No stranger to the KEXP Blog or airwaves, DoNormaal took Sasquatch Music Festival by storm, playing a collaborative set which featured additional performances from close collaborators including Raven Matthews, Taylar Elizza Beth, Guayaba, and Astro King Pheonix. DoNormaal remains a magnetic, distin…
In the years I've been doing this series we've talked about Daniel Johnston a couple times, and we've talked about Shimmy Disc many (many, many) times - so isn't it about time we hit both in one post? 1990 was the massively prolific singer-songwriter's first album not to appear under the Stress lab…
A 12:30 a.m. timeslot on the final day of a four-day Sasquatch! Music Festival is a daunting test. You're either playing to whoever's passed out on the lawn or people who are, for any number of personal and chemical reasons, not ready to let their festival experience end. Jamie xx wasn't the most e…
A review of Fauna Shade's single "Marzipan" described their sound as "Floydian... zapping electronic wiggles." This simultaneously whimsical yet vague description fits the band perfectly: their sound bounces through all the psychedelic subgenres, with droning stoner fuzz meeting some of Tame Impala…
At the end of Alabama Shakes' set at Marymoor Park, there was a conspicuous absence: their biggest hit. "Hold On" just isn't the song that introduced the band to a wider audience, it's still one of their greatest moments. On paper, its omission is bewilidering to say the least. (Hell, even the noto…
Listening to No Cities To Love, the eighth album by Sleater-Kinney, has to be done with one thing in mind: Sleater-Kinney did not have to make this album. That's not meant in a idol-worshipping, "we're not worthy" way, but quite literally. They all have alternate careers that they're perfectly happ…
2013 continues to bolt out of the gate with another solid week of new releases. With the long awaited followup to their well-received 2009 debut, Local Natives top our list of must-buys. Hummingbird finds the Silver Lake, Los Angeles, group pushing into new territories of song structure, challengin…
Each week, The Cobain 50 podcast digs into albums Kurt Cobain listed in his journal as his "Top 50" and how they may have influenced him and Nirvana.
Northwest artist Joey Casio has been identified in the aftermath of last weekend's Oakland warehouse fire, one of the deadliest building fires in history with a total of 36 people killed. Joey (real name: Joseph Matlock) was scheduled to perform under his alias Obsidian Blade. Originally from Vanc…
Closing up Decibel Festival is no small task, but if anyone is up to the task and still ready to party after four previous nights of madness, it's LA hip hop collective Friends of Friends. The group houses a brilliant group of young musicians, specializing in electronic, trap, hip-hop, and experime…
To those of you who might not know, Nirvana will soon be inducted by R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The inductees will include Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl. The latter two members will be performing with Pat Smear (who will not be inducted); however, …
What does the passing of time sound like? That's the question that Santa Barbara retro synth-pop band Gardens & Villa seem to be asking often on their sophomore record Dunes, out this week on Secretly Canadian. We first met Gardens & Villa back in 2011 with a self-titled LP decorated with j…
While many people are compiling their year-end lists and shopping for gift-worthy deluxe reissues for the upcoming holidays, some bands are still releasing excellent new albums that you'll want to hear before you make any final decisions. A few of this week's releases see some KEXP favorites making…
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…
French indie rock veterans Phoenix are poised to make a comeback of epic proportions this year. Last time we got a full length release from the band, it redefined the band's following for good. 2009's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is still to this day one of the most well-loved indie pop records in rece…
The soundtrack for the 1996 film Trainspotting was so revered, they even released a second volume. The same might end up being true for the sequel T2 Trainspotting, in theaters February 10th. Director Danny Boyle has yet again curated a fantastic mix, including artists you might expect like Ziggy …
