Attention local nonprofits—and the listeners who love them! Friday, October 31 is the deadline for submitting your application for the 2015 cycle of KEXP’s Community Partnership Program (CPP). Started in 2006, KEXP’s CPP provides small Puget Sound charitable organizations with the exposure they nee…
Prince has released two new albums today, both of which are now available to stream on Spotify. One is with his band 3rdEyeGirl called PlectrumElectrum and the other is a solo album entitled Art Official Age. Listen to the latter, below. [Pitchfork]
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…
Iska Dhaaf's Benjamin Verdoes recently released a solo album called The Evil Eye. It is an auto-biographical record responding to the myriad trials he's experienced in his personal life. The album is sweet, poignant and wonderfully composed, even using Somali words to help express his thoughts. KEX…
Reflecting on American pathologies during the creation of the band's eighth album, Shearwater leader Jonathan Meiburg sought to make what David Bowie once called an oblique protest record. The result, this year's Jet Plane and Oxbow, is some of the Austin, Texas group's most expansive and impactfu…
Album releases are slowing down as we approach the holidays, but there are still some standouts to be found. Actor/writer/producer/comedian/musician Donald Glover returns for his third LP under the Childish Gambino alias, an album KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls, "easily his strongest musical s…
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…
Folk rockers The Mountain Goats have dropped a new song called "Going Back to California." According to frontman John Darnielle, the song is “about about the plane crash that killed [Ozzy Osbourne guitarist] Randy Rhoads, which happened right in the middle of a tour." The track belongs to a larger…
Majical Cloudz just released a 5-track EP called Wait & See. The songs were originally intended for last year's Are You Alone album, but according to frontman Devon Welsh, "[the songs] didn't fit on that album for one reason or another." You can steam both albums together, below, via Spotify. …
Brooklyn folk pop outfit Woods have announced plans to drop a new album called City Sun Eater in the River of Light, on April 8. Today, they've shared the album's lead single, "Sun City Creep." It's a stunner that will transport you to the 70s as soon as Jeremy Earl's flawless falsetto kicks in. […
It's been a long wait, but last week Montreal-born, Woodstock, NY-based artist Thomas Arsenault (aka Mas Ysa) released his debut full-length. (Watch his 2014 KEXP session here.) KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls the album, "a potent set of moody electro-pop with bright synths, propulsive rhythms,…
Alan Palomo and company, better known as Neon Indian, have shared an addictive, summer dance track called "Annie" - their first new song in two years. The synthpop outfit hasn't released a full length album since 2011's Era Extraña, but they're working on one now. Hopefully we'll have a release da…
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…
British electronic duo Orbital have announced their retirement. Brothers Paul and Phil Hartnoll have been making music together since the 80's, but according to their official statement: "Nothing lasts forever and it’s time to stop." Phil wasted no time announcing his own solo project called 8:58.…
Swedish sibling duo The Knife have announced they'll be calling it quits after an abundantly creative 15 year career. Karin Dreijer told Dazed & Confused, "When we finish the tour now in November we will close down, it’s our last tour. We don’t have any obligations to continue, it should only …
Summer may be a ways away, but for Divine Fits, anytime is a good time to go for a dip in the pool... as long as you're fully clothed. The supergroup's latest video for the synthy "My Love is Real" finds them diving into swimming pools in suburban backyards and jumping through hedges. Their debut a…
Autumn calls for fuzzy sweaters and fuzzy music. Listen to Midday Veil, Blank Realm and more with fuzzy songs, feedback drenched guitars and lo-fi indie rock on this latest mix that emotes the dark days of the season. 1. Pony Boy - When Tomorrow Never Comes 2. Midday Veil - Babel 3. Ms. John Sod…
Last year, we weren't shy about how much we lived the debut record by Divine Fits. The supergroup is led by Britt Daniel of Spoon and Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade, and also features Sam Brown of New Bomb Turks as well as Alex Fischel. Their 2012 LP A Thing Called Divine Fits was beginning to end an …
In early June, Australian singer/songwriter Courtney Barnett and American singer/songwriter Kurt Vile announced that they would be teaming up for a collaborative tour featuring an "all-star band" called The Sea Lice which is a revolving cast of musicians that includes Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney, W…
Renowned director Lance Bangs helms a video from Americana veterans Drive-By Truckers. Watch the clip for "Surrender Under Protest" below, a track from their most recent release, American Band, out now on ATO Records. A press release describes the video as "a gritty portrait of today’s America wit…
