Now, more than ever, the world needs The Clash. For the fifth annual International Clash Day, KEXP is highlighting the band's activism and political messaging. Even their band name carries political weight: bassist Paul Simonon was inspired when he noticed the word appearing frequently in the daily…
COSMOS kicked off KEXP's Live Broadcast at Upstream Music Fest + Summit with an undeniable style and presence, establishing the all-ages presence at the festival, and further cementing the band's place within the local music scene. Upstream marks another junction on the rising career of COSMOS, fol…
We love when one of our favorite bands remixes another favorite band, and that's just what we've got with the track below: hear Wye Oak's take on "Need A Friend," a single from EL VY, the collaboration of Matt Berninger of The National and Brent Knopf of Menomena and Ramona Falls. Find the origina…
The Jazz Butcher have always seemed like an intimidating band to get into. There's the large catalog (10 LPs and countless singles by the time I was flipping through the bins at independent record stores), the multiple names (The Jazz Butcher, The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy, The Jazz Butcher & His…
Simon Stålhamre may be the creative force behind Small Feet, but it was not until he found the assistance of his band mates Jacob Snavely and Christopher Cantillo along with the inspiration of an island cabin residence that he was able to create music without self-sabotaging. It's a good thing he f…
Few groups span the ages like Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Though not nearly as old as they music they play, the New Orleans ensemble first formed in the early 60's to renew interest in traditional jazz. Over the past five decades, many of the Crescent City's finest musicians have performed for vis…
It's not often you get to say you saw a three band gig where all three bands blew you away for completely different reasons. Luckily for those crammed in Neumos basement at the sold out Pallbearer, Sólstafir, and Mortals show Thursday night, that was 100% the case. Each with an entirely different f…
This is one of those records where reading the DJ reviews from 1987 really makes me want to hear the album (without having to do anything so crazy as, say, buy it on iTunes or Amazon, cheapskate and preferrer-of-physical-media that I am). A lot of tantalizing phrases and references get thrown aroun…
Our second Iceland Airwaves band of the day live from Kex Hostel in downtown Reykjavik was Icelandic trip hop and electro pop group Young Karin, played Bumbershoot in Seattle this year. They are a new band, having formed just last year. But they are already garnering attention at home and abroad. T…
Paul Janeway's vocal range is some kind of miracle. For the young Alabama-based soul stirrer and his band, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, the sounds of Memphis and Muscle Shoals go marrow deep. On Half The City, their unbelievable mature debut, Janeway channels '60s R&B greats like Otis Reddi…
Throughout Okkervil River's in-studio session, frontman Will Sheff keeps breaking into giggles. And if you look closely around the room, you'll see plastic action figures perched on the keyboard or suspended from the mic stand. It's that sense of childlike wonder that Sheff taps into for the band's…
It's always a delight when psychrock voyagers Wooden Shjips return to dock in the KEXP studios. The band have just released their fourth album, Back to Land, on Thrill Jockey Records, an album that captures the feelings of home from frontman Erik "Ripley" Johnson, who has just thrown down anchor in…
Leave it to an Australian band to save Brit Pop. Actually, they may be destroying it because reportedly Noel Gallagher is too busy listening to Jagwar Ma to get the old band back together. In truth, the young Aussies have revitalized the Madchester sound, though rather than sustain one long bacchan…
HAIM introduced themselves to Seattle Wednesday night with a show at Neumos, and if you’ve been following anything about this band for the last year, you know that’s no small event. The sold out gig had lines starting up outside in the cold more than an hour before doors (that’s pretty much unheard…
Seattle band Ivan & Alyosha, in the lineage of local powerhouses the Head and the Heart and the Fleet Foxes, are masters of the bright, jangly guitars, tight, soaring harmonies and steady kick-drum rhythms. But there is something distinct about them, too – the band has more joy to it than maybe…
The love NYC drummer Miles Arntzen holds for the music of Nigerian legend Fela Kuti is so great it can't be contained by just one band. Arntzen, who drums for well-known funksters Antibalas, also started yet another 10+ member afrobeat-inspired group in EMEFE. Formed a year before his joining Antib…
The Sumner Brothers, the Vancouver B.C.-based alt-country band, co-led by brother Bob and Brian Sumner, stopped by KEXP to play a moving set on The Roadhouse with Greg Vandy. Looming with almost nightmarish instrumentation, but calming, yearning vocals, the band finds the listener’s ear immediately…
We knew that The Besnard Lakes would be on our list to see while we were in Montreal since first, they are one of our favorite Montreal-based bands, but also because frontman Jace Lasek is one of the three founders of Breakglass Studios. It was really fun to see The Besnard Lakes in their element a…
Funk music isn't just heard, it's experienced. You can have a great time playing a funk article at home on your stereo, but it takes on a whole new life when it's right in front of your face. Seattle future funk-fusion act High Pulp gets this. With a staggering 10 members in the group, they push an…
Back in August, KEXP traveled to Katowice, Poland for our third year at the OFF Festival. In addition to our live broadcast and on-site interviews with bands like Silver Apples, Beak>, and more, we were also able to capture some field recordings with Polish band L.Stadt.
