While a room full of journalists listened to 22, A Million, the highly-anticipated third Bon Iver album, in the Oxbow Hotel on a Friday night in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Justin Vernon did what anyone else would do before a big interview: he smoked a cigarette. He knew he was maybe twenty minutes away…
One stage over from the Bigfoot stage at Sasquatch! Music Festival, where the perpetually-relaxed Kurt Vile was leading the Violators through a set that "languid" doesn't even begin to describe, the dance tent was bursting with bass and a flood of seizure-inducing strobe lights. Naturally, Vile did…
case/lang/veirs -- the super-group of Neko Case, k.d. lang, and Laura Veirs -- share a track from their forthcoming self-titled debut. Stream the single "Best Kept Secret" below, which premiered on Lena Dunham's website Lenny Letter. case told Dunham, "It was done in one or two takes, and it went …
Man alive, the last five years have seen some dramatic shifts in the dance music scene. When last we saw Felix Burton and Simon Ratcliffe on a proper Basement Jaxx record, they were finishing out a full decade of releasing dance music with not one, but two incredible full length records. One, Scars…
Now in its sixth year, KEXPort celebrates KEXP’s ongoing relationship with Kex Hostel in Reykjavik, where we broadcast every year during Iceland Airwaves. Typically, it's a music marathon consisting of 12 bands in 12 hours, but this year they've expanded the program to feature 15 bands over two da…
Last week, the Houston-born, Venezuelan debonair Devendra Banhart graced Showbox at the Market’s sold-out crowd with his charismatic charm, knee-weakening vibrato, and sultrily multicultural freak pop - or as his bandmate Josiah Steinbrick (one of the openers) put it, “all the best of unpopular pop…
If you're only aware of one Daniel Johnston album, Hi, How Are You is probably that one album - whether you've heard it, heard of it, or seen its cover image on a t-shirt worn by Kurt Cobain. As far as I can tell this was the first of his cassettes to receive wide release as an LP (five years after…
They say there's a day for everything, and maybe they're right, because today happens to be National French Fry Day. It's been said that french fries date back to the 1600s, when the residents of a region formerly known as the "Spanish Netherlands" (currently: Belgium) had the custom of accompanyin…
Just on the horizon, lurks Mount St. Helens, sitting 100 miles south of Seattle and 50 miles northeast of Portland. It was on May 18th, 1980, at 8:32 AM PT that it resulted in the most destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States. Will Mt. St. Helens erupt again? Scientists say ye…
SMooCH was a smashing success. This year the Nordstrom family, with the help of KEXP, Sub Pop Records, and many generous donors, raised nearly $3 million for Seattle Children’s Hospital uncompensated care fund. The money will directly help to pay for critical care for sick kids, regardless of their…
"An encore. How predictable," said a pre-recorded video of the cover model from Belle & Sebastian's latest album right before the Glaswegian pop stalwarts returned to the stage. And she was right. Contrary to their historical tradition, encores at modern concerts are almost always planned well …
Our second live Iceland Airwaves show of the day at Kex Hostel was friend of the station and amiable funny man Júníus Meyvant. This lanky ginger haired songster is a bit of an enigma, with no album and scant online presence. Unnar Gísli Sigurmundsson, his given name, began performing music a bit la…
Beloved Chicago label Bloodshot Records are celebrating their 20th anniversary with the 2CD or 3LP compilation called While No One Was Looking, featuring bands covering artists from their roster. Indie rock veterans Superchunk chose the Ryan Adams track "Come Pick Me Up," which frontman Mac McCaug…
You won't find a more kicked-back band than Nada Surf. Their relaxed demeanor, easy banter and effortless performances make you think they're the kind of guys you just want to hang out with. During their recent acoustic session, live on KEXP from the Bumbershoot Music Lounge, it was like the entire…
At last year's Decibel Festival, as part of the Optical series, there was a live scoring to an incredibly absurdly spliced film from the 70s, unfortunately missing this year. Luckily, Optical 4 made up for it, featuring the doom electro-acoustics of London duo Raime, the terrifying ambient textures…
Previous Mercury Prize-nominees Django Django have shared the second single from their forthcoming album Marble Skies. The track is called "In Your Beat" and comes with a pop-art inspired collage video directed by SKG (Sophie Koko-Gate) with art direction by Brodie Kaman. The band's producer/drumm…
Next on the broadcast live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves was the genre-bending psych-pop/blues/avant-garde band Fai Baba. Based in Zurich, Fai Baba is the solo project of Fabian Sigmund, accompanied by a varied lineup of musicians over the years. Fai Baba began about 10 years ago, after Fabia…
Hibou, the moniker of Seattle songwriter Peter Michel, returns with a new LP entitled Something Familiar out March 2 via Barsuk Records. The album follows up on the project's 2015 self-titled debut, which Michel recorded in a walk-in closet. This time around he's recorded with a full-band at Chris …
The track was created using the Moog Sound Studio, a new "semi-modular synthesizer experience" from Moog Music.
It's getting hard to keep up with all the great fall releases. If you thought last week was jam-packed, just check out what's in store this week!
