It's surely no coincidence that a couple of these new releases came out on the eve of the 2016 Presidential Election. Veteran Chicago rapper Common shares his 11th full-length, an album KEXP's Music Director Don Yates calls, "a powerful set of politically charged hip hop with gritty, cinematic, sou…
Taking us into the rainy Reykjavik night is a hard-hitting set live at KEX Hostel from Icelandic psych-rockers Singapore Sling. Though the band was formed in 2000, founder Henrik Björnsson had been writing their songs for years before. He made some 8-track demos on his own, and then put the band to…
Beck continues to surprise us as he slowly unveils tracks from his new album, the long-awaited follow-up to 2014's Morning Phase. In addition to the groove of "Wow," today we get the radio-friendly pop song "Up All Night." The track also appears in the new FIFA ’17 video game, hence the YouTube im…
Grizzly Bear will be releasing their new album Painted Ruins next month. Last night, they shared their fourth single, "Neighbors," and soon after a video for the single was launched. "Neighbors" follows "Three Rings," "Mourning Sound," and "Four Cypresses." The strange video features two people who…
Word of Chris Cornell's death late Wednesday night was a blow to the music community, but for Seattle it feels even more personal. Cornell was a cornerstone artist for the Northwest. From Soundgarden to Temple of the Dog and Audioslave to his solo work, Cornell helped define the "Seattle sound" wit…
If you're going to have a eerie, gory music video, who better to narrate than Iggy Pop? UK trio alt-J have recruited the Grandfather of Punk to do just that in their clip for "In Cold Blood." Director Caspar Balsey does a little too good of a job building up the tension as a small woodland mouse s…
UK trio alt-J stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in support of their upcoming release, Relaxer. Watch them perform the track "In Cold Blood" with house band The Roots helping out. Relaxer is out June 2nd via Canvasback. alt-J will be LIVE on KEXP on Sunday, April 23rd; catch them li…
DJ ZAI is the alias of Seattle native Isaiah Hinojosa, a self-taught vinyl DJ that strives to connect the dots between a variety of global club sounds every time he gets behind the decks. With a refined taste that covers a wide range of genres and tempos, he can frequently be found spinning at prog…
The city of Los Angeles has always been a backdrop for west coast punk band Bleached: there's a fun-in-the-sun melodic sound paired with a gritty Sunset Strip side. But on their latest album, Welcome the Worms, they escaped to Joshua Tree to find inspiration. "It's funny, because when we would go t…
Folk - like rock, hip-hop, or jazz - is one of those elevated sub-genres on the music tree of life that’s just specific enough to conjure an immediate sound in one’s imagination while being just broad enough to have an endless array of tendrils splintering off of its hefty branch. Joanna Newsom and…
Currently based in Los Angeles, San Diego native and emerging electronic producer Rafa Lavarez (a.k.a. Different Sleep) has been steadily evolving his underground style over the past 5 years, adding upon his early lush downtempo aesthetic to incorporate a more physical and abstract sound that adven…
Super-ambient Icelandic duo Kiasmos brought their very space-y minimalist brand of techno to the new KEXP live room in support of their Swept EP, the second they dropped in 2015. The two longtime friends began working professionally together when Ólafur Arnalds was the touring sound engineer for Ja…
Though there weren't divine circumstances by which HÆLOS formed, the London trio nevertheless seems preordained to make a heavenly sound. While each pursuing careers of their own, Arthur Delaney, Dom Goldsmith and Lotti Benardout turned their casual connections to holy writ as they joined forces to…
Get excited: Brooklyn's Parquet Courts return this Spring with their fifth full-length, Human Performance, out April 8th via Rough Trade. Stream the first single "Dust" below, and check out its accompanying video, directed by Johann Rashid. Parquet Courts will be LIVE on KEXP on Monday, February 2…
When Courtney Barnett sings about "Three Packs a Day," she's not talking about smoking. (I mean, c'mon. Haven't you listened to the lyrics of "Avant Gardener"? She's not that good at breathing in.) Instead, the brand-new single from the Australian singer/songwriter is an ode to ramen. While dietit…
Merge Records rocker Mikal Cronin continues to kill it in the music video realm. Earlier this month, he enlisted comedians Kristen Schaal, Paul Scheer, and Kurt Braunohler to remake a Natalie Imbruglia video (watch here). Today, he tackles the clip for Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al” for his own…
When a band self-titles an album midway through their career, it's usually for one of two reasons: they've either run out of ideas or they've taken a significantly new tact. For Portland duo The Helio Sequence, the reason is obvious. Rather than mull over songs in their usual slow-going and contemp…
It's another jam-packed week of great releases! San Diego duo Crocodiles return with their fifth album, which KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes, "was recorded in Mexico City with production by Martin Thulin (lead singer of Mexican band Los Fancy-Free), and he brings some occasional Latin rhythms …
With Ibeyi, every song is a blessing, sometimes quite literally. The Parisian born twin sisters reach deep into their French-Cuban ancestry and call upon the spirits of Santería on their debut LP, which blends Yoruban evocations with contemporary expressions of love and loss. Their music is, as the…
Nashville's JEFF The Brotherhood may have been dumped by the major label that produced it, but their latest LP, Wasted on the Dream, is anything but. Its big, punchy sound adds fuel to their high octane blend of hard rock, metal, grunge and punk. And brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall dream big, but no…
