During Decibel Festival, Optical 3: Playful Dischord took place at the Sky Church, this time featuring Berlin's Kangding Ray, Atom™ HD/AV and ending with Oneohetrix Point Never with visual artist Nate Boyce. This stacked line-up explored everything from dance to deep space. Kangding Ray, a former a…
Pickathon's live video stream concludes today... but don't worry. You still have until 2AM on Sunday night to watch and hear performances from X, Courtney Barnett, Foxygen, The Barr Brothers, The Men, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and many others. Check out the schedule above and watch the video stream …
It's only fitting that he's on a record label called Truth & Soul Records, because that's exactly the kind of music the legendary Lee Fields creates. The 63-year-old music veteran is still going strong after 43 years in the business, and his most recent release, Emma Jean, is just as vital as e…
With all the information passing between people on the internet, I suppose it’s no wonder an amazing band could form via Craigslist – yet, it still comes as a bit of a surprise that JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound came together this way. It’s like hearing the perfect couple met on a dating web site.…
Born in Zimbabwe, Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi came to Seattle for two shows at Jazz Alley, but before those performances, the songwriter stopped by KEXP for a live in-studio with DJ Darek Mazzone. Accompanied by backup singers and an electric bass, Tuku, who also works with Mahube, Southern Africa’s sup…
British rock group The Heavy, rumored to be the only band David Letterman has asked to perform an encore on his show, stopped by the KEXP studios to deliver their own brand of rock and soul. The band effortlessly exudes cool, from lead singer Kelvin Swaby’s shades and grey tank top to Chris Ellul’s…
As the mythology goes, Trampled By Turtles formed as a side project by the band members in order to get a chance to play acoustic songs together. Now look at them! Featured in mainstream movies and on tour nationally! “The first year of existence of this band was also the last year of existence for…
If you don't have any plans for this weekend, March 21st - 24th, (or even if you do) I highly recommend you hightail it to Idaho. Opening tomorrow in Boise Treefort Music Festival kicks off with quite the impressive lineup. The festival was started just last year with an impressive 137 bands, this …
It's been over three years since Annie Clark released the last St. Vincent album but it looks like good news is on the horizon. Today she shared a new song called "New York" that many are hoping is a precursor to a new album. The song itself is far more stripped back than Clark's previous work and …
As a teenager, Jordan Gatesmith fronted the Minneapolis-based band Howler, whose sneering garage-rock sound caught the attention of UK label Rough Trade. (You can check out their KEXP performance during SXSW 2012 here on the blog, and a 2014 in-studio session here.) After two albums, Gatesmith disb…
While most of the well-known Minnesota bands hail from Minneapolis, out on the shores of beautiful Lake Superior is the city of Duluth, hometown to the band Low. In the early '90s, the local sound was loud, abrasive, and grunge-inspired. Someone made the joke, what if a band were to play quiet musi…
Get ready for some two-fers on The Midday Show on KEXP: the new Spoon album is finally here! KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes, the "Austin band's ninth album finds them tweaking their sound with more prominent dance beats, electronic textures and adventurous sonic touches, while still providing …
New Beck songs! Well, new-ish. Back in 2011, Beck contributed two original pieces for the film soundtrack to D.J. Caruso’s thriller, I Am Number Four. Over the weekend, Caruso shared two of those songs online, which you can stream below. No definite news on the long-awaited follow-up to 2014's Mor…
Under the watchful (and still proud) eye of Captain Pabst, steadfast day drinkers with koozies in hand turned out to hear PDX electro-darlings Hustle and Drone open day one of Project Pabst. The trio's fresh synth pop cut through the 97 degree weather. With just as much sweat and half as many keybo…
Twenty two years is a long time to wait for a group's second album, but The Juliana Hatfield Three have not missed a beat on the new songs from their recently released, Whatever, My Love. Unlike the vast majority of '90s bands currently slugging it out on the road, this trio does not have to rely o…
KEXP faves Parquet Courts share a new video today for the track "Pretty Machines," off the release Content Nausea from their side project "Parkay Quarts." (Still with us?) Guitarist Austin Brown takes to the streets in this clip co-directed by Johann Rashid (of the band East Link). Check out the m…
St. Vincent made her glorious return with the single "New York" earlier this year and today it's received the video treatment from Alex Da Corte. The colorful and fashionable video features Clark and a slew of models in a variety of cartoonish settings. Da Corte said of the video, “I think Annie’s …
Swedish rockers Peter Bjorn and John have been proselytizing their pro-60s pop prowess since 1999. The trio really took the indie world by storm back in 2006 with their dance-floor hit "Young Folks," and ten years later, they're still artfully writing their whistle-catchy songs like the title track…
In its 21st year, Capitol Hill Block Party feels more like a party than ever. The first day alone proved that people were willing to forgo their post-work tiredness and rage in the streets to Run The Jewels, Wolf Parade, and Mura Masa. CHBP may have the budget to keep bringing in larger and larger …
Congratulations to Mavis Staples, who just won a Grammy last night for Best American Roots Performance. It's great timing as the legendary blues singer will release Livin' On A High Note, on Friday. This, her fourteenth studio album, features songs written by Justin Vernon, M. Ward, Benjamin Booker…
