Anticipation for physical copies of the new album by Car Seat Headrest will have to last a bit longer. The CDs and LPs of Teens Of Denial, originally due in stores on May 20, were recalled due to a misunderstanding, of sorts. The track "Just What I Needed / Not Just What I Needed", containing parts…
Guillermo Scott Herren's early releases under his Prefuse 73 alias at the turn of the century proved to be groundbreaking, his fusion of intricate electronic production with high-quality instrumental hip-hop beats yielding a refreshingly innovative and highly influential sound. The current NYC-base…
It's been "a long time coming" — The Head and the Heart's own Josiah Johnson said what was on all of their fans' minds. Though only two years have elapsed since local label Sub Pop released their self-titled debut, the Seattle band had been making a name for themselves well before, and given their …
Among the many great new releases out this week is our own annual benefit collection, Live at KEXP Volume Nine. Featuring 18 stellar tracks culled from the over 500 amazing live sessions we recorded in the past year, Volume Nine contains some serious heavy hitters like Macklemore & Ryan Lewis a…
One of the many reasons KEXP went to Montreal was at the recommendation of our friend Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade, Operators), so when we had our plan in place to record at Breakglass Studios during the POP Montreal Festival, naturally we asked Dan if he had any local bands that he would recommend th…
Killer Mike, rapper and half of the duo Run the Jewels, took a stand against Mike Pence's announcement that he had left the Colts vs 49ers game because the players peacefully protested by kneeling during the national anthem. "I wonder how he feels about the constitution. The document that contains …
It's always inspiring to see bands releasing new and interesting music thirty years into their careers. (I'll be honest and admit I haven't heard 2015's Stuff Like That There - I'll blame that on the fact that it was released one month before my son was born - but I'm just assuming it was new and i…
Dan Snaith may have started Caribou as a sample-heavy solo project, but after his set at Sasquatch! Music Festival, it is hard to think of Caribou as anything but a live band. Such was the effect of Snaith and his three touring companion’s show Sunday. While Caribou’s more recent work contains a be…
I've covered Beat Happening records in this space before, but it's been just over six years, so I figure the time is ripe to go back to that well. For my previous post, I compared the reactions to the Oly DIY heroes' first and fourth albums. Today we'll split the difference (sort of) and go back to…
Howe Gelb is a goddamn institution. Over the past three decades he has released 25 albums with the mercurial outfit Giant Sand (originally known as Giant Sandworm, most lately known as Giant Giant Sand), and almost as many albums under his own name (#20, Dust Bowl, is available right now). His care…
"Bouncing keyboards." "Thumping four-on-the-floor beats." "Synth-driven." Those are just a handful of phrases that probably wouldn't have been used to describe Ra Ra Riot prior to 2013. However, for their third full-length, Beta Love, the now-quartet moved away from their string-laden sound in favo…
This week's short list of new releases sees some old names returning with fresh new sounds. 80's electronic alternative icons Depeche Mode return with their thirteenth studio album, perhaps their strongest effort yet in this post Y2K world. Delta Machine contains the familiar tropes: dark eroticism…
I think I've found, in Ed Ka-Spel (and his band Legendary Pink Dots), an artist who could go up against Peter Hammill in terms of voluminous artistic output and lasting influence. Yet again I find myself faced with an insanely daunting discography and biography, and a raft of adoring comments (and,…
Even with a full band backing her on stage at the KEXP Gathering Space Stage on the second day of the Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival, it seemed like Seattle singer songwriter Shelby Earl hardly needed a mic. Her voice rang clear, powerful, and true even when she stepped back from her mic to …
When recording, San Fermin is the creative project of Ellis Ludwig-Leone, a Brooklyn-based composer who began shifting away from classical arrangements to pop ones towards the end of his college years. On tour, San Fermin is an eight-musician tour de force that brings those compositions to life. Wr…
It's a very short list of new releases this holiday week, so you can probably tie your record store shopping to your quest for 4th of July BBQ supplies. While you're stocking up on burgers, weiners, beer and soda, you might stop to grab the latest from British producer Zomby, whose third album, our…
Want a great example of how to get hugely popular as a band without losing your soul? Look no further than Alberta electronic duo Purity Ring. The band's 2012 debut, Shrines, was an instant classic, mixing dark Canadian electronic textures with essences of hip-hop, all graced by the soaring vocal p…
A collection of KEXP premieres, interviews, and selections for the annual Record Store Day event.
"We're here for a rock n roll good time", Ryan Devlin chuckles as Hounds of the Wild Hunt finish another total jam. He points to the Tractor Tavern door. "If you aren't here for a rock n roll good time, you best just turn right around." Tonight, the Hounds open up for the infamous Nashville rock ba…
