After the band finished ripping through a particularly danceable rendition of "Spirit" off their new record Singles, Future Islands frontman Sam Herring looked down at his sweat soaked shirt and pants. After a failed attempt to wring a piece of it out, he just laughed along with the rest of the cro…
You know when Hamilton Leithauser is about to hit a key vocal line. Like Arjen Robben dropping his shoulder before shooting on goal or Michael Jordan sticking his tongue out before driving to the hoop, Leithauser pulls the mic away from his face, tightens his shoulders, and then nails it - whether …
Did all the new lights in the KEXP Live Room get to him? Because Will Toledo of Car Seat Headrest is talking about collaborating with... Smash Mouth. Yeah, the band behind karaoke go-to "All Star." In an interview with Australia's Triple J radio, he says a project "kind of remains a mysterious fro…
And so we witnessed another amazing music festival! This time it was the 4th annual Macefield Music Festival that took place this weekend across Conor Byrne, Tractor Tavern, The Sunset Tavern, and the charmingly bricked streets of Ballard Ave. Macefield Music Festival was named after Edith Macefiel…
John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats is on a creative streak. His second novel Universal Harvester just placed on the New York Times Bestseller List, and now we have news about a new album, the fantastically-titled Goths, out May 19th via Merge. The band will be talking more about the album at 1:0…
It’s a rare opportunity to see a band as hyped as Whitney at a venue as intimate as the Sunset Tavern. Or as frontman Julien Ehrlich noted with an off-the-cuff affect he deploys for most his on stage thoughts, “This show’s been sold out a long time.” No surprise there. With the June release of thei…
Northwest artist/musician Geneviève Castrée lost her battle with pancreatic cancer this past Saturday. Castrée recorded music under the names Woelv and Ô Paon for local labels K, Marriage Records, and her spouse's label, P.W. Elverum & Sun. She was an accomplished artist, releasing her debut g…
She may be young (she just turned 22 in March), but New York's Frankie Cosmos (real name: Greta Kline) literally has too many albums to count, in that, I tried, and I got tired of counting. With album titles like the landlord LOVES restaurants! (2011) and Collaborative Farting (2011), and song titl…
As the sun set on KEXP's 2016 Hood to Hood broadcast from the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, the party headed a few miles away to the Skylark Cafe where DJ Troy Nelson was hosting an evening of local music. It's a good thing the show was All Ages, because we had the winners of this year's youth-o…
Drenched in color from the LED screens behind him, Chet Faker began his Friday closing set at Sasquatch! Music Festival in style with the help of his four piece band. Alternating between a full band and playing solo on his keyboard and mixer, Chet visually displayed the duality in his music. Often …
Out in support of her third album, New View, Eleanor Friedberger stopped by the KEXP studios to share some of the new tracks. This wasn't her first time in studio - she was here back in 2013 in support of Personal Record , but it's clear that three years of grind have sharpened her act. Her albums …
For Plants and Animals, growth can take time. The adventurous Montreal trio took four years to release their fourth album, double the time between each of their previous ones. After years of prolonged touring and rapid recording, the childhood friends Nic Basque, Matthew Woodley, and Warren Spicer …
Mac DeMarco is a walking contradiction. He's a hardworking slacker, a popular outsider, and his newest release Another One is laden with carefree melancholy. His shows have always been a celebration of his refusal to fit any sort of vague mold, and the fans that aspire to do the same. Thursday nigh…
There is much to agree about when it comes to Sutari - the intricacy of their compositions, the appeal of their stage presence, the aptness of their found instruments and the relevance today of the traditional songs they play. Even their name implies accord. "Sutarti", the Lithuanian word that lend…
Beloved Northwest duo The Helio Sequence share a vibrant video for the track "Upward Mobility" off their upcoming self-titled full-length out May 19th on Sub Pop. The clip, directed by Emanuele Kabu, is a fun, animated experience. Watch below. The Helio Sequence will be LIVE on KEXP on Tuesday, Ma…
Toronto indie rock band Alvvays introduced themselves to Seattle in quite a dazzling fashion Tuesday night. This was the band's last US show on the tour supporting their fantastic self-titled debut (out now on Polyvinyl) before heading up across the border to finish things off before the end of the…
Honestly, I don't have much to contribute to the Firehose discussion that you don't already know or couldn't figure out by visiting their Wikipedia page, which is one of the most anecdotal I've ever seen; it pretty much just reads like a barroom conversation with a dude who's super into Firehose. I…
Crystal Antlers is hard to pin down. With each release, the energetic band leaves genre behind, making fans uncertain of their future endeavors, yet they manage to avoid slipping into frustrating unpredictability. Recently, Crystal Antlers wrapped up their North American tour with a stop in Seattle…
Weighing Barboza's Tuesday night festivities by pictures alone would be a crime. What you don't see behind camera - in view of the focused eyes of Russell Whyte and Reed Juenger - is a bloody marvelous party. There's little-to-no room to move or breathe, dozens of couples or just-mets dancing toget…
"If we keep our heads above the water, our heads will only become stronger", sings Angelica Bess on Body Language's Grammar closer "Charm". With new LP Grammar, the Brooklyn synth-pop act is doing a lot more than treading water, though. The band's Social Studies EP was a solid first effort, showing…
