We hope you had a successful and fruitful Record Store Day this past Saturday and that you've added many cherished discs to your vinyl collection. This growing movement has been a needed boon for ailing record stores as much as it's been a treasure trove for music fans worldwide. We'd love to hear …
It's a short list of new releases this week, as all eyes and ears are on the SXSW festival, but there are a few key releases you'll want to pick up in stores today. First and foremost, the latest from David Bowie, whose first album in ten years is not only a surprise to all David Bowie listeners an…
Charlotte Gainsbourg has announced that she will release her first album in seven years in November. Called Rest, Gainsbourg has released the album's title track as well as a teaser for its accompanying music video, which she directed herself. In a statement, Gainsbourg says that Lars Von Trier, he…
The deeper we get into Animal Collective's Painting With chapter, the more it feels like a real renaissance for the band. As the band themselves described it, the process for the new record felt natural and fun - a far cry for the laborious process it took to put forth Centipede Hz. Spending time i…
XL Records is entering a very fun new chapter - chapter six to be exact. Last fall (and this spring with the physical edition), the label released Chapter VI, the first entry in their ongoing electronic compilation series since Chapter V back in 1995. The label has seen a ridiculous amount of growt…
The best collaboration projects seem to happen effortlessly. When two masters of their craft come together, both bringing all their respective elements to the table and begin mixing them, oftentimes, they end up with a heterogenous mixture, swinging unevenly between two opposing poles. Some pieces …
"Product of partition" - that's how Himanshu Suri, a.k.a. Heems, defines himself on Eat Pray Thug closer "Patriot Act". On that track, he talks about how growing up as a man of Indian descent in post-9/11 NYC was a nightmare. "From then on they called all of us Osama", he recalls towards the end, "…
Fresh off of the release of sixth studio album, Doom Abuse, Nebraska synth and dance punk band The Faint brought one hell of a Friday night to the Neptune. While Doom Abuse is the band's first new record in six years, the band hasn't lost any steam in time away - least of all in their famously fant…
Sometimes, you don't know how good you have it in Seattle. Just last month, Sheffield garage rock duo Drenge packed the John Peel stage tent so full at Glastonbury that you'd have to fight your way through about 10,000 bodies to get even a reasonable view of the band. This past Monday, you could ca…
Some haters will always hate, no matter what gold you throw at them, but Donald Glover sure silenced a multitude of them with last year's out of nowhere sophomore slinger Because the Internet. As Childish Gambino, Glover started a rap career with immediate pushback, with critics claiming that he wa…
Get your KEXP 50th Anniversary tile personalized with your name or other inscription, and see it at KEXP's Seattle Center home at KEXP50.
Want a great example of how to get hugely popular as a band without losing your soul? Look no further than Alberta electronic duo Purity Ring. The band's 2012 debut, Shrines, was an instant classic, mixing dark Canadian electronic textures with essences of hip-hop, all graced by the soaring vocal p…
Martin Douglas revisits 2001 to unpack the legendary rivalry between Jay-Z and Nas, a story that starts with an empty throne for the king of New York hip-hop.
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It's only the end of July, but it's already been an eventful year for Heems. The New York rapper dropped his first proper solo LP, Eat Pray Thug back in March, an excellent record that tells a heavy-handed story of what it's like to like in a perpetually post-9/11 New York as a person of Indian des…
Next on the KEXP broadcast live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves was Icelandic art-rock band Agent Fresco. Formed in 2008, mere weeks before playing in the Icelandic battle of the bands (Músíktilraunir), at which they won best guitar, best drumming, and best bass playing. The four-piece band inc…
Red Bull Sound Select are at it again: the caffeine-packed beverage people throw concerts around the world, curated by local taste-makers (KEXP has curated a few of these shows ourselves). This time around, legendary label Sub Pop Records have picked the bill, and on Wednesday, October 7th, you can…
What's better than a surprise free album from one of your all time favorite bands? A surprise free album from one of your favorite bands that puts them at the top of their two decades and running game. Wilco wrapped up their contract with Nonesuch back in 2010, after their fourth release on the lab…
During SXSW this year, KEXP returned to Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop and teamed up with Distiller Promo, Sub Pop Records + Hardly Art, and Merge Records for three days of free showcases featuring Dum Dum Girls, Wye Oak, Black Lips, La Luz, Hurray for the Riff Raff and many others. Between sets, we ask…
What is Iron and Wine anyway? A man? A band? A concept? A sound? For the past decade, Sam Beam has used his stage name to mean all of those things. The Southeastern raised songwriter first caught people's attention in the Northwest, actually, through a demo featured in Yeti Magazine and followed by…
Besides deliberate misspellings and prodigious capitalization in band names, we hope that one of the trends people will note about the music of 2013 is the ascendency of female voiced indie pop. CHVRCHES, HAERTS, HAIM (okay, a few bands fall into both categories!) as well as London Grammar, Lorde, …
