Montreal-formed band Wolf Parade, now mostly based in Vancouver, make up for 13 years of not performing live on KEXP with an extra-long set in our new studio, covering their entire 2016 EP plus two classics harking back to their very first recording. Co-songwriters Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner, d…
From the dance clubs of São Paulo to the Kent Avenue scene in Brooklyn, Montreal-native Thomas Arsenault, a.k.a. Mas Ysa, has found inspiration across the globe to create his rich, beat-driven songs. After discovering techno while in high school in Brazil, Arsenault went on to study Modern Composit…
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 summer, Oscilloscope Laboratories will release The Past Is a Grotesque Animal, a documentary about rock band Of Montreal and the creative antics of frontman Kevin Barnes. Check out the film's trailer below, there's even a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance of Janelle Monáe. Unfortunately the…
"Put your hand on the chest / of a heart that is beating" -- the line comes from a song they didn't play during their recent session at KEXP, but it's the same tangibly intimate invitation you get whenever you hear The Barr Brothers's music, like you can actually touch the creative force coursing t…
Spring is here, and Cheryl Waters' latest mix comes into bloom with rootsy, sparkling, and exuberant new songs from artists including PWR BTTM, Gillian Welch, and Guided By Voices. 1. Gillian Welch - I Don't Want To Go Downtown2. Happyness – Falling Down3. Father John Misty – Total Entertainment F…
Montreal-based electronic producer, DJ, and record label runner Tiga has been a key figure in the post-millennium electronic/club world, emerging on the scene with his first single in 2001 and proceeding to unleash two albums, countless singles, as well as high-profile remixes along the way. His ex…
When it comes to young bands making self-assured, thoughtful and influence-referencing music, Ought already do. The Montreal-based four-piece formed just three years ago amid a burgeoning DIY scene in the city's Mile End district and, while drawing heavily from sonic inspirations like Talking Heads…
Like a kind of watershed moment, there are live show experiences before seeing Arcade Fire and live show experiences after seeing Arcade Fire. They're really a gauge for everything now. A religious experience whether you’re religious or not. A spiritual “Wake Up” call. A concerted church. An eideti…
During her concert at last year's Iceland Airwaves Music Festival, Björk screened a virtual reality video for the Vulnicura track “Notget.” (The clip, along with videos for “Family,” “Stonemilker,” and “Black Lake,” were also screened last year at the Björk Digital exhibit in Montreal.) Today, sh…
Last month, we shared the first wave of bands playing the 2015 Treefort Music Fest, March 25th - 29th, 2015 in downtown Boise, Idaho. Today, we've got the next batch to share, and it's a doozy! Hometown heroes Built to Spill will take the stage, as well as Syrian artist Omar Souleyman. Both of Mont…
The best collaboration projects seem to happen effortlessly. When two masters of their craft come together, both bringing all their respective elements to the table and begin mixing them, oftentimes, they end up with a heterogenous mixture, swinging unevenly between two opposing poles. Some pieces …
Uncanny timing! As KEXP broadcasts from the Iceland Airwaves Music Festival, we've got news from headliner, Björk. The Reykjavík-born artist has announced a virtual reality (VR) video for the Vulnicura track "Notget" is on the way. Watch a trailer below. Björk has previously released VR Videos for…
La Luz has been through a lot since their debut EP Damp Face hit the airwaves and internets. From a U.S. tour, to playing with Of Montreal and The Head and the Heart, to sustaining serious injuries after getting hit by a semi while on the road, to releasing their new LP, It's Alive, to replacing th…
Moon King is the project of Daniel Benjamin originally from Toronto, and now spending most of his time in the Detroit area. When Benjamin released his first tape as Moon King in 2011, he caught the attention of fellow Toronto band Fucked Up’s guitarist Mike Haliechuk who released his first two EPs.…
In typical Arcade Fire fashion, the band has been teasing and hinting about their new album, Infinite Content, lately without flat out telling us what's up. It now appears the first single is "Everything Now" and some lucky fans have been able to get their hands on a 12" of the track at the band's …
A true dynamic duo, Montreal’s King Khan and BBQ Show dropped by the KEXP live room to flaunt their tasty brand of retro garage and doo wop ditties. Marinated in all types of awesome sauce, this gruesome twosome wet our palates with a preview of succulent songs off their upcoming We Are The Champio…
The whole time I drove home from the Trust show, I kept looking in the rearview expecting to see cops trying to get me to pull over. In fact, I don't think the strobing reds and blues have stopped in my brain since the show ended, even two days later. Red and blue and red and blue and red and blue …
Some bands are really hard to pin down, especially when they sound like they're from another world. Take The Besnard Lakes. The Montreal band's influences are so diverse that listing a few neglects a much wider range. KEXP's Music Director, Don Yates, nearly hits it by describing their latest relea…
Montreal's Suuns make a particular kind of low-drone heavy but never "drone music" - they walk the fine line between being experimental and being simply loud rock music. There's never really been the kind of rock n roll vibes you get from other bands walking that line, but instead an industrial syn…
