Soul legend Bobby Womack has passed away today at the age of 70. Cause of death is not currently being reported. Womack began performing music in the mid-'50s, and was discovered by Sam Cooke who signed his band, The Valentinos, to SAR Records. The Valentinos' 1964 single "It's All Over Now" was co…
The second day of Macefield Music Festival invoked thunderstorms and musical fanfare as dozens of bands faced ecstatic crowds of music lovers at the KEXP Mainstage, Tractor Tavern, Conor Byrne Pub, and The Sunset. Seattle rapper Grynch threw down his approachable, lyrical west coast rhymes for an e…
As the first day of Treefort Music Fest got underway, many of the Thursday bands were stuck in Denver battling a snow storm. It was a theme that resonated as Day 2 of Treefort came around, with cancellations and delays peppered throughout the schedule as a result. But the unfortunate circumstances …
For nu disco bands, there is no greater home than Italians Do It Better. Johnny Jewel and his cohorts have been driving the genre in daring, exotic directions since 2007. Back then, Jewel released a stellar DJ mix of his signees called After Dark. The collection sparkled with all the glitter and fi…
This week's installment of Review Revue -- as is often the case -- finds me learning about all sorts of things I never knew existed, most of which are listed in the title of this very post. Bill Nelson and Daryl Runswick? Never heard of either. Scala? Brond? No idea. And yet due to the technologica…
This Saturday’s Record Store Day will be kind of like the Easter egg hunt for me and my fellow music lovers and record collecting geeks. We’ll gleefully race down the aisles in search of that colorful surprise and treat. And, this year there are plenty of goodies — rarities, long out-of-print re-is…
Put on your dancing stockings because this Sunday, as KEXP presents Deck the Dock: A Kids Dance Party from 9:30 AM to noon! At Waterfront Park, located between the festive Great Wheel and the Seattle Aquarium, you and your friends and family can enjoy a free morning of music, including live sets fr…
A-HA! Turns out that creepy snippet The Shins shared yesterday is part of a longer video that has been revealed today. As the press release says, "James Mercer wanted to give you all a Halloween gift while you wait for the album." So, watch the video for "Dead Alive" below. The new album will be o…
Italian electronic producer Andrea Mangia has been creating boundary-pushing electronic beats under the Populous alias since his debut album in 2002. Influenced by his extended travels around the globe, his latest releases explore an immersive, bass-heavy, intricately-layered sonic world that's enh…
You would think by this time in the run of this series I would have covered every "seminal" band worth getting your '80s-college-radio-DJ hackles up about. And yet, here we are in 2017 and this is the first time we've discussed The Velvet Underground. Of course this makes a lot of sense, since all …
They may not have made the majors like The Replacements and Hüsker Dü did, but Minneapolis-based band Arcwelder were more than a perennial local favorite, cracking John Peel's Festive Fifth countdown in 1992 and getting crowned NME's "Punk Rock Single of the Week" by none other than guest editors, …
A band is like a marriage; the divorce rate for groups started two decades ago is high. Add in more members, each with significant side projects, and the odds of a split only climb higher. By all estimates then, The New Pornographers, formed twenty years ago in Vancouver, B.C., by players from a ha…
This week, we continue sharing our discoveries from the Trans Musicales festival in Rennes, France, where last December we captured twelve exclusive sessions. We’re sharing with you one unique session each Friday, and you can watch all the previously released ones here. This week, we present a stri…
For the past 40 years, John Doe has done it all, from fronting legendary punk band X to acting in TV and film. On his twelfth solo album, The Westerner, he found inspiration in the desert around him in Tucson, Arizona, where he was recording with Howe Gelb of Giant Sand. Take a musical journey thro…
Happy 75th birthday, Bob Dylan! In honor of this momentous occasion, Animal Collective have decided to pay tribute to the legendary singer-songwriter. The experimental pop outfit shared their remix of Dylan's 1963 song "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright." On paper, this combination doesn't make any …
Fifty fans christened KEXP's live room during an exclusive tear-soaked performance with José González, all to benefit KEXP's New Home. The Swedish singer-songwriter, whose history with KEXP dates back over a decade, broke listeners' hearts for a full set of gorgeous, heartbreaking bliss, while shar…
There should be no misconception about it, Delusions of Grand Fur is a gorgeous return to form for Oakland band Rogue Wave - not that they really ever left it. For their sixth release, though, frontman Zach Rogue and his longtime collaborator Pat Spurgeon have returned to self-producing and self-re…
