First up on day three of the KEXP broadcast live from KEX Hostel at Iceland Airwaves Music Festival was soulful Icelandic-American blues-rock band Moji & The Midnight Sons. Conceived of in a small Reykjavik whiskey bar under the light of the midnight sun, Moji and the Midnight Sons are new face…
The Greatest is gone. More than just a boxing legend, Muhammad Ali was a cultural icon and humanitarian above nearly all else. He passed away on Friday after a long battle with Parkinson’s. Ali didn't just fight inside the boxing ring. Outside of it, he stood up for those who couldn't or wouldn't, …
It is with a heavy heart that KEXP reports Charles Bradley has cancelled his upcoming tour dates after doctors found a cancerous tumor in his stomach. The 67-year-old singer released the following statement:
In the past few months, I have had to cancel a number of shows due to illness, taking me a…
Zola Jesus is releasing her 6th album Okovi in September via Sacred Bones. She previously shared the lead single "Exhumed" and today the correlating video for the song has been released. Directed by Jacqueline Castel, the creepy black and white footage bears a resemblance to The Ring, with a simila…
In the lead up to Dave Depper's performance at the KEXP stage, we mentioned quite a few times on this blog how he's known to be a utility player for a number of bands -- most notably joining Death Cab for Cutie as a full-time member. However, his performance at the Bumbershoot Music & Arts Fest…
Tuesday night was just another night in the weird, wonderful world of the Crocodile. Some nights, you can see phenomenal jazz and soul, others you'll witness scorching rock shows with face melting guitar solos and pyrotechnics (maybe). Then nights like Tuesday, you'll stand facing the back wall wit…
When asked how they deal with the stress of extensive touring, Yelle quips, "We are planking. Every day." Maybe we should be taking notes. Hailing from Brittany, France, electropop duo Yelle (Julie Budet) and Grandmarnier (Jean-François Perrier) have captured a wide following in recent years with f…
The innovative releases continue for Lena Simon’s band, KAIROS. Who doesn’t like it when one masterful band takes the work of another for the sake of reinterpretation and homage? And today, we have two examples of this collaboration: a Cock & Swan remix of the KAIROS track, “Can / Cannot” and a…
It's difficult to imagine Iska Dhaaf as only a two-piece, even when they're right in front of you. The sound of their full-bodied post-punk is supported by Benjamin Verdoes' (Mt. St. Helen's Vietnam Band) unique ability to simultaneously play the keyboard and drums. It takes a talented musician to …
You know when Hamilton Leithauser is about to hit a key vocal line. Like Arjen Robben dropping his shoulder before shooting on goal or Michael Jordan sticking his tongue out before driving to the hoop, Leithauser pulls the mic away from his face, tightens his shoulders, and then nails it - whether …
It's been announced via Facebook that guitarist Dave Rosser has been diagnosed with inoperable colon cancer. Rosser has been a long-time member of all Greg Dulli's bands (The Afghan Whigs, The Twilight Singers, and Gutter Twins). The Afghan Whigs have scheduled benefit shows for December 10th in N…
Filigree & Shadow was the second album released by the loose 4AD collective This Mortal Coil. As with the third album, which I covered here eight years ago, label head Ivo Watts-Russel teamed up with some current 4AD artists (including members of Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, and The Wolfgang …
There are many ways to “get down,” and Thao and crew seemingly discovered them all on Monday at Sasquatch! Music Festival. Thao and the Get Down ripped through a festival ready set, encouraging the crowd to get down in every possible way. Whether it was through the plucky rhythm the group often hel…
More clouds? More rain? When have these things ever mattered to Seattle? Capitol Hill Block Party 2015 ventured onwards with nothing but smiles as time for Day 2 arose. Between Jamie xx and Built to Spill yesterday, Saturday had a high bar to clamber over. But the festivities got underway very quic…
Well, doesn't that photo look weird? But, it's time to face the new line-up for Death Cab for Cutie: the band will release their first album without founding member Chris Walla, titled Kintsugi. What's a "Kintsugi", you might ask? It's a style of Japanese art where broken ceramics are fixed using …
"The Black Keys performing live on stage." That's one of a handful of statements on the Akron, Ohio duo's line of exaggeratedly plain tour merchandise, but it's also an unintentionally spot-on statement about the Black Keys' shows. Not only are their performances built around straightforward versio…
"Don't tell any other festivals, but this miiiiiight be my favorite festival." That's how Merrill Garbus began her campaign to win over the Gorge on Sunday afternoon at Sasquatch, and it certainly worked. tUnE-yArDs' live show has always demanded a participatory audience, if only to dance to Garbus…
There’s an art to first impressions. As an artist, you really only get to make one first step onto the scene, and whether everyone cares or no one cares, that’s the point from which you take every single step after. For Thomas Arsenault, that first step has been a long time in the making. He’s been…
A while back, a producer, a DJ and an MC, each with solid careers of their own, formed a sort of hip hop supergroup to face against rising corporate interests in their fields. Like Gorillaz, Deltron 3030 was high-concept, semi-fictional, character driven project that blew the minds of music fans of…
Last month, Charles Bradley and the Menahan Street Band stopped by our studio to deliver a special joint session for KEXP listeners. The Menahan Street Band -- featuring members from the NYC Daptone Records soul and funk world including the Budos Band, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, and Antibalas…
