Swedish singer-songwriter Anna von Hausswolff's experimental performances continually captivate audiences and listeners alike, offering them extraordinary and sophisticated forms of aural solace. Her newest album, Ceremony, is an ominous yet poignant journey into grief and darkness. Von Hausswolff'…
Like goths on a beach, the dark sounds of Daughter may seem out of place on sunny summer day, but few bands make "moody" music that's not downright depressing as well as this UK trio. Their atmospheric debut LP, If You Leave, arrives just in time for the warmer weather, and you may find yourself, w…
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 …
The Vera Stage's sound has been notably quiet (especially compared to the sometimes deafening main stage) all weekend, but that didn't bother Girlpool, the drumless duo of Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad. In fact, if anything, it probably galvanized the Los Angeles duo. Their music is emotionally a…
Like Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' headlining performance on Friday night, The Lumineers' Monday evening set felt like the culmination of a whirlwind year that started with a little help from Seattle. In January 2012, John Richards began playing "Ho Hey" back-to-back on the Morning Show, the song bega…
Australian band San Cisco’s first time in Seattle included a stop by KEXP for an in-studio with Cheryl Waters. “That was more fun than a barrel of monkeys,” joked Waters, describing the performance. Formed in 2009 in the small city of Fremantle, Australia (the same town home to Tame Impala), San Ci…
It was an afternoon of contrasts when Wilco performed for a packed room of KEXP donors at Columbia City Theater earlier this month. You've never seen a sold out show so quiet, so reverently enraptured, as the band presented song after song in their set, ranging from old favorites to new singles fro…
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…
"Everybody wants to be in a big black coat", Jeremy Greenspan sings on the title track from new Junior Boys LP, Big Black Coat (read our review, "everybody wants to have your style". Truly, few electronic bands have style like this Ontario duo. While Greenspan sings softly, Matt Didemus stands in h…
Will Butler, best known as a core member of Arcade Fire, opened up the second day of Sasquatch on the main stage with a fun set of driving rock. Butler is a multi-instrumentalist, and seems equally confident on guitar, keys, or just playing the front man and singing. Indeed, his dynamic stage prese…
There is a place where the sounds and sights of summer are always abounding and where you can sing about the beach all year long. That place, according to Zach Yudin, is Cayucos, California. His project Cayucas (formerly called Oregon Bike Trails) is an unapologetic love letter to the feeling given…
Hamilton Leithauser recently shared a new song with folk chanteuse Angel Olsen called "Heartstruck (Wild Hunger)" and today that song has an official video. Directed by Peter and Nick Simonite and created by Austin based full-service creative company Preacher, the video follows Leithauser as a wand…
Dan Snaith may have started Caribou as a sample-heavy solo project, but after his set at Sasquatch! Music Festival, it is hard to think of Caribou as anything but a live band. Such was the effect of Snaith and his three touring companion’s show Sunday. While Caribou’s more recent work contains a be…
Drenched in color from the LED screens behind him, Chet Faker began his Friday closing set at Sasquatch! Music Festival in style with the help of his four piece band. Alternating between a full band and playing solo on his keyboard and mixer, Chet visually displayed the duality in his music. Often …
Although they're mostly critical darlings in the United States, Elbow have been headlining stadiums and festivals in their native UK for a few years now, so it's no surprise that their Sunday evening set on the main stage at Sasquatch was a brilliant display of showmanship. Their latest album, Marc…
"If we keep our heads above the water, our heads will only become stronger", sings Angelica Bess on Body Language's Grammar closer "Charm". With new LP Grammar, the Brooklyn synth-pop act is doing a lot more than treading water, though. The band's Social Studies EP was a solid first effort, showing…
With a career spanning over three decades Billy Bragg has acquired both a massive catalog and fanbase. His engaging stage presence and brilliant songwriting have cemented him as one of the most successful folk rock singers in the world. In fact, this past January he was honored for lifetime achieve…
Throughout the nearly five decades of his career, Aaron Neville has performed and recorded hundreds of songs in a variety of styles, from his Billboard topping 1967 solo R&B classic "Tell It Like It Is" through the creole rock of The Neville Brothers, and he's covered innumerable greats of soul…
Arto Lindsay, the guitaring/singing half of the art-pop duo Ambitious Lovers, is one of my favorite - and one of the most underrated - musical artists of the late 20th century (he has gone relatively quiet in the past decade or so, although some recent posts on his facebook page instill hopes that …
Former Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band frontman Benjamin Verdoes came out to the KEXP studio to perform some of the new songs off his latest, 11-track solo project, The Evil Eye. From the unhinged, experimental undertones of Where The Messengers Meet to the structured melancholy of his new-found colla…
