Well, that was a long time coming, but I'll be damned if that could have been any better than it was. Death From Above 1979 made a great record back in 2004 - like a really great record. You're A Woman, I'm A Machine put DFA 1979 on the map like clockwork, feeding the band with plenty of live dates…
I Dreamed I Was A Very Clean Tramp is exactly the succulently-written, shit-talking, salty dog memoir you’d want from the man who dreamed and ignited punk. Richard Hell was a fun-loving little Kentucky cowboy as a kid, loving TV, growing up with peak period 60s Stones and Dylan LPs, dreaming of tak…
True to style, every year, there are one or two bands that manage to navigate the Sasquatch! Music Festival contracts and squeeze in a Seattle date right before they head east. For 2015, that band was UK electronic showcase Jungle. While they absolutely wowed crowds with their Sasquatch! set on Day…
In this episode, Larry Mizell, Jr. hosts an extended conversation with multi-disciplinary artist and founding Black Constellation member, Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes. The two discuss not just Alley-Barnes’ work, but the pivotal art and community work of his parents, the engine of erasure that resounds th…
Next on the KEXP video stream live from KEX Hostel at Iceland Airwaves Music Festival were genre-bending Icelandic post-punk band Mammút. Formed as a trio called ROK in 2003, the band expanded in 2004 and changed their name before winning Iceland’s Músiktilraunir (a battle of the bands similar to S…
When most people hear the name "Barrett Martin," they immediately think of rock bands, like '90s grunge gods Screaming Trees or maybe supergroup Mad Season (which also featured members of Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam). Or maybe you flashback to 2015's Raw Power supergroup, performing on the top of…
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 Mid…
Just about the last thing we'd ever ask for in Seattle is "more rain" - unless of course that's the name of the latest album by M. Ward. On his eight studio LP, the Portland based musician doesn't let the Pacific Northwest's soggy gloom get him down, and dares the clouds away with his initially doo…
Northwest trio Beat Happening are celebrating their 30th anniversary with the career-spanning retrospective collection Look Around, out November 20th via Domino. The 23-track compilation will be released on CD, gatefold double LP, limited edition royal blue cassette, and an exclusive LP edition wh…
It's not difficult to assay Purity Ring's latest album, Another Eternity. Based on the first three singles, the sophomore effort was undoubtedly pure gold in its alchemic union of Corin Roddick's beats and production and Megan James's resonant voice. The Edmonton duo have added further luster to th…
Even within its own darkness, Moonlight shines bright. LA rocker Hanni El Khatib improves upon his Dan Auerbach-helmed second album with his latest, and self-produced, LP. This time, Hanni El Khatib pulls just about everything he can find off the shelf to add to his garage-rock riffs, including psy…
One snare hit. That's all the notice the audience received that the curtain around the stage was opening and Jack White was beginning the second of his two nights at the Paramount Theatre with "Fell in Love With A Girl". Just under two minutes later, he was playing the unmistakable riff to another …
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part 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 Afterno…
If you were listening to The Midday Show on KEXP yesterday, you may have heard DJ Cheryl Waters present the US debut of a new song from SBTRKT, featuring guest vocals from Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend. If you missed it (or just wanna hear it again), you can now stream the track "New Dorp, New Yo…
Sasquatch! 2014 started off so great on Friday. Everyone arrived on the grounds happy and smiling in their festival best - a range of fringe, platforms, sports sandals, sailor hats, Pokemon costumes, and crop tops with a stacked line-up from the get go. One gentleman in the crowd put it well saying…
The Flaming Lips pulled off a hilarious April Fool's joke when they released Flaming Side of the Moon as "a companion piece to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon." Now the album does really exist, but it turns out that it was all part of a big stunt by the band and Funny or Die. Watch the band "se…
London quartet Yuck left a big impression on us with their ‘90s-inspired sound of squalling guitar riffs combined with boy/girl vocals. Unfortunately, KEXP left an impression on frontman Max Bloom, too, when he accidentally leaned against a wall of wet paint... d'oh! Thankfully, a KEXP t-shirt look…
For just three people, Seattle metal trio Helms Alee make a big noise. Performing tracks off their third album Sleepwalking Sailors, they rocked the KEXP studios with their pounding rhythms, insistent vocals, and heavy guitar riffs. How do they do it? "We don't use our heads, basically," laughs dru…
Thinking of those who define the present-day Seattle music scene, musicians like Damien Jurado, who not only call the city home but who have influenced, promoted, and produced other local artists' music, come to mind. Jurado's soul-searching folk ballads have earned him a wholehearted embrace from …
With a song titled "Live Alone" and a brand new album titled The Jackals, it's clear something is dark and foreboding in Ravenna Woods these days. The Seattle quartet admits: "This album has an underlying current of fear, greed, distrust and malevolence. It's someone talking in their sleep about ra…
