I don't know about you, but I feel like it's been a long time coming for Phantogram. Maybe that's just because the New York two piece has found a way to write songs that stick with you and make a deeper, lasting impact on the heart and mind than their counterparts. Or, maybe they've just spent thei…
"Seattle owns the future and they don't know it," composer Ron Jones tells a crowd at WaMu Theater during the second day keynote of the Upstream Music Fest + Summit. There's a bite to his words, feeling like equal parts admiration and condemnation. A native to the Northwest who relocated to Los Ang…
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 Midday …
Armed with a tidal wave of talent and tracks from their new release, Weirdo Shrine, Seattle’s surf rock songstresses La Luz light up KEXP with this stunning live session. With their dark, reverb coated strings and organic tones, the band delve deeper into the fabric of their sundrenched sound - wit…
The most exciting new release this week is The Most Lamentable Tragedy by New Jersey band Titus Andronicus. On this 29-song, 94+-minute rock opera, frontman Patrick Stickles details his struggle with manic depression. KEXP Music Director Don Yates says the album, "features a full, grand sound to ma…
The wait is finally over! Frank Ocean has officially announced his plans to release a follow up to the critically acclaimed channel Orange. According to Ocean's rep, we can expect Boys Don't Cry in July. Music video director Nabil, who has worked frequently with Ocean, said of the album: “Everyone…
Sounds like nowhere you'd want to be, and as far a band names go, maybe not something you'd want to hear, but believe us when we tell you, Diarrhea Planet rules! Six guys from Nashville – four of them playing guitar! – live the credo of "Shred 'Til You're Dead" by blasting a fiery torrent of riff-h…
Tangerine is the kind of band that puts a smile on your face. They've been playing locally around Seattle for a few years now and have started to hit the summer festival circuit, as well. Their bright pop sound with floating guitar tones and sweet vocals make them one of those bands that you don't …
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…
Visually, Wampire are a throwback to the 70’s: button-downs with big collars opened at the top, sunglasses, long and wavy hair. If you didn’t know what year it was, you might think the Doobie Brothers just stepped out of the Mystery Mobile. Musically, Wampire proves worthy of their indie buzz. The …
The National were almost cut from the soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, for reportedly "being too dark." Their contribution, which you can hear below, was originally titled "Dying Is Easy." As frontman Matt Berninger revealed to NME, "The song almost didn't make it because it was too…
Less than a minute into Hummingbird, the sophomore effort from LA band Local Natives, keyboardist/vocalist Kelcey Ayer makes a stark confession: "I woke up with my green eyes blue/And all I think about is you/And it feels". In the remaining three minutes of the heartbreaking opening track, he never…
Uk band The Horrors return with their fifth LP; KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it "an expansive blend of brooding electro-rock, industrialized post-punk, shoegazerish space-rock and more, combining a majestic, adventurous sound with some of the band's most assured songwriting to date." Austral…
DJ Kevin Cole unleashes a torrent of tracks for a changing world including the latest from Kate Tempest, Moby, Anomie Bell, and A Tribe Called Red. 1. Moby & The Void Pacific Choir – Hey! Hey!2. Midnight Faces – Heavenly Bodies3. Kate Tempest – Don't Fall In 4. A Tribe Called Red – Virus…
John Richards brings together some of his favorite tracks from around the world that he's been banging' on the Morning Show this summer all while Beth Orton performs in the studio down the hall. 1. Psychic Ills - I Don't Mind 2. Ghosts I've Met - Songbirds 3. Faye - Ancient Bones 4. Ages and Ages …
Afternoon Show host Kevin Cole turns to face the strange changes with a music mix for the ages including new Ty Segall, Paul Westerberg, Operators, and local music from Damien Jurado, Crater, Pillar Point and more. 1. Hinds - Garden 2. Hippo Campus - South 3. Nevermen - Mr. Mistake 4. Operators …
Don Slack features some of his favorite new songs from smoldering Italo-Disco and fiery roots-rock to incendiary punk. 1. Daughn Gibson - It Wants Everything 2. Chromatics - In Films 3. Heaters - Mean Green 4. Wild Yaks - Paradise 5. Fort Lean - New Hobbies 6. Hop Along - Waitress 7. Sheer Mag -…
Host Kevin Cole features some of his current favorites on this edition of KEXP's Music That Matters podcast. Why? Purely because he loves them and hopes you will too! Includes new songs from Jen Wood, Goat, The Juan MacLean and more! 1. Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas - Caught Up 2. Ex He…
Swingin' Doors host Don Slack spins his current rootsy faves, with tracks from Robbie Fulks, Drive-By Truckers, Marissa Nadler, Two Cow Garage and more! 1. St. Paul & The Broken Bones – Call Me 2. Hurray For The Riff Raff – Small Town Heroes 3. Eric Brace & Karl Strau…
