It's gusting something fierce out in the dark Reykjavik night. But it's warm and cozy here in Kex Hostel as our live broadcast continues. Our fourth Iceland Airwaves act of the day was rock trio Kimono, heavy, loud, and a bit dark. They formed in 2001 as an instrumental post-rock band, but have evo…
Our second act of the day here at Kex Hostel was Sóley, one of our favorites in Iceland. Maybe you caught her unique live loops and beautiful singing at our Reykjavik Calling show at Neumo's back in October. Or perhaps you've watched one of the many times we've recorded sessions with her, either at…
First there was the Rat Pack, then the Brat Pack, and now... the Mac Pack? The uniforms may have changed – from suits to cardigans to oversized t-shirts and backwards-facing baseball caps – but the life-is-to-be-lived attitude of today's scene makers hasn't. Singer-songwriter Mac DeMarco embodies t…
If, after hearing Juana Molina's surreal yet powerful music, we were to tell you that that the Latin American legend has also voice-acted as Elastagirl for the Argentine dub of The Incredibles, would you believe us? Would you trust us if we told you that she began her career in show business in ord…
Unless you've got a bad case of phonophobia, Big Scary isn't too terrifying. Featuring Joanna Syme on percussion and heavenly-voiced Tom Iansek on guitar and keyboards, the Melbourne-based duo has broken the mold for Australian music. Their 2013 album, Not Art, was nominated for the triple j Austra…
Five years is way too long for a visit from Midlake, but let's just say the hauntingly-beautiful folk-rock group from Denton, Texas had a good reason. After spending two years recording in the farm, frontman and founding member Tim Smith announced he was leaving the band. Rather than break-up, the …
KEXP broadcast live from KEX Hostel at Iceland Airwaves is Icelandic artist Pétur Ben. He first came into the spotlight following his collaboration with Icelandic virtuoso Mugisonm and the following year he released his debut record, Wine for My Weakness, and won an Icelandic Music Award for best a…
And then every once in a while you find a record that garners unfettered adoration from seemingly all corners. Going through the comments on Savage Republic's 4th LP (please don't make me type the title again), I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop - for someone to cry "overrated" or "pretentio…
Guitar wizard/singer/songwriter Adrian Belew (remember him?) has popped up in the music news quite a bit lately, partly for things he is and will be doing, and partly for things he won't be doing. He plays all over the excellent new Nine Inch Nails album and was going to play guitar on the current …
On Wednesday, I was excited to begin my fifth time attending Decibel Festival with the Abstract Earth Project showcase at the Showbox at the Market. This showcase featured Wax Tailor, an artist whose work I'd never yet picked up, but hearing some of it recently on KEXP had me saying "oh yeah, this …
On any given weekend in Seattle, there are a million amazing shows to see - from jazz at a coffee shop or theater, to a grunge show at a DIY space, to a major act at any one of our large venues. Maybe this weekend you want to try something new, maybe you heard one song by this small electronic, fol…
The world-famous record label Sub Pop turned 25 over the weekend and to commemorate the occasion, on Saturday, thousands of people congregated in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood for an all-day live music event featuring Built to Spill, Mudhoney, Father John Misty, J. Mascis, Jack Endino's Earthwo…
Not many bands can successfully transition from performing a heartfelt lament into a vicious murder ballad, much less on a sunny April morning, but that's exactly what Dublin's Little Green Cars did this past April. Since the last time they played KEXP, the quintet has not only grown by leaps and b…
The moment we all waited for finally came at the very end of Sasquatch - The Postal Service took the mainstage to uproar from a massive audience. Lights erupted, everyone infamous entered the stage, and they started off with "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight". Every song was greeted with audience …
At around 3 o'clock, I made my way to the fairly full audience of the Bigfoot stage to catch Cole Smith's (of Beach Fossils) project DIIV. Little did I know I was in for one of the more sun drunk performances I would see - and I mean that in the best and most innocent way. At one point guitarist An…
If KEXP had a Five-Timers Club, Low would now be one of its key members. The long-running Duluth, Minnesota trio has been a KEXP favorite for the better part of the last 15 years, and while the trio was out in the Northwest promoting their tenth (!) full-length, The Invisible Way, they stopped by …
After playing an excellent lunchtime set live on KEXP, British dub pioneer James Blake moved down to the Neptune for a sold out gig in support of new record Overgrown. Fans were lined up more than an hour before the show and the place packed out quickly once doors were open, and all for good reason…
M.I.A.'s much-anticipated album Matangi has been rejected by Interscope for being "too positive". The album was supposed to be released last month, but now with apparently some "darkening up" needed, the release is expected around April 15th, in time for the Tamil New Year. It turns out M.I.A.'s …
Today on the Afternoon Show, Kevin Cole will be debuting a new 78 rpm single by The Head and the Heart. Recorded using all vintage analog gear by Seattle's groove-O-matic, who operate under the premise that "Recordings made from 1953 to 1965 tend to sound better than recordings made before or since…
Perhaps no other artist has brought Eastern music to the West like sitar master Ravi Shankar. His tutelage of George Harrison in the mid-60's kicked off a lifetime of cultural exchange. While rock bands like The Beatles were incorporating Eastern sounds in their music, Shankar himself was composing…
