There's a new pop-savvy sheriff in Sub Pop town, and he goes by the name of Cullen Omori, and instead of having to wield a Smith Western to corral a crowd's attention, all he has to do is coo his name. Omori quickly became a wunderkind as one of the instrumental brains of the Chicagoan outfit Smith…
The Cure celebrate their fortieth anniversary this year. Let that soak in for a second. Then consider that the English quintet are playing three-plus hour sets with multiple encores night after night. Needless to say, Robert Smith and the current Cure lineup are doing right their legacy night after…
As soon as word came out earlier this year that George Lewis Jr. had signed with Warner Brothers, there was one thing that was clear: Twin Shadow was getting bigger. Not just in the commercial sense - rather, all of the massive 80s indulgences explored on past records were now going to have the cei…
Well, doesn't that photo look weird? But, it's time to face the new line-up for Death Cab for Cutie: the band will release their first album without founding member Chris Walla, titled Kintsugi. What's a "Kintsugi", you might ask? It's a style of Japanese art where broken ceramics are fixed using …
It's going to take a little practice, but you'll be saying the name Ásgeir like a true Icelander soon enough. When we first introduced the young singer-songwriter to Seattle audiences two years ago, we knew his ethereal falsetto and captivating songs would appeal to KEXP listeners even if his songs…
One of the few bands promoting a soon-to-be-released album, Parquet Courts' Sunday night set at Sasquatch was a partially a showcase for their forthcoming second album, Sunbathing Animal. (Interestingly enough, the album went up for streaming just as their set started.) Their debut, 2013's Light Up…
On any given weekend in Seattle, there are a million amazing shows to see - from jazz sets at coffee shops and orchestras at theaters, to a grunge shows in DIY spaces and major touring acts at any of our larger venues. Maybe this weekend you want to try something new; maybe you heard one song by th…
Something new's going on in Seattle. Well, something new and something old. This city's musical past is already peppered with its fair share of country rock, folk, psychedelic and metal bands, but several up and coming bands are tapping into those genres and styles with renewed vigor. Ballard was a…
Portland's Moon Duo made maybe one of their most surprising moves yet: showing up and playing a set as a trio. Alright, that's not totally true. They did play with a third member on the KEXP Stage at the Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival, but the band is constantly taking surprising new avenues…
Irish songwriter Dolores O'Riordan, most famously of The Cranberries, has passed away at the age of 46. A statement from her publicist says that O'Riordan was in London for a recording session, but not further details are available at this time. O'Riordan was born and raised in Limerick, Ireland, a…
During SXSW this year, KEXP returned to Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop and teamed up with Distiller Promo, Sub Pop Records + Hardly Art, and Merge Records for three days of free showcases featuring Dum Dum Girls, Wye Oak, Black Lips, La Luz, Hurray for the Riff Raff and many others. Between sets, we ask…
Rounding out a stunning second day of the KEXP Broadcast live from KEX Hostel at Iceland Airwaves Music festival are the incomparable Kronos Quartet. The San Francisco-based string quartet has been around for over 40 years, with a roster of rotating musicians, currently comprised of David Harringto…
Swedish indie pop band The Radio Dept. have never been optimists, but with new record Running Out of Love, they are really going out of their way not to see any silver linings. "There's nothing gracious about our kind", Johan Duncanson sings on opener "Sloboda Narodu" (yes, that is the famous Yugos…
They've been teasing us with the news for a while now, but today, we finally have new music from Bon Iver to share! Two new songs, in fact. Check out the creatively-spelled tracks "22 (OVER S∞∞N)" and "10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⚄ ⚄" below. (Your move, M.I.A.!) Both will appear on their forthcoming …
When Beth Orton stepped onstage at the Triple Door on a Thursday night, it was a night of great change for the Norfolk singer. Bathed in a gauzy lighting display seemingly pulled straight from an Animal Collective production, Orton acknowledged that it was a quite significant night for her: "My cou…
"Scottish people and the sun don't go well together," remarked The Twilight Sad frontman James Graham as he and his black-clad bandmates took a sunlight- and wind-drenched stage. However, perhaps the dissonance between the Scots and Vitamin D fueled Graham and his comrades because, despite the circ…
Every so often (OK, fairly regularly) I pull out a record with a name that seems vaguely familiar only to realize that I am way out of my depth. Peter Hammill has a long, storied, and critically acclaimed career that is pretty much the reason they invented things like Wikipedia and Allmusic.com. I …
When we were spinning Rapprocher back in 2011, we knew it was only a matter of time before Class Actress became a full-fledged pop star. There's just something magical about the high tension melancholy Elizabeth Harper has on her records. It's a very "this is where I find myself for better or worse…
After all the speculation last month about a Postal Service reunion, it looks like the whole thing has been confirmed by an update earlier today to the band's website which revealed simply the image above with the band name and year. Ben Gibbard has been very clear that there is no likelihood of a…
Okkervil River's 2005 masterpiece, Black Sheep Boy, is one of those records that grabs you wherever you're at. If you haven't gotten the divine pleasure of experiencing it yet, I promise you, it will grab you at some point soon. There's just something about the coming-of-age brilliance of its narra…
