For a band that's distinctly Scottish, The Vaselines couldn't be more "Northwest", and now more so than ever. Formed by current members, Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee, the Glasgow group released only one album before breaking up in 1989. That might have been the end for their catchy, quirky, charm…
Today was spent traveling the winding road through the still snow spotted mountains, before breaking out into beautiful, cloud filled endless sky and the growing feeling of excitement. After much ado finding and pitching our tents, and a surprisingly short wait to enter into the grounds, I walked i…
Since breaking out of their native Wales in late 2010, The Joy Formidable have straddled a line that few bands in a post-Internet world have been able to. They're not quite artsy enough to be fully embraced by the Pitchfork crowd, and they don't have the commercial-baiting hooks that both televisio…
Bon Dimanche! It’s written in graffiti on several buildings all over Rennes. Happy Sunday! Sunday is the day of rest for the French people and even our crew got to take a small break on the final day of filming during the Trans Musicales festival. Normally, we’re up by 6am, breakfast at 7, out the …
It won't just be the record-breaking temps that make this weekend the hottest of the year so far. Besides the start of KEXP's own Concerts at the Mural series this Friday, down in Happy Valley, Oregon, our friends at Pickathon are at it again. It's always hard to say that "this year" is the best ye…
For years, Against Me! frontwoman Laura Jane Grace stood in center stage at raged away, sometimes at others, sometimes at herself. When she came out as transgender in 2012, that fury subsequently turned to a newfound onstage fire, transforming the flagging band from an increasingly cult concern to …
A couple of months ago, we were able to tease the forthcoming album by Fruit Bats, the "reunited" project of one Eric D. Johnson, who broke from his 16-year career under that name, recorded briefly as EDJ, and now is back. His forthcoming album's first song, "From A Soon To Be Ghost Town", which we…
Over the past few years, we've tried to make KEXP videos not only fun to watch but also instantly recognizable. But when artists and other guests visit our actual studio space and see the dark and starry walls, they almost always say, "Wow, this is much smaller than it looks!" Charming as it may be…
A good way to see how far a band has come is to look at where they began. Case in point, one of 2013's more enjoyable internet moments was when someone unearthed an old image of Radiohead during their college days. Thom Yorke and co. look goofy, amiable, and exactly the sort of people that would ha…
If their lyrics give any sense of how tough the ladies of Warpaint are, the Los Angeles quartet aren't a band so much as they are a gang. Not in the organized crime sense, but in the "don't mess with us" sense. Case in point: On "Elephants", the second track on the band's 2008 debut EP Exquisite C…
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…
Hip hop greats De La Soul have a pretty cool roster of guest musicians on their forthcoming full-length, and the Anonymous Nobody…. The list includes David Byrne, Snoop Dogg, Pete Rock, 2 Chainz, Usher, Jill Scott, Roc Marciano, Little Dragon, and, of course, Damon Albarn. To return the favor, it'…
Disclosure is not a new face to Sasquatch! Music Festival, having played the El Chupacabra stage in 2013. Since then they’ve garnered worldwide fame and accolades and influenced the sound of pop music as a whole. So when their 2015 release Caracal was not received with as much universal praise as t…
Well, that was a long time coming, but I'll be damned if that could have been any better than it was. Death From Above 1979 made a great record back in 2004 - like a really great record. You're A Woman, I'm A Machine put DFA 1979 on the map like clockwork, feeding the band with plenty of live dates…
For a moment there, it looked like The National's headlining set at Sasquatch – one of the band's biggest shows to date – was going to be underwhelming. For the first twenty minutes, the band felt too mellow, and frontman Matt Berninger, disinterested. And then, after "Don't Swallow The Cap", a swi…
They made us wait all Spring, but you know it's Summer when you get the complete line-up for the Capitol Hill Block Party July 21st-23rd in the heart of Capitol Hill. Check it out below. They've also released the daily schedules so you can begin to plot out your festival attack early.Diplo | Run Th…
South Carolina husband an wife team Shovels & Rope threw an infectiously fun clap and dance along set on the Sasquatch main stage. Somehow this dynamic duo managed to fill the enormous bowl with roots rocking americana sound, trading off on guitar, drums, keys, harmonica, and sharing beautiful …
Dusty Henry, Martin Douglas, Albina Cabrera, and Janice Headley discuss the idea of "punk" through the lens of four bands.
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In this special bonus episode, we break format away from Kurt Cobain and Nirvana and look at the legacy of Soundgarden from the lens of founding member and original bassist Hiro Yamamoto.
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