This is the third album by The Jazz Butcher I've covered in this blog series (see also here and here), and I'm embarrassed to admit I have yet to properly spend time getting acquainted with this long-running English band's deep discography. Something tells me that the next several years will be a g…
Icelandic etherealists Sigur Rós have released a special remix of their track "Hoppípolla," exclusively for the BBC TV series Planet Earth II. This nature documentary program is presented and narrated by Sir David Attenborough. In a statement to the BBC, the band state:
In Iceland we are blessed wi…
Before most of the festival’s attendees have even arrived at Seattle Center, KEXP’s Bumbershoot was already underway. Setting a high bar right from the get-go, gospel legends Blind Boys of Alabama opened the festival with an intimate set at KEXP's Secret Stage. From their humble beginnings nearly 8…
Northwest artist Joey Casio has been identified in the aftermath of last weekend's Oakland warehouse fire, one of the deadliest building fires in history with a total of 36 people killed. Joey (real name: Joseph Matlock) was scheduled to perform under his alias Obsidian Blade. Originally from Vanc…
As far as new releases go, it's a bit of a slower week than in the past hectic month, but 2013 still holds many terrific new albums yet to be released, including quite a few just hitting stores today. Among them, is the excellent new mini-album, Fade Away, from LA duo Best Coast, which at seven son…
There are some people that say there is art in restraint. Those are the types of people Sleigh Bells eat for breakfast. Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss are back for round three this week with Bitter Rivals, and they are going even harder and even heavier. And it’s a good thing too – now more than ev…
You don't have to be a DJ, or even relate to anything on this list, to go to University of Washington's Rainy Dawg Radio's excellently curated 10th Anniversary Party this Thursday the 23rd - they've managed to captured many of Seattle's local sounds in one show. From the electro-soul of Natasha Km…
KEXP's Resident Runner and host of the Morning Show, John Richards, presents Volume 2 of our new Runner Powered Podcast series. Hit your second wind with two hours (31 tracks!) of high energy KEXP favorites. 1. Animal Collective - What Would I Want? Sky 2. Small Black (Feat. Aaron Rockers) - Free…
After arriving on the main stage at Sasquatch! Music Festival in a Value Village-via-80s workout tapes-via acid getup and leading his band through a dramatically reworked "Seven Swans", Sufjan Stevens laid down the mission statement for his subheadlining set: "God is in the house." He paused, then …
Johnny Jewel makes music that calls upon the venue of cinema so regularly, that when he actually creates something meant to go along with film, it almost seems more meta than the imaginary films he's themed in other projects. Likewise, the whole of the Italians Do It Better catalog exists in this s…
KEXP celebrates Mixtape Week, August 26-30.
It’s time again for Friday on My Mind. Our weekly blog post where we look at videos centered around one common theme. This is a collaborative effort between KEXP and King 5 News. Hey, everybody! The weekend is here and we need to get out in the sun while the sun is still out for gettin’. This week …
Fly Moon Royalty lit up the KEXP stage this afternoon with their glorious, funky jams. Originating as a twosome in Seattle in 2011, with the powerful voice of Adra Boo and the rapid rhymes of Mike Illvester, they've now grown into a full band, synchronized backup singers and all. Always a crowd fav…
On Subjective Concepts Olympia trio Strange Wilds have produced a faultless full length of feedback ridden, jagged jams that have helped bring a riotous, rebellious renaissance to Seattle’s notorious label, Sub Pop. To discuss the cover art, steeped in the same tightrope tension as the music, KEXP …
Aminéisn't just up-and-coming anymore -- he's arrived. The Portland rapper made his Seattle debut in probably the biggest way possible -- playing to a packed out crowd at Key Arena at the Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival. Walking on to the beastly, hyphy-like beat of "Red Mercedes," Aminé kept…
It's a big week for new releases, so let's get right into it. First thing on your shopping list: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' latest, Push The Sky Away. Fifteen albums in and Cave & Co. still create unique stunners. As our Music Director, Don Yates, says, it's "a masterful set of brooding, mi…
