Michael Franti will, without hesitation, say that his 20-plus year career was built on one thing: tenacious optimism. And even if you can't see it in the room, Franti's optimism radiates just as brilliantly through the songs of his new album Soul Rocker as anything else in his catalog. Franti, alo…
At the end of Alabama Shakes' set at Marymoor Park, there was a conspicuous absence: their biggest hit. "Hold On" just isn't the song that introduced the band to a wider audience, it's still one of their greatest moments. On paper, its omission is bewilidering to say the least. (Hell, even the noto…
Besides deliberate misspellings and prodigious capitalization in band names, we hope that one of the trends people will note about the music of 2013 is the ascendency of female voiced indie pop. CHVRCHES, HAERTS, HAIM (okay, a few bands fall into both categories!) as well as London Grammar, Lorde, …
At a festival, it's rare to get a performance that feels "intimate." It's something most fans reconcile with before they ever enter the gates and scan their wristbands. So walking into the KEXP Gathering Space on Saturday afternoon at the Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival and finding the crowd …
In the seven years since Michael Angelakos shared the gooey valentine EP that was Chunk of Change, a lot has changed. Three albums later and the cute story backed by intriguing music has turned Passion Pit into the household name. Angelakos went from his bedroom to the frontman of a project that is…
Last week, on Thursday, July 10th, music lovers from all across town poured into Seattle Center to help us celebrate All In: The Rally for KEXP’s New Home. It was our first-ever event at the site of our future station, and we were humbled by the outpouring of love and support we received that eveni…
If you've ever seen Seattle's Naked Giants live, you know just how passionate and rabid they can be. Even the drummer can barely contain himself to his throne while the trio is churning out furious, excitable riffs. They feel like they were born to be wild, which is why they're the perfect fit cove…
Maria-Elena Juarez, Christopher Garland, and Jordan Adams have been slaying Seattle clubs as Acapulco Lips with their cataclysmic six-string hurricane of a sound for a few years now, but with the release of their self-titled debut this year, they're loaded with even more tunes that highlight their …
It seems popular these days to hate on Valentine's Day - what's wrong with a day committed solely to being totally stoked about another person? It's like a birthday, but way less arbitrary. These posts always lean 80's nostalgic, as if The Cure had exclusive rights to "feelings." But this year we'r…
After a six-year absence, KEXP’s John in the Morning at Night returns on Friday, June 12, at Neumos. For the Morning Faithful and everyone else, this benefit for KEXP's New Home, featuring performances from Morning Show favorites Haerts, Pickwick, Baby Dayliner, and NAVVI, is one not to miss. We wo…
Don't let the arsenal of electronics fool you -- UK artist Jon Hopkins brings an unexpected warmth to IDM through his inventive sampling of organic sound: hands clapping, hitting things, even using his own voice to build a seductive percussion. It's no wonder his fourth album Immunity, released las…
The Pixies have a video for "Andro Queen" from their most recent release, EP-1 - although what's happening in the video is uncertain. Two bands seem to be performing and there is a girl dancing, or just walking, as well as several tiger masks and a tiger lamp. Even if you can't make heads or tails…
When DJ Sharlese asks MASZER frontman STITCX about growing up in Tel Aviv, he immediately, enthusiastically replies "Born and raised!" As the Israeli musician points out, however, there's musical influences from all over the globe that go into the Seattle-based group's roaring, percussiv…
Even though there was no explicit goal in mind when Jayhawks frontman Gary Louris started work on the songs that would eventually make up the Minneapolis group's ninth album, Paging Mr. Proust, he ended up with a set of songs that rank among the band's most gorgeous tracks. In their la…
Is there any band that has defined the sounds of early 80s like New Order? From the post-punk roots of "Ceremony" to "Age of Consent", and the new-wave brilliance of "Blue Monday" to "The Perfect Kiss", New Order are the figurehead of an era. They extended their reign through 1993's Republic, where…
Despite the surprise appearance of (perennial Bumbershoot headliner) rain on Satuday evening, the dedicated crowd of Babes in Toyland fans seemed completely indifferent to the downpur. And from Kat Bjelland's first snarling guitar chord, it was clear that she was too. In a set front-loaded with one…
"I'm going to get all VH1 on you for a minute if you're okay with that, crowd of 85% shirtless men." Colin Meloy may be a bookworm at heart, but he's spent the last fifteen years learning how to be a rock frontman, and during The Decemberists' Saturday evening mainstage set, those skills were put t…
Seven years without a new album. Nearly biannual membership shuffles. Repeated reports of studio sessions without any release. For a minute, Modest Mouse looked like they might have been heading down the lucrative but artistically fruitless legacy act path that a few of their contemporaries are sta…
There are some people that say there is art in restraint. Those are the types of people Sleigh Bells eat for breakfast. Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss are back for round three this week with Bitter Rivals, and they are going even harder and even heavier. And it’s a good thing too – now more than ev…
You don't have to be a DJ, or even relate to anything on this list, to go to University of Washington's Rainy Dawg Radio's excellently curated 10th Anniversary Party this Thursday the 23rd - they've managed to captured many of Seattle's local sounds in one show. From the electro-soul of Natasha Km…
