Damn, 2013, you are looking good! You just keep hitting us week after week with one killer list of new releases after another. This week, there's no way we're not going to run out to pick up the latest from long-time KEXP favorite Frightened Rabbit. As if there was any doubt that this would land hi…
It’s Tuesday afternoon here in charming Reykjavik, Iceland, and the city is gearing up for one of its biggest events of the year: Iceland Airwaves Music Festival. People are talking about new bands, comparing notes and schedules, and are preparing for five full days jam-packed with live music from …
Martin Douglas revisits 1999 with an overview of The Alchemist's career, alongside a parallel story of Martin's reignited passion for making beats of his own.
.
BSH. BSH. BSH. BSH. The sound of four defiant cymbal crashes spreads out across Pike Street. It's Seattle band COSMOS’ turn at the main stage. Melding hip hop, jazz, and funk in a high-energy set, the Seattle band proves yet again why they won last year’s Sound Off! contest, an annual battle of the…
The best collection of rock and roll comics of late recently premiered at the Emerald City Comic Convention in Seattle this past weekend, but won’t be available en masse from publisher Fantagraphics Books Inc. till May 17. Be sure to pre-order Peter Bagge’s Other Stuff soon though, because it is an…
Mura Masa is the alias of London-based producer Alex Crossan. A native of the small island of Guernsey off the coast of Normandy, he emerged on the music scene in 2014 with the debut mini-album Soundtrack To A Death, introducing listeners to his adventurous and infectious beats. Following a string …
Post-punk gods Savages have done the unthinkable with their second outing: they made their sophomore record an unabashed anthem to embracing life and love. "Love is the answer" - this is the message of Savages' first single off of Adore Life, their second LP and follow up to the highly acclaimed 20…
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unrealeased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Af…
The sounds that come out of a computer aren’t often what we enjoy listening to. The sound of your email, the sound of an error, the sound of typing, it’s all mundane. To some, however, the computer is an endless opportunity for sound. The artists beginning Decibel Festival 2015 have made their comp…
It's funny to say it, but in the last half decade of Kele's work, Bloc Party's comeback LP Four is an outlier amongst an otherwise continuous show of strength in another direction. Sure, Four gave Bloc Party fans another great record to rotate out in their stash, but since the band's electronic-hea…
With one more day of paradise ahead of them, Pickathon attendees spend the day diversifying their interests. Sure, there is plenty of incredible music to take part in later on, but throughout the experience, it's the culture of Pickathon that dominates, winning over those who don't regularly partic…
It’s Sunday night, July 6, 2014, and I’m front and center at the Paramount Theater waiting for New Order to hit the stage. The lights are dim as techs move back and forth across the stage, checking guitars and synthesizers and making sure everything’s in its right place. Meanwhile, the tour DJ play…
So I might have been ranting about various shows this weekend being the best shows I saw - but here's the thing. Yes, they were amazing performances by talented musicians, but Killer Mike's set at the Yeti stage topped all of them. There is something about witnessing a brilliant musician finally re…
