A trusted local favorite that's been rocking parties and precisely-crafting renowned mixtapes for over two decades, Seattle's DJ Topspin is well-known for his harmonic ear, deep knowledge, signature blends, and innovative remixes, all characteristics that ultimately yielded his alternative alias, B…
It was a busy weekend for Jamie xx: not only did he bring the beats to the Capitol Hill Block Party, but he also released a mix for Apple Music's Beats 1 featuring tracks from The War on Drugs, The Persuasians, Deadboy, Apparat, The Durutti Column, The Doors, and more. You can listen to it here. J…
San Francisco's Nick Monaco brings his deep experience within his city's DJ/nightlife culture into his own carefree, cosmic experimental pop sound, recently found on his album Half Naked for Soul Clap's Crew Love label. With his teenage years spent throwing all-night parties and diving deep into tu…
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 …
A staple on the local DJ/producer scene for over a decade, Seattle's Mathew Moroni (aka Introcut) has consistently pushed progressive cutting-edge beats and heady body-moving rhythms on dancefloors all around town, most notably at Lo-Fi where he's been a key player in the highly-revered Stop Biting…
Succubass is the alias of Seattle-based DJ Jessica Duran, a member of the local TUF collective who's quickly become well-known for her exceptionally diverse tastes and ability to jump across multiple styles and confidently provide top-notch vibes to a wide range of dancefloor parties. A trusted sel…
Welsh singer and producer Kelly Lee Owens has been making waves as a captivating solo artist in the underground music community over the past few years, blending immersive techno, ethereal dream-pop, and hypnotic krautrock to create her own singular style. She's released a string of hotly-tipped EP…
The crew behind High+Tight have been staples within Seattle's electronic music community for well over a decade, all heavily involved within Decibel Festival during its heydays, and currently spearheading some of the city's best underground parties that attract highly-touted national and internatio…
At the epicenter of some of the most exciting current local hip-hop, R&B, and cutting-edge club music, there's a solid chance you'll find LUNA GOD, the alias of Seattle's Caleb Talbert. A chameleonic musician, he's recently turned his attention to wildly diverse and unpredictably vibrant produc…
Ever since moving to Seattle from Lansing, Michigan, in 1989, Shomari Shanks (a.k.a. DJ Sho Nuph (f.k.a. Sho Nuff) has been immersed within the local music community, first connecting with seminal 1990s local hip-hop crew Tribal Music before diving into the electronic music scene in the early 2000…
DJ NativeSUN is a Washington, DC-based DJ/producer and also the co-founder of the Future R&Bass collective, hosting events in the nation's capital with kindred crews such as Soulection, HW&W, Radar Radio, and OkayAfrica. Well-known in the DC area for his ability to jump between Afrobeat, ho…
Seattle electronic duo NAVVI have enjoyed a steady climb towards full scene integration over the past year, and with the band's first EP out this week to plenty of web hype, it looks like nothing is set to slow it moving forward. Brad Boettger and Kristin Henry introduced NAVVI to the world in Octo…
The crushing news of Prince's untimely death has rocked the music industry. Artists all over the world have been paying tribute to the icon. On Broadway, Jennifer Hudson and The Color Purple cast ended their show with a powerful cover of "Purple Rain," and the cast of Hamilton had an impromptu dan…
Brooklyn’s brassy big band Red Baraat stopped by on their way across the country on a national tour to bring their infectious world music into the KEXP live room. Led by percussionist Sunny Jain, the eight members draw on a Bhangra blend of North Indian rhythms mixed with hip-hop, funk and New Orle…
Our third Iceland Airwaves performance at Kex Hostel was Uni Stefson, who shortened his name Unnsteinn Manuel Stefánsson for his first solo outing earlier this year. This solo project is a marked departure from his past eight years fronting electro pop band Retro Stefson. His new album, Enginn Græt…
Through 2023, KEXP is celebrating 50 Years of Hip-Hop. Each week, we'll celebrate a different year in hip-hop with a deep dive into a particular song released that year.
Now in its third year in Iceland, All Tomorrow's Parties returned Thursday to the former NATO U.S. Air Base Ásbrú in Keflavík. Music lovers from around the world came for the weekend's killer lineup, including Iggy Pop, Public Enemy, Belle & Sebastian, Swans, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and lo…
The sounds that come out of a computer aren’t often what we enjoy listening to. The sound of your email, the sound of an error, the sound of typing, it’s all mundane. To some, however, the computer is an endless opportunity for sound. The artists beginning Decibel Festival 2015 have made their comp…
There's a lot to unpack here. There's the fact that despite my teenaged fondness for Black Flag, Rollins Band, and Pigface, I completely missed the existence of this project produced by Mr. Rollins, a key member of the first two bands, and Andrew Weiss, a key member of the latter two. There's the u…
There’s no sleep for The Flaming Lips this year. After releasing the uncharacteristically dark (but well received) concept album The Terror in the first half of the year and playing a string of supporting dates (including a headliner spot at this year’s Capitol Hill Block Party), the Lips went back…
