Take a musical road trip with DJ Kevin Cole: today, on The Afternoon Show on KEXP, he presents 50 States/50 Bands. From 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM, he'll be playing a band from every state in the U.S.A. in celebration of Independence Day. Tune in and see who he chooses for your home state. You don't have t…
Obviously, my parents did way too good of a job raising me, as I have pretty much no familiarity with the woman who, according to the Internet, was "widely considered the most controversial and radical female singer of her day" – Wendy O. Williams' day being more or less the first twelve years of m…
Frankly, every damn day should be National Senior Citizens Day (sorry for the language, gramma), but August 21st is officially the day we honor the elders in our community. The day was designated in 1988 by then-president Ronald Reagan, who added, "For all they have achieved throughout life and for…
I knew nothing about ESG before starting to write this blog post, but my quick research made it clear that they really should have been on my radar for at least the past twenty years, if not thirty. Their releases in the '80s, and then after their reformation in the early '90s, impressed a lot of p…
Today, we finish our broadcast during Iceland Airwaves Music Festival with another excellent day of exclusive live performances at KEX Hostel in Reykjavik. Starting out the day is American singer-songwriter John Grant, who's been living in Iceland for the past couple of years, followed by an all Ic…
The long-running group Tinariwen hail from Mail, but there's nothing lost in translation with the collective's spiraling, sprawling guitar visions that glide across headphones with as much richness as the languid works of Kurt Vile or Alain Johannes (who also guest on the group's l…
As far as new releases go, it's a bit of a slower week than in the past hectic month, but 2013 still holds many terrific new albums yet to be released, including quite a few just hitting stores today. Among them, is the excellent new mini-album, Fade Away, from LA duo Best Coast, which at seven son…
Rostam Batmanglij, who announced his departure from Vampire Weekend in January, has shared a new solo single called "Gravity Don't Pull Me." He's giving his name the Cher treatment and is releasing his music as Rostam. He's also unveiled the song's music video, which he directed along with Josh Gol…
It's been 57 years since a plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa took the lives of musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, but their music and influence live on, as strong as ever. Called "The Day the Music Died," after a lyric from Don McLean's tribute single "Ameri…
R.E.M., who released Reckoning, their second album, almost exactly 31 years ago, were a band for 31 years. They began as a quirky group of Athens weirdos beloved by college radio DJs, and became one of the biggest rock bands in the world, and then they decided to stop being a band, which you have t…
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…
It's almost time to shut down the streets of the neighborhood for an amazing weekend of music: Capitol Hill Block Party 2014! This year's line-up features a great range of artists, both local and visiting, many who've stopped by the KEXP studios before! In fact, the list is so long, we've split it …
Seattle's Beat Connection play a wicked combination of live instruments, electronic beats, synths and samples. The guys who comprise the band met at the University of Washington and have stayed local and loyal to the Pacific Northwest as they grow more and more well-known. We had a chance to catch …
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…
The animals are together at last—and I’m not talking about Eric Burdon and company reuniting to hit the casino circuit. KEXP’s Spring Fundraising Drive kicks off this Friday, and as a special thank you gift to donors who contributor $100 or more, we’re offering a brand new kids T-shirt. Created by …
Every week, KEXP features a new local artist with an interview and suggested tracks for where to start. This week we're highlighting Seattle children's band Recess Monkey, who play KEXP's Deck The Dock this Sunday from 2 to 4 PM.
A collection of content created by KEXP for International Clash Day.
On Subjective Concepts Olympia trio Strange Wilds have produced a faultless full length of feedback ridden, jagged jams that have helped bring a riotous, rebellious renaissance to Seattle’s notorious label, Sub Pop. To discuss the cover art, steeped in the same tightrope tension as the music, KEXP …
We were afraid when Eric D. Johnson announced the demise of the beloved indie pop band Fruit Bats that we'd heard the last of him. But as he put that project to bed, during a recent in-studio, he assured KEXP listeners he'd be back with more music. We just had no idea how soon! Barely six months si…
