The sun came out last Friday to set the perfect scene for KEXP and Seattle Center's second in the Concerts at the Mural series. With only the Space Needle and sun overhead, fans came out to see Minneapolis' earth friendly indie rock band Cloud Cult headline the concert. The KEXP favorites took the …
Tonight, Audioasis and the Vera Project will round up EMP Sound Off! Battle Of The Bands alumni as part of KEXP's Community Partnerships Initiative. Each month, KEXP highlights a local non-profit and hosts a concert. All proceeds from each event benefits the non-profit. This installment features …
As far as guitarists who have stopped by KEXP recently go, Kurt Vile is the most-laid back of the bunch, letting his gauzy guitar playing do the talking as he hides behind his now-trademark long, brown hair. (In fact, one of the few points in the video where you can actually see his face is when Vi…
On their dreamy fifth album, Scottish band Camera Obscura adds a local flavor by recording with Portland based producer (and former Seattleite) Tucker Martine. Our Music Director, Don Yates, calls Desire Lines "a beautifully crafted set of bittersweet, soul-tinged indie-pop, featuring a warm, lush …
Among all the new releases this week, it's hard to escape the one from Daft Punk. Their new album, Random Access Memories, is the first by the band in eight years. The 13-track record begins with a bang via its track "Give Life Back to Music", a funky, 70's-inspired song with trademark robot-style …
Last year, Odd Future (a.k.a. OFWGKTA) really stepped up its game. Although it has always been more than the negative headlines that circulated around co-founder Tyler, the Creator, who nonetheless held critics' praise, the LA hip hop collective proved to be more than a gimmick with the huge succes…
Seattle duo The Spider Ferns don't make music, they create worlds. Each of their songs is like a new landscape. You may have heard the sounds before -- drums that seem to echo into infinity, bass lines that throb and pulse like they have lives of their own, electronic sounds that shimmer like a cre…
Saqqara Dogs seems to be yet another band that absolutely delighted a certain subset of nerdy college radio DJs (and soon-to-be-incredibly-influential New York Times music critics - you've got to love any band that forces the Times to refer to someone as "Mr. 66"), but didn't seem to make much of a…
Indie veterans Yo La Tengo have announced a new album slated for release in March called There's a Riot Going On. In a press release written by writer and critic Luc Santé, the album title is an intentional nod to Sly and the Family Stone's 1971 album of the same name, as well as a remark on the cu…
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Born Otis Calvin III, OCnotes is an artist, musician, DJ, author, motivational speaker, and vibrant figure active within Seattle's music scene since the turn of the decade. A chameleonic artist who records as a solo entity, as one-half of Metal Chocolates, and through his countless collaborations, …
Well, Seattle, it looks like we've corrupted Flight of the Conchords. Jemaine Clement, the gap-toothed glasses-wearing half of the New Zealand duo, confessed to the audience: he ate half a banana... and just left the other half sitting backstage! WHOA. "I'm the Iggy Pop of the band," he admitted ru…
Last weekend saw the return of Reykjavik Calling, the annual showcase featuring artists from sister cities Reykjavik and Seattle. Each year, KEXP curates the bill, selecting likeminded artists whose complementary styles might lead to fruitful collaboration. This year, we made our choices with a min…
For all of those in attendance at the Crocodile on Saturday night, rest assured that you got see a show that will never, ever happen again. Tonight, we saw Columbia and RCA's freshest flagship acts play a co-headlining date showing off records that are only crawling up the charts as we speak, and t…
Good morning campers. The sun is shining bright and clear here in Reykjavik. We will admit we had actually forgotten what blue skies looked like. It turns out it is absolutely beautiful in this chilly city! The golden sun bouncing off a calmer sea and kissing snow covered mountains in the distance …
The popularity of today's folk rock stars, from Iron & Wine and Billy Bragg to Mumford & Sons and Of Monsters and Men, all owe a large debt to American folk legend Pete Seeger, who passed away yesterday at age 94. To the end, Seeger was a champion, activist and resounding voice for civil ri…
Ever since we caught sight of Rising Mountains, their 2009 release, we've been fans of Capsula. The Bilbao by way of Buenos Aires band always thrills with their glam rock inspired riffs and pounding rhythms, reminding you as much of Sonic Youth as T.Rex and David Bowie. Their stage shows, in partic…
Unknown Mortal Orchestra is a bit of a conundrum, at least when it comes to classifying them. Not really a "band," UMO is really the project of Ruban Nielson, who wrote and recorded songs in his bedroom and even posted the insanely catchy "Ffunny Ffrends" first online anonymously. Not really a loca…