New Zealand-born, NYC-based artist Tamaryn has emerged as one of the most striking artists crafting atmospheric shoegaze/dream-pop over the past five years. Her third and latest album, "Cranekiss", finds her adding more electronic elements into her potent and grandiose sonic mix, yielding some of h…
Dream-pop chanteuse Tamaryn shares a video as sweet as the song title for "Sugarfix," a standout from last year's full-length Cranekiss. The self-directed clip captures the atmospheric sound from the New Zealand-born, NYC-based artist. Watch below, and check out the exclusive mix she did for KEXP'…
The Acid are an international trio comprised of British DJ/producer Adam Freeland, California producer/composer Steve Nalepa and LA-based Australian vocalist Ry X. The haunting style of eclectic post-dubstep electro-pop found on their 2014 debut album, Liminal, quickly became a KEXP favorite and le…
Visually, Wampire are a throwback to the 70’s: button-downs with big collars opened at the top, sunglasses, long and wavy hair. If you didn’t know what year it was, you might think the Doobie Brothers just stepped out of the Mystery Mobile. Musically, Wampire proves worthy of their indie buzz. The …
Brooklyn band Caveman continues to evolve on their third album, updating the harmonic indie-folk of 2011's CoCo Beware and the expansive space-prog of their 2013 self-titled LP for a larger, more atmospheric, '80s-steeped pop-rock sound. While the concept story behind Otero War is vaguely sci-fi, t…
The highly-anticipated tenth full-length from experimental-pop group Animal Collective hit stores last Friday. The album features contributions from John Cale and Colin Stetson. Brooklyn band Wild Nothing return with their third LP. KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes, "this Brooklyn-via-Virginia p…
What kind of music would a futuristic space colony of Seattleites create? Seattle producer Kid Smpl gives us an idea with his pleasantly subtle, weather-infused tracks. The 23 year-old artist has been busy over the last few years, releasing a series of EPs since 2011, along with his debut album, Sk…
Atmosphere reigns supreme on Nostalchic, the lush debut album from UK-based electronic producer Stuart Howard, a.k.a. Lapalux. Weaving elements of deconstructed R&B, soul, hip hop, and jazz with his astral, deeply textured production, Lapalux galvanizes a gorgeously infectious mood. Lopsided be…
2013 may not be starting off with much musical gusto, but that doesn't mean there aren't some interesting new releases to be found in stores this week. Among a small handful is the latest release from Broadcast. No, it's not exactly a new album but rather a soundtrack begun before the untimely deat…
Next on the video stream live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves Music Festival was Icelandic atmospheric metal band GlerAkur. The solo project of sound designer for National Theater of Iceland Elvar Geir Sævarsson, creating post-rock flavored metal. His debut record The Mountains Are Beautiful No…
Last Monday, at the first of two sold-out shows at The Moore, Philly's The War on Drugs delivered nothing short of a visually and viscerally stunning display of dream rock dopeness with their cascading waterfall of sound. It's like multiple shots of Nixon-defying dope coursing through your veins th…
Brooklyn band The So So Glos lead this week's new release with their fifth full length. KEXP Music Director Don Yates says the LP, "finds them bringing a bit more diverse and hook-filled sound to their anthemic garage-punk, with often-politically charged lyrics contrasting anxiety, political extrem…
I got my first dose of Young Fathers after I bought a t-shirt from the Anticon Record Label’s online store. To promote them, Anticon slipped a copy of Tape Two with every shipped order, resulting in widespread dissemination of the new band's developing sound. Luckily, I was one of the many to recei…
Ever since Warpaint first made their mark around 2008, the words "hypnotic", "atmospheric" and "brooding" have been applied by critics and fans in the most appealing ways. Their recent self-titled, sophomore full-length finds the LA band no less ethereal yet stretching further out with their minima…
Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova is on a hunger strike, protesting an atmosphere of “slave labor” in her Russian prison. Today, she writes in a letter proliferated by her husband, “I am going on hunger strike and refusing to participate in colony slave labor. I will do this until the administrat…
I hate to break it to you, but you're gonna be heading toward Record Store Day this Saturday at a deficit. Why? Because there are too many excellent new releases coming out today that you'll want to pick up right now. First and foremost: the latest from Yeah Yeah Yeahs, whose fourth album our Music…
This week's highlights include the latest from Hudson Mohawke. The Scottish producer, a.k.a. Ross Birchard, shares his sophomore full-length, and KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes the release "finds him bringing a bit more restraint to his maximalist blend of various electronic styles with R&…
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…
Vancouver/Toronto-based band Gold & Youth continue in the Canadian tradition of bands like Stars and Broken Social Scene, combining boy/girl vocals over danceable pop beats. Released on the iconic Arts & Crafts label last year, their debut full-length Beyond Wilderness captures '80s-style s…
You'll wish you could say you were there. It was just one of those shows that all in attendance knew they were blessed by some kind of angelic beings to attend, as HÆLOS played for a respectably sized, though not packed, crowd at The Sunset Tavern last week. The UK trio decided to advance their for…
