It's that time of year again: MoPOP’s Sound Off! has been pitting local bands against each other for 16 years now. The all-ages "battle of the bands" has introduced us to acts like The Lonely Forest, Naked Giants, Manatee Commune, and more. Every Friday night this month, a new band will progress to…
Welcome to Pickathon's 2016 Spring Season. Each week, the rustically set, Portland-area festival is running an ambitious program of four new episodes. Through twelve individual channels of content, you can experience this one-of-a-kind festival in the most intimate of ways... you'll go, On The Farm…
Welcome to Pickathon's 2016 Spring Season. Each week, the rustically set, Portland-area festival is running an ambitious program of four new episodes. Through twelve individual channels of content, you can experience this one-of-a-kind festival in the most intimate of ways... you'll go, On The Farm…
Brooklyn group Yeasayer are an act that cares about the details. From their pleas to “please watch at the 4k setting” on one of their music video’s to the collage of sounds that was their 2016 release, Amen and Goodbye, the group certainly has a knack for thinking about the little things other band…
Welcome to Pickathon's 2016 Spring Season. Each week, the rustically set, Portland-area festival is running an ambitious program of four new episodes. Through twelve individual channels of content, you can experience this one-of-a-kind festival in the most intimate of ways... you'll go, On The Farm…
Welcome to Pickathon's 2016 Spring Season. Each week, the rustically set, Portland-area festival is running an ambitious program of four new episodes. Through twelve individual channels of content, you can experience this one-of-a-kind festival in the most intimate of ways... you'll go, On The Farm…
It's the start of Pickathon's 2016 Spring Season. Each week, the rustically set, Portland-area festival is running an ambitious program of four new episodes. Through twelve individual channels of content, you can experience this one-of-a-kind festival in the most intimate of ways... you'll go, On T…
First band on air for the 2013 Iceland Airwaves broadcast, live from KEX Hostel, is the 14-man Samúel Jón Samúelsson Big Band. First formed in early 2000 for a short series of performances in their native Iceland, the band was reformed in 2007 and released their first studio album Fynkur. In addit…
We're always excited to feature Oklahoma singer-songwriter, vintage rock and roller JD McPherson any time he comes to town. Not only was he one of the highlights of our SXSW broadcast, but he and his smoking-hot band tore up the KEXP studio this past summer. Right now, JD is celebrating the holiday…
Over the past few years, we've tried to make KEXP videos not only fun to watch but also instantly recognizable. But when artists and other guests visit our actual studio space and see the dark and starry walls, they almost always say, "Wow, this is much smaller than it looks!" Charming as it may be…
Are bands really "side projects" when they sound this good? All members of RNDM are best known for other work, but with their debut, Acts, and a kicking live show, that may very well change. NYC based singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur has been insanely prolific as a solo artist since his 1997 debut, …
They've been playing together in one form or another since they were kids, so maybe it's not a surprise that within a year of their first single, Los Angeles' HAIM feel like natural stars. The three sisters that comprise the band - Danielle, Este, and and Alana - give great interviews. They have hi…
Johnny Jewel makes music that calls upon the venue of cinema so regularly, that when he actually creates something meant to go along with film, it almost seems more meta than the imaginary films he's themed in other projects. Likewise, the whole of the Italians Do It Better catalog exists in this s…
Next on the roster for day two of Iceland Airwaves Music Festival live from Kex Hostel were the incredible young polish duo Coals. Hailing from the coal-mining region of Silesia, Poland, an area known for its coal mines, Coals are Katarzyna Kowalczyk and Łukasz Rozmysłowski. Formed in 2014, Coals h…
Few bands are more iconic in Iceland than GusGus. Starting some 20 years ago, more arts collective than musical act, GusGus broke from their cinematographic origins and through to mainland Europe and the world in the mid 90's with their eclectic electronica assembly of techno, deep house, dance-pop…
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 …
Sóley is the cutest creeper out there. The Icelandic singer-songwriter is so disarmingly charming, and her voice so exquisite, that even her songs about killer clowns, murderers and weird, one-eyed ladies are quite soothing. She's also an expert looper and a snappy dresser. In other words, there's …