It's Friday night at the Showbox and there's a singer on stage waltzing through "My Favorite Things" from The Sound Of Music and at the end of her final stanza, the band behind her crash in and a Danny Brown verse recited by Spank Rock (perhaps one of the only rappers who could conceivably match Br…
Australia's golden child of the past couple years, Courtney Barnett, has released a brand new old song, a track she used to perform often at open mics when she was just starting out. Titled "How To Boil An Egg," it has finally been recorded and released for our listening pleasure. The single is bei…
Miami-based garage rockers Jacuzzi Boys have launched a new label Mag Mag, and who better to be on their first release but the Grandfather of Punk himself, Iggy Pop. Check out the single "Asshole Blues" below, officially out April 21st as the first in a series of flexi-discs. In an interview with …
It sounds like NPR may have bitten off more than they could chew. When they opened up the NPR Music's Tiny Desk competition recently, they were searching for some of the best unsigned, undiscovered talent in the country. But when they found themselves awash with roughly 6,000 submissions, many of t…
I would've loved to see the faces on the suburban stay-at-home parents when UK post-punk band Savages took the stage on Ellen yesterday afternoon. "I love finding new, interesting, unique music, and I love this next band," Ellen said in her introduction. Watch them perform the track "Adore" below.…
This past week, L.A. rapper Kendrick Lamar unleashed his latest, untitled unmastered, seemingly out of nowhere. The album consists of eight previously unreleased outtakes from his To Pimp A Butterfly recording sessions, which KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes "holds together remarkably well, comb…
Kastle is the alias of Los Angeles-based DJ/producer Barrett Richards, a constantly evolving and forward-thinking artist that also runs the hotly-tipped Symbols record label. Initially emerging onto the scene with a fresh club sound that fused house, R&B, bass, and pop in a seamless fashion, hi…
Brooklyn-based popsters The Pains of Being Pure at Heart announce a new EP today, Hell, out November 13th via their own cleverly-named label, Painbow. Today, they share a track from that, a cover of the 1993 single "Laid" from Manchester band James, which you've surely heard on The Morning Show on…
Longtime KEXP faves Low return with their 11th album, Ones and Sixes, on September 11th via Sub Pop. The latest from the pride of Duluth, MN was co-produced by the band themselves along with engineer BJ Burton at Justin Vernon’s April Base Studios in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Stream the full-length b…
Joe Jackson has never been an easy artist to pin down. His first album's lean, edgy, punk-leaning pop sound has aged incredibly well and influenced a thousand bands (without Look Sharp!, I maintain, there is no Spoon), but over the 35-plus years since then he has constantly played with different fo…
This week, soulster Matthew E. White unleashes his sophomore full-length Fresh Blood, which KEXP Music Director Don Yates describes as "a well-crafted set of soul-inflected pop, featuring a warm, full-bodied though intimate sound, impeccably arranged with lush strings, soulful horns, piano, soft vo…
From heartfelt harmonies to tranquil flirtations, Seattle’s Smokey Brights drop by the KEXP live room to unveil a decadent collection of tracks from their new rhythmically red rummed release, Taste for Blood. Duo vocalists Ryan Devlin and Kim West produce hypnotic results - tender chants that sound…
On the eve of the release of their new EP, False Starts, Seattle band The Young Evils stopped by KEXP to squeeze out their brand of infectious sultry soundscapes until our tiny live room walls were dripping in all elements of retro cool. From the rocking spaghetti western whimsy of "Get Your Guns" …
Despite the recent years of turmoil that almost resulted in a break-up, the beat goes on for Brooklyn band The Drums. Now stripped down to founding members Jonny Pierce and Jacob Graham, it's been a three-year wait for their latest album, Encyclopedia, out now on Minor Records. As Pierce notes hims…
Swedish singer-songwriter Alice Boman's subtle vocals and delicate instrumentals could get a response from even the chilliest of hearts. The minimalist musician, who released her second EP, EP II, this year, creates such an uncluttered sound that it disguises the fact that she is accompanied by thr…
If our recent in-studio session with Thurston Moore was too much of a tease, you can now stream his forthcoming full-length album, The Best Day, below. His fourth solo album finds the former Sonic Youth frontman backed by longtime drummer Steve Shelley, My Bloody Valentine bassist Deb Googe, and U…
