This morning, Pickathon announced its 2016 lineup, and it's a doozy! Wilco's Jeff Tweedy headlines along with Yo La Tengo, Beach House, and Ty Segall & The Muggers, plus so many other KEXP favorites - like Black Mountain, Thee Oh Sees, Dan Deacon, Ibeyi, Fruit Bats, My Bubba, Hurray for the Rif…
You should expect chaos when a world full of musicians enters your room. Even as the live session began, the twelve members of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros were still scrambling to find their place and check their tuning. But it fits their neo-hippy vibe. After all, long before Josh Tillm…
Next on our video stream live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves was Colombian-Canadian musician Lido Pimienta. The queer-identified musician, visual artist, and curator blends Afro-Colombian and indigenous music with experimental electro-pop. Her first album “Color” was released in 2010 (KUDETA),…
At long last, this week, LA noise rock act HEALTH drop their third proper LP. It's a record I've been wanting to hear for almost six years i.e. as soon as their second, Get Color, left heavy rotation in the fall of 2009 after weeks and weeks of repeat listens. But HEALTH haven't left us completely …
There's very little surprise in seeing a two night Growlers stint at the Crocodile sold out as can be. The California surf rock band has seen some pretty stellar years of growth as of late, culminating in their excellent latest LP Chinese Fountain, seeing the band at their strongest and cleanest ye…
We should consider ourselves lucky to call Prism Tats "local", however briefly. Though Garett van der Spek hails from Durban, South Africa, he conceived this solo project after moving to Seattle. The Emerald City is in fact where he also formed the duo Koko and the Sweetmeats with his then sweethea…
It may be Halloween, but this week's batch of new releases is pretty heavy on the Christmas theme, with collections out from She & Him, Jennifer Nettles, Kacey Musgraves, and Neil Diamond. I'm sure there will be more to come. For non-holiday albums, KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes the lates…
Veteran LA-based artist Moby debuts his new project, Moby & The Void Pacific Choir, and KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes their first LP is "a potent set of noisy, goth-tinged post-punk with loud, distorted synths, rumbling guitars, pounding industrial rhythms, dour vocals, soaring song hooks…
The innovative releases continue for Lena Simon’s band, KAIROS. Who doesn’t like it when one masterful band takes the work of another for the sake of reinterpretation and homage? And today, we have two examples of this collaboration: a Cock & Swan remix of the KAIROS track, “Can / Cannot” and a…
If volume is your only musical qualifier, then there is probably only one band on your best of 2013 list. San Francisco metal duo Deafheaven dropped Sunbather last month, a seven track sonic masterpiece that relentlessly pulls at your heartstrings and threatens hearing damage for 60 minutes. The al…
Earlier this month, Alice Russell graced KEXP’s studios with her breathy, soulful style. With a rhythmic push tempered like a slow-build, her set kicked off with the song “For A While.” Donning a gold heart-shaped ring on her left hand, Russell belted her heart-felt “Ooos” and “Yeahs” that clutched…
KEXP is heading back to Rennes, France, for our second year at the Trans Musicales de Rennes, December 6th through 10th! Our goal, as always when partnering with international festivals like Les Trans, is to discover and share new music from across the globe with you from artists that we may not ha…
KEXP's Afternoon Show host Kevin Cole provides your soundtrack to the 2014 Sasquatch Music Festival. A nearly two-hour music mix of Sasquatch highlights will get you pumped on your road trip to the Gorge and back. And, if you're not able to attend Sasquatch this year, will be the next best t…
Sun Liquor and Silversun Pickups - the pairing pretty much writes itself - yet there's so much more to the LA band's relationship to KEXP and history behind their generosity in performing an exclusive show for our donors. Our love for Silversun Pickups goes back to their debut EP, Pikul. KEXP was n…
Considering their output (3 albums in 13 months), you won't be surprised to learn that Wand are pals with Ty Segall. The LA trio released their debut, Ganglion Reef, in August last year on Segall’s Drag City imprint, GOD?, which they followed up in March this year with Golem, on Ty's sometime label…
If you're looking for a last-minute Valentine's Day gift for a music lover, look no further than this week's new releases. Brooklyn-based Sudanese multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Sinkane (aka Ahmed Gallab, former Yeasayer/Caribou/Of Montreal sideman) releases his fourth LP. KEXP Music Director Don Y…
And so we witnessed another amazing music festival! This time it was the 4th annual Macefield Music Festival that took place this weekend across Conor Byrne, Tractor Tavern, The Sunset Tavern, and the charmingly bricked streets of Ballard Ave. Macefield Music Festival was named after Edith Macefiel…
Perfume Genius mastermind Mike Hadreas is a local, but it wasn't until the 2010 Matador 21 anniversary shows in Las Vegas that I first saw him live. Sandwiched on the bill between two iconic heavyweights (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Cat Power, for crissakes), Mike sat timidly behind his piano w…
As you can expect, Saturday night's Mad Decent Presents Showcase during Decibel Festival was one of the biggest parties thrown all weekend. The Philadelphia via LA label headed by Diplo (smash hit dub/hip-hop producer, founding member of Major Lazer, and unofficial god of Instagram twerking) has be…
