Highlights for this week include the debut release from The Proper Ornaments, a UK group led by Max Claps and Veronica Falls’ James Hoare. KEXP's Music Director Don Yates describes their first full-length as "a sturdy, well-crafted set of hazy psych-pop with jangly guitars, warm harmonies, wistful …
The POP Montreal Festival celebrates the wide variety of artists coming out of the Montreal music scene, but also features a ton of bands from across Canada as well. Releasing records since 2009, Vancouver, BC 4-piece Woolworm played a killer set of straightforward solid rock. With catchy hooks and…
2017 is off and running with some long-awaited LPs out now, like the latest from The xx. KEXP Music Director Don Yates says, "This London trio's excellent third album brings a brighter, more varied and pop-inflected sound to their spectral electro-pop courtesy of band member/producer Jamie xx, thou…
Brooklyn-bred band Grizzly Bear return with their fifth LP, a release KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls "an adventurous set of densely layered and intricately arranged prog-pop, featuring a punchier, more beat-driven sound to more forcefully drive home the band's dark, imagistic lyrics of decay a…
Elia is the most recent project of Seattle-based singer, musician and producer Ignacio Izquierdo. The name comes from Elia Liut, an Italian aviator, who was the first person to fly over Ecuadorian territory. This reflects both Ignacio's home city of Quito and his life of movement. A son of a diplom…
Philly-based band The Districts return with their third LP, what KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls, "their strongest set to date, with a fuller, more dynamic and densely textured sound combining thick, swirling guitars, muscular rhythms and often-dark lyrics of isolation and dysfunctional relatio…
It's been six years since we last heard from Seattle-bred band Fleet Foxes, and the group return with their third LP this week. KEXP Music Director Don Yates says the album's "expansive folk-pop is their most adventurous work to date, featuring a rich, ornate sound on sprawling, shape-shifting song…
It's a quiet week for new releases, but at the front of the pack is the debut full-length from UK artist FKA Twigs. KEXP Music Director Don Yates describes the album as "a knockout set of futuristic R&B with a spacious, slow-burning sound combing glitchy electronic textures and eerie narcotic b…
2014 kicks off April with another great batch of new releases, including the fourth album from Cleveland trio, Cloud Nothings. KEXP's Music Director Don Yates describes the release as "a ferocious, consistently engaging set of anthemic punk-pop with raw, distorted guitars, relentless driving rhythm…
L.A. artist Miguel shares his fourth full-length, an album KEXP Music Director Don Yates declares "a potent set of psych-tinged R&B and funk featuring a hazy, groove-driven sound with echoing psych-rock guitars, spacey keyboards, and blunted beats accompanying his soulful vocals and lyrics of t…
Local band Tacocat lead the pack in a very busy week of new releases. KEXP Music Director Don Yates says "this Seattle band's third album is an excellent set of punkish power-pop with crunchy, occasionally surfy guitars, energetic rhythms, sugary melodies and often-biting, wickedly humorous lyrics …
Lots of great releases this week for your Spring soundtrack: L.A. duo Best Coast return with what KEXP's Music Director Don Yates describes as a "consistently strong set of ‘90s-influenced power pop, featuring a big, punchy sound with fuzzy guitars, energetic rhythms and Bethany Cosentino’s honeyed…
This Shimmy Disc compilation, featuring '80s avant rock heroes such as Jad Fair, Kramer, and Eugene Chadbourne, has such a compelling origin story that I'm just going to let the back cover speak for itself.
Seattle band Special Explosion release their second album, To Infinity, which KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls "a softer, dreamier and more melodic take on the band's dynamic, '90s-steeped Northwest rock, combining jangly guitars, shape-shifting rhythms, emotive lyrics and shimmering pop melodie…
Mellifluously melodious and dripping with rich vocals, Front Row Seat to Earth, Weyes Blood's latest album, is her most shimmering and accomplished to date. Laced with intimate lyrics and an atmospheric shine, Natalie Mering and her band enter the KEXP Live Room to play four songs and discus…
Deerhunter lead the pack of this week's new releases with the seventh full-length, Fading Frontier. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it, "one of their most direct and melodic releases. It’s also one of their best, featuring beautifully crafted songs of atmospheric psych-pop combining a warm, oft…
Lots of great local releases this week, including the sophomore full-length from Seattle supergroup Childbirth, featuring members of Chastity Belt, TacocaT and Pony Time. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it, "a strong set of snarky garage-punk with primal, grungy guitar lines and pounding rhythm…
Before you even have a chance to recover from Record Store Day, the industry is spitting out even more awesome releases this week. You may have grabbed the vinyl version on Saturday already, but the long-awaited Built to Spill hits shelves today. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it "a consistent…
It's the first day of Autumn, and the new releases are falling all over the place. The sophomore release from Alt-J is finally officially out. KEXP's Music Director Don Yates notes, "this English band carries on with their second album, a generally more subdued, organic and atmospheric take on the …
Highlights for this sleepy summer week include the debut from Toronto-based band Alvvays (pronounced "always," if you were wonderin'). KEXP Music Director Don Yates describes the release as "a promising set of hazy, surf-inflected dream-pop. Produced by Chad VanGaalen, the album features a reverb-d…
