If you're anything like me (and who isn't?), the first Icelandic band you ever heard of was The Sugarcubes. If you were a college radio DJ in the early '80s, though, you might have gotten wind of Þeyr (pronounced "Theyr," more or less) before the rest of the U.S. got wind to the crazy stuff going d…
It's been great to see all the celebration of various independent radio stations around the country this week. Part of what makes this series so fun for me is digging through the scribblings of college radio DJs who were on the air around when I was discovering some of my favorite music through col…
What was it like to discover The Replacements and surprise them with a record deal? Or hear John Peel talk about your label? Or hear the first Ramones album before 99.9% of the world? One guy, Twin/Tone Records co-founder Peter Jesperson can, and does, answer all those questions posited by KEXP pro…
Back in 1996, veteran singer/songwriter Robyn Hitchcock entered an abandoned used clothing store on 14th Street in New York City. With a small audience surrounding him, he delivered one of his intimate, personable performances spiked with witty, and sometimes somber, stories. And thankfully, Academ…
Former frontman of The Walkmen, Hamilton Leithauser, may have release an album only a few months ago, but today he's gifted us with a stunning, non-album track called "Room For Forgiveness". It was previously only available as a 7" single on his tour. [Stereogum]
ODESZA's set at Bumbershoot this weekend was a homecoming blowout of epic proportions. No, literally, the energy of the Seattle electronic duo's high-production value show -- which included smoke machines, flamethrowers, a few exciting guests, and much, much more -- temporarily blew out the power a…
Welcome to Review Revue, where every Thursday I dig through the KEXP stacks to share DJ reviews and comments written on the covers of LPs (and occasionally CDs) in the ’80s and ’90s, when the station was called KCMU, the DJs were volunteers, and people shared their opinions on little white labels i…
KEXP is welcoming a new, but to some familiar, name as the host of Sunday Soul. Supreme La Rock was once the host of KEXP’s hip hop show, now heard on Friday nights. Midday host Larry Mizeell, Jr. (who is also a former host of Street Sounds), reintroduced Supreme to KEXP audiences in an interview o…
To name her newest record, Halo, Argentina's Juana Molina sorted through her lyrics word by word before deciding “halo” was the correct way to describe this collection of rhythmic, kinetic electronic music. Joining Darek Mazzone on Wo' Pop, Molina and her band return to KEXP to perform …
Just about the only thing better then sitting down for some pizza and beer to help KEXP's New Home Campaign is doing all that with Rhett Miller performing live. This was the case last month at Ballard Pizza Co., where the always humble Dallas sweetheart Rhett Miller deflected all compliments KEXP t…
Chaz Bundick, who now goes by Chaz Bear, has announced a new Toro Y Moi album, Boo Boo, and shared a video for its first single, "Girl Like You." Boo Boo will be released July 7th via Carpark. In a lengthy statement about the album, Bear describes falling into a crisis of identity because of his fa…
Can you believe it's been 20 years since OK Computer was released?! In honor of that special anniversary, Radiohead are releasing a special deluxe reissue called OKNOTOK. The album will feature three previously unreleased songs, along with the record's original 12 tracks and eight B-sides. One of t…
Minneapolis must have been a magical place in the '80s with bands like Hüsker Dü breaking through the mainstream, and venues like First Avenue and the 7th Street Entry helping hone these rising new stars. A little bit of that magic was in the KEXP studios this day as Hüsker Dü's former frontman, Bo…
A name change and an absence from the Sasquatch! Music Festival app will definitely effect the number of people at a show. But if the crowd at Preoccupations was any reflection of their controversial previous name, their show on the Yeti stage Saturday night was surely a reflection of their promisi…
Who would have thought a "Big Black Coat" could be so inviting? The album of that name is the first in nearly five years for KEXP favorites Junior Boys, and it comes not just as a return to form but a revisitation of the pop sounds they've cherished for some time - house, techno, soul, disco and R&…
Saturday night is the night for dancing - Decibel Festival fans have known that for 10 years. You'll dance every other night of the festival too, no doubt. But Saturday is where you can bank on the fact that you will work up a sweat on the dance floor and at one point consider buying drinks for eve…
"Holy shit." That's what DJ Cheryl Waters exclaimed as Scottish hip-hop trio Young Fathers finished their KEXP session. Thanks to Cheryl's booking, KEXP gets hundreds of in-studio sessions a year, but it's rare when our entire staff is unanimously blown away like we were that day. DJ Larry Rose, a …
Next on KEXP live from KEX Hostel at Iceland Airwaves was an insane set from Icelandic band Grísalappalísa. The band, whose name means "pig-legged Lisa," plays raucus music that genre-jumps like nothing I've ever seen before. Vocalists Gunnar Ragnarsson and Baldur Baldursson scream and grunt, with …
Gracing the Triple Door Saturday night during Decibel Festival was an incredible Sacred Bones double header from Zola Jesus and Pharmakon. With a dazzling night sky of stars in the background and a visually arresting display from each up front, Saturday's Optical session was one for the books, show…
