It won't just be the record-breaking temps that make this weekend the hottest of the year so far. Besides the start of KEXP's own Concerts at the Mural series this Friday, down in Happy Valley, Oregon, our friends at Pickathon are at it again. It's always hard to say that "this year" is the best ye…
Over decades of milquetoast radio throwaways and sales taking precedent over content, it's undeniable: pop music has lost its sensibility of the extreme. But all is not lost in the brave new world of the digital age. Need evidence? Look no further than Prince Rama's press release for their new albu…
How about that lineup, am I right?! Holy smokes, I don't think I've seen an undercard that solid on a lineup in years. Good luck figuring your schedule out, everyone! It's going to be damn near impossible to catch all of the phenomenal talent coming to the Gorge this year for the Sasquatch! Music F…
For years, Against Me! frontwoman Laura Jane Grace stood in center stage at raged away, sometimes at others, sometimes at herself. When she came out as transgender in 2012, that fury subsequently turned to a newfound onstage fire, transforming the flagging band from an increasingly cult concern to …
Detroit synth punk rockers ADULT. played third during day one of the 2013 Treasure Island Music Festival. Their industrial, crunching melodies blistered under the hot sun, as San Francisco’s infamous “Indian Summer” kept festival goers warm even in mid-October. Frontwoman Nicola Kuperos poked fun a…
The kids may be off to school but former teen group Arctic Monkeys is all grown up. Now on their fifth full-length, out this week, the British-born, LA-based band have left behind any brattiness for what our Music Director, Don Yates, calls "a slower, thicker and more atmospheric rock sound, while …
Our live guests today, The Moondoggies, have one of this week's top new releases with their excellent third LP, Adios I'm a Ghost. The Seattle band has long been a KEXP favorite, and their fans certainly won't stop loving them after hearing their latest, which our Music Director, Don Yates, calls "…
It's an eclectic mix of new releases this week, including some moody music out of the UK, led by trip-hop pioneer Tricky, whose latest album is, according to our Music Director, Don Yates, "his most focused effort in years" featuring the sounds he's most known for, i.e. "gloomy, mostly downtempo be…
Although there was plenty of star power on the final day of Sasquatch, there was a clear standout during the early afternoon on Monday, and it wasn't just because brought a Godzilla figurine onstage with her. When an assured Natalie Prass opened with an electric version of "Bird Of Prey", it was cl…
Over the past few years, we've tried to make KEXP videos not only fun to watch but also instantly recognizable. But when artists and other guests visit our actual studio space and see the dark and starry walls, they almost always say, "Wow, this is much smaller than it looks!" Charming as it may be…
If their lyrics give any sense of how tough the ladies of Warpaint are, the Los Angeles quartet aren't a band so much as they are a gang. Not in the organized crime sense, but in the "don't mess with us" sense. Case in point: On "Elephants", the second track on the band's 2008 debut EP Exquisite C…
While it's a fairly slow summer week for new releases, there are definitely some terrific Northwest releases to get you shopping at your favorite record store today. In the past three years between their second and third albums, Seattle's Feral Children seem to have grown into men... wild men, sure…
The eternally mysterious Frank Ocean has posted yet another (semi-confusing) hint about a forthcoming album via his Tumblr. The post features a person wearing a baseball cap that says, "If you liked 2017, you'll love 2018" (which feels comical because we're pretty sure no one liked 2017). The photo…
The problem with cool stuff is there's always a process by which it becomes uncool. A handful of true artists perfect a craft and then an uncanny number of hackneyed copycats sample bits and pieces out of context and bastardize the whole thing to no end. This is maybe no better exemplified than wit…
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It was another flawless Friday evening at last week's Concerts at the Mural event. The only thing brighter than the August sun was Seattle boys Bread & Butter, who delivered a performance of pure power pop joy. Youngsters Naked Giants defied everyone's expectations with an adrenaline-fueled per…
