Singer/songwriter Billy Bragg is known for never shying away from political content in his songs. (As he sings on the track "Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards", musing about music journalists who ask, "Mixing pop and politics he asks me what the use is / I offer him embarrassment and my usual ex…
Put on your dancing stockings because this Sunday, as KEXP presents Deck the Dock: A Kids Dance Party from 9:30 AM to noon! At Waterfront Park, located between the festive Great Wheel and the Seattle Aquarium, you and your friends and family can enjoy a free morning of music, including live sets fr…
With a wash of funky synth and a splash of dancey pop, Seattle's Pillar Point is making waves on the electronic scene. Having transitioned from indie rock to indie synthpop, Scott Reitherman has just released his one-man project's sophomore album, Marble Mouth, on Polyvinyl Record Co. In-studio at …
Dev Hynes, a.k.a. Blood Orange, dropped his highly-anticipated album Freetown Sound late last night, a few days ahead of it's scheduled release date. He also shared the self-directed video for "Augustine," which features his singing in front of a painted flag of Sierra Leone (Freetown is its capit…
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 Mid…
When frontman Dean Wareham sings, "don't know why I can't stop smiling," he echoes the thoughts of thousands of Luna fans grateful to have the band back together after a decade apart. The beloved New York (well, now L.A.) band called it quits in 2004, but with Captured Tracks reissuing their first …
When Houndmouth hears the call, it's not from way up the north but from southern shores, namely the Pacific and Gulf coasts. The Louisville-area pack (technically New Albany, Indiana) mingle breezy SoCal harmonies, gritty roots rock, anthemic sing-alongs and swampland stomp to make their defiant, f…
If Fanfarlo's right, there'll be a definite beauty in our demise. Their third album, Let's Go Extinct, looks at both the big and small pictures of our lives -- who are we? what are we made of? what are we doing? where are we going? how will we end? And by the sound of it, there's a joy in singing a…
Cheryl Waters' latest mix isn't just betwixt the Shire, it gathers music from the Arabian peaks of Afghan Whigs, the icy glimmer of Sóley, and the galaxy-roaming sounds of Shabazz Palaces. 1. Sóley – Sing Wood To Silence 2. Low Roar – Give Me An Answer 3. The Black Angels – Currency 4. The Afgha…
Leave it to Father John Misty to explain America to us (hint: it's basically Go-Gurt). The catchier-than-it-has-any-right-to-be track details the ridiculous ways people die, and will be performed by an animated Mr. Misty on Adult Swim's Brad Neely’s Harg Nallin’ Sclopio Peepio. The season finale a…
There's something about Tomo Nakayama's voice that feels like an old friend. The Seattle singer-songwriter doesn't just sound great, that's undeniable, but the way he softly sings is comforting — especially paired with his wistful, floating finger-picking. In the music video for "Fourth of Julivar'…
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 Mid…
Artists like Vermont’s King Tuff don’t just play rock n roll - they personify it. Showcasing a smattering of bewitching jewels from his 2014 Sub Pop release, Black Moon Spell, King Tuff and his band clog up the pores of the KEXP live room with the dirty sound that rock purists have been jonesing fo…
Interweaving a patchwork of influences, from '60s psych to outsider folk, Boston band Quilt blanketed the KEXP studios with songs from their latest album, Held in Splendor, out now on Mexican Summer. Stitched together with their unique three-part-harmonies, the ambitious young band explained to DJ …
Pixies had little to say, but lots to play at the Paramount Theatre on Sunday, December 3. The alt-rock pioneers, who formed in Boston in 1986, blazed through a 33 song set in just over an hour and a half, speaking a grand total of two words to the crowd between songs. Fans didn’t seem to care abou…
As Country/Western icon Merle Haggard turned 79 years old today, he also sadly passed away this morning at home near Redding, CA. Haggard's manager confirms the Grammy Award-winning artist had been battling double pneumonia, and had spent 11 days at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage ea…
Cardiff, Wales-based artist Gwenno Saunders is the former front-woman for the infectious UK pop outfit The Pipettes. She emerged with her brilliant debut solo album, Y Dydd Olaf, earlier this year as Gwenno, a record that quickly became a favorite at KEXP with its vibrant mixture of psych-tinged sp…
Visually, Wampire are a throwback to the 70’s: button-downs with big collars opened at the top, sunglasses, long and wavy hair. If you didn’t know what year it was, you might think the Doobie Brothers just stepped out of the Mystery Mobile. Musically, Wampire proves worthy of their indie buzz. The …
So I had literally just walked from CHVRCHES set at Sasquatch and opened my computer to write about said set when I found out that they had just released "Guns" - an amazingly good track that basically runs pop-synth circles around most other pop that's been released this summer. "Did you feel so c…
The last time we saw Ólafur Arnalds was at 2010's Iceland Airwaves where he played our Hostel KEXP. In that show, he demonstrated his continued desire to engage in experimental recording practices by asking the audience to help him sing a loop for a song. Since his first album, Found Songs, back i…
