French indie rock veterans Phoenix are poised to make a comeback of epic proportions this year. Last time we got a full length release from the band, it redefined the band's following for good. 2009's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is still to this day one of the most well-loved indie pop records in rece…
When Lorenzo Cherubini began his career in the late 80's, the stage name Jovanotti (derived from giovanotto, meaning "young man") refered to his youth, but now, decades later, the name that increasingly became synonymous with commercial success in his native Italy is being renewed through his rebir…
It's the return of the KEXP Community Partnership Benefit Concerts! KEXP and the Seattle Foundation present an early evening for listeners to gather, hear awesome live local music, and support our Seattle non-profits. Join us tomorrow night, Thursday, November 17th, in the Gathering Space for this …
Seattle hip-hop has always been vital, maybe even underrated, but these day's it's undeniable. As we saw at Upstream this year, it's poised for an overdue breakout. The only issue at this point is being overwhelmed with the sheer volume of artists to parse through. For those ready to fully immerse …
Hot off their stellar set at Sasquatch!, Tame Impala have debuted their new music video for "Cause I'm A Man." Puppets replace the band in the video, and even if The Muppets were never your bag, it's pretty entertaining. The song will be available on their highly anticipated album, Currents (out on…
It was a raucous, rollickin' way to close out the 2014 Concerts at the Mural series! Last Friday, August 22nd, hundreds of Seattleites gathered beneath the Space Needle for an evening of music curated by our specialty show DJs, Don Slack of Swingin' Doors and Greg Vandy of The Roadhouse on KEXP.
What a great way to kick off June! Just look at this list of new releases. A clear highlight for KEXP has been the latest from indie rock veteran Bob Mould. KEXP Music Director Don Yates describes the latest from the former Husker Du/Sugar frontman as, "in the same vein as 2012’s excellent Silver A…
What other band is even nearly as iconic to KEXP DJs and listeners as Pixies? Their early independent spirit sent a beacon for other artists to follow and their eventual rise from arty cult rockers to alternative music mainstays proved that unique and uncompromising artists could make a huge and la…
Iska Dhaaf's Benjamin Verdoes recently released a solo album called The Evil Eye. It is an auto-biographical record responding to the myriad trials he's experienced in his personal life. The album is sweet, poignant and wonderfully composed, even using Somali words to help express his thoughts. KEX…
Since Prince released his song "Breakfast Can Wait" earlier this year, I haven't been able to look at breakfast the same. Now, to make my mornings even more awkward, we have a very sensual music video to enjoy. Sexualized breakfast foods are just the tip of the iceberg in this video, there's also …
In his interview with Stereogum, Kip Berman historically described The Pains of Being Pure At Heart as a project about writing songs and playing them with friends. Now, almost five years since the band’s divine eponymous debut, with a new backing lineup that helped record the new LP out in a week a…
KEXP begins Day 2 of Bumbershoot in-studios at the new home with Black Joe Lewis and his band the Honeybears. The Austin blues singer is three years deep into a cathartic rampage. With the release of Electric Slave in 2013, Lewis shed all extra weight from his warpath. The band name is slimmer, the…
Save for the jam band-heavy lineup of the festival's inaugural year – it's weird to think about now, but in the early 2000s, jam bands were as prominent at festivals as EDM is now – Sasquatch has long been an indie rock heavy festival, and even though this year's lineup is slightly less heavy on gu…
Julian Casablancas kicked off his Showbox set Thursday night with an eleven minute experimental track about the corruption of the music industry and the doom of creativity called "Human Sadness". It is truly a new era for one of our generation's best songwriters, personally coming full circle with …
Everything I've ever thought about MØ is wrong. Well, maybe not all of it – I think she put together an incredible debut LP this year with No Mythologies To Follow, and I think that hard work has put her in league with the leaders of the new wave of indie pop like Grimes, Charli XCX, and others. Bu…
Ever since we caught sight of Rising Mountains, their 2009 release, we've been fans of Capsula. The Bilbao by way of Buenos Aires band always thrills with their glam rock inspired riffs and pounding rhythms, reminding you as much of Sonic Youth as T.Rex and David Bowie. Their stage shows, in partic…
As we look back on 25 years of Nirvana's Nevermind, we have to acknowledge how even their music videos became influential. Former MTV Programming employee Amy Finnerty has said the clip for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in particular "changed the entire look of MTV." From anarchist cheerleaders to a sp…
A founding member and leader of seminal British indie rock band The Wedding Present, David Gedge and his music have long been championed on alternative radio, from the late, legendary BBC DJ John Peel in their early years to steady support from KEXP over the past two decades also with his band Cine…
Yes, it’s about to occur again: The Experience Music Project’s Pop Conference, where the best minds of our music journalist generation melt into a whorl of theory, debate, fussy details, bold assertions, bizarre reveals, and loving feels. Papers are given by salty academics, biz workers, scribe-ner…
