James Blake is sly as a fox. While everyone was completely distracted by Kanye West's album drop and fashion nonsense, Blake debuted a gorgeous new song called "Modern Soul" during his BBC Radio 1 show. It's such an incredible song and Blake's effortlessly stunning vocals will blow you away. Serio…
Moby has announced a new side project called Moby & the Void Pacific Choir. Today he's shared their first track, an intense and blistering piece titled "The Light is Clear In My Eyes." Check it out below. [SPIN]
The Walkmen frontman Hamilton Leithauser and vampire Weekend producer Rostam Batmanglij have joined forces to create a side project brilliantly called, Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam. The duo will release their debut album, I Had A Dream That You Were Mine, on September 23. Check out new album track…
Twin Peaks have shared a brand new track from their upcoming album, Down in Heaven. The song, called "Holding Roses," shows the Chicago garage rockers sunnier side. It may be a breakup song, but the bright melody strikes an interesting contrast. Down in Heaven drops on May 13. [SPIN]
Brooklyn duo Ratatat are gearing up for the July 17th release of Magnifique, their first full-length album in five years. They've shared a new song and it's accompanying video called "Abrasive". Be sure to catch them live at the Capitol Hill Block Party July 24-26! [CoS]
English singer-songwriter Johnny Marr calls out our cash-obsessed culture in his video for "Easey Money." He described the video as, "a 'high times in low rent England' kind of thing." The track is featured on his upcoming album, Playland, which will be released in the US on October 7. [Pitchfork]
The National frontman Matt Berninger has teamed up with singer-songwriter Andrew Bird for a rework of a classic English folk song called "A Lyke Wake Dirge." This deep, intense version was recorded for AMC's Turn, a drama about Revolutionary War spies. [Stereogum]
Khalif Diouf, aka Le1f, has become the first rapper to sign with Terrible Records (co-founded by Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor). Le1f will release a new EP called Hey on his new label on March 11. "Boom" is the EP's first single and there's no surprise that Le1f slays it effortlessly. [Stereogum]
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Morn…
Avery Tare of Animal Collective has started his own side project, a new band called Slasher Flicks. The band also features former Ponytail drummer, Jeremy Hyman, and ex-Dirty Projectors member Angel Deradoorian. Thanks to some fantastic fans, we have video of their debut performance at Baltimore'…
With a laid-back, poetic cadence and a bevy of hazy hip-hop beats, Seattle's DoNormaal – the stage name of Christianne Karefa-Johnson and a play on a Dutch phrase that means "stop acting weird" - creates music that has a futuristic quality to its adventurous sound. Recorded during a spec…
UPDATE 12:00 PM PT: the first half of a track has been shared via BBC Radio 1; listen below.
LCD Soundsystem are releasing two new songs tonight, titled “Call the Police” and “American Dream”! No, we don't actually have the songs yet, but midnight EST (or 9:00 PM PST), both tracks will become avail…
Rostam Batmanglij, who announced his departure from Vampire Weekend in January, has shared a new solo single called "Gravity Don't Pull Me." He's giving his name the Cher treatment and is releasing his music as Rostam. He's also unveiled the song's music video, which he directed along with Josh Gol…
It's been 57 years since a plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa took the lives of musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, but their music and influence live on, as strong as ever. Called "The Day the Music Died," after a lyric from Don McLean's tribute single "Ameri…
Happy New Year! Last night, Kendrick Lamar decided to end 2015 with a 7-minute short film called God Is Gangsta. It features tracks from his acclaimed album To Pimp a Butterfly, "u" and "For Sale? (Interlude)." Watch Kendrick rap and go clubbing in Paris below. [Pitchfork]
Last Friday gave us a new LP from veteran hip-hop band A Tribe Called Quest, their first in 18 years, and their last, with the passing of founding member Phife Dawg due to complications with diabetes. KEXP Music Director Don Yates says, "It's a strong return to form of often-politically charged hip…
As we celebrated on Friday with an exclusive interview, the new Father John Misty album is out now. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it, "his finest to date, combining an orchestral folk-pop sound with self-aware, often-cutting and sometimes hilarious lyrics aimed at narcissism, hypocrisy, insta…
After a long five years, The Chemical Brothers will release a new studio album called Born in the Echoes on July 17. The LP will feature collaborations from Beck, Q-Tip, St. Vincent, and many more. Today they've debuted "Sometimes I Feel So Deserted," the album's opening track. [Pitchfork]
Next month, New York City's Museum of Modern Art will open an interactive exhibit celebrating Icelandic songstress Björk. The retrospective, which runs until June, will "chronicle her career through sound, film, visuals, instruments, objects, costumes, and performance." Below, she's shared a brief…
