That David Byrne is unstoppable. The influential icon was just in town, launching a run of his musical Here Lies Love at the Seattle Repertory Theater (watch an exclusive KEXP interview about it here). And now, upon his return home, he's announced a "music-related variety show" to held for one nig…
Frontman Rhett Miller is no stranger to the sitcom scene (you may remember his appearance in NBC's 30 Rock), so he's right at home among the guest stars in the new Old 97's video. Jenna Fischer (Pam from The Office) interviews the guys while Fred Armisen (of Portlandia, among other things) fills i…
Hardly anyone on the Seattle electronic scene does intimacy quite like NAVVI does. In the two and a half years since they started asking about our weekend plans, the duo of Brad Boettger and Kristin Henry has worked slowly and steadily on perfecting the tug of war that makes their vision of relatio…
case/lang/veirs -- the super-group of Neko Case, k.d. lang, and Laura Veirs -- share a track from their forthcoming self-titled debut. Stream the single "Best Kept Secret" below, which premiered on Lena Dunham's website Lenny Letter. case told Dunham, "It was done in one or two takes, and it went …
Over decades of milquetoast radio throwaways and sales taking precedent over content, it's undeniable: pop music has lost its sensibility of the extreme. But all is not lost in the brave new world of the digital age. Need evidence? Look no further than Prince Rama's press release for their new albu…
I learn so much writing these blog posts! For instance, did you know that Michael Penn (whom you probably first heard about for his delightfully earwormy 1989 hit "No Myth," but has since done many serious and critically acclaimed things - not that there's anything unserious about "No Myth," that's…
For years, Against Me! frontwoman Laura Jane Grace stood in center stage at raged away, sometimes at others, sometimes at herself. When she came out as transgender in 2012, that fury subsequently turned to a newfound onstage fire, transforming the flagging band from an increasingly cult concern to …
It's the annual April Fool's Day Video Round-up, a compilation of jokes and fools for your viewing and listening pleasure! You can prank me later. What will April Fool's Day 2015 bring? Here's hoping someone tries to top last year's Flaming Lips release, "Sell Out," or Björk's 2009 announcement tha…
Ten minutes into Jonathan Wilson's terrific afternoon set at Sasquatch, something clicked. His band, already well into their second song of psychedelic, desert-tinged rock, hit a groove-based stride, and Wilson transformed the Yeti stage from a small corner in the Pacific Northwest into a highway i…
The Babies, Brooklyn indie rock collaboration between Kevin Morby of Woods and Cassie Ramone of Vivian Girls, stopped by KEXP three weeks after the release of their new album Our House on the Hill to give us a taste of the live adaptation of the record. In case you haven't checked it out yet, Our H…
In early June, Australian singer/songwriter Courtney Barnett and American singer/songwriter Kurt Vile announced that they would be teaming up for a collaborative tour featuring an "all-star band" called The Sea Lice which is a revolving cast of musicians that includes Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney, W…
It's no surprise that British downtempo pop group London Grammar sold out their second Seattle show in six months Saturday night. Back when they played the Crocodile at the end of September, their excellent first full length If You Wait had just come out only weeks before in the states. Now that it…
This week, it's been five years since Drive came out. If, somehow, you've lived under a rock for most of those, Drive is a 2005 novel by James Sallis, adapted into Danish film director Nicholas Winding Refn's most popular (and probably most approachable) film. Starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan,…
Now in its sixth year, KEXPort celebrates KEXP’s ongoing relationship with Kex Hostel in Reykjavik, where we broadcast every year during Iceland Airwaves. Typically, it's a music marathon consisting of 12 bands in 12 hours, but this year they've expanded the program to feature 15 bands over two da…
Milwaukee folk punk legends Violent Femmes have announced that they’ll be relasing their 10th studio album on July 26. Titled Hotel Last Resort, the record follows 2016’s We Can Do Anything, which saw the band return for their first album in 16 years. Hotel Last Resort features covers of Irving Ber…
KEXP shares our response to Covid-19 as well as ways others can help artists and the community at large.
If their lyrics give any sense of how tough the ladies of Warpaint are, the Los Angeles quartet aren't a band so much as they are a gang. Not in the organized crime sense, but in the "don't mess with us" sense. Case in point: On "Elephants", the second track on the band's 2008 debut EP Exquisite C…
