"Bigger, better, faster, stronger" – that's what we said of Voices, this year's release by Phantogram. The Saratoga Springs, NY duo certainly upped the ante with their anticipated second album, making the nearly five years between well worth the wait. As always, Josh Carter's dark dance hooks and S…
"I'm sorry, I have to interrupt. My mind was just blown," DJ Cheryl Waters revealed after Milagres opened their recent in-studio session at KEXP with "The Letterbomb." With its funky drums and shifts between baritone and falsetto, it's easy to see why Milagres' music made her feel this way. In fac…
Though he'd been playing a variety instruments and styles for years, Oakland music Luis Vasquez never intended his current project, The Soft Moon, to catch on. A true bedroom project, The Soft Moon was originally meant to be a device of self-exploration, a spelunking of the depths, as it were, of V…
For many of us who grew up in the punk era, the sound of the Sex Pistols -- that power, energy, propelled by a sneer -- was life-changing. For me, it was those guitar chords. That sound -- copied over and over by legions of guitarists since -- changed my life on a cold, sunny day in a Victorian hou…
Carla Sariñana joins Sound & Vision to discuss her reaction to the news about Burger Records and how labels have a duty to proactively prevent misconduct, the issue of gender-based violence and femicide in Mexico, the sexualized marketing of women in the music industry, and more.
Iceland’s Sigur Rós recently released their first album in seven years, titled Odin’s Raven Magic. Much of the project sounds like something out of Medieval times. Bassist Georg Holm talks about the apocalyptic story behind the Norse Mythology poem that inspired the project, and how it resonates to…
Sound & Vision breaks down the stories and songs behind the top three most played women artists on KEXP during March: Arlo Parks, Japanese Breakfast, and Noname.
I hate to break it to you, but you're gonna be heading toward Record Store Day this Saturday at a deficit. Why? Because there are too many excellent new releases coming out today that you'll want to pick up right now. First and foremost: the latest from Yeah Yeah Yeahs, whose fourth album our Music…
Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by Albina Cabrera, co-host of El Sonido, is "Bolero" by Mexican Institute of Sound, from the 2024 album Algo-Ritmo : Mexican Institute of Sound Hits 2004-2024 on Soy Sauce.
Sound & Vision’s series, “Northwest Classics,” dives into the stories behind iconic records from the Pacific Northwest. In today’s edition, KEXP DJ Marco Collins and music journalist and author, Charles R. Cross discuss Heart’s album Dreamboat Annie, and Soundgarden’s record Superunknown.
As major labels continue to exist behind the times, artists and labels with little capital and lesser reputations are producing some of the most innovative, interesting, and inspiring music. Whether it’s creating a new niche in digital technology or looking to once obsolete formats, Agitated Atmosp…
Philadelphia band The War on Drugs return with the fourth album. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it, "an excellent set of expansive, '80s-steeped rock. Beautifully produced, the band's music has never sounded better than it does here with a bliss-inducing combination of expansive guitar leads, …
Can you believe there was once a time where Reggae wasn’t a word everyone recognized? In the musical world you have to really be in awe of how a sound from a tiny island in the Caribbean has propelled itself into the Global Consciousness. The legendary Reggae singer Winston Jarrett can clearly reme…
Deerhunter lead the pack of this week's new releases with the seventh full-length, Fading Frontier. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it, "one of their most direct and melodic releases. It’s also one of their best, featuring beautifully crafted songs of atmospheric psych-pop combining a warm, oft…
Highlights for this sleepy summer week include the debut from Toronto-based band Alvvays (pronounced "always," if you were wonderin'). KEXP Music Director Don Yates describes the release as "a promising set of hazy, surf-inflected dream-pop. Produced by Chad VanGaalen, the album features a reverb-d…
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…
Variety mix host and general renaissance man Troy Nelson paints a portrait of his latest musical tastes with new tracks from Sneaks, Kelley Stoltz, and Curtis Harding. 1. Sneaks - Look Like That 2. Mux Mool - Oh Yeah 3. Frankie Rose - Trouble 4. Cherry - Buttoned Up 5. Timber Timbre - Grifting 6. …
“In order to be big, we need a lot of players.” Jungle Fire guitarist bassist Joseph Reina lays it out pretty clear: to be able to create muscular afro funk workouts, the Los Angeles outfit need at least ten musicians. But even with a guitarist missing, the nonet sound bold and kinetic when they j…
