As Jamie Lidell started into his Neumos set Monday night, he recalled the Multiply tour, where at his Neumos stop back in 2006, he wore a leopard print suit that was blistering hot on stage. Here, he was dressed more akin to an R&B Dr. Who, with a dark full body coat over a simple v-neck. But t…
Welcome to a start new vision of the apocalypse. Nick Cave may have soundtracked the movie adaption of Cormac McCarthy's The Road back in 2009, but with Welcome oblivion, Trent Reznor gives us a glitchy concept album realization of a similar internal battle that will keep you up at night with just …
Travel to the land of the midnight sun as we journey to Reykjavik, Iceland, once again to join our friends at Kex Hostel for a summer bash. KEXPort celebrates KEXP's ongoing relationship (now in its sixth year, believe it or not!) with our similarly named hosts of our annual winter broadcast during…
This week's list of new releases may be one of the shortest of the year, but it's also topped by one of the year's most anticipated scorchers. Foals rain Holy Fire with their third release, treating fans to a big new sound to match their big new label. Their third release, but first on Warner Bros.…
Last weekend saw the return of Reykjavik Calling, the annual showcase featuring artists from sister cities Reykjavik and Seattle. Each year, KEXP curates the bill, selecting likeminded artists whose complementary styles might lead to fruitful collaboration. This year, we made our choices with a min…
For a band that's distinctly Scottish, The Vaselines couldn't be more "Northwest", and now more so than ever. Formed by current members, Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee, the Glasgow group released only one album before breaking up in 1989. That might have been the end for their catchy, quirky, charm…
Indicators of Autumn: cooler weather, it's getting darker outside earlier, and the new releases list is getting more robust! Just look at this week's list. We get the long-awaited new album from Interpol. KEXP's Music Director Don Yates notes, the "New York-born band’s fifth album (and first withou…
Bon Dimanche! It’s written in graffiti on several buildings all over Rennes. Happy Sunday! Sunday is the day of rest for the French people and even our crew got to take a small break on the final day of filming during the Trans Musicales festival. Normally, we’re up by 6am, breakfast at 7, out the …
While a room full of journalists listened to 22, A Million, the highly-anticipated third Bon Iver album, in the Oxbow Hotel on a Friday night in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Justin Vernon did what anyone else would do before a big interview: he smoked a cigarette. He knew he was maybe twenty minutes away…
"Connection... correction." If you summed up UK dance veterans Hot Chip in an obscure two word phrase, I think this bridge from "Love Is The Future" would do quite nicely. It's between these two poles of connection and correction that Hot Chip have operated for over a decade. From "I Was The Boy Fr…
Florida band Surfer Blood couldn't wait until summer to release their anticipated sophomore album of poppy, surf-influenced indie rock, but that's just as well, as Pythons takes a relatively darker turn. Our Music Director, Don Yates, praises the new album for its "more polished and streamlined sou…
It's an eclectic mix of new releases this week, including some moody music out of the UK, led by trip-hop pioneer Tricky, whose latest album is, according to our Music Director, Don Yates, "his most focused effort in years" featuring the sounds he's most known for, i.e. "gloomy, mostly downtempo be…
At the Paramount Theatre last week, Phantogram opened their set without even being on stage. After they performed two songs obscured from the audience, a screen fell shortly thereafter, revealing the New York duo behind the fourth wall to fervently shake the physical walls of the venue. Going from …
Music and beer are a perfect pair. Add Seattle as a backdrop, and it gets even better. At Elysian’s 20th Anniversary event this past Saturday, fans of all three came together for a celebratory day at Seattle Center’s Fisher Pavilion. Festival attendees sipped Elysian brews to sets by Ming City Rock…
