Record Store Day is this coming Saturday, April 16th, but you should head to your favorite independent record stores early to scoop up some of these great new releases, like the latest from Parquet Courts. KEXP Music Director Don Yates says "this Brooklyn band's latest album is another smartly craf…
After a discography of 11 full-length albums, Seattle's own Car Seat Headrest makes their label debut on Matador Records. KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes, "The album reworks 11 songs from his extensive Bandcamp catalog with help from a new backing band (this also marks the first time he’s recor…
It's been a long wait, but last week Montreal-born, Woodstock, NY-based artist Thomas Arsenault (aka Mas Ysa) released his debut full-length. (Watch his 2014 KEXP session here.) KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls the album, "a potent set of moody electro-pop with bright synths, propulsive rhythms,…
This week's highlights include Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell, the latest volume in the Red Hot series to benefit AIDS awareness. KEXP's Music Director Don Yates describes the 2-CD collection release as "an impressive 2-CD tribute to influential composer/musician Arthur Russell, whose eclecti…
From J Dilla to J Mascis, there is something for everyone this week in new releases! While the Dilla self-releases his 40-track The King of Beats’ Ma Dukes Yancey Collector’s Edition Box Set, Mascis shares his latest solo release, which KEXP's Music Director Don Yates describes as "another strong a…
Swedish sibling duo The Knife have announced they'll be calling it quits after an abundantly creative 15 year career. Karin Dreijer told Dazed & Confused, "When we finish the tour now in November we will close down, it’s our last tour. We don’t have any obligations to continue, it should only …
The future is definitely running bright for artist Matt Drenik, the mastermind behind Battleme. His sophomore release, Future Runs Magnetic, out March 11th on El Camino Records, is his first with a full band behind him, resulting in what KEXP Music Director Don Yates describes as "a bigger, more mu…
Silver, sweet, and spectral tones fill Cheryl Waters' latest mix, with new songs from Chastity Belt, Palm, and Waxahatchee coloring in a vibrant soundtrack to the early summer. 1. Chastity Belt - Different Now 2. Dave Depper - Your Voice on the Radio 3. Maiah Manser - Sweet Hell 4. Lambchop - Re…
When Kate Tempest released a song titled "Europe Is Lost" in late 2015, she showed a eerily foreshadowing fury that preceded the seemingly unending discord of 2016. On the track's parent album, 2016's Let Them Eat Chaos, Tempest reaffirms her status as a singular figure that's both thril…
Florida band Surfer Blood couldn't wait until summer to release their anticipated sophomore album of poppy, surf-influenced indie rock, but that's just as well, as Pythons takes a relatively darker turn. Our Music Director, Don Yates, praises the new album for its "more polished and streamlined sou…
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 DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Mor…
Brooklyn band Caveman are back with their first new album since their 2013 self-titled LP. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it "a well-crafted blend of driving, War On Drugs-style rock and atmospheric, '80s-steeped pop-rock." We can't wait to hear the new songs live when the band perform at Conc…
2016 is off to a slow start for music, so we've combined the past two weeks of new releases. One undeniable highlight is the final album from the late, legendary David Bowie, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, making it his first No. 1 album ever. KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes…
Seattle's own Beat Connection make their Anti- Records debut with an album KEXP's Music Director Don Yates describes as, a "first-rate set of sleek electro-pop inflected with New Wave, R&B, funk and other styles, with consistently strong songs featuring bright synths, jangly guitars, shimmering…
This week in new releases, we hear from several artists who've been dormant for a while. Sufjan Stevens returns with his majestic new album, Carrie & Lowell, named after his mother and stepfather and partly inspired by his mother’s death. Several KEXP DJs have already hailed it as a contender f…
KEXP Music Director Don Yates has declared the debut release from Ibeyi as his "Pick of the Week." He notes, "the debut album from the young Paris-based French-Cuban twin-sister duo of Naomi and Lisa-Kainde Diaz (who are also both daughters of the acclaimed Cuban percussionist Miguel “Anga” Diaz) i…
This Valentine's Day week, it's appropriate that Father John Misty releases his sophomore full-length, I Love You, Honeybear. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls the release, "a masterful, more fully realized set of sophisticated ‘70s-steeped pop. With Jonathan Wilson again enlisted as producer, th…
He doesn't need anyone... except his sound guy. Watch the latest video from Hamilton Leithauser below for the track "I Don’t Need Anyone" from his debut solo album, Black Hours. Leithauser leads his life — getting a haircut, going to a museum, etc. — accompanied by Christopher Colbert, the band's …
It's an excellent week for new releases, led by the latest from Philly-based psychrockers The War on Drugs. KEXP Music Director Don Yates describes their third album, Lost In The Dream, as "another expansive blend of psych-tinged guitars, atmospheric keyboards, occasional horns and other instrument…
Many know Sam Anderson from the band Hey Marseilles. But most don't know him for his new solo project, Arkomo. Well, not yet, anyway. Anderson, who plays guitar, keys and stringed instruments, is a multi-talented musician working to build Arkomo into something — what that is, specifically, is not 1…
