KEXP's own DJ Kevin Cole (our Afternoon Show host and Senior Director of Programming) has curated a special mix for Nordic Playlist, a site that devoted to the best sounds from the North. As he explains to the site, "I went with a mix of mostly newer releases, like the Samaris track, which I love, …
Minneapolis' ubiquitous underground hip hop figure P.O.S has a long list of credentials: guitarist for Building Better Bombs, vocalist and keyboard player for Marijuana Deathsquads, member of well-populated supergroup Gayngs, and a founding member of the Doomtree collective. All of these were runni…
“I got knocked down, but I’ll get up.” That’s how School of Seven Bells’ Alejandra Deheza said goodbye to bandmate Benjamin Curtis a little more than two years ago. The Joey Ramone cover was recorded from Benjamin Curtis’s hospital room in late 2013. After a long battle with T-cell Lymphoblastic Ly…
Rounding out our last day of the KEXP broadcast live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves Music Festival is Icelandic dream-pop band Vök. Formed in 2013 as a duo (singer Margrét Rán Magnúsdóttir and saxophonist Andri Már Enoksson) to enter Músíktilraunir (or "Musical Experiment Contest")--a battle o…
We've got more new music to share from Return to the Moon, the highly-anticipated debut of EL VY, a collaboration between Matt Berninger of The National and Brent Knopf of Ramona Falls/Menomena, out October 30th on 4AD. Check out a lyric video, directed by Matt's brother Tom Berninger, for the sin…
Last night at Chop Suey, the full lineup for the third annual Macefield Music Festival was announced. The 2015 lineup is the best yet, featuring a deep roster of NW artists including Mark Lanegan, Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter, Grace Love & the True Loves, Thunderpussy, Fox & the La…
Saturday wrapped up another year of All Tomorrow's Parties Iceland, hosted in Keflavík at Atlantic Studios. Younghusband played their second and original time slot on the main stage. Ought from Canada (who are on the same label as Godspeed You! Black Emperor, who played the day before), and HAM, wh…
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. Next Tuesday is Cinco de Mayo and we all know that means - time to drink. Or at least that’s what it tends to mean for a…
While most Seattleites were glued to our television sets this weekend, local duo Shabazz Palaces went to Jack White's infamous Third Man headquarters to record a direct-to-acetate album in front of a live audience. Holy shit. A representative from Third Man said, "Very few records from last year g…
Northern soul? How about arctic soul? That's yet to be a thing, but if young Icelandic singer-songwriter Júníus Meyvant has anything to do with it, you'll be hearing a lot more similarly soul-stirring melodies from way up north. Júníus Meyvant -- real name Unnar Gísli Sigurmundsson -- has yet to re…
"There are some people in tinsel costumes around me... uh... that's what's happening." When Helado Negro is asked to describe his "bandmates" in the studio, that's how he does it, smirking with just enough hesitation to leave a sense of intrigue. On his latest album, Double Youth, the artist someti…
Don't expect to take the title of the second solo album by Kevin Morby literally. Still Life was written during a particularly busy time in his life, which included touring with two bands -- Woods (his former band) and The Babies (his project with Vivian Girls' Cassie Ramone) -- and switching coast…
"I'm sorry, I have to interrupt. My mind was just blown," DJ Cheryl Waters revealed after Milagres opened their recent in-studio session at KEXP with "The Letterbomb." With its funky drums and shifts between baritone and falsetto, it's easy to see why Milagres' music made her feel this way. In fac…
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. Super Bowl Sunday is almost upon us. This year the battle will take place at The MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New…
First band on air for the 2013 Iceland Airwaves broadcast, live from KEX Hostel, is the 14-man Samúel Jón Samúelsson Big Band. First formed in early 2000 for a short series of performances in their native Iceland, the band was reformed in 2007 and released their first studio album Fynkur. In addit…
"I know everyone here by name", Ólafur Arnalds said during his first in-studio performance at KEXP. It was in fact the fifth time the Icelandic composer and performance has recorded with us, though previously it had been within his own apartment in Reykjavik (in both 2010 and 2011), live from KEX H…
The Nocturnal Showcase at Decibel Festival kept things moving right along Friday night with one of the best beginning to end bills we saw all weekend. Headlining the night was a solid set from British synth pop goddess Little Boots. Preceding her were stellar sets from Light Asylum, Young Galaxy, a…
In true Seattle fashion, locals embraced the rain last Friday to enjoy the first in the Concerts at the Mural series this month, No Depression Night, presented by KEXP and Seattle Center, and curated in partnership with No Depression. It was easy to forget about the weather while watching talented …
Last Saturday, our friends at KEX Hostel, hosts for KEXP’s Iceland Airwaves broadcast over the past two years, threw a party under our shared name... all the way in Reykjavik! KEXPort has become both a welcoming landing spot for KEXP as well as a conduit for Icelandic artists to reach the ears of K…
New York based Freelance Whales may have gotten their start playing on subway platforms in 2008, but now they are one of the most critically acclaimed indie rock bands in years. Judah Dadone, Doris Cellar, and company stopped by the KEXP studio in October to play some tracks off of their Diluvia al…
