Following his fantastic third solo album, Singing Saw, Kevin Morby shares a digital 7” single today titled "Tiny Fires." The acoustic track was written and recorded in Morby’s bedroom in Los Angeles, and features two members of his touring band -- Meg Duffy on slide guitar and bass, and Justin Sul…
With a rare chunk of time to spare between great acts at Bumbershoot, a stop at the Sub Pop installation was in order. A short walk down the hill from KEXP to the International Fountain Pavillion to check out the installation and pop-up shop from the legendary Seattle label. Only up for the weekend…
On Saturday, February 18th, musician Clyde Stubblefield passed away from kidney failure in his Madison, Wisconsin home. He was 73 years old. Stubblefield rose to prominence as the percussionist for the James Brown Band during the ’60s and ’70s. His improvised backbeat in the song "Funky Drummer" b…
Partly-local band Widowspeak has announced the follow up 2015’s All Yours. Their new album is titled Expect The Best and will be released later this summer. Frontwoman Molly Hamilton wrote the songs while she was living in her hometown of Tacoma, Washington. The band, formed in Brooklyn, have under…
While most of the well-known Minnesota bands hail from Minneapolis, out on the shores of beautiful Lake Superior is the city of Duluth, hometown to the band Low. In the early '90s, the local sound was loud, abrasive, and grunge-inspired. Someone made the joke, what if a band were to play quiet musi…
Grammy Award-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar has shared the fourth installment in the “The Heart” series, which you can stream below. ("The Heart Part 1" appeared on 2010s K. Dot Drops project, "The Heart Part 2" is on Lamar's Overly Dedicated mixtape, and "The Heart Part 3" was released as a stand-…
A native of Red Bluff, California, Margaret Glaspy moved across the country to Boston, where she cut her teeth with master classes at Berklee (regardless of whether or not she was a student at the time) and local gigs. A few years – and one set of studio sessions redoing her original, iPad-recorded…
Leave it to a neuroscientist to create an out of body experience. UK's Sam Shepherd blows minds post-doc with his experimental electronic project, Floating Points, combining jazz, space rock, prog, EDM, classical and other genres that can but shouldn't be named into an out of this world experience.…
Los Angeles-based DJ and music scholar Canyon Cody has been showcasing vibrant worldly dancefloor rhythms as both a veteran DJ of both radio and clubs, as well as through his own production and label A&R work. With his hands in cool, cutting-edge spots like Fania Records, Red Bull Music Academy…
Despite their being named after my favorite brand of pants and the fact that I loved me some poppy punk rock music in my early teens, I don't believe I ever got into The Dickies. Maybe they were just a little too goofy for me, or maybe I was so busy with the output of Dischord and Lookout! Records …
I have to admit that after reading up a little bit on the goings-on in the life of Ripton Hylton, a.k.a. Eek-A-Mouse, in the past decade or so, I was unsure as to whether I should be talking about this particular album. But after a little more reading and thinking (and listening), I decided to go a…
Despite keeping busy with Dinosaur Jr and Sebadoh, Lou Barlow managed to find time to record a new solo album. The latest, Brace the Wave, hits stores September 4th via Joyful Noise. In a press release, Barlow explains, "Having moved back to Massachusetts (after 17 years in Los Angeles), I recorde…
If you had told the DJs at KCMU 25-plus years ago, as they listened to the debut album by the New Jersey rapper known as Queen Latifah, that in 2015 her name would the second thing suggested by Google when you type in "Queen" (just under "Queen Elizabeth"), they would have said "what's Google?" But…
Although Aly Spaltro's musical beginnings as Lady Lamb lie in the basement of a video rental store in Maine, she's got sights on something bigger. Granted, it doesn't take much to move onto a bigger ambition than playing to yourself at 4 a.m., but Spaltro's aiming for every heart in the room, and t…
"Girls to the front!" This was the mantra for feminist artist Kathleen Hanna when she fronted the influential punk band Bikini Kill in the '90s. Twenty-five years later, Hanna is on tour, presenting the lecture Riot Grrl: Then and Now, and the girls were down in front at the Neptune Theatre, excite…
Sad news from local artist Star Anna: her beloved beagle buddy, Forest, was recently hit by a car and has sustained some injuries. Thankfully, he's recovering nicely. If you've fallen in love with Forest like we have (read our pet profile on him here), please consider making a donation to help wit…
Day two of Portland's first ever Project Pabst began with Portland psych-pop band Grandparents, then a Heart-meets-Led Zeppelin performance from 2014's Thelma & Louise, a.k.a. rock band Deap Vally, as well as a set from Massachusetts indie rock band Speedy Ortiz. The beer was once again aflowin…
"It's what turns the kids on," guitarist and vocalist Chuck Cleaver said, defending a bit of questionable narrative during a recent in-studio. We've been fans of Wussy since their first LP, but this year's Attica! is easily one of the year's best. Even if the kid's aren't listening to it, we're gla…
With their latest album, Shiver & Shake, local trio My Goodness shrug off earlier comparisons to the White Stripes and The Black Keys with their dynamic new songs. During their recent in-studio performance at KEXP, frontman Joel Schneider explained to DJ Cheryl Waters that they were really able…
Originally, he didn't want to do it, but Joseph Arthur was eventually convinced to record Lou, a full album of songs by his friend and mentor, the late Lou Reed. Reluctant to turn the modern legend's memory into "an opportunity", Joseph Arthur approached the songs cautiously, simply, and unplugged …
