The fourth annual Project Pabst descended upon the Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland over the last weekend of August. Since its inception, the festival has been set like a variety jukebox arrangement one would listen to over a few cold beers or, in this case, cold PBRs. Yet, the best quality a…
The Moscow-via-New York songwriter Regina Spektor has been writing songs to capture a wide spectrum of vivid anecdotes, observations, and narratives for more than 15 years now, but for her latest record, 2016's Remember Us to Life, she atypically anchored herself to one inspiration: her pregn…
In a surprising bit of serendipity, two members of musical royalty share a birthday today: Elvis Presley (1935) and David Bowie (1947). The shared date of birth is not lost on the musicians: Bowie wrote his 1975 hit "Golden Years" for Elvis, who turned it down. UK comedian/impersonator Stevie Riks …
French website La Blogothèque has filmed a live acoustic set of Real Estate. The band played a few tracks from their last album Atlas as well as a cover of Weezer's "Say It Ain't So" (listen at the 17-minute mark). The half-hour session is available to watch in full below. [Pitchfork]
RNDM - the side project of Joseph Arthur, Richard Stuverud, and Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament - performed their song "Disappearing Acts" on Conan last night. Their performance felt like it was straight out of the 50s, complete with doowop hairstyles (wigs?) and very dapper suits. It was even filmed…
It has been 25 years since the one-hit wonder White Town released the hit, "Your Woman." The man behind White Town, Jyoti Mishra, breaks down how the song came together and why he wrote a song from a woman’s perspective.
Black Francis makes his video directorial debut today with the clip for "Um Chagga Lagga," off the latest Pixies LP, Head Carrier. Francis (er, "Mr. Black"?) wrote, storyboarded, produced, and directed the clip in Toulouse, France, and the video features scenes of the countryside there, alongside…
White Men Are Black Men Too - Young Fathers' inclusiveness extends beyond the title of their latest LP. The adventurous followup to their Mercury Prize winning debut expands upon their already unconventional hip-hop-infused art pop toward an even wider spanning blend of gospel, soul, psych, prog an…
At some point as an art-rock outfit, a band surpasses the need to surpass themselves. The Flaming Lips have just released a pared down and grainy video for the immersive "Turning Violet" from their latest album, The Terror. Primordial vocals emerge from deep in a Turrell-esque white room before lin…
Swingin' Doors host Don Slack presents the latest Music That Matters podcast featuring new songs from The So So Glos, Waco Brothers, Kristin Kontrol and more. 1. Acapulco Lips - Awkward Waltz 2. Tacocat - I Love Seattle 3. Summer Cannibals - Full Of It 4. PUP - If This Tour Doesn't Kill Yo…
Midday Show host Cheryl Waters loves Fall and her reward is more great music, including a song called Halloween and beaucoup bands from Seattle. 1. The Weather Station - Shy Women 2. Sóley - Halloween 3. Youth Lagoon - The Knower 4. Israel Nash - LA Lately 5. Hamilton Leithauser & Paul Maroo…
It’s time again for Friday on My Mind. Our weekly blog post where we look at videos centered around one common theme. This is a collaborative effort between KEXP and King 5 News. Using inspirational songs during sports competitions helps pump up and motivate both athletes and fans. Music plays a pa…
Rejoice! Indie rock legends The National have announced a new album! Their first since 2013's excellent Trouble Will Find Me, the new album will be called Sleep Well Beast and will be released just in time for the post-summer bummers on Sept 8th via 4AD. Check out the first single "The System Only…
There's strength in numbers, and that's certainly true in the case of Portland mini-orchestra Typhoon, who swept through the KEXP studios last fall in support of their most recent album White Lighter. Ironically recorded in Happy Valley, Oregon, the new album is a chronological musical diary of fro…
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s selection, featured on the Mo…
This past Tuesday, we aired an exclusive in-studio session with Regina Spektor where she performed a gorgeous live version of the song "Black and White." Today, we've got an official video for the track, spotlighting Spektor performing in Chicago's closed down Uptown Theater as a ballerina dances.…
It’s a long way from Toronto, Ontario, to the Doug Fir lounge in Portland, Oregon, but any travel issues the critically-acclaimed Canadian band Austra had to endure didn’t show at their MusicFest NW performance on KEXP. The band, as usual, was composed, in control, and luminous. Throughout their em…
While Shearwater may have traveled two-thousand miles to be at the Sub Pop Silver Jubilee, the Texans seemed right at home in Seattle. KEXP went backstage at the Jubilee to capture Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg deliver not only his work with Shearwater and Blue Water White Death but a song by a ban…
DJ Kevin Cole previews the best of Iceland Airwaves 2017 with new tracks from Högni, Hórmónar, Mammút, JFDR, Vök, Sóley, Glintshake ГШ, Mikko Joensuu, and more! 1. Mammút - The Moon Will Never Turn On Me 2. Hey Elbow - Quest 3. JFDR - White Sun 4. Vök - BTO 5. ГШ (Glintshake) - Убожество 6. …
Lots to smile about in DJ Kevin Cole's latest edition of Music that Matters! Stag strut their stuff, Mark Arm infuses The Black Clouds with an ominous howl, Killer Mike and El-P from Run the Jewels Talk To Us, plus loads more! 1. The Holy - Ramses, The Evil Brother2. Ride - Charm Assault3. Dutch …
