Catch up on new music this holiday weekend: NPR Music is currently streaming the forthcoming debut from The Walkmen frontman Hamilton Leithauser, which hits stores on June 3rd. Titled Black Hours, this solo release features contributions from fellow Walkman Paul Maroon, as well as Vampire Weekend'…
Pixies have shared a new video for the atmospheric track "Magdalena" off their latest EP-2 (read an in-depth review of the EP on the KEXP Blog here). Check it out below, and don't forget to tune in to KEXP on Tuesday, February 18th for a LIVE session from this legendary band, including the debut o…
Surprisingly, you don’t see guitars dressed up, tagged or written on very often. But the guitar that belongs to Kimya Dawson of The Uncluded is just that. It’s like a city wall full of expression. Like their artwork, the music this Rhymesayers duo, which also features Portland emcee Aesop Rock, is …
While we're all waiting for the warm weather to officially take hold (we've been given an enticingly cruel taste of it here in Northwest), Vampire Weekend has created the perfect summer album to fuel your anticipation. At times wistfully nostalgic, percolatingly peppy and even fiercely energetic, M…
There isn’t a plethora out there on the wide open spaces of the internet about the wild Seattle band Country Lips, so here's a bit of detail: the 7-piece band sounds like a whiskey-infused, shack-swaying barn party. The staple of their music is their fast moving fingers on violin, guitar and keys, …
Earlier this week, Fever Ray surprised fans with a new album, the first in eight years for this solo project from Karin Dreijer Andersson, frontwoman for the Swedish duo The Knife. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it "an excellent set of adventurous, noise-addled electro-pop combining buzzing sy…
Senior Video Producer Jim Beckmann joins DJ Kevin Cole to preview some of the great Icelandic bands playing Iceland Airwaves 2016, featuring psych rock, hip hop, indie pop and more, from bands like Sin Fang, Singapore Sling, WESEN, SUÐ and JFDR. 1. Ljóðfæri - Intro 2. Andy Svarthol - Ofbirta 3. Si…
Apricity is an obsolete 17th century term meaning "the warmness of the sun in winter" and Midday Show host Cheryl Waters is here to help you find it. Warm up with new songs by Eleanor Friedberger, The Ocean Blue and Shake Some Action. We don't recommend staring at the sun while you liste…
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 …
Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by Larry Mizell, Jr., host of The Afternoon Show on KEXP, is "Don't Crash" by Stas Thee Boss, a 2022 single on YOOM.
It's surely no coincidence that a couple of these new releases came out on the eve of the 2016 Presidential Election. Veteran Chicago rapper Common shares his 11th full-length, an album KEXP's Music Director Don Yates calls, "a powerful set of politically charged hip hop with gritty, cinematic, sou…
Windy City singer/songwriter Ryley Walker shares his third album this week, which KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls, "his strongest and most sophisticated set to date, combining fluid guitar lines, intricate rhythms and elliptical lyrics on expansive songs that masterfully blend elements of folk-…
From heartbreak to the end of the world: that's how DJ Troy Nelson describes the trajectory of albums from singer/songwriter Marissa Nadler. "I think this is album seven or something? I don't know," she says with a smile and a shake of her head. Over the past 16 years, this ethereal singer/songwrit…
The biggest surprise of the summer is the latest from veteran Chicago band Wilco, who snuck out their ninth full-length late last week. KEXP Music Director Don Yates describes the album as "a smartly crafted blend of stomping glam-rock, buzzing motorik post-punk, atmospheric space-rock jams, plaint…
It's another jam-packed week of great releases! San Diego duo Crocodiles return with their fifth album, which KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes, "was recorded in Mexico City with production by Martin Thulin (lead singer of Mexican band Los Fancy-Free), and he brings some occasional Latin rhythms …
When Laura Marling first emerged out of the West London folk scene in 2008, her age (then 18) belied her eloquent lyrics, deft guitar playing and strong voice, but as her has career progressed, critics have stopped using her age as a talking point and begun championing her consistency. Her fourth a…
Probably among the most beloved hilarious trouble making tongue in cheek Canadians making the music rounds right now is Mac DeMarco - and he's all of these things plus some in his new video for "My Kind of Woman" off his recent album 2. Plus he's in drag. Sort of - and he winks like a pro every tim…
Today is National Pet Day! While you probably don't need a lot of reminders to appreciate that furried, feathered or finned one in your life, who might right now be curled up beside you, romping around your yard or sitting eagerly waiting for food, today is for remembering all our little friends. P…
Things are picking up! In the world of new releases, that is. 2013 has fully arrived, and as you head back to work, school or whatever your day-to-day, it's time to put record shopping back into your regular routine. The shelves of your favorite record shops are now being lined with anticipated new…
Björk's new "Tinder album" is on its way and we finally have a taste of what it might sound like with lead single "The Gate." The storyline of the song picks up where Vulnicura left off, with Björk healing from the heartbreak of the dissolution of her 13-year relationship. “My healed chest wound/Tr…
