If the Fremont Abbey and its team are known for anything, it's for finding new visions for how we see intimate shows in Seattle. For a singular example, earlier this year, the Abbey hosted Baltimore dream pop band Beach House for the smallest show the band has put on in Seattle almost a decade. Sho…
Lemolo has a knack for nostalgic imagery in their videos. Earlier this year, we premiered the video for the dream-pop act's "One to Love", which featured songwriter Meagan Grandall walking the eerie streets of her hometown of Poulsbo, Washington. With "Casting Call", Grandall ventures even further …
Thanks to everyone who came out last week for our reading and signing of Trouble Boys: the True Story of The Replacements! We will thrilled to be joined by author Bob Mehr, and former Replacements manager and co-founder of Twin/Tone Records, Peter Jesperson. After Mehr shared the story of how the b…
For longtime followers of the band, it's a little strange that Modest Mouse has now spent more time as a big-name ticket than a scrappy indie rock band from Issaquah, but in retrospect, the band's current status goes along with Modest Mouse's singular trajectory. Although many would label them with…
Historically, Capitol Hill Block Party hasn't booked that many legacy acts, but when they do, they don't screw around. The Flaming Lips' triumphant '13 set, Neko Case's quiet hurricane of a performance in 2012, and now Built To Spill's '15 set will surely go down in those ranks. Built To Spill's le…
Hunter Hunt-Hendrix cannot catch a break. With his work as Liturgy, he has crafted some of the most vivacious, jarring metal records we've heard in recent years. Take 2011's Aesthetica as an example. The record operates between quiet and loud like little else on the market. Its use of black metal t…
Truly, we can't do without you, Dan Snaith. With a discography 15 years deep and only getting sweeter with time, any chance to see Snaith in any venue under any of his monikers is an incredible blessing. In fact, I bet he could have sold just as many tickets throwing a DJ set as Daphni or even just…
It's one of those touchstones of rock that if you don't have in your collection, you're likely to add immediately on first hearing. Big Star's Third never reached the commercial success it deserved upon its release, but over the years it grew into a cult favorite frequently name-checked (and cribbe…
If solo records are truly artists giving in fully to self-indulgence, Julian Casablancas has a pretty bizarre way of indulging. Some chose to pack on a slough of bloated guest appearances that ended up making it even less of a solo record than their normal band's material. Others have created a who…
Now here's an interesting one. Ry Cuming dropped his first full length album back in 2010, top to bottom filled with coffee shop ready singer-songwriter wanderings, guest spots on the record going to Sarah Bareilles and Jesse Carmichael. Then in 2013, we got a complete reintroduction with the Austr…
To say I feel like I know too much about Grimes might be an understatement. While I'm not a mega fan in knowing facts like her favorite foods - I am a mega fan in that I've been fascinated by her since around 2009, long before Grimes was a giant and adored pop star. And I am happy to say that seein…
Oklahoma psychedelic freaks The Flaming Lips have never been ones to abide by the norm. But now, we really know there is zero method to their madness. This week, they released patiently awaited, heavily marketed new LP The Terror, along with a previously unmentioned split EP with Oklahoma band Hors…
Help test our iOS and Android apps
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Aft…
How long have we been anticipating A Moon Shaped Pool now? Truly, anticipation has lost much of its meaning in 2016. In our digital world of surprise albums and unquestioned instant gratification, the months we spend waiting for heroes to return to the forefront can feel like years. And yet, here w…
A warm April Thursday night brought an all-star lineup to the sold-out Moore Theatre in the form of Courtney Barnett and Alvvays. The two groups differ dramatically stylistically, but they are two of the best acts in terms of captivating and connecting with audiences both lyrically and sonically. A…
Conor Oberst has spent an entire career fighting against expectations. Even if he wasn't saddled with the "new Dylan" tags upon his emergence in the early 2000s, there undoubtedly still would have been a focus on his age (20 at the release of Bright Eyes' 2000 breakthrough Fevers and Mirrors), his …
"I heard today was the first nice day in quite a while, right?" As his band Cayucas starts in on another track of bright, warm, surf pop gold, he banters with a Seattle winter crowd who got to go out in the sun in early March - a near miraculous event by any account. "Coincidence? I don't think so,…
The best collection of rock and roll comics of late recently premiered at the Emerald City Comic Convention in Seattle this past weekend, but won’t be available en masse from publisher Fantagraphics Books Inc. till May 17. Be sure to pre-order Peter Bagge’s Other Stuff soon though, because it is an…
Back in 1989, The Replacements covered the song "Another Girl Another Planet," originally by late '70s UK power-punk band The Only Ones, and it never would've happened if not for their former manager Peter Jesperson, who put the song on a mix tape for the tour van. Jesperson will be familiar to KEX…
