Tonight, Friday, April 7th, Seattle's own 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 29t…
Tonight, Friday, April 7th, Seattle's own 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 29t…
Not to be outdone by fellow shoegazers Ride, Slowdive have announced their first new album in 22 years! The self-titled LP will be out May 5th via Dead Oceans. We've already heard the single "Star Roving." Stream a new track below, titled "Sugar for the Pill." On Wednesday, the band will perform l…
Since pairing up in 2014, Mazes frontman Jack Cooper and Veronica Falls vocalist/guitarist James Hoare have continued to enchant us as Ultimate Painting. While in town for the Capitol Hill Block Party (review here), the London duo (accompanied by touring bassist Will Young and drummer Bill Roe, aka…
When Vancouver-based band Black Mountain stepped in the studio, we got a contact high. Not necessarily from their clothing, but definitely from their heavy, sludgy, psychedelic sound. Vocalists Stephen McBean and Amber Webber trade verses over a Black Sabbath-inspired wave of droning guitar and key…
Detroit's Zach Saginaw, a.k.a. Shigeto, has been crafting immaculate and unique music over the past half-decade, most notably and consistently for revered American electronic music label Ghostly International. With a heavy jazz background, a strong love for hip-hop, and prodigious skills as an elec…
"You don't need to do that same ol' shtick." That's apparently what Aaron Dessner of The National told Scott Hutchison, founder and frontman of UK group Frightened Rabbit. Since their 2003 debut album, the Scottish group have become known for their anthemic guitar-based songs, punctuated with lyric…
There is something both completely Polish and non-Polish about Lautari, the band featured this week in our series of Polish bands KEXP recorded while at the OFF Festival in Katowice. The award-winning ethno-jazz quartet, whose members hail from central and southern Poland, draw their name from the …
When it comes to Mike Krol, it's not three strikes and you're out. For the LA based, Milwaukee born songwriter, the third time's a charm, or rather, a Turkey. His third LP, and recent Merge Records release, avoids incarceration with a liberating blast of hook-filled garage rock, smart self-reflecti…
You'd be forgiven for asking why Conor Oberst, M. Ward, and the Felice Brothers were playing the Moore this September. They were on a brief, West Coast-only jaunt, none of them have records out this year, and because of it, there was barely any publicity for the show. But even for those who walked …
It's only 73 seconds long, but this mini-trailer has us very excited for the eagerly-awaited sophomore release from UK group Savages. In the clip, none other than Henry Rollins (??!!) reads from Phyllis Rose’s Jazz Cleopatra: Josephine Baker In Her Time as new music from the band plays in the back…
On Sprinter, the latest album by TORRES, Mackenzie Scott does not run away from the big issues. The 24-year old Brooklyn-based artist has clearly grown from her Southern Baptist upbringing, outpacing the usual "country girl meets big city" timeline but not so quickly that she dodges heavy themes of…
The fabulous Jon Spencer Blues Explosion are back with their latest garage-rock freak-out Freedom Tower – No Wave Dance Party 2015, out March 24th via Mom + Pop. The boys go drag in this John Waters-inspired video for the track "Betty Vs. The NYPD", directed by Michael Lavine. Check it out below, …
Icelandic icons Sigur Rós have announced they'll be reissuing their 1999 sophomore release Ágætis byrjun this summer as a deluxe limited edition box set. The band state via their website, "the deluxe boxset edition will feature previously unheard studio recordings and rare live versions from this …
Sisters Kara and Johanna Söderberg embody the phrase "beyond their years". As Swedish duo First Aid Kit, they've managed to capture generations' worth of American country and folk while still in their teens, and on their reverential 2012 hit "Emmylou" sounded as if they could already hold their own…
We woke up Kex Hostel this morning with a surprise dorm room performance by DJ flugvél & geimskip, who rolled in all her equipment on a cart equipped with a speaker, lit incense, turned on some DJ lights, and greeted the sleepy travelers with charming electronic backed songs about evil cats, ma…
We began our broadcast at Iceland Airwaves from KEX Hostel in Reykjavik with familiar faces in a brand new group. Ólafur Arnalds and Janus Rasmussen have both been featured several times live on KEXP, and not just from Iceland in years past – Ólafur also in Seattle and Austin during SXSW and Janus …
If the recent rainy weather is getting you down, take a musical vacation with Beach Day. Formed in 2011 in an uncannily-named place called Hollywood, Florida, it would be impossible for the bright sunshine of their locale not to radiate into their retro-tinged songs. A shared love of surf-rock brou…
Few bands generate as much excitement among KEXP listeners as alt-J. We followed their stratospheric rise from the beginning and even helped stoke the fire of the early buzz by which they burned brightly. The anticipation of their sophomore album was almost unbearable, though, particularly followin…
Well, that's a wrap on another year! Bumbershoot 2014 closed out with yet another incredible day on Monday, seeing the last good weather before a big rain and the last tour appearance by several bands before heading back to the studio. But the farewells were all in great spirits - fantastic sets ab…
