The second installment of our “Day Job” series explores how a musician’s encounters while bartending end up being inspirations for songs. Electronic DJ and producer Octo Octa explains how nature inspires her music and discusses her gender transition. Jeff Tweedy talks about Wilco’s new album. Kurt…
The increasingly common trend of anniversary tours has further validated a longstanding posit that, for better or for worse, audiences and performers both hold: almost everyone wants to hear your old material more than they want to hear your new material.(There is a reason Paul McCartney closes wit…
Thursday night before 4th of July at Neumos, you could tell who watched the show from the safety of the balcony from those on the floor strictly based on the quantity of sweat dripping from their clothes upon leaving the premises. I can't speak much for the casual observers above, but between the h…
Among the Polish artists we discovered during the recordings KEXP captured while at the OFF Festival in Katowice, Poland, perhaps none better exemplifies the country's musical diversity as Olo Walicki. The Gdansk-born composer, performer and bass player has recorded many albums of his own throughou…
"This is our first rap song." Sharon Van Etten may have an extraordinary talent for extracting every last excruciating detail of her romantic failings, but it can't be said that she doesn't have a sense of humor. One of a handful of acts to play during Monday's brief period of cloudy skies, Van Ett…
Although there was plenty of star power on the final day of Sasquatch, there was a clear standout during the early afternoon on Monday, and it wasn't just because brought a Godzilla figurine onstage with her. When an assured Natalie Prass opened with an electric version of "Bird Of Prey", it was cl…
Over the past few years, we've tried to make KEXP videos not only fun to watch but also instantly recognizable. But when artists and other guests visit our actual studio space and see the dark and starry walls, they almost always say, "Wow, this is much smaller than it looks!" Charming as it may be…
For quite a while now, I’ve been booking the KEXP Community Partnership Benefit Shows, but not once has one of the benefits fallen on my birthday. Well, this year I’m lucky enough to have this dream come true. So this Saturday, July 5th, I’m inviting you to come out and celebrate 36 years of my exi…
Soul legend Bobby Womack has passed away today at the age of 70. Cause of death is not currently being reported. Womack began performing music in the mid-'50s, and was discovered by Sam Cooke who signed his band, The Valentinos, to SAR Records. The Valentinos' 1964 single "It's All Over Now" was co…
While it's a fairly slow summer week for new releases, there are definitely some terrific Northwest releases to get you shopping at your favorite record store today. In the past three years between their second and third albums, Seattle's Feral Children seem to have grown into men... wild men, sure…
A little over a decade ago, Josh Homme - singer/guitarist/only consistent member of Queens of the Stone Age - broke out of the Palm Desert scene that birthed his first projects (including desert rock pioneers Kyuss and the ever-changing Desert Sessions) and into England with QOTSA's second album, R…
That True Believers' posthumously released second is called Hard Road is no joke. The Alejandro and Javier Escovedo-led Austin band hit the major pitfalls of the 80's music industry starting with a big local buzz that led to a rushed and underproduced first album, a lineup change dictated by their …
While their name sounds like the kind of exclamation you hear on the streets of London, the darlings of Allo Darlin' hail from Brisbane, Australia, and the London suburb of Kent. Earlier this year, when they played Three Imaginary Girls' tenth anniversary show at The Vera Project, they stopped in t…
On the show this time, it’s the groovy, new-classic roots-rock of Portland’s Rose City Band.
New music from The Shins is here! Check out the first single "Name For You" below, from the album Heartworms out March 10th via Aural Apothecary/Columbia. Well, actually the second single: the band shared the track "Dead Alive" last year during Halloween, 'cause with a title like that, you pretty …
Every year, the holiday season seems to inspire some of our favorite bands to write new music. KEXP has rounded up some of our favorites below. Need even more songs for rockin' around your Christmas tree? Be sure to check out previous round-ups for 2015 and 2014. Happy holidays from everyone at KEX…
