Before the recording of their latest LP, Floating Features, La Luz packed up from Seattle and moved to Los Angeles. That city’s vivid warmth and never-ending rush was baked into the group’s newest batch of songs, highlighted in this session in the KEXP Live Room with Cheryl Waters.
Sleigh Bells have changed. I still remember the afternoon that my friend introduced me. "It's like a pep rally for gladiators", she said, laughing, pointing me to the self-titled EP, "their cover looks like Jimmy Buffett but their Myspace says they like Korn". It was a reasonable introduction, effo…
For almost five years now as Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Ruban Nielson has been learning how to give himself away. On his eponymous debut, it was from behind the closed door of a bedroom, where we heard psychedelic funk gems muffled through the wall and wanted to know more. On 2013's II, the door cra…
KEXP was thrilled to be part of the Seattle spotlight on the CNN show Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. Check out their visit to the Gathering Space!
Back in 2013, Noel Gallagher said he was too busy talking about Jagwar Ma to reform Oasis. That was before their first record was even released, and once their debut, Howlin, hit the airwaves, Sydney's Gabriel Winterfield and Jono Ma quickly entered the ranks of Tame Impala and Django Django. Jagwa…
A 12:30 a.m. timeslot on the final day of a four-day Sasquatch! Music Festival is a daunting test. You're either playing to whoever's passed out on the lawn or people who are, for any number of personal and chemical reasons, not ready to let their festival experience end. Jamie xx wasn't the most e…
As if the music was reflecting off the bicycles, Gliss' afternoon set at during our SXSW broadcast was a shimmering cooldown after Jovanotti threw a vibrant Italian party in Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop. As the group ran through a set of tunes from their latest LP, this year's Langsome Dans, frontwoma…
Montreal experimental band Suuns have grown in leaps and bounds in the last couple years. No doubt, their debut LP Zeroes QC was a solid entry point, with a clever mixture of noise and pop and a good sampling through the various electronic derivations of alternative rock we’ve seen in the last 20 y…
Tom Krell sure had one hell of a year last year. The new How To Dress Well record, Total Loss, was almost unanimously well received for its bare bones mixture of R&B and electronica. It also helps that it was a heartfelt, heartbroken record that tells the true story of Krell's last year (read m…
Wow, what a way to open our last day of music live at Kex Hostel! We were fortunate to host legendary Icelandic musician Megas. Considered the father of Icelandic rock, Megas is one of Iceland’s most influential rock musicians. He's been working as a professional musician since 1968, when he publis…
It's hard to believe it's been 20 years since beloved Northwest singer/songwriter Elliott Smith released his now-classic LP Either/Or. For its anniversary, Kill Rock Stars is releasing an expanded reissue with live tracks from the 1997 Yo Yo A Go Go Festival in Olympia, WA, as well as previously u…
It is likely safe to say that the Fuel Sports Beer Garden has never been fueled with more grooviness than when Poliça took the stage for Upstream on Thursday night. The Minneapolis electro-pop group has their sound and aesthetic on complete lock. Their sleek, contemporary looks are in total unison …
Last Friday, the 2016 Concerts at the Mural series kicked off under a cloudless blue sky. Despite the heat, The Thermals, Acapulco Lips, and Mommy Long Legs kept things cool on stage, and before long, the audience was rushing to the front of the stage to dance! If you missed it, no worries! All the…
You'd be forgiven for asking why Conor Oberst, M. Ward, and the Felice Brothers were playing the Moore this September. They were on a brief, West Coast-only jaunt, none of them have records out this year, and because of it, there was barely any publicity for the show. But even for those who walked …
KEXP made Seattle music history last weekend by featuring the first band ever to play on the roof of the historic Pike Place Market: Raw Power KEXP! The Seattle supergroup featured local legends Mike McCready, Duff McKagan, Barrett Martin and Mark Arm covering the classics of Iggy Pop and the Stoog…
Reading's Slowdive were one of the bands that defined the shoegaze sound of the early '90s, although their career suffered somewhat in that their first album, Just for a Day, was released just as the British press was tiring of the scene and ready for some backlash. Today, they're remembered as a k…
I last wrote about founding grungefathers Green River in this space over six years ago, if you can believe that. At the time Seattle was buzzing with gossip that they might be playing the Sub Pop 20th birthday celebrations that summer. I can now tell you that they did indeed play that weekend, and …
When a crowd is truly, ruthlessly in love with the band they are about to see, you can tell from the moment they walk in the room. You don’t see it often, but when it happens, it’s a spectacle that you wouldn’t trade the world for. Friday night’s show with Warpaint at Neumos had one of those crowds…
Last week, Toro y Moi showed the Crocodile an excellent time with their Seattle tour stop in support of the fantastic new record Anything In Return. Accompanied by eclectic New York dance act Sinkane and rising Georgia shoegaze band Dog Bite, the show was an all-round excellent bill full of good vi…
British shoegazers Ride made a triumphant return earlier this year with Weather Diaries, their first album in 21 years. Today they've shared a new song called "Pulsar" which, according to drummer Loz Colbert, "re-imagines old organ samples, transmissions from space, effects, heavy beats and pulsin…
