After a blistering in-studio session at KEXP, young Benjamin Booker has released his self-titled debut album, which KEXP's Music Director Don Yates calls "a powerful blend of energetic garage rock and postpunk with gritty blues and soul, featuring a variety of visceral songs with explosive guitar r…
On Friday night, April 7th, local heroes Pearl Jam are being inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in a ceremony at Barclays Center in New York. (Other inductees include Joan Baez, Electric Light Orchestra, Journey, Tupac Shakur, and Yes.) HBO will air the event later this month on April 29th…
It's true: KEXP is playing the new Beyoncé. Don't be too surprised, though -- KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls the release, "a powerful set of expansive R&B blended with hip hop, electro-pop, reggae, blues-rock, gospel, New Orleans brass band music and more, combining a dark, decidedly non-g…
Leave it to Minnesota expat DJ Kevin Cole to champion Bully, fronted by former Rosemount-native Alicia Bognanno. A former intern at Steve Albini’s famed Electrical Audio, Bognanno brought the band back there to record their debut full-length, Feels Like, out now on Columbia/Star Time. The result is…
After a discography of 11 full-length albums, Seattle's own Car Seat Headrest makes their label debut on Matador Records. KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes, "The album reworks 11 songs from his extensive Bandcamp catalog with help from a new backing band (this also marks the first time he’s recor…
English rock band Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds will drop their upcoming album, Chasing Yesterday, on March 2. Luckily, they are offering their single "In The Heat of the Moment" on November 17 as a 7" and digital release. Today, you can hear the single's B-side, a powerful track called "Do T…
We've got another track from Ex-Hex, a new project led by Mary Timony, formerly of Wild Flag, Helium, and (let's just throw it out there 'cause they were awesome) Autoclave. Stream the bad-ass track "Beast" below. The debut full-length from this DC power-trio is titled Rips, and comes out 10/7 on …
The future is definitely running bright for artist Matt Drenik, the mastermind behind Battleme. His sophomore release, Future Runs Magnetic, out March 11th on El Camino Records, is his first with a full band behind him, resulting in what KEXP Music Director Don Yates describes as "a bigger, more mu…
In case you were otherwise occupied on Record Store Day, the powers of YouTube are here to save the day. Luckily, the new single from LA indie rockers Best Coast was uploaded for the world's unlimited listening pleasure. The beachy "Fear Of My Identity" showcases Bethany Cosentino's lovely voice a…
KEXP is counting down our listeners top voted albums of the last 50 years in conjunction with our 2022 fall fundraising drive. In conjunction, KEXP's Editorial team is presenting 'For Your Consideration' some of their all-time favorite albums and what they mean to them. Today, Albina Cabrera explor…
KEXP's broadcast from Pioneer Square as part of Upstream Music Fest + Summit continues with Seattle-based group MASZER, who brought a expansive, droning set to our stage at Little London Plane. Built on the propulsive dual percussion of Joseph Braley and Emilio Muniz, resonant guitar from Tomer-Dav…
This week in new releases, we hear from several artists who've been dormant for a while. Sufjan Stevens returns with his majestic new album, Carrie & Lowell, named after his mother and stepfather and partly inspired by his mother’s death. Several KEXP DJs have already hailed it as a contender f…
Under a blue light on the Music Lounge stage, the New Zealand-born (and, now, New York native) Tamaryn sang a collection of pulsingly-mellow tunes for the Bumbershoot audience. The songs were an interesting mix, with the rhythms almost over-powering the singer’s ghostly, etherial vocals. In this wa…
A band is like a marriage; the divorce rate for groups started two decades ago is high. Add in more members, each with significant side projects, and the odds of a split only climb higher. By all estimates then, The New Pornographers, formed twenty years ago in Vancouver, B.C., by players from a ha…
Fifty fans christened KEXP's live room during an exclusive tear-soaked performance with José González, all to benefit KEXP's New Home. The Swedish singer-songwriter, whose history with KEXP dates back over a decade, broke listeners' hearts for a full set of gorgeous, heartbreaking bliss, while shar…
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part 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, selected by Midday Show…
Toronto artist Katie Stelmanis, better known as Austra, shares the new video for the track "Hulluu" from her latest EP, Habitat. Directed by Zeesy Powers, the video features Canadian dancer Emily Law. In a press release, Stelmanis says, "I knew that I wanted the video for 'Hulluu' to focus on move…
In our series From First to Last, artists with deep discographies discuss the varying differences between making their first record and their most recent record. For our latest, KEXP's Jasmine Albertson chats with Kyle Thomas aka King Tuff about his 2008 70's-inspired power-pop rock debut Was Dead …