “What it’s Like to Be Black in Indie Music.” Its author, Matthew James-Wilson, talks about his personal experience in the scene as well as what he gathered from various musicians he interviewed for the story.
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Anticipation is high for the forthcoming full-length from Temples, totally heightened by last month's awesome performance in the KEXP Gathering Space. While we have to keep waiting 'til next year for Volcano to hit stores, today we've got a remix of the track "Certainty" by Scottish rockers Franz …
Brooklyn-based electronic producer James Hinton has bubbled up from the underground over the past 5 years under the alias The Range, crafting vibrant and forward-thinking beats and experimental club rhythms on labels such as Astro Nautico, Donky Pitch, Project: Mooncircle, and Domino Records. His l…
The Twilight Sad have always specialized in making the darker side of humanity seem so grandiose and alluring, but they've never made gloom quite so emotive and magnetic as they do on their fourth album, Nobody Wants To Be Here and Nobody Wants To Leave. When the Scottish band brought six cuts from…
Today marks the birthday of James Yancey, better known as J Dilla, one of the most influential hip-hop artists of this century. Just days after his 32nd birthday, back in 2006, the Detroit-based DJ and producer passed away, leaving an enduring legacy for others to follow. Above the nine albums he p…
It's hard to imagine a better indie pop dream team than this – a multi-Grammy winning producer Danger Mouse (a.k.a. Brian Burton) and a beloved singer-songwriter James Mercer (of the Shins), each responsible for some of the most infectious songs you've heard in the past ten years, joining to create…
Legendary Philadelphia hip hop crew The Roots threw the best party at this year's Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival, performing a jaw-dropping headlining slot at the Fisher Green Stage on Saturday night. Like any good host, they kept the vibes going, flowing seamlessly from song to song, withou…
Following Sasquatch's lead, this year's Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival has released their schedule, which has done a pretty good job at keeping potential conflicts away from the Farm. (I'm looking at you, "Sigur Ros vs. Phoenix vs. New Order" Coachella.) Traditionally, Thursday has been a showcas…
Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner, and James McAlister have teamed up for a collaborative album called Planetarium and Stevens has directed a new music video for the song "Venus" off the album. Stevens shared the stop-motion cut-out video to his Tumblr with the note, "Peace to you! Stay bod…
Last week, Seattle sons Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight took their hometown for three straight sold-out nights at the Paramount Theater. It is truly mind-boggling how quickly and how flawlessly ODESZA has skyrocketed over the last three years. The band's debut album Summer's Gone came out only th…
British psych pop four-piece Temples have garnered a lot of attention in the short time since their formation in 2012. Their 2014 debut, Sun Structures, made its way onto lots of best-of lists. Consequently, the Bigfoot stage was considerably crowded as they launched into the single "Shelter Song".…
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…
It's hard to feel sad about British band The Clientele's uncertain future and potentially permanent hiatus while Amor de Días glows brightly. With songwriting partner Lupe Núñez-Fernández (also of the duo Pipas), Clientele frontman Alasdair MacLean continues to carry the torch of happy-sad songs of…
Eva Walker is your host for Early on KEXP! Start your early mornings with eclectic and surprising song choices whether it’s to wake you up, get you ready for your big day or, to make your segmented sleep schedule just a bit more enjoyable. Enjoy new KEXP discoveries and the classics every morning, …
"Scottish people and the sun don't go well together," remarked The Twilight Sad frontman James Graham as he and his black-clad bandmates took a sunlight- and wind-drenched stage. However, perhaps the dissonance between the Scots and Vitamin D fueled Graham and his comrades because, despite the circ…
Congratulations to local hip-hop heroes Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, who were nominated last Friday for the 56th Grammy Awards in seven categories, including Best New Artist, Song of the Year and Album of the Year. James Blake also received a nomination for Best New Artist, and Daft Punk racked up f…
