If you missed its debut on The Morning Show on KEXP this morning, we have new music from the Pixies! Check out the single "Um Chagga Lagga" below, from their forthcoming full-length Head Carrier, out September 30th via Pixiesmusic/[PIAS]. It'll be their first album with new bassist Paz Lenchantin …
The range of Major Lazer is vast and extensive. From an Adult Swim TV show, to the radio, to festivals worldwide, the group is quickly becoming a household name. Now a DJ Switch-less trio, the group has offered production to many of the radio’s top played songs (see “Lean On Me,” “Get Free”) yet th…
A name change and an absence from the Sasquatch! Music Festival app will definitely effect the number of people at a show. But if the crowd at Preoccupations was any reflection of their controversial previous name, their show on the Yeti stage Saturday night was surely a reflection of their promisi…
Ty Segall is a master of dissonance. He proved as much Saturday at Sasquatch! Music Festival, where discord was found everywhere. From the harsh chords of The Muggers (which include the likes of King Tuff and Mikal Kronin), to the fact that Ty Segall and his drummer donned Grateful Dead shirts whil…
At first I thought it was an piece in The Onion, but no, Seattle rapper Macklemore really did appear with President Barack Obama this past Saturday morning for the weekly White House Address. (Did you catch Obama's sly "same love" pun?) And the topic is certainly no joke: the two addressed opioid …
Who would have thought a "Big Black Coat" could be so inviting? The album of that name is the first in nearly five years for KEXP favorites Junior Boys, and it comes not just as a return to form but a revisitation of the pop sounds they've cherished for some time - house, techno, soul, disco and R&…
More sad news from the world of music: producer and manager George Martin passed away peacefully in his London home last night at the age of 90. Martin is often referred to as "The Fifth Beatle," as he was the one who discovered The Beatles, signing the young band to Parlophone Records in 1962, an…
Few bands are more iconic in Iceland than GusGus. Starting some 20 years ago, more arts collective than musical act, GusGus broke from their cinematographic origins and through to mainland Europe and the world in the mid 90's with their eclectic electronica assembly of techno, deep house, dance-pop…
Excuse the bad pun, but the MOTOR showcase on Friday night of Decibel Festival is where the rubber hit the road. From Pharmakon’s primal yells to Shifted’s asymmetrical time signatures, the noise and industrial leanings of the evening’s artists were not for the faint of heart. Show attendees had th…
If there's another performer who has received two standing ovations for a single song at the Moore, Jason Isbell should call them and see if they'll go for best two out of three, because chances are that he'll win. The revitalized Southern songwriter is at a career high at the moment, and no other …
This weekend, on July 31st through August 2nd, Pickathon, the Northwest’s premiere roots festival, returns to the Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley, Oregon. And once again, you’ll be able to watch the whole thing happen thanks to the festival’s live video webcast. From your very own porch, couch or of…
Just about the only thing better then sitting down for some pizza and beer to help KEXP's New Home Campaign is doing all that with Rhett Miller performing live. This was the case last month at Ballard Pizza Co., where the always humble Dallas sweetheart Rhett Miller deflected all compliments KEXP t…
Sunday afternoon was a triumphant moment for Strand of Oaks' Timothy Showalter. "The Pacific Northwest has been so good to this band," the long-haired frontman sincerely stated. "We love being here so much." He wasn't kidding. Showalter wore a glowing grin through almost of all of the set, which is…
The innovative releases continue for Lena Simon’s band, KAIROS. Who doesn’t like it when one masterful band takes the work of another for the sake of reinterpretation and homage? And today, we have two examples of this collaboration: a Cock & Swan remix of the KAIROS track, “Can / Cannot” and a…
When's the last time you listened to a record and thought to yourself, "Wow, that's a sound you don't hear every day". Calgary based post-punk quartet Viet Cong (featuring members of now-defunct Calgary act Women) drop their self-titled first LP this week on Jagjaguwar, and it's one of those record…
It's hard to imagine a better indie pop dream team than this – a multi-Grammy winning producer Danger Mouse (a.k.a. Brian Burton) and a beloved singer-songwriter James Mercer (of the Shins), each responsible for some of the most infectious songs you've heard in the past ten years, joining to create…
Having just played an exquisite showcase for the Ballard Day Hood-to-Hood Celebration, Nila Leigh and Sam Ford of Goodbye Heart are ready to take over Seattle and its surrounding areas, provided you let them. Well-versed musicians, the outfit has been making music since 2007, back when they lived i…
"Holy shit." That's what DJ Cheryl Waters exclaimed as Scottish hip-hop trio Young Fathers finished their KEXP session. Thanks to Cheryl's booking, KEXP gets hundreds of in-studio sessions a year, but it's rare when our entire staff is unanimously blown away like we were that day. DJ Larry Rose, a …
It's worth reminding ourselves that the recent heady days are by no means the first wave of Seattle hip-hop, or even the first time Seattle hip-hop has made it big on the national scene. Of course we all know Sir Mix-a-Lot, but it's not like he just appeared out of nowhere. There were other artists…
Each time we've gone back to Iceland over the past five years, we've been fortunate to discover and share with KEXP listeners quite a few bands who might not otherwise leave their shores. For every Sugarcubes and Sigur Rós, we found dozens of others, like Hjaltalín, Ásgeir, Of Monsters and Men (bac…
