Both Mac DeMarco and Run the Jewels filmed sessions for the Black Cab Sessions video series — sadly, not together, but it's still pretty darn great. Watch our gap-toothed friend perform a solo acoustic version of "The Way You'd Love Her" off his forthcoming Another One, and see El-P and Killer Mik…
More than any other day, Saturday at Bonnaroo was filled with things that could only really happen at the Farm, among them, Björk's jellyfish facemask thing, R. Kelly entering on a boom crane, a 5k at 9 in the morning (in 80 degree heat), and a moment where Jim James, R. Kelly, Billy Idol, and John…
The Internet doesn't seem to know a whole lot about Somerset anarcho-punks Thatcher on Acid. (Can you think of a band name that more specifically places a band in time, place, and genre? I sure can't.) One thing I appreciate about this gig is that these posts often serve as a way to add to the know…
There are many ways to “get down,” and Thao and crew seemingly discovered them all on Monday at Sasquatch! Music Festival. Thao and the Get Down ripped through a festival ready set, encouraging the crowd to get down in every possible way. Whether it was through the plucky rhythm the group often hel…
El-P and Killer Mike - it's a combo that we've only known for a year and a half, but feels like it's been around forever. "I got paid to make a friend", said Michael Renders of their work together back in 2012. Though Mike had been killing it on the ATL scene for years (he's a long time Outkast aff…
It's not easy for bands to pull of a daytime performance in bright sunlight. Most are used to dark clubs and nocturnal crowds, but the warm desert tones of LA's Allah-Las made for a perfect Austin afternoon on the first day of our broadcast this year from Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop during SXSW. Thou…
I am learning so much today! For starters, I've found out about Rank and File, a band I was previously unaware of. They're often described as a founding band of the country-punk hybrid cowpunk genre, but with my 2017 ears they sound more like "cow-new-wave" or "cow-'80s-college-rock" - but I see ho…
Late last year, Wavves frontman Nathan Williams launched a label, Ghost Ramp, and for 2016, their kicking off their subscription series in an awesome way: a split 7" single featuring his band on one side, and Best Coast on the other side, covering the Nirvana track "Dumb." Listen to a vinyl rip be…
All of the reviews of Diane Coffee's second album, Everybody's A Good Dog, touch on one unanimously agreed upon point: that Foxygen touring drummer Shaun Fleming has created a historically self-aware album that wears its influences loudly and proudly. The reference points cut through clearly: 70's …
"It's a complicated place, this planet we're on." That's how Mark Kozelek closes "Dogs", the most confrontational and stomach-churning cut on new Sun Kil Moon record, Benji. It's a great thesis for the rest of the record, really - Kozelek has witnessed some pretty insane shit, and much of it appear…
Though he performs ceaselessly with superhuman energy, though he's already dropped two records this year (Demos Vol. 1 and last week's Some Other Ones) and this will be his third for 2015, and though his character and charisma both shine like a demigod of whimsy, Mac DeMarco is more human than all …
This week in El Sonido, we’ll be talking about Vive Latino, a great music festival that happens every year in Mexico. It’s a wonderful way to see a wide variety of genres from Latin America mixed with artists from all over the world. Plus, it’s an outstanding excuse to visit the historical center a…
Well, that's a wrap on another year! Bumbershoot 2014 closed out with yet another incredible day on Monday, seeing the last good weather before a big rain and the last tour appearance by several bands before heading back to the studio. But the farewells were all in great spirits - fantastic sets ab…
Sunscreen for the Eastern Washington sun? Check. Sleeping bag for the few moments you'll be able to sleep? Check? Earplugs for when your 'drums need a break? Check. Booty shorts for dancin'? Check. High energy bars for, uh... energy? Check. Roadtrip music for the journey out to The Gorge? Double an…
KEXP can never get enough of Sóley. The charming Icelandic songstress has a knack for covering a deep emotional range and some occasionally morbid subjects in the most disarming and endearing way. In fact, we've recorded her six out of the past seven years we've been covering Iceland Airwaves, and …
Canadian synth-pop band TRUST have been doing some phenomenal work in the studio in the past year. When they dropped their debut LP, TRST, back in 2012, the dark, pulsing melodies and cryptic vocals drew quick comparisons to their brooding, gothic counterparts on the scene like Crystal Castles. The…
Looks like new Spoon is on the way! The Austin-via-Portland-via-Who Knows band shared a mysterious image on social media that looks like a possible album cover. Adding to the mystery, Matador Records shared it as well. Viewers of the Showtime TV series Shameless were treated to a new song last Sun…
It's hard to live up to a name like theirs, and harder still to shine brightly for over fifteen years, but Stars have not only lost none of their shimmering allure - they've somehow turned an amorphous Canadian collective, on par and in cahoots with Broken Social Scene, into a consistently producti…
It’s time again for Friday on My Mind. Our weekly blog post where we look at videos centered around one common theme. This is a collaborative effort between KEXP and King 5 News. I doesn't feel more like summer to me than when the Concerts at the Mural begin. We present these free shows along with …
If there is one singular takeaway from 25 25, it's this: Factory Floor are done introducing themselves. A lot of young bands feel immense pressure coming into their first full-length record, and there's no doubt that the duo of Gabe Gurnsey and Nik Colk Void (then also joined by Dominic Butler) fel…
