There's an exterior section of the EMP where, when there's an ongoing performance in the Sky Church, the blue aluminum panels rattle and reflect the street lighting in a way that makes it seem like a small light show of its own. Of course, the more interesting light show is always inside the EMP, a…
This Sunday, October 26th, KEXP will host its annual Halloween Kids Dance Party! This will be the harvest party of the year, hosted by John Richards and featuring KEXP DJs Darek Mazzone, DJ Chilly, Miss Ashley and DJ Shannon! What’s special about this party? This year, we’ve expanded into two rooms…
Brooklyn synthpop trio Au Revoir Simone are back after a four year hiatus, and we were thrilled to have them as part of our CMJ broadcast from Judson Memorial Church. After a lovely walk around Washington Square Park with their young superfan, we stopped for a chat about parenthood, '80s beats, and…
Formed in the span of a single weekend – after playing and writing seven songs without leaving a New Jersey house due to a flash flood – the members of Saint Rich play pop music in the vein of Franz Ferdinand and The Stokes. There is something spritely and up about the group's music, the snare alwa…
With a voice nurtured by her Tennessee church roots, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Valerie June skillfully combines gospel, folk, bluegrass, and a bevy of other genres in her music. Known for her distinct voice, June was determined to succeed as a solo artist and taught herself to play gu…
The guys from ADHD keep busy with a multitude of projects, but that's not to say they distract easily. In fact, since forming on a whim in 2008, this award-winning Icelandic super-group of sorts has produced five albums of expressive avant jazz. But still, bringing brothers Óskar and Ómar Guðjónsso…
Next on the KEXP broadcast live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves 2016 was incredibly talented American singer Adia Victoria. Hailing from South Carolina, Adia was raised by a devout seventh-day-adventist family, and was isolated from much of popular culture for most of her childhood. In high sch…
Brooklyn-based (formerly San Francisco) shoegaze band Weekend came into the picture at the turn of the decade with Sports, a strong introductory statement that could have seen the band go in plenty of different directions in the future. But in the form of Jinx, their sophomore step mixes dense text…
Like a kind of watershed moment, there are live show experiences before seeing Arcade Fire and live show experiences after seeing Arcade Fire. They're really a gauge for everything now. A religious experience whether you’re religious or not. A spiritual “Wake Up” call. A concerted church. An eideti…
We're talking about Seattle Center today, right? Of course a bajillion huge bands have played Bumbershoot and Key Arena over the years, but the lifeblood of this area – as of the city as a whole – is the underrated local bands. Sure, you saw the Pixies on the Bumbershoot main stage in 2004 with sev…
If you were to define a sub-genre for Julianna Barwick's ambient music, it might be something like "polar pastoralism" as the young church-raised singer and composer evokes both the southern straw dust farmland of her youth and the glacial fields that surrounded the recording of her latest release.…
When you hear a band is from Nashville, most likely you think of big coiffed hair, thick acoustic guitar sounds and gallon-sized hats. Well, Wild Cub, borne out of the Tennessee music hotbed, sounds more like they were from Northern California, or even the Pacific Northwest, than from the same plac…
Robert Glasper was exposed to music at a young age. His mother brought him as a boy out to her jazz and blues gigs, and he also learned much about music in church, where he began to sing and mix gospel and jazz harmonies. Since those humble but enriching beginnings, Glasper has built a strong caree…
Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by John Richards, host of the Morning Show on KEXP, is "Don't Ever Pray in the Church on My Street" by The Reds, Pinks & Purples, from the 2021 album Uncommon Weather on Slumberland.
John in the Morning invades your "Dreams" and insists "You Would Have To Lose Your Mind" to "Poor the War Away" "In Another Century" which sends us back to "Primeval" times where it's a "Private Understanding" that one must "Bendover…
For 16 years, the Sound Off! competition has supported all ages music by giving a platform to young, local artists. All competitors are under 21, reside within the Pacific Northwest, and almost always give us a few show-stopping moments. We've seen Sound Off! kick off the careers of Northwest favor…
You might call it Flying Nun 2.0, for the venerable New Zealand label recently began signing new Kiwi acts after a long hiatus. Considering Flying Nun signed and released many of its country's most celebrated acts including The Clean, The Bats, Bailter Space, The Verlaines and The Chills, any newco…
Well, that was a sure way to wake up the neighborhood! Kicking off KEXP's 2013 CMJ broadcast was New York's own Bear Ceuse, a band whose pounding drums, searing guitars, and loud, belted vocals definitely woke up the group of caffeinated New Yorkers who gathered at Judson Memorial Church for their …
2014's Decibel Festival opening gala focused on bringing three of the PNW's finest electronic acts to the most central space of this year's festival, the EMP's Sky Church. The massive iconic space felt hallowed as excited people filled in. Opening the showcase was Vancouver's Sabota - with smooth l…
