San Francisco's Nick Monaco brings his deep experience within his city's DJ/nightlife culture into his own carefree, cosmic experimental pop sound, recently found on his album Half Naked for Soul Clap's Crew Love label. With his teenage years spent throwing all-night parties and diving deep into tu…
Chicago DJ and electronic producer Chrissy (real name Christopher Shively) has been a prolific provider of exciting underground electronic rhythms over the last 10 years. Beginning with his debut EP in 2005 under the Chrissy Murderbot alias, his steady evolution in sound has witnessed multiple new …
Seattle DJ/producer Ca$h Bandicoot (real name Paco Mejino) has become a fixture on the local club scene over the last couple years, quickly emerging as a stand-out artist with his high-energy, party-starting, forward-looking sound. Deftly blending elements of Jersey and B'more Club with an ear for …
Scott Hansen is known as ISO50 for his photography and design work. For his music, he and his band mates are known as Tycho. Closing down Saturday night at Sasquatch! Music Festival, Hansen and crew displayed how the two creative works aren’t mutually exclusive. Sharp images of distant landscapes a…
There's a new super group in our midsts. Pearl Jam's Mike McCready, Guns N' Roses' Duff McKagan, and Screaming Trees' Barrett Martin have joined forces to create Levee Walkers. Their website describes them as "a Seattle band to be sure, but their roots are firmly dug into the foundational music of…
Collectors of kitsch and arcane Americana in their private lives, Cincinnati's Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker are also accumulators of high praise with their band, Wussy. Over the past 15 years, from when they first formed as a duo, the now five-piece has built a loyal fanbase and gathered a wealth …
Despite the many, many hours in the late '80s and early '90s I spent immersing myself in the sounds of Manchester (both contemporary and historical), for some reason the Happy Mondays never really clicked with me. Maybe they were just a bit too fun and dancey for my mopey teenaged self, who knows. …
Musical lore has it that Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the iconic South African mbube group, was founded by Joseph Shabalala after having a series of dreams in which he heard their sounds. It goes unmentioned whether or not Joseph dreamt of 50 years of worldwide success as perhaps the most well-known cu…
Last month, we introduced you to a new group called Pinemen, whose late 2015 debut EP, Pleasant Pain, offered a much needed dose of jangly surf-rock psychedelia. More than just a taste, our featured Song of the Day, "That Certain Flavor", suggested a wider palate that the young Stockholm band might…
The news that shoegaze legends Lush are touring again is exciting enough, and it's just gotten better as we have new music to share from the UK trio! Check out the video for "Out of Control," a single from their forthcoming EP The Blind Spot, out April 22nd on the band's own Edamame label. It'll b…
Things haven't always been sunny for Radiation City. The Portland band may not have been able to illuminate our days with another album had founding couple Cameron Spies and Lizzy Ellison not set aside their differences to reignite their songwriting process. Their third LP, Synesthetica (out this F…
Rounding out day two of KEXP’s broadcast live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves Music Festival is Icelandic electronic band Gus Gus. Formed in 1995 by filmmakers Stefán Árni and Siggi Kjartansson as a film group and acting collective, the goup’s purpose quickly changed with the addition of progra…
Live in the KEXP studio, Lower Dens presents us with a sound that we didn't know we've been waiting for, half-nostalgic, half refreshing. Formed in Baltimore in 2010, Lower Dens is comprised of Jana Hunter, Geoff Graham, Nate Nelson, and Walker Trent. Their audacious third album, Escape From Evil, …
Anticipation is high for the forthcoming full-length from dream-pop duo Beach House. Today, you can enjoy two more tracks from their upcoming album, Depression Cherry, out August 28th on Sub Pop. Stream the singles "PPP," "Beyond Love," and the previously-released "Sparks" via a player on their we…
It was hard not to anticipate what Lord Huron would bring to the live setting. So much of their music is based around place and themes that a live show always seemed like the perfect medium for the group to express their vision to the fullest. The LA group makes music that transports the listener t…
Cameron Crowe’s 1992 film Singles introduced the world to fictional supergroup Citizen Dick, but sadly omitted the band's classic single "Touch Me I’m Dick" from the double-platinum soundtrack. On Record Store Day, Saturday, April 18th, you can finally, well, "touch it" as the band will be releasi…
My Dad Is Dead is one of those band names that might just sound like a one-liner or an attempt to grab your attention, but in the case of Mark Edwards's solo recording project, legend has it that the music on this debut LP was in fact created in direct response to the loss of his father. With so mu…
Issaquah hometown heroes Modest Mouse returned to late night TV after six years with a stop by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Watch them perform the track "Lampshades on Fire" off their first new album in eight years, Strangers to Ourselves. You can catch the mice on Saturday, May 23rd at…
The Mountain Goats have announced a new release today: Beat the Champ, a concept album about pro-wrestling. In a press release, frontman John Darnielle writes, "It is, as any fan of the band will expect, a heartbreaking and heartreviving album about imperfect people described perfectly, with melod…
Like all good things from the '90s, The Juliana Hatfield Three are back! It's been 22 years since the release of their breakthrough album Become What You Are, but on February 17th, 2015 they'll return with Whatever, My Love via American Laundromat. Today, they share the first single "If I Could," …
