Rounding out a stunning second day of the KEXP Broadcast live from KEX Hostel at Iceland Airwaves Music festival are the incomparable Kronos Quartet. The San Francisco-based string quartet has been around for over 40 years, with a roster of rotating musicians, currently comprised of David Harringto…
This Saturday, KEXP presents Reykjavik Calling, the sister city showcase featuring some of the best bands and artists emerging from Seattle and Reykjavik. It's our seventh year featuring this cross-cultural musical exploration, and one of the two acts traveling here from Iceland is long-time KEXP f…
Second on today's broadcast live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves was Australian artist Gordi. Gordi is the stage name of Australian Folktronica artist Sophie Payten, who began playing music while in university, and began to gain traction across Australia after she was featured in prominent radi…
The Icelandic band Sigur Rós made a surprise album release on June 16. It’s called ÁTTA, which means “eight” in Icelandic.
Second on today's broadcast live from KEX hostel at at Iceland Airwaves Music Festival was Icelandic singer-songwriter Axel Flóvent. Axel has achieved recent international prominence after years playing in his hometown of Húsavik (a small fishing village in the north of Iceland), and all around his…
KEXP's own DJ Kevin Cole (our Afternoon Show host and Senior Director of Programming) has curated a special mix for Nordic Playlist, a site that devoted to the best sounds from the North. As he explains to the site, "I went with a mix of mostly newer releases, like the Samaris track, which I love, …
First band on air for the 2013 Iceland Airwaves broadcast, live from KEX Hostel, is the 14-man Samúel Jón Samúelsson Big Band. First formed in early 2000 for a short series of performances in their native Iceland, the band was reformed in 2007 and released their first studio album Fynkur. In addit…
Iceland’s Sigur Rós recently released their first album in seven years, titled Odin’s Raven Magic. Much of the project sounds like something out of Medieval times. Bassist Georg Holm talks about the apocalyptic story behind the Norse Mythology poem that inspired the project, and how it resonates to…
Each time we've gone back to Iceland over the past five years, we've been fortunate to discover and share with KEXP listeners quite a few bands who might not otherwise leave their shores. For every Sugarcubes and Sigur Rós, we found dozens of others, like Hjaltalín, Ásgeir, Of Monsters and Men (bac…
Drangar: their name translates roughly in English to “pillars of rock”, and it's about as apt a description you'll find for this Icelandic group, whose members — Mugison, Jónas Sigurðsson and Ómar Guðjónsson — are each highly respected musicians with their own projects. Thanks to the chance occurre…
Not all of the magical places in Iceland are majestic glaciers, crystal waterfalls, bubbling thermal springs, or the lava field dwellings of the so-called hidden folk -- some are as common as public swimming pools. Sundlaugin, for instance, was for some sixty years a local pool just outside Reykja…
Whether it's their surroundings, the air, the water, the isolation or a communal appreciation of the arts, something has given Icelanders a lock on creating otherworldly sonic landscapes. Sigur Rós and Björk are of course the most famous of them, but if you've been listening to KEXP's broadcasts fr…
Our third live show of the day from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves was Mammút. This rock band won acclaim with their latest album Komdu til mín svarta systir (Come to Me, My Dark Sister), scoring eight nominations at the 2013 Icelandic Music Awards. Eventually they snagged wins for best album, song…
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…
Welcome to 'Pacific Notions' with DJ Alex. Every Sunday morning from 6-9 a.m PT, 'Pacific Notions' will showcase the best in neo-classical and ambient music, with explorations into downtempo, new age, post-rock, and other atmospheric styles.
While traditional classical music has long found a home…
Jónsi talks about his multi-sensory installation called “Flood” at the National Nordic Museum in Seattle.
By Beverly BryanBy Beverly BryanBy Beverly BryanEvery 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, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you…
