This week we celebrate the 15th year of one of Seattle’s favorite hometown labels: Barsuk Records! Since its birth in 1998, Barsuk has helped create a platform for dozens of great bands, from the Pacific northwest and otherwise, to get off the ground and put forth incredible music. Even in the deca…
KEXP's Resident Runner and host of the Morning Show, John Richards, returns with Volume 3 of our new Runner Powered Podcast series. It's another high energy hour of KEXP faves and new tracks to keep you moving! 1. Akron/Family - River 2. Cloud Control - Dojo Rising 3. Porcelain Raft - Drifti…
Next on the KEXP broadcast live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves 2016 was incredibly talented American singer Adia Victoria. Hailing from South Carolina, Adia was raised by a devout seventh-day-adventist family, and was isolated from much of popular culture for most of her childhood. In high sch…
Mirel Wagner has an uncanny ability to conjure haunting atmospheres with little more than an acoustic guitar and her chilling, sparse vocals, but what's even more striking is the narratives she chooses to craft with those talents. Mortality, family, and love are just some of the themes that colored…
During her concert at last year's Iceland Airwaves Music Festival, Björk screened a virtual reality video for the Vulnicura track “Notget.” (The clip, along with videos for “Family,” “Stonemilker,” and “Black Lake,” were also screened last year at the Björk Digital exhibit in Montreal.) Today, sh…
Few artists resonate so strongly with KEXP listeners and all Seattle music fans as Kurt Cobain. His band, Nirvana, wasn't the first to break out of the Northwest nor did their groundbreaking breakthrough, Nevermind, sell the most among their contemporaries, but Cobain probably represented more of t…
The bad news continues to roll through the music world: singer/songwriter Leon Russell died in his sleep yesterday morning in Nashville. No cause of death has been cited for the 74-year-old musician, but NBC News reports a number of prior health conditions, including surgery to stop leaking brain …
Uncanny timing! As KEXP broadcasts from the Iceland Airwaves Music Festival, we've got news from headliner, Björk. The Reykjavík-born artist has announced a virtual reality (VR) video for the Vulnicura track "Notget" is on the way. Watch a trailer below. Björk has previously released VR Videos for…
In honor of the late Jason Molina, Graveface Records has announced the release of a tribute album (due out on April 23). Weary Engine Blues has an impressive roster of singer/songwriters -including John Vanderslice, Will Oldham (Bonnie 'Prince' Billy), Phil Elverum (The Microphones), Mark Kozelek, …
Okay, let the "slappin da bass" jokes commence! Icelandic disco outfit Boogie Trouble get down to some serious grooves (in the funnest possible way) and really showcase the talent of bass player Ingibjörg Elsa Turchi (also of Rökkurró) as you'll see in the videos. But everyone in Boogie Trouble is …
Grizzly Bear will be releasing their new album Painted Ruins next month. Last night, they shared their fourth single, "Neighbors," and soon after a video for the single was launched. "Neighbors" follows "Three Rings," "Mourning Sound," and "Four Cypresses." The strange video features two people who…
There have been so many excellent summer festivals, it's been hard to keep up, but one line-up you shouldn't miss is the one at the 33rd Annual West Seattle Summer Fest! From Friday, July 10th to Sunday, July 12th, the West Seattle Junction will be bustling with entertainment, shopping, and fun for…
Family band - it's a term that can evoke either wholesome 70's stereotypes or embittered alt rock rivalries, but London siblings Kitty, Daisy & Lewis seem from a time further removed. Their sound and style recall those carnivalesque clans of dustbowl days with alluringly alliterative names that…
Alt-J have shared an incredibly cinematic video for "Pleader," off their latest album Relaxer, released back in June. Directed by Isaiah Seret, the exact plot is difficult to derive but according to the band: "When we set out to make a video for 'Pleader,' Joe sent the following one-line brief to d…
Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by John Richards, host of The Morning Show on KEXP, is "Family Farm" by The Hold Steady, from the 2021 album Open Door Policy on Thirty Tigers.
Eagles of Death Metal have issued their first statement since last week's terrorist attack at their Bataclan show in Paris that claimed the lives of 89 people, including their merchandise manager Nick Alexander. Via social media, the band wrote: "While the band is now home safe, we are horrified a…
Real Estate frontman Martin Courtney has announced he'll be releasing a solo album, titled Many Moons, out October 30th via Domino. A press release states the full-length, "is squinting-at-the-sun bright, full of subtle introspection, an elliptical document of Courtney’s transition into family lif…
For the third Friday evening in our free Concerts at the Mural series, on Donor Appreciation Night, clear sunny skies and sweet tunes beckoned fans to fill the Seattle Center lawn. KEXP truly is a community effort, and Friday night showed what the community is all about. Justin Chan won a chance to…
