During the 2019 Spring Fundraising Drive, we'll down the most-played albums in KEXP’s history, going back over a decade of airplay. See the list.
Jimmy and the Mustangs might be lovely people without a bone of misogyny in their bodies (they did, according to their "I swear a member of the band didn't write this" Wikipedia page, make their live debut opening up for the Go-Go's), but there are a few things about their debut album, Hey Little G…
PNW transplant Aesop Rock shows some love for his new hometown of Portland in the video for "Shrunk," off his latest LP, The Impossible Kid. Filmed at the old-school arcade palace Ground Kontrol, Aes raps about therapy while an 8-bit version of him battles the therapy bear from earlier promo clips…
Phantogram have dropped the cinematic new video for the song "Funeral Pyre," off of last year's Three. Directed by Gianluca Minucci, the video takes place in a car slowly cruising through Los Angeles, documenting all the things seen out of the passenger window. Minucci describes the video as, "a ph…
This week sees the return of L.A.-based artist Aimee Mann. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls her ninth solo album, "a consistently strong set of intimate, smartly crafted folk-pop, combining a dark, acoustic-oriented sound with her plaintive vocals and often-poignant lyrics reflecting upon lost l…
L.A. ladies Warpaint share a new song... titled "New Song." Well played, Warpaint, well played. The track is slated for their third full-length, Heads Up, which finds the group moving (no pun intended) in a more dance-oriented direction. Vocalist/guitarist Emily Kokal says, via a press release, "W…
Mac Demarco’s declaration of “make yourself at home” at the beginning of his set at Sasquatch! Music Festival on Saturday was a fitting notion, as Mac has been making himself at home in the ears and hearts of fans for years now. The Canadian songster has a knack for writing songs that float and dri…
Luminescent electronic lady Julianna Barwick shares her new album, Will, next Friday, May 6th via Dead Oceans, but you can stream it now in its entirety via NPR Music. The latest from this Brooklyn-based songstress features guest appearances from Thomas Arsenault (Mas Ysa), Dutch cellist Maarten V…
Scottish band Frightened Rabbit share a video for the song "Get Out," a single off their upcoming album Painting of a Panic Attack. The poignant clip, directed by Greg Davenport, was shot in Kiev, Ukraine, and captures the struggle of two women in love. Painting of a Panic Attack was produced by A…
The name Erik Lindgren was not familiar to me at first glance (nor, for that matter, was the name of the currently-more-famous celebrity poker player Erick Lindgren), but it turns out I have heard his work before - and even covered it on this blog. Lindgren has lived all over and been affiliated wi…
The gaudy, sterile synths, the contrapuntal guitar and bass, the party ready drums, and especially the high-ranging, free-wielding, devil-may-care vocals - if you were there in 2005 when Clap Your Hands Say Yeah rose to indie-stardom with their self-titled, self-released debut, you remember it all.…
It's with terrible sadness that KEXP reports Darius Minwalla, longtime drummer for local band The Posies, passed away yesterday, May 21st, in his home in Vancouver, BC. Cause of death has yet to be determined. Minwalla joined the power-pop quartet in 2001, appearing on their 2005 comeback album Eve…
Christopher Owens makes for one of the most interesting characters on the indie scene. His band former band, Girls, garnered mass critical acclaim in the late aughts, with a bright, unique rock sound and Owens' brilliant albeit dark assessment of the modern context of youth and progression in the c…
While there was often a healthy debate on any given album's merits at KCMU, every once in a while it seems that everybody just ganged up on some poor defenseless record for no good reason. Icky Joey (not a name familiar to me until I pulled this record off the shelf) was a super group of sorts, fea…
Every year, Seattle sends a multitude of great artists down to Austin this week to showcase how our great city continues push the independent music scene forward in our own unique way. Of course, there is no shortage of Seattle bands at SXSW this year. But it was a special treat for us to get to se…
