DJ Kevin Cole previews the 2018 Iceland Airwaves music festival and the rich Icelandic music scene. Episode one, Ice, features a slew of brilliant atmospheric and chill songs along with a bit of goth-tinged electronica and a smoking hot new Júníus Meyvant track.
It's an especially exciting week for new releases. Beloved Portland duo The Helio Sequence release their sixth self-titled album. KEXP Music Director Don Yates describes it as "another impeccably crafted set of atmospheric pop-rock with shimmering guitars, ethereal synths, hazy vocals, soaring harm…
Seattle native Joey Butler (a.k.a. Kid Smpl) has been constantly evolving his atmospheric and immersive style of abstract electronic music over the past five years, shifting away from a more tranquil and atmospheric sound for a more visceral and physical aesthetic. Now based in San Francisco, Kid S…
It's hard to pick just a few highlights this week, as there's tons of great new albums in shops now. Seattle-based project Hibou (led by Peter Michel) releases their debut self-titled full-length on beloved local label Barsuk Records. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls the long-awaited album, "an …
As the days grow shorter, the list of exciting new albums seems to grow longer. Though none of the big year-end blockbusters are out yet, there's a lot to choose from on the new release shelves at your favorite record store, including the latest from Moderat. This second LP by the collaboration of …
Seattle-based crushing, atmospheric black-metal group Addaura perform songs from their new record, "...And The Lamps Expire", and also from their first record, "Burning For The Ancient", live on KEXP's Seek and Destroy with Tanner Ellison. Recorded 09/11/2015 - 2 songs: Am…
Mellifluously melodious and dripping with rich vocals, Front Row Seat to Earth, Weyes Blood's latest album, is her most shimmering and accomplished to date. Laced with intimate lyrics and an atmospheric shine, Natalie Mering and her band enter the KEXP Live Room to play four songs and discus…
Deerhunter lead the pack of this week's new releases with the seventh full-length, Fading Frontier. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it, "one of their most direct and melodic releases. It’s also one of their best, featuring beautifully crafted songs of atmospheric psych-pop combining a warm, oft…
It's the first day of Autumn, and the new releases are falling all over the place. The sophomore release from Alt-J is finally officially out. KEXP's Music Director Don Yates notes, "this English band carries on with their second album, a generally more subdued, organic and atmospheric take on the …
Highlights this week include the first new album in 16 years from veteran rockers, The Afghan Whigs. KEXP Music Director Don Yates describes their latest, titled Do To the Best, as "a strong return-to-form of brooding, soul-inflected rock with atmospheric guitars and keyboards and occasional string…
Morning Show host John Richards presents a Music That Matters podcast full of atmospheric, seasonal beats to get you through the dark mornings and early nights of Fall. 1. Moby - A Case For Shame (feat. Cold Specks) 2. FAIRCHILD - Dancer 3. Moderat - Bad Kingdom 4. Washed Out - Don't Give Up 5. G…
Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival was in a time of fairly major transition in 2015, as it entered its 44th year. Many long time fans of the festival wondered how the beloved event would change under the new management of AEG, which penned a five year deal with the nonprofit OneReel after the orga…
August is closing out with some seriously highly-anticipated new albums. Highlights include the fifth album from Baltimore duo Beach House, which KEXP Music Director Don Yates describes as "another beautifully crafted set of atmospheric dream-pop with a floating, reverb-drenched sound combining dro…
Brooklyn band The Antlers release their fifth album, Familiars, today, and KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it, "a gorgeous, deeply felt set of dreamy ambient-pop tinged with elements of elegiac jazz and southern soul on lengthy, slowly swelling songs featuring muted guitars, mournful trumpets, …
This week, New Jersey producer Clams Casino hits a jackpot with his first official album. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it, "a strong set of expansive hip hop and R&B with woozy soundscapes combining atmospheric synths, spacy ambient noise and trunk-rattling beats with an impressive guest…
You'll want to "march" yourself into the record store for this month's first batch of new releases. Highlights include the latest from Wussy. KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes, "the seventh album from this Cincinnati band led by former Ass Ponys frontman Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker is another f…
February kicks off with plenty of new music for you to love, including the debut from Nevermen, a super group featuring TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe, Faith No More's Mike Patton, and rapper Doseone. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls the release "an adventurous blend of avant-rock, hip hop, so…
KEXP DJs have had nothing but soaring praise for the latest from British band Elbow, titled The Take Off and Landing of Everything. Music Director Don Yates notes their sixth album "continues in the vein of 2011’s Build A Rocket Boys! with a subdued, downbeat set of atmospheric prog-pop featuring m…
It's Labor Day weekend, and the new releases are working hard. Highlights include the latest from Asheville, NC-based artist Angel Olsen. KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes the release "continues to head in a more electric, rock-oriented direction on her excellent third album, combining elements o…
This week, you can finally get your hands on the debut from London trio HÆLOS. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it "an excellent set of moody electro-pop with a dark, haunting sound featuring atmospheric synths, hypnotic hip hop and electronic beats, ethereal vocals, melancholy lyrics and anthem…
