Ballard and seafood are practically synonymous. Before the neighborhood became synonymous with hip bars and a thriving music scene, it was all about fish. Personally, I come from a lineage of family who left their homes and sought out Ballard. My grandfather worked out on a tugboat and his father b…
KEXP Radio hand selects all of its music, with expert DJs showcasing both established and emerging bands. Rock is generally a broad term for KEXP, as indie and alternative sounds are often blended with a variety of other genres in an innovative music format. KEXP variety mix programming makes up th…
Each week in 2022, KEXP pays homage to a different year and our writers commemorate it with one song from that year that resonates with them. This week, Martin Douglas looks back at No Age's 2007 quasi-anthem "Everybody's Down" and the emergence of a localized DIY experimental punk scene right at t…
Stockholm, Sweden based indie singer-songwriter Simon Stålhamre of the band Small Feet stops by the KEXP studio and performs an intimate and very special performance of songs from their new record "From Far Enough Away Everything Sounds Like The Ocean" live on KEXP's The Morning Sho…
Beloved indie-rockers, Polaris are best known for providing music from the classic 1990's Nickelodeon television show ‘The Adventures of Pete & Pete'. While embarking on their first tour ever, they stopped by the KEXP studios and performed a fantastically killer live set on The Midday show wit…
Indie-folk singer and guitarist Angel Olsen performs a plugged-in set with her band on The Midday Show. Her debut LP "Burn Your Fire For No Witness" was released on Jagjaguwar. Olsen has formerly toured as a member of Bonnie "Prince" Billy's band and The Cairo Gang. Recorded 3/…
"I'm sorry, I have to interrupt. My mind was just blown," DJ Cheryl Waters revealed after Milagres opened their recent in-studio session at KEXP with "The Letterbomb." With its funky drums and shifts between baritone and falsetto, it's easy to see why Milagres' music made her feel this way. In fac…
KEXP Radio hand selects all of its music, with expert DJs showcasing both established and emerging bands. Rock is generally a broad term for KEXP, as indie and alternative sounds are often blended with a variety of other genres in an innovative music format. KEXP variety mix programming makes up th…
Welsh band The Joy Formidable have spent the past decade making stadium-ready indie rock opuses that sound larger than life itself. In 2019, after releasing four great albums, the band celebrated the 10-year anniversary of their debut EP, 'A Balloon Called Moaning,' with a deluxe re-issue and a maj…
This past weekend, Macefield Music Festival presented a stellar lineup, with performances by more than 20 Seattle bands over the course of the 3-day celebration. A diverse set of music fans strolled the Ballard neighborhood to see shows from some of the biggest players in Seattle's indie music scen…
UK indie pop trio London Grammar have been causing quite a stir lately, and the fact that they don’t even have a record out in the United States yet didn’t deter a single member of the full house they met Monday night at the Crocodile. Their debut LP, If You Wait, has soared towards the top of the …
Named after a race of diminutive creatures in Magic: The Gathering, Kithkin's energetic, uplifting indie rock is the type of music that gets the cops called over to house shows (in the best way possible). Although the band's aesthetic is clearly a fantastical one - the self-described "Cascadian you…
Ohio alt-country singer-songwriter Jessica Lea Mayfield has contributed a holiday song to Amazon's Indie for the Holidays playlist. Taking on the 1966 anti-Christmas Christmas song by Loretta Lynn "To Heck With Ole Santa Claus," Mayfield turns the spirited original into a despondent slow-burner. S…
Leading up until the Upstream Music Fest + Summit, KEXP will be featuring a new local artist from the lineup with an interview and suggested tracks for where to start. Today’s post features Seattle indie rocker Ruler, performing Saturday, May 13 on the Barsuk stage.
Southern indie rockers Futurebirds are gearing up to release their third studio album Hotel Parties on September 25. Today, they've dropped the title track, and it's a shimmering number with just the right amount of twang. Listen below. [Stereogum]
This past Thursday at the Sunset Tavern over in Ballard was blessed to be hosting an intimate showing of some of the most face melting and forward thinking UK indie rock that’s around today. You might think that’s a big statement - and it is. The band, you ask? None other than Drenge. And if you mi…
They say March is "in like a lion, out like a lamb," and out this week is the sophomore release from Lady Lamb (formerly Lady Lamb The Beekeeper)! KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes the release is "a bolder, more direct-sounding album with a dynamic indie-pop sound featuring driving rhythms, guita…
I've covered Beat Happening records in this space before, but it's been just over six years, so I figure the time is ripe to go back to that well. For my previous post, I compared the reactions to the Oly DIY heroes' first and fourth albums. Today we'll split the difference (sort of) and go back to…
The third day of the KEXP broadcast from Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop in Austin during SXSW. Today's lineup begins with Montreal band Suun, followed by Seattle indie pop group Telekinesis, Italian megastar rapper Jovanotti, LA-via-Copenhagen dream pop band Gliss, and Macau, China-via-Sao Paolo, Brazil…
Throwaway Style is a weekly column dedicated to examining all aspects of the Northwest music scene. Whether it’s a new artist making waves, headlines affecting local talent, or reflecting on some of the music that’s been a foundation in our region; this space celebrates everything happening in the …
