The second act up for our live streaming broadcast from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves was rock and post-punk band Börn. They have a darker, gloomier sound influenced by the Icelandic punk movement of the 80s. Lead singer Alexandra is a total badass. She came adorned in black lipstick, a bright gre…
Our first live act of the day at Kex Hostel from Iceland Airwaves is fresh off a plane from Amsterdam. But you'll surely recognize them as Seattle's own garage surf outfit La Luz. We've been spinning this all female quartet's 2013 Hardly Art/Sub Pop album It's Alive and done several in studio sessi…
Ever since Portland band The Shivas blew us all away at the 2013 MusicFestNW broadcast, we've been eagerly awaiting a follow-up to their outstanding release, White Out, on K Records. Today, KEXP proudly presents an online stream of their latest album, You Know What To Do — and the title says it all…
Ted Leo and Aimee Mann, aka The Both, stopped by Late Night With Seth Meyers last night for a rousing rendition of "Volunteers of America" off their self-titled debut collaboration. Drummer Matt Mayhall, who you may recall from their Bumbershoot Lounge performance, joined the fun. Watch below, and…
If you attended their show at Neumos earlier this year, you may recall Real Estate covering The Nerves during their encore. The Jersey boys will be including a studio-recorded version of that track "Paper Doll" as the b-side to the "Had to Hear" limited edition 7" single, out tomorrow from Domino …
It's hard to believe, but we've literally watched Jessica Lea Mayfield grow up before our very eyes. She's been on our airwaves since she was a teenager, starting with her 2008 debut, With Blasphemy So Heartfelt, produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. Over the years, we've been lucky to have h…
"Should is a worthless word," advises the always-wise Bobby Bare Jr. "The only time you use the word 'should' is when you're talking about something that doesn't exist." On his seventh album, Undefeated, the Nashville artist clearly strives forward without any "shoulds" — laying himself, well, "bar…
The local four-piece that calls "Earth" its hometown, The Comettes have honed the sound born in the 1980's - that distorted, etherial, big-voiced rock - and made it their own here and now in 2014. Think: David Byrne, Lou Reed or even Pearl Jam if you slowed down the tape a bit. The band released th…
Brooklyn band The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have been going through some growing pains, indeed. Between their 2011 album, Belong, and their brand new release, Days of Abandon, the band lost longtime members Peggy Wang and Alex Naidus, and though drummer Kurt Feldman played on the album, he decli…
For over twelve years now (not to mention the many years of hard-work they spent playing on the streets of Mexico City and Dublin to perfect their sound), guitar-wielders Rodrigo y Gabriela have been consistently cranking out classical improvisations, maintaining a steady sound while redefining wha…
NO? Why,"yes!". Serendipity gave rise to the band NO; the founding members met each other, by chance, in a Los Angeles diner and began sharing stories of their favorite musicians and disastrous relationships. Like all greats, their music has a melancholy tinge without being too sentimental. NO fron…
Dum Dum Girls are no fools. The NYC group combines fashionable urban chic with a deadly cool to a devastating effect, and they approach music the same way. On their third album and latest album, Too True (which we adoringly reviewed here), Dum Dum Girls mastermind Dee Dee Penny filters girl band po…
From being 18-year-old kids playing house parties in Greenville, North Carolina, to last month's nationwide broadcast on The Late Show with David Letterman that made them internet superstars — throughout it all, Future Islands have always stayed true to themselves, and to their strong work ethic. A…
"I'm glad the tour is going pretty good," Stevie Zoom said to Swedish punk quartet, Holograms. "Pretty good?" challenged bassist/vocalist Andreas Lagerström, "I think it's going great!" It's that youthful energy and defiance that has propelled the young band through their short, but already fruitfu…
KEXP staffers aren't the only Americans to fall under the ethereal spell of Iceland: when musician John Grant played the Iceland Airwaves Music Festival in 2011, he liked it so much, he decided to stay! Performing songs from the album he recorded there, his sophomore release Pale Green Ghosts, Gran…
For almost two years, Cumulus kept the tracks for their debut album hidden. After beginning their songwriting process in 2011, the group, led by singer/guitarist/songwriter Alexandra Niedzialkowski, slowly but surely put the pieces together while recording in Anacortes, WA, with Phil Elverum. The r…
With her otherworldly voice, it's hard to pinpoint where songwriter Cameron Mesirow, better as Glasser, is from. Upon first listen to her ethereal electronic sounds and acrobatic soprano voice, you might be inclined to guess she's from Iceland, but the L.A. artist actually just relocated to New Yor…
It's not often that the Review Revue files intersect with what's going on in the present day, due to the archive-digging nature of this project, but every once in a while we get lucky. This week's band, Pere Ubu - perhaps one of the longest-lived bands I've covered in this series - is playing tomor…
It was a session DJ Cheryl Waters had been waiting 20 years for: The Waterboys, a band who are actually celebrating their 30th anniversary this year, despite frontman Mike Scott being a mere 24-years-old, wink. The long-running group are on tour supporting their seven-CD collection, Fisherman's Box…
Next on the KEXP broadcast live from KEX Hostel at Iceland Airwaves is an Icelandic/Swedish folk duo My bubba. Their earlier efforts (released under the moniker “My bubba & Mi”) are deeply rooted in southern americana and folk. The songs are sparse, allowing their pure, delicate voices and entr…
