The alias of Portland-based musician Douglas Appling, Emancipator has become well-known for his blissful, lush, and cinematic style of music that organically fuses downtempo, trip-hop, and instrumental hip-hop elements into his own enveloping style. A stellar live performer that's a staple on the f…
Currently based in Los Angeles, San Diego native and emerging electronic producer Rafa Lavarez (a.k.a. Different Sleep) has been steadily evolving his underground style over the past 5 years, adding upon his early lush downtempo aesthetic to incorporate a more physical and abstract sound that adven…
Amazingly, Bear Hands have been around since 2006, but haven't gained the recognition they deserve until relatively recently. Before re-locating to Brooklyn's lush music scene, the band suffered through a falling-out and the loss of their first manager. But, despite their ups and downs, their singl…
Mark Farina is a world-renowned San Francisco-via-Chicago DJ and musician best-known as the founder of the iconic Mushroom Jazz series, which spotlights a unique blend of downtempo, house, jazz, soul, and trip-hop styles. His warm and cerebral ear and mixing talents have led to DJ gigs all over the…
A few years ago, "chill wave" seemed all anyone could talk about, and Washed Out was among the first on the scene with the ubiquitous single "Feel It All Around". But while the fad died out, the Georgia-based bedroom composer Ernest Greene developed the his free-floating sound into a full live proj…
The 10th anniversary edition of Decibel Festival begins on Wednesday, September 25, and gathers the crème de la crème of the international electronic music and visual arts community. Holding their own among them are some of Northwest's best electronic artists, like Seattle duo ODESZA. These two you…
Are you a fan of breezy, lush symphonic indie rock? What about high-end modern furniture? Then boy do we have a show for you! In conjunction with VuHaus, a non-profit digital video service, West Elm in Westlake will host a FREE performance by Hey Marseilles on June 15 at 7PM. It's a great chance to…
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…
Justin Vernon, James Blake, Thom Yorke, Pat Grossi — all artists whose voices soar happily in the upper register. Add to them James Vincent McMorrow. With his gorgeously produced new LP, Post Tropical, the Irish singer-songwriter left his folky debut in the dust, choosing instead horns, synths, and…
Montreal natives The Luyas have been around since 2006 and have put out some really great records over the years, two of which -- Too Beautiful To Work and Animator -- were included on the long list for the 2011 and 2013 Polaris Music Prize respectively. Their sound is hard to pinpoint, using tons …
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…
For fans of '90s shoegaze, the past few years have been a rush of reunions: Slowdive. Ride. Lush. Swirlies. Okay, hear me out. Unlike their UK contemporaries, the at-the-time Boston-based band followed a more lo-fi path, combining a DIY, punk aesthetic with their swoony, well, "swirly" guitars. In …
Thursday's weather forecast put Austin, TX, at a high of 80 degrees Fahrenheit, but you wouldn't know it listening to the Copenhagen-via-Los Angeles trio Gliss' shimmering cool. Supplanted by multi-instrumentalist Martin Klingman and guitarist David Reiss' brooding soundscapes, vocalist Victoria Ce…
A brand new song from Björk has emerged called "Blissing Me," along with a video premiered via Amazon Music UK. The song recounts the story of Björk and a fellow "music nerd" crush “sending each other MP3s, falling in love to a song,” according to the lyrics. It's a beautiful change after 2015's h…
Back in 2014, legendary shoegaze greats Slowdive reunited for a performance at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound Festival. With their peers Ride and Lush both reuniting after two years and writing new music, it's no surprise that Slowdive have done the same. Stream the track "Star Roving" below, their f…
The rumors are true: LCD Soundsystem and Guns N' Roses will reunite to headline the 2016 Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California, with Calvin Harris headlining the final night.This April 15-17 and April 22-24, you can head to the desert and catch Sufjan Stevens, M83, Grimes, Run the Jewels, I…
Eddie Bermuda is the alias of Eddie Sumlin, a DJ and producer originally from the Pacific Northwest, with strong roots in the Tacoma area, who currently calls Los Angeles his home base. Known for his smooth DJ sets that explore house, disco, soul, hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and anything fresh in-betwe…
KEXP is excited to present another special all-electronic edition of Audioasis on Saturday, April 18th! Hosted by DJ Alex and co-produced with the help and guidance of Audioasis host DJ Sharlese, the show will feature live performances from Seattle-based electronic musician IG88 at 6:30 PM and Port…
Though named for a popular British toy company, Chad Valley is more than just a plaything Oxford, UK's Hugo Manuel. Also the frontman for the group Jonquil, Manuel has turned a couple of lo-fi solo EPs into a fully realized project of lush, summery synth-pop. Like Jonquil, Chad Valley features Manu…
The innovative releases continue for Lena Simon’s band, KAIROS. Who doesn’t like it when one masterful band takes the work of another for the sake of reinterpretation and homage? And today, we have two examples of this collaboration: a Cock & Swan remix of the KAIROS track, “Can / Cannot” and a…
