If Thao and the Get Down Stay Down and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were related and they had a uniquely uncompromising third sibling it would be vocal-and-guitar-wailing Weaves. The Toronto four-piece isn't afraid to push the envelop in an free form, experimental effort to expand their own style of …
It feels like a long time since we last saw Animal Collective, not because three and a half years is an egregiously long time to wait for a new album, but because so much has happened since then, both within the Collective and out of it. Centipede Hz came out in September of 2012, an album which, i…
FFS, the eponymous debut album from the collaboration project between Franz Ferdinand and Sparks, feels a bit like a beautiful car crash in slow motion. I say slow motion because the two objects that make up the collision seen here have been careening towards each other since the good old days of 2…
"Be careful with that beach ball," a grinning AC Newman said one song into the fourth Sasquatch appearance of The New Pornographers' career. At this point, Newman, de facto co-frontwoman Kathryn Calder, and the group are Sasquatch veterans, and they made sure everyone knew it in a particularly unor…
Last month, Neptune Theatre hosted the latest in our ongoing series of benefit shows as KEXP, Starbucks and STG presented Little Big Show #9, with 100% of ticket sales going to local non-profit Hugo House. Headliners, and long-time KEXP favorites, Cloud Cult performed a typically uplifting set, as …
Maybe it's just me, but there seems to be a phenomenally awesome trend happening right now where dance bands are accompanying thumping tracks with a lyrical message of higher understanding and deeper self-knowing. Last fall, Cut Copy gave us Free Your Mind, a record musically inspired by rave cultu…
Determined and unwavering Brooklyn-based folk rock band WOODS have released over six albums since their inception in 2005, distinguishing them as some of the hardest-working indie rockers. Singer-guitarist and founder Jeremy Earl even runs the record label Woodsist, from which WOODS release their a…
It's hard to think of an individual who's more of a Seattle Rock Institution than Jack Endino. Whether as a musician or producer/engineer, he's been knee-deep in this city's growing and changing music scene for about three decades. By the time he released Angle of Attack, his first solo album (whic…
To look at Jonathan Wilson, you know where he's coming from, or more likely when. His long straight hair tied back, his well but not too neatly kept beard, the worn army green coat over a very well-worn low neck DIY band t-shirt, the beaded jewelry, the knit hat -- it all evokes a 70's hippy chic t…
More new music from The Shins: stream the very Wilco-esque single "Mildenhall" below (frontman James Mercer is even singer lower than ever before). The band's fifth LP Heartworms will be out March 10th via Aural Apothecary/Columbia. Catch them at this year's Sasquatch! Music Festival, 5/26-5/28 at…
When most people hear the name "Barrett Martin," they immediately think of rock bands, like '90s grunge gods Screaming Trees or maybe supergroup Mad Season (which also featured members of Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam). Or maybe you flashback to 2015's Raw Power supergroup, performing on the top of…
In the classiest move ever, Brooklyn-based queer punk band PWR BTTM played a show in Orlando this past weekend, a mere week after the tragic shootings at gay club Pulse. Proceeds were donated to the GoFundMe Pulse Tragedy Community Fund. And Liv Bruce performed a beautiful solo version of the clas…
Fleet Foxes are getting back together. The Seattle indie band went on hiatus five years ago after they released their sophomore album, Helplessness Blues. At the time, frontman Robin Pecknold had decided to go back to Columbia University to earn his degree. Now it seems the hiatus is coming to an …
Just about the last thing we'd ever ask for in Seattle is "more rain" - unless of course that's the name of the latest album by M. Ward. On his eight studio LP, the Portland based musician doesn't let the Pacific Northwest's soggy gloom get him down, and dares the clouds away with his initially doo…
Though a relative unknown here in the states, singer/songwriter Marlon Williams is a star in his native New Zealand and his recently-adopted home of Australia. At the age of 17, he, some high school classmates, and their apparently-pretty-cool science teacher formed the band The Unfaithful Ways. In…
"I'm not explaining this really good," said a flustered Kurt Vile to KEXP DJ Cheryl Waters during this KEXP in-studio session. Thankfully, the young singer/songwriter is able to let his music speak for itself: his sixth and most recent full-length b'lieve I'm goin down... has been topping Best Albu…
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Midday …
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Morning…
Though a man of few words in person, singer/songwriter Dan Bejar finds his voice through music, which rang out loud and clear when his project Destroyer stopped by the KEXP studios. With his tenth full-length, Poison Season, what began as a mostly-solo project of Bejar's has expanded into a eight-p…
Armed with a tidal wave of talent and tracks from their new release, Weirdo Shrine, Seattle’s surf rock songstresses La Luz light up KEXP with this stunning live session. With their dark, reverb coated strings and organic tones, the band delve deeper into the fabric of their sundrenched sound - wit…
