London post-punk band White Lies have never done anything small. Upon transitioning from their old band Fear of Flying to new, more epic material in 2007, this UK three piece has only pushed for bigger and better as time has gone on. Their 2009 debut To Lose My Life… showcased their unique take on …
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 A…
This year, !K7 Records celebrates a massive milestone, entering the twentieth year of their ongoing DJ-Kicks series and releasing the fiftieth entry in the series. Over its fifty entry catalogue, DJ-Kicks has carved a niche that no other electronic serial really taps into. For Fabric, it's the club…
Maybe it's just me, but there seems to be a phenomenally awesome trend happening right now where dance bands are accompanying thumping tracks with a lyrical message of higher understanding and deeper self-knowing. Last fall, Cut Copy gave us Free Your Mind, a record musically inspired by rave cultu…
What better way to get out of the sun than to spend a bit of time digging crates at your local record shop? While the summer weeks tend to be slow for new releases, you'll find plenty of excellent new albums in stores this week. Among them is the second album from Seattle's Shelby Earl, whose Damie…
UK electronic chameleon Zomby is one of those few artists from whom we've only seen improvement since his beginnings. Back in 2008, Zomby's full-length debut came in the form of Where Were You in '92?, an over the top, muddy 90s rave soundtrack that played excellent tribute to the scene of days pas…
It's hard being The Strokes. After setting the template for the next ten years of guitar-based rock with their 2001 debut, Is This It, it wasn't long before the NYC quintet was being outpaced by the bands they paved the way for. After some time apart, Julian Casablancas, Nikolai Fraiture, Nick Vale…
Fresh off the Spaceship tells the story of the Black Constellation, an artist collective (Shabazz Palaces, THEESatisfaction, Ya Tseen) with Seattle roots and cosmic reach. Hosted by KEXP’s Larry Mizell Jr. and Martin Douglas, each of the 10 episodes takes listeners on a musical journey connecting t…
It's hard enough to make money nowadays as a musician, let alone when you have to ditch all momentum you've gained thus far and start again. But watching the bands the make the cut and bottle lightning a second time is like watching a boxer come off a loss stronger than ever. It's not just good - i…
Perspective is a powerful tool to have in your pocket as an individual. It can make even the worst situation a blessing in disguise, as learned strength can produce a rose from the thorn patch, and doors unlocked and opened where others closed. This perspective is even more valuable when you manage…
Leave it to a Welsh indie pop band to take a perfectly innocent game invented by beloved children's author A.A. Milne for his son and turn it into a band name with unpleasantly coprological overtones. (The most unpleasant part: "The Pooh Sticks" works as both a plural noun and a sentence. Ew.) In c…
As the days grow shorter, the list of exciting new albums seems to grow longer. Though none of the big year-end blockbusters are out yet, there's a lot to choose from on the new release shelves at your favorite record store, including the latest from Moderat. This second LP by the collaboration of …
Thanks to you, KEXP has hit another milestone! This past weekend, we added one more thing to be thankful for as we surpassed half a billion views on our YouTube channel! Back when we first brought video cameras into our live room, nearly ten years ago, we couldn't have imagined the impact KEXP vide…
Loyal listeners of The Roadhouse on KEXP may have noticed host Greg Vandy was absent a bit last year... well, now you can hold in your hand the reason why: 26 Songs in 30 Days: Woody Guthrie's Columbia River Songs and the Planned Promised Land in the Pacific Northwest, out now via Sasquatch Books. …
If there's one rule about horror movies, it's that you always leave enough of a loose end for a sequel, regardless of whether or not it ever happens. Sure enough, that's exactly what the master of horror and suspense cinema John Carpenter did on his first solo LP outing. Lost Themes, an album compr…
If the Internet age is defined by one thing, it's probably disposability: the temporal state of everything we define ourselves by. We live in a world that is exponentially unsatisfied with singularity and smallness. Our good intentions for globalization and interconnectedness have gone by the waysi…
If solo records are truly artists giving in fully to self-indulgence, Julian Casablancas has a pretty bizarre way of indulging. Some chose to pack on a slough of bloated guest appearances that ended up making it even less of a solo record than their normal band's material. Others have created a who…
Now here's an interesting one. Ry Cuming dropped his first full length album back in 2010, top to bottom filled with coffee shop ready singer-songwriter wanderings, guest spots on the record going to Sarah Bareilles and Jesse Carmichael. Then in 2013, we got a complete reintroduction with the Austr…
It's almost summer 2014, and that means we get to see the indie pop scene evolve once again. Back at the beginning of 2012, Grimes dropped a bomb with Visions that didn't stop shaking up the synth pop scene for nearly an entire year. The post-modern (or post-Internet, if you prefer) aesthetic and m…
