Listening to In A Dream, the new LP from DFA powerhouse The Juan MacLean, we're reminded that it's been a long five years since John MacLean dropped his last proper record, The Future Will Come, back in 2009. That fantastic dance record was laden with Human League-esque back and forth narration bet…
Carrying on the long tradition of the Motor City's vast musical heritage, Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas drop by KEXP to electrify our live room with their exhilarating and captivating energy. The Detroit’s rockers are in dazzling form - Hernandez' voice, with its vibrato and quality a bit more…
When a band self-titles an album midway through their career, it's usually for one of two reasons: they've either run out of ideas or they've taken a significantly new tact. For Portland duo The Helio Sequence, the reason is obvious. Rather than mull over songs in their usual slow-going and contemp…
Dazzling D.C. duo GEMS stopped by KEXP’s new home, filling our cavernous live room with their spacious and glimmering dream pop. Singer/keyboardist Lindsay Pitts and singer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Clifford John Usher released their debut LP, Kill the One You Love, after writing together for …
Things haven't always been sunny for Radiation City. The Portland band may not have been able to illuminate our days with another album had founding couple Cameron Spies and Lizzy Ellison not set aside their differences to reignite their songwriting process. Their third LP, Synesthetica (out this F…
With his eighth album, Infinity, on store shelves, international sensation Yann Tiersen, with his current collaborative outfit and a dazzling array of multicolored bells, toy pianos, and obscure woodwinds, cleverly crammed themselves into the studio for a cinematic live set, bringing the highly-acc…
As Americans we are no longer surprised by European artists who bring their amazing music to our humble shores. The Joy Formidable is another among the ever-growing list of impressive British talent that has taken the US by storm. In 2007, childhood best friends Rhiannon "Ritzy" Bryan and Rhydian D…
On May 13th, in honor of Stevie Wonder's 66th birthday, KEXP celebrated Soul Day, featuring twelve hours of some of the best rock 'n' soul music ever made. From 6AM to 6PM, KEXP DJs spun soul icons like Curtis Mayfield and Aretha Franklin alongside contemporary greats like Lee Fields and Allen Ston…
Backed by swaying chains of light that were only made to look more grandeur by the high winds that accosted Sasquatch! Music Festival throughout Sunday, Purity Ring captivated the Bigfoot stage from start to finish. Generating the largest crowd (at Bigfoot) of the weekend, the duo did not disappoin…
Gracing the Triple Door Saturday night during Decibel Festival was an incredible Sacred Bones double header from Zola Jesus and Pharmakon. With a dazzling night sky of stars in the background and a visually arresting display from each up front, Saturday's Optical session was one for the books, show…
Toronto indie rock band Alvvays introduced themselves to Seattle in quite a dazzling fashion Tuesday night. This was the band's last US show on the tour supporting their fantastic self-titled debut (out now on Polyvinyl) before heading up across the border to finish things off before the end of the…
Last week, Seattle sons Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight took their hometown for three straight sold-out nights at the Paramount Theater. It is truly mind-boggling how quickly and how flawlessly ODESZA has skyrocketed over the last three years. The band's debut album Summer's Gone came out only th…
A massive lighting rig. Pulsating four-on-the-floor beats. A constant, insistent bass presence in every song. Choruses that, in the moment, seem like they can actually propel the audience to the heights the singer is claming she'll go to. This is not Chvrches, the Glasgow basement project that emer…
As far as guitarists who have stopped by KEXP recently go, Kurt Vile is the most-laid back of the bunch, letting his gauzy guitar playing do the talking as he hides behind his now-trademark long, brown hair. (In fact, one of the few points in the video where you can actually see his face is when Vi…
Listening to St. Vincent's new self-titled LP, I find it harder and harder to market Annie Clark's music to friends by method of comparison. On her past efforts, including 2011's excellent Strange Mercy and her breakthrough 2009 record Actor, Clark has stood out on the forefront of a brave, new wav…
Historically, Capitol Hill Block Party hasn't booked that many legacy acts, but when they do, they don't screw around. The Flaming Lips' triumphant '13 set, Neko Case's quiet hurricane of a performance in 2012, and now Built To Spill's '15 set will surely go down in those ranks. Built To Spill's le…
You won’t believe the golden light you wake up to crawling out of your tent at Pickathon. The tree-lined hills of the Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley, Oregon make you feel like you are in an other-worldly paradise. Taking a light walk around the Back 40 to enjoy the surroundings, among the sleepy co…
If you call yourself an Arcade Fire fan and have seen the band at least once in the live setting, there's a good chance that you need absolutely no introduction to Will Butler. When Arcade Fire skyrocketed to the moon amongst the Reflektor hype of 2013, it was clear that the one facet of their musi…
You'll wish you could say you were there. It was just one of those shows that all in attendance knew they were blessed by some kind of angelic beings to attend, as HÆLOS played for a respectably sized, though not packed, crowd at The Sunset Tavern last week. The UK trio decided to advance their for…
