Each week KEXP's Music Director Don Yates shares brief insights on new and upcoming releases. See what's coming up this week below, including reviews for new releases from The Love Language, Alejandro Escovedo, Spider Bags, and more.
Alejandro Escovedo - that's all I knew about the True Believers when KEXP's lineup for SXSW at Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop was first announced. OK, then someone mentioned it was his mid 80's band, a crew that had a brush with fame, but never quite broke through. They had label issues, personnel cha…
Don Slack elevates your mind with a variety of new songs from roots-rock and alt-country to garage-rock, punk, hip hop and soul. 1. Alejandro Escovedo - Heartbeat Smile2. Lydia Loveless - Same To You3. Drive-By Truckers - Ramon Casiano4. Luke Bell - All Blue5. Courtney Marie Andrews - Table For …
The second day of the KEXP broadcast from Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop in Austin during SXSW. Today, we have another killer lineup starting with folk rock icon Billy Bragg, followed by Thurston Moore's new project Chelsea Light Moving, Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds, an…
This past weekend in Portland, a benefit concert was held for beloved local artist Scott McCaughey, who suffered a stroke back in November. As we mentioned last month here on the KEXP Blog, the two nights (Friday at the Star Theater, Saturday at the Wonder Ballroom) featured an all-star bill includ…
I am learning so much today! For starters, I've found out about Rank and File, a band I was previously unaware of. They're often described as a founding band of the country-punk hybrid cowpunk genre, but with my 2017 ears they sound more like "cow-new-wave" or "cow-'80s-college-rock" - but I see ho…
That True Believers' posthumously released second is called Hard Road is no joke. The Alejandro and Javier Escovedo-led Austin band hit the major pitfalls of the 80's music industry starting with a big local buzz that led to a rushed and underproduced first album, a lineup change dictated by their …