Something new's going on in Seattle. Well, something new and something old. This city's musical past is already peppered with its fair share of country rock, folk, psychedelic and metal bands, but several up and coming bands are tapping into those genres and styles with renewed vigor. Ballard was a…
One prominent feature of Decibel Festival is the way its schedule breaks down into rather meticulously set showcases. Unlike most other festivals, in which entry to one location likely grants access to every stage, Decibel also sells individual tickets to each show as an alternative to more expensi…
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…
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…
The release of Jack White's highly anticipated album Lazaretto is just around the corner (June 10), and he's already shared the title track and the intense instrumental "High Ball Stepper." Today, White has gifted the world with a third single. "Just One Drink" sounds like a rustic, southern rocke…
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.…
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…
Born out of the humid Athens, Georgia, southlands, the music of Futurebirds washes over the ears like a welcomed rain. Utilizing pedal steel and a myriad of other instruments on their studio albums - the most recent of which is Baba Yaga, a tight, catchy collection - the band writes songs like acti…
The Seattle artists' music feels like the antithesis to the “Seattle freeze,” beckoning our passive-aggressive, introverted selves to let down our guards and actually enjoy ourselves for once.
KEXP continues our series spotlighting stuff you should buy to help support your favorite bands during the quarantine.
Freedom, Damon McMahon’s fifth album as Amen Dunes, feels like a beautiful dream — its silvery songwriting glide across bold sonic rock landscapes.
Would you like some good advice? Well, you’ve come to the right spot! It's the good advice Music That Matters podcast with John Richards, featuring new songs from Damien Jurado, Swervedriver, The Budos Band, and Leggy!
Shabazz Palaces sound like no one else. Whether you call it "sci-fi", "way-out", "weirdo" or even "planetarium" rap, the Seattle duo's music might as well be in outer space considering how far off they sound from their contemporaries. But it's not like they don't want anyone else to follow. In its …
When it comes to young bands making self-assured, thoughtful and influence-referencing music, Ought already do. The Montreal-based four-piece formed just three years ago amid a burgeoning DIY scene in the city's Mile End district and, while drawing heavily from sonic inspirations like Talking Heads…
Immediately upon hearing Hurray for the Riff Raff, a number of important songstresses whoosh to mind: Dolly Parton, Fiona Apple, First Aid Kit, Jolie Holland and many others. What distinguishes Hurray for the Riff Raff's Alynda Lee Segarra from all these others? Perhaps it’s simply the specific loo…
The Virginia indie rock outfit looks inward at their own anxieties and emerges with a record full of hope, love, and blissful guitar hooks.
Dave Einmo (Head Like a Kite) and Aaron Starkey (Gibraltar) combine forces as OCEANWIRES; watch and listen to their debut single, out today.
It’s that time of year again, when the front yard of your neighbor’s house looks like the artwork of a heavy metal album. KEXP digs into the devilish overtones of the genre and how it came under the microscope during the "Satanic Panic."
John Richards leads you through the latest installment of our Runner Powered Podcasts - the "I like to eat, and drink, a lot (everything hurts and I'm dying!) running podcast", featuring music from Virginia Wing, Metric, Grapetooth, and Spiritualized.
