Few bands generate as much excitement among KEXP listeners as alt-J. We followed their stratospheric rise from the beginning and even helped stoke the fire of the early buzz by which they burned brightly. The anticipation of their sophomore album was almost unbearable, though, particularly followin…
Despite the miles between songwriters Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp, The Rosebuds continue to bloom on their sixth full-length album, Sand + Silence. Crisp currently resides in New York as Howard continues to live in North Carolina, but the two met up in the woods of Wisconsin to record with their fr…
For generations of music fans, the invention of the music video was a landmark moment. Being able to associate your favorite songs with equally exciting visuals was such an obvious combination, it's a wonder it didn't break through earlier. Whether it's gluing your eyes to old-school MTV or getting…
New Zealand band Ghost Wave blew us away with their hypnotic set of moody psych-rock songs at our CMJ broadcast last year, so we're especially thrilled to debut the band's music video for the track "Orb." The closing track off their debut Flying Nun Records release, Ages, "Orb" finds the group of A…
It's always a delight when psychrock voyagers Wooden Shjips return to dock in the KEXP studios. The band have just released their fourth album, Back to Land, on Thrill Jockey Records, an album that captures the feelings of home from frontman Erik "Ripley" Johnson, who has just thrown down anchor in…
Next Tuesday, June 13th, journey to the land of the midnight sun as the Iceland-based trio Moji & the Midnight Sons lights the skies of the Laser Dome at Pacific Science Center. We were thrilled to discover this blues-rocking US/Icelandic trio while at Iceland Airwaves last years, and even more…
DJ ZAI is the alias of Seattle native Isaiah Hinojosa, a self-taught vinyl DJ that strives to connect the dots between a variety of global club sounds every time he gets behind the decks. With a refined taste that covers a wide range of genres and tempos, he can frequently be found spinning at prog…
Hamilton, Ontario vocalist and electronic producer Jessy Lanza has emerged as a thrilling contemporary artist with her cutting-edge fusion of progressive electronic rhythms, ethereal R&B vibes, and experimental synth-pop sensibilities. Her new sophomore album, Oh No, recently released on the la…
Currently based in Los Angeles, San Diego native and emerging electronic producer Rafa Lavarez (a.k.a. Different Sleep) has been steadily evolving his underground style over the past 5 years, adding upon his early lush downtempo aesthetic to incorporate a more physical and abstract sound that adven…
It's fitting that the Arts in Nature Festival is where Cloud Cult planted the seed. Their concert last summer inside the Lodge at Seattle's Camp Long marked the first time the the Minnesota band went fully acoustic. They had recently rearranged songs spanning their entire catalog for what would bec…
The Strokes have unveiled the video for their new single "All The Time". If you just barely follow the band then I bet you've heard how they are prone to long, random breaks. We had to wait five years for the 2011 album Angels, so it's no wonder fans are thrilled to have another collection just TW…
Covered in pink and gold paint, J GRGRY took the Mural Amphitheatre stage in Seattle Center. Under the gaze of the Space Needle with the sun beaming down on the band, it made for an electric opening for the first day of the Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival. Lead vocalist, Joe Gregory, moved ac…
Seattle-based DJ and producer Reverend Dollars (aka Renee Jarreau Greene) is the founder and co-organizer of the Darqness queer and trans people of color arts collective and the organizer of Soul-Fi. Her work focuses on bringing together marginalized black, trans, queer, and people of color communi…
DJ NHK Guy is the alias of Seattle-via-Fukuoka electronic producer Jesse Lopez, creator of some of the finest juke/footwork rhythms to emerge locally as well as internationally in the last few years. Fusing a love for disco, J-pop, vaporwave, R&B, and video game soundtracks through frenetic and…
Raised in Singapore and currently based in London, et aliae is a talented pianist, electronic producer and composer who makes refined and progressive electronic pop. Her debut song came out in 2014 as part of Ryan Hemsworth's initial Secret Songs compilation, leading to a significant rise in her pr…
Legendary blues musician B.B. King has passed away at age 89. Late last year, King has to cancel several tour dates due to dehydration, and was receiving hospice care for the condition at the time of his death. After serving in World War II, King started his music career as a Memphis disc jockey a…
It's not like Conor Oberst needs much help sounding great. The Omaha, NE, native has been writing and performing with various projects, most notably with Bright Eyes, since his early teens, and he is a co-founder of not one but two independent labels: Saddle Creek and Team Love. In other words, we …
A few years ago, "chill wave" seemed all anyone could talk about, and Washed Out was among the first on the scene with the ubiquitous single "Feel It All Around". But while the fad died out, the Georgia-based bedroom composer Ernest Greene developed the his free-floating sound into a full live proj…
Noga Erez is a Tel Aviv-based singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer creating smart, catchy, colorful global electro-pop packed with vibrant instrumentation and politically-charged lyrics. Her debut album Off The Radar was released earlier this year on City Slang Records, introducing…
Seattle DJ/producer Ca$h Bandicoot (real name Paco Mejino) has become a fixture on the local club scene over the last couple years, quickly emerging as a stand-out artist with his high-energy, party-starting, forward-looking sound. Deftly blending elements of Jersey and B'more Club with an ear for …
