Time to break out the AquaNet, blue eyeshadow, and leg warmers. Today, we take a trip back in time on KEXP. From 6AM to 6PM, DJs John Richards, Cheryl Waters, and Kevin Cole celebrate '80s Ladies Night, a benefit for KEXP's New Home, with 12 hours of music solely from the '80s. Although the show to…
In the liner notes of her latest album, Ivy Tripp, Katie Crutchfield — better known by her recording alias Waxahatchee — has a photo of none other than Dolly Parton. She laughed when KEXP DJ Stevie Zoom asked her about it. "I have Dolly everywhere I go," she smiled. Like Parton, the Alabama-born Cr…
Joe Jackson has never been an easy artist to pin down. His first album's lean, edgy, punk-leaning pop sound has aged incredibly well and influenced a thousand bands (without Look Sharp!, I maintain, there is no Spoon), but over the 35-plus years since then he has constantly played with different fo…
Mariachi and punk don’t seem like harmonious ingredients for palatable, let alone outstanding, music, but hardcore punk band The Bronx were creative (and brave) enough to try it out. The unprecedented hybrid punk/mariachi band they formed, named Mariachi El Bronx, had enough talent, appeal and nice…
It's 37 degrees in Reykjavik, and KEXP is setting up at Kex Hostel for four days of incredible live music. Iceland Airwaves festival is just getting warmed up (it officially kicks off tomorrow), but things are already hot here at the hippest hostel in Iceland. We've brought along all the necessary …
For a band celebrating The Age of Fracture, CYMBALS sure form a cohesive sound. On their debut, the UK foursome may shirk "concepts", but their songs are nevertheless about ideas – about "action and desire", "the city", "working", "love" and so much more – but they're even more about dancing and el…
Shortly after their KEXP in-studio session on The Morning Show, Alt-J stopped off at the Late Show with David Letterman for a performance of their bluesy-track "Left Hand Free." The UK group release their sophomore album, This Is All Yours, on September 22nd via Warner Music, and will be stopping …
The light rain didn't keep the crowds away from attending the first day of the 2014 Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival, and the improving weather will only make today more enjoyable. No doubt people will come rain or shine for legendary bands like Big Star's Third and The Replacements, but you m…
Get drunk in tribute to those who aren't old enough to do so! This week, our friends at the Vera Project kick off the 12th Annual A Drink for the Kids, a lost-weekend-long fundraiser for 21+ music lovers to support the beloved all-ages venue, just by drinking at their favorite bar.The opening night…
With all the information passing between people on the internet, I suppose it’s no wonder an amazing band could form via Craigslist – yet, it still comes as a bit of a surprise that JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound came together this way. It’s like hearing the perfect couple met on a dating web site.…
Portland riff-brokers Red Fang recorded a crushing in-studio session for Seek & Destroy's four-year anniversary on October 27, playing songs in from their new album, Whales & Leeches. You can watch the full performance below, and you can also catch them live at their S&D-sponsored, all-…
Born in Zimbabwe, Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi came to Seattle for two shows at Jazz Alley, but before those performances, the songwriter stopped by KEXP for a live in-studio with DJ Darek Mazzone. Accompanied by backup singers and an electric bass, Tuku, who also works with Mahube, Southern Africa’s sup…
Directed by bandleader Danny Mekonnen, the Boston-based Debo Band take inspirations from 1960s Ethiopian jazz music, elements of klezmer, funk and rock and roll. They combine these into original instrumentation and create a rhythmic, thoughtful, often trans-like musical narrative. Adding to Mekonne…
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unrealeased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Af…
"I feel like all 4,000 people in this room should hug right now," the mid-30s woman beside me says to me as the house lights go on after The xx show last Monday night. I nod my head in approval. I understand what she means - not hugs of comfort but hugs of recognition of community and of the beauti…
At KEXP, our love for post-punk sirens Savages knows no bounds. Their debut LP Silence Yourself is without a doubt one of the best introductions of the year. These four women have put together a sound and a vision whose fury and vigil have no equal. Listening to Savages is an experience - it goes p…
Welcome to 'Pacific Notions' with DJ Alex. Every Sunday morning from 6-9 a.m PT, 'Pacific Notions' will showcase the best in neo-classical and ambient music, with explorations into downtempo, new age, post-rock, and other atmospheric styles.
While traditional classical music has long found a home…
Few band names are as apt as The Cave Singers. Not quite a folk band and definitely not your typical indie rock band, The Cave Singers seem to have hatched their sound in seclusion, as if alone amid darkness and firelight. Their songs are rustic in style but not necessarily in execution, airy but a…
Since her 2010 album Have One On Me, we haven't heard all that much from Joanna Newsom, except the fact that she is now engaged to her SNL boyfriend Andy Samberg. So it is welcome news to hear she's made a new video for her cover of Sandy Denny's "The North Star Grassman and the Ravens". The vide…
St. Vincent made her glorious return with the single "New York" earlier this year and today it's received the video treatment from Alex Da Corte. The colorful and fashionable video features Clark and a slew of models in a variety of cartoonish settings. Da Corte said of the video, “I think Annie’s …
