On the show this time, it’s the inimitable smart-pop of legendary band They Might Be Giants.
If their lyrics give any sense of how tough the ladies of Warpaint are, the Los Angeles quartet aren't a band so much as they are a gang. Not in the organized crime sense, but in the "don't mess with us" sense. Case in point: On "Elephants", the second track on the band's 2008 debut EP Exquisite C…
The Drums played a packed Neumos on July 17th, with frontman Jonny Pierce giving a spirited rendition of tracks from across The Drums discography. The Seattle show was the kickoff to an extensive tour for the band, which goes on until the end of the year, and includes a lengthy stint in Europe. A h…
They may not have made the majors like The Replacements and Hüsker Dü did, but Minneapolis-based band Arcwelder were more than a perennial local favorite, cracking John Peel's Festive Fifth countdown in 1992 and getting crowned NME's "Punk Rock Single of the Week" by none other than guest editors, …
If you were listening to the Morning Show with John Richards on Monday, you heard the world premiere of the latest single from Seattle band Motopony. "Daylights Gone" is the first glimpse from their upcoming sophomore LP, Welcome You, due June 23rd on Fast Plastic / eOne Music, and it's glimmering …
It's enough to make you curl up screaming in the fetal position – the number of amazing Icelandic releases in 2013, that is. As if 2012 wasn't already such a great year, but damn, 2013 proves there's no end to the wealth of talent on the arctic island. Since they're each so great in different ways,…
Every 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 should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Afte…
At some point as an art-rock outfit, a band surpasses the need to surpass themselves. The Flaming Lips have just released a pared down and grainy video for the immersive "Turning Violet" from their latest album, The Terror. Primordial vocals emerge from deep in a Turrell-esque white room before lin…
A few days after releasing their excellent debut album Amok, Atoms For Peace have revealed the first live dates behind their new LP. In addition to the DJ sets Thom York and Nigel Godrich announced for last week, the whole band has been confirmed for three European festivals in mid-July. According …
You won't be surprised to that members of Song Sparrow Research have roots in jazz and choir. As friends and classmates, Hamilton Boyce and David Balatero were both in school bands at Seattle's Garfield High, and now make lush folk-tinged chamber pop as together in this five member band. Equally a…
As we mentioned earlier this month, Seattle's own Soundgarden are set to reissue their 1988 debut LP Ultramega OK. Like previous reissues, it'll come bundled with cool previously unreleased bonus tracks, like this early demo of "Beyond the Wheel." Sub Pop explains, "The [early versions] were recor…
Unknown Mortal Orchestra has not slowed down since releasing the spectacular 2015 album, Multi-Love. The band has been on an ambitious world tour since the release of the album, and solved many people’s first world problem of a lack of new UMO music last week by releasing a new single. Aptly title…
Mark your calendars: Icelandic icons Sigur Rós just announced dates for their North American tour, including a Tuesday, September 20th stop at the Paramount Theatre. A press release declares there will be no opening acts, nor additional musicians. "The shows will give the group a chance to road te…
Rounding out our last day of the KEXP broadcast live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves Music Festival is Icelandic dream-pop band Vök. Formed in 2013 as a duo (singer Margrét Rán Magnúsdóttir and saxophonist Andri Már Enoksson) to enter Músíktilraunir (or "Musical Experiment Contest")--a battle o…
Here's a killer word for your next round of Scrabble: Divisionary. You can thank delightful Portland band Ages and Ages for that knock out; it's the title of their second album. What does it mean? Splice together "division" and "visionary" and you can explain how even the best intentions sometimes …
Next on KEXP's broadcast live from KEX Hostel at Iceland Airwaves was a stellar set from Icelandic band Vök. The band was formed just this year to compete in (and then win) the Icelandic Music Experiments, a competition focusing on helping young and emerging bands advance their careers, much like S…
“One of my dreams is about to come true,” DJ Derek Mazzone said, introducing the psychedelic Brazilian rock band Os Mutantes before their performance live on KEXP's Wo'Pop. The band, part of the Tropicália artistic movement that bridged popular culture with the avant-garde in the 1960s in Brazil, c…
Last Saturday, our friends at KEX Hostel, hosts for KEXP’s Iceland Airwaves broadcast over the past two years, threw a party under our shared name... all the way in Reykjavik! KEXPort has become both a welcoming landing spot for KEXP as well as a conduit for Icelandic artists to reach the ears of K…
The Replacements were one of the most original and influential rock bands of the 1980s. Their hard-drinking ways made them infamous to many clubs in the Twin Cities and around the country -- including the time when they got themselves famously banned from Saturday Night Live after a particularly i…
