The lyrics "My fingers have shriveled and dropped to the dirt / and two giant talons have grown where they were" sound like a recurring nightmare, but in Chad VanGaalen's song "Monster," that's exactly what he's looking for. Ramshackler extraordinaire, DIY genius, and honestly weird CVG showcased h…
Guillermo Scott Herren's early releases under his Prefuse 73 alias at the turn of the century proved to be groundbreaking, his fusion of intricate electronic production with high-quality instrumental hip-hop beats yielding a refreshingly innovative and highly influential sound. The current NYC-base…
It’s great to see that excellent, keenly questioning, perennially rebellious, truly inspiring, and high quality reading/viewing/listening materials keep being published and produced in this extremely DIY economy. Forged in the fires of pre-economic collapse in 2007, Oakland, CA-based PM Press is a …
Australian band San Cisco’s first time in Seattle included a stop by KEXP for an in-studio with Cheryl Waters. “That was more fun than a barrel of monkeys,” joked Waters, describing the performance. Formed in 2009 in the small city of Fremantle, Australia (the same town home to Tame Impala), San Ci…
Perhaps no other duo has collaborated, toured with or been covered by as wide a range of artists as Tegan and Sara. Canadian twin sisters Tegan and Sara Quin, who have been making music together since they were in high school, have toured with the likes of Neil Young, whose label they were first si…
St. Vincent has unveiled the video for MASSEDUCTION highlight track "Pills." Following in the vein of her previous visuals for "New York" and "Los Ageless," the video is a brightly colored, high fashion affair. Director Philippa Price focuses on a slew of model-appearing women making mannequin-like…
These are a few of Greg Vandy's favorite things in The Roadhouse and out. Most of his Top 10 LPs are represented here, but also his favorite songs of the year. It was a great year in music! Download, share, and tune into The Roadhouse on Wednesdays from 6-9pm for what's hot in the new year. 1. Pr…
Yumi Zouma are four friends that originally grew up together in Christchurch, New Zealand, found themselves in three cities (New York, Paris, Auckland) upon graduating from high school, yet reconnected over the internet to create their charming debut EP in 2014. Their romantic, nostalgia-tinged dre…
Backed by swaying chains of light that were only made to look more grandeur by the high winds that accosted Sasquatch! Music Festival throughout Sunday, Purity Ring captivated the Bigfoot stage from start to finish. Generating the largest crowd (at Bigfoot) of the weekend, the duo did not disappoin…
You should expect chaos when a world full of musicians enters your room. Even as the live session began, the twelve members of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros were still scrambling to find their place and check their tuning. But it fits their neo-hippy vibe. After all, long before Josh Tillm…
Eugene Fauntleroy is an enigmatic figure on the Seattle underground electronic scene, known for his skills behind the decks, his vast record collection that spans the gamut of quality house and techno, and his deft ability to string sleek rhythms together in a seamless sophisticated fashion. He's c…
KEXP's Morning Show host, John Richards, presents the first in a new series of Music That Matters podcasts, it's our Runner Powered Podcast, Volume 1. Enjoy this one hour training podcast, featuring 16 high-energy local and international artists with songs about running and songs that wi…
At long last, this week, LA noise rock act HEALTH drop their third proper LP. It's a record I've been wanting to hear for almost six years i.e. as soon as their second, Get Color, left heavy rotation in the fall of 2009 after weeks and weeks of repeat listens. But HEALTH haven't left us completely …
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…
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 …
DJ NativeSUN is a Washington, DC-based DJ/producer and also the co-founder of the Future R&Bass collective, hosting events in the nation's capital with kindred crews such as Soulection, HW&W, Radar Radio, and OkayAfrica. Well-known in the DC area for his ability to jump between Afrobeat, ho…
This morning, it was reported that Oscar-winning film director Jonathan Demme had passed away at the age of 73, due to complications from esophageal cancer. His lengthy filmology includes blockbusters like Philadelphia and The Silence of the Lambs, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Direct…
If there's another performer who has received two standing ovations for a single song at the Moore, Jason Isbell should call them and see if they'll go for best two out of three, because chances are that he'll win. The revitalized Southern songwriter is at a career high at the moment, and no other …
Will Butler, best known as a core member of Arcade Fire, opened up the second day of Sasquatch on the main stage with a fun set of driving rock. Butler is a multi-instrumentalist, and seems equally confident on guitar, keys, or just playing the front man and singing. Indeed, his dynamic stage prese…
We are HAM! If you aren't yet, that's okay. HAM is legend. It took years of inactivity to become the rock icons they are today. Following the Icelandic doom metal band's prolific years, from 1988 to 1994, their legion of fans grew, until finally their members stepped aside from their other careers …
