They say there's a day for everything, and maybe they're right, because today happens to be National French Fry Day. It's been said that french fries date back to the 1600s, when the residents of a region formerly known as the "Spanish Netherlands" (currently: Belgium) had the custom of accompanyin…
10:15 on a Thursday morning, and today happens to be the birthday of Robert Smith, godfather of goth (even though he hates that term) and legendary frontman of The Cure. It's hard to believe, but The Cure will be here Memorial Day weekend, headlining the 2016 Sasquatch! Music Festival. Throughout h…
As Oli Bayston, a.k.a. Boxed In, says, "Everyone who creates something is a product of their influences" - and he should know. The British record producer certainly has had a wide of array of influences, growing out of his previous work as frontman for the four-piece Manchester rock band Keith and …
Of Monsters and Men are no longer the undiscovered artists who charmed audiences across the web back in 2010 with their intimate, stripped back living room performance, recorded by KEXP, of “Little Talks”. Since signing to a major label subsidiary, Republic Records, for their debut album in 2011, t…
Since Kim Deal left, iconic band The Pixies have had a public struggle trying to replace her. And in a recent interview with Brooklyn Vegan, drummer David Lovering acknowledges that Deal is irreplaceable: "Basically, no-one can replace Kim Deal. It would be impossible to do." Kim Shattuck of the M…
Robert Glasper was exposed to music at a young age. His mother brought him as a boy out to her jazz and blues gigs, and he also learned much about music in church, where he began to sing and mix gospel and jazz harmonies. Since those humble but enriching beginnings, Glasper has built a strong caree…
If it seems like everyone is reuniting lately, it's true, because now The Postal Service is back with a show and a re-release. Today we found out that not only will the band be releasing the Deluxe Tenth Anniversary Edition of Give Up on Sub Pop featuring two new tracks, "Turn Around" and "A Tatter…
Alt-J have shared an incredibly cinematic video for "Pleader," off their latest album Relaxer, released back in June. Directed by Isaiah Seret, the exact plot is difficult to derive but according to the band: "When we set out to make a video for 'Pleader,' Joe sent the following one-line brief to d…
There's a moment on "Every Time the Sun Comes Up", the closing track on Are We There, the fourth studio album by Sharon Van Etten, when the New Jersey songwriter nonchalantly declares "I wash your dishes, but I still shit in your bathroom". For obvious reasons, it's a line that immediately stands o…
We know you're probably hoping to catch your breath, and rest your wallet, after last week's budget-busting list of new releases, but we can't wait for you to hear the killer albums out this week. Topping the list are four albums already in KEXP's heavy rotation, including the anticipated debut LP …
San Francisco's Mikey Maramag has a gift for painting landscapes. As Blackbird Blackbird, Maramag has made our heads spin with dense texturing and ear-worm hooks that take you far away to a place untainted by the imperfections of daily life. Always alternating between driving pop accessibility and …
It's been six years, but former Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis returns with her third solo album, Voyager, this July on Warner Bros Records. She explained to the Charleston City Paper, "I worked on these songs for a long time so there’s no stone unturned, lyrically. I thought about them while w…
Mutual Benefit's Jordan Lee has lived in various locations throughout the United States from Austin, Texas to Boston, Massachusetts. While traveling around America, Lee discovered and performed with many other musicians, eventually convincing them to join his music project. In fact, save for Lee, t…
Scott Hansen is known as ISO50 for his photography and design work. For his music, he and his band mates are known as Tycho. Closing down Saturday night at Sasquatch! Music Festival, Hansen and crew displayed how the two creative works aren’t mutually exclusive. Sharp images of distant landscapes a…
2014 is off to a great start for new music! Highlights include the long-awaited sophomore release from LA band Warpaint. KEXP Music Director, Don Yates, declares it a "more subtle and minimalist take on the band’s brooding dream-pop, featuring a dark, atmospheric sound with swirling guitars and key…
Kanye West is crazy. Or so people like to say with a sort of flippant superiority. Only thing is, this time around on his highly awaited, hotly debated, and incessantly fiddled with latest album, The Life of Pablo, he’s saying it, too. In three separate instances on the record, he declares instabil…
Okay, I have no idea what is going on here, and for once the Internet and KMCU DJ comments are mostly giving me more questions than answers. Starting with Discogs, which seems to have the only solid info on this release out there, we have before us an album from early 1984 by The Seclusions, featur…
This week sees the return of L.A.-based artist Aimee Mann. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls her ninth solo album, "a consistently strong set of intimate, smartly crafted folk-pop, combining a dark, acoustic-oriented sound with her plaintive vocals and often-poignant lyrics reflecting upon lost l…
M. Ward’s 2016 release, More Rain, sounds as advertised, offering a perfect soundtrack for rainy days. Ward has admitted to writing it for that particular reason, and while at first listen it doesn’t sound like a festival ready album, it was perfect for Sasquatch! Music Festival. For the songs off …
