This week, KEXP is broadcasting for the third year in a row, during Iceland Airwaves Music Festival. Now through Friday, November 1, we're bringing you five bands a day performing live at KEX Hostel in Reykjavik, including Emilíana Torrini, Moses Hightower, Petúr Ben, John Grant, Ásgeir and many ot…
Iron and Wine, the music project of singer/songwriter Samuel Beam, delivers simple, folk ballads that evoke powerful complex emotions. With each album Beam seems to be reinventing himself; from the minimalistic, soulful melodies of The Creek Drank the Cradle and Our Endless Numbered Days to the mor…
Scottish indie band Franz Ferdinand are releasing their first album in five years, Always Ascending, in early 2018. Today they've shared the video for the title track and lead single. Directed by Parisian collective AB/CD/CD, the slick video features the band members quite literally ascending thro…
Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by Larry Mizell, Jr., host of the Afternoon Show on KEXP, is "New Years UnResolution" by L'Rain, a 2023 single from Mexican Summer Records.
It should be no surprise that several of the artists topping this week's list of new releases were making appearances at SXSW last week, but two of them were also previewing their new songs live on KEXP during our broadcast from Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop. Billy Bragg and Palma Violets both gave mem…
Multi-genre program featuring eclectic sets by a rotating cast of international and local DJs, each building upon a party vibe to kick off your weekend.
Quadron have made some pretty big steps onto the American scene in the last few years, but they’ve received almost none of the credit for them as Quadron. The Danish duo is made up of singer Coco O and producer Robin Hannibal. Coco’s sultry soul has been heard from one end of the music spectrum to …
It's a clear, crisp afternoon in beautiful Reykjavík, Iceland and locals and visitors alike are gearing up for what is sure to be another great year at Iceland Airwaves Music Festival. Here at Kex Hostel, the KEXP road crew is putting the finishing touches on our preparations for this year's off-ve…
ADULT. for nearly 20 years, consistently evolving their sound over six studio albums released on revered labels Mute, Ghostly International, Thrill Jockey, as well as their own imprint, Ersatz Audio. Currently in the midst of a stacked US tour in support of their new collaborative-heavy studio albu…
KEXP is excited to premiere a new video from Superchunk-frontman Mac McCaughan for the track "Box Batteries," off his debut solo full-length Non-Believers, out now on Merge Records. The clip brings you face-to-face with its director, Brooklyn-based performance artist Anya Liftig, whose big blue eye…
Listening to No Cities To Love, the eighth album by Sleater-Kinney, has to be done with one thing in mind: Sleater-Kinney did not have to make this album. That's not meant in a idol-worshipping, "we're not worthy" way, but quite literally. They all have alternate careers that they're perfectly happ…
A superstar in his native Italy, rapper Jovanotti, otherwise known as Lorenzo Cherubini, is making strides in the U.S. with a recent move to New York and a new retrospective, Jovanotti’s Italia 1988-2012, released by ATO Records. You definitely don't need to be fluent in Italian to appreciate his h…
Welcome to a start new vision of the apocalypse. Nick Cave may have soundtracked the movie adaption of Cormac McCarthy's The Road back in 2009, but with Welcome oblivion, Trent Reznor gives us a glitchy concept album realization of a similar internal battle that will keep you up at night with just …
Twenty years of Capitol Hill Block Party magic is bound to bring some surprises, and some of 2016's latest additions made for some of the best events of the day. New Jersey producer and DJ Clams Casino was announced as part of the bill only about a week before the action started on Friday. Meanwhil…
Though he performs ceaselessly with superhuman energy, though he's already dropped two records this year (Demos Vol. 1 and last week's Some Other Ones) and this will be his third for 2015, and though his character and charisma both shine like a demigod of whimsy, Mac DeMarco is more human than all …
Jim James picked a pretty lofty title for his first solo LP. But after a dozen listens or so, I can say in confidence that he has every reason to do so. He's led Kentucky psych-rock band My Morning Jacket for almost 15 years, releasing six studio albums and a dozen or so EPs (their 2005 LP Z and 20…
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…
Live in the KEXP's gathering space last Tuesday, we celebrated a special edition of our Songbook Live series, featuring an hour-long conversation between DJ Kevin Cole and Pearl Jam guitarist, and photographer, Mike McCready. Mike's new book, Of Potato Heads and Polaroids, is filled with photos, mo…
Sigur Ròs want you to go to hell. No, wait. The Icelandic icons have announced they'll be organizing their own festival, Norður Og Niður, a name that translates to “go north and go down” but can also mean “everything’s going to hell.” From December 26th through 31st, the venue Harpa will host musi…
Dazzling D.C. duo GEMS stopped by KEXP’s new home, filling our cavernous live room with their spacious and glimmering dream pop. Singer/keyboardist Lindsay Pitts and singer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Clifford John Usher released their debut LP, Kill the One You Love, after writing together for …
