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Album Reviews

Album Review: Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit

Regardless of whether you consider the new release by Courtney Barnett her sophomore effort or first official LP, there's no denying it's a terrific album. In fact, if you were a fan of last year's Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas, I'm happy to tell you that Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I…


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Agitated Atmosphere Album Reviews

Agitated Atmosphere: Michael O. - Really?

As major labels continue to exist behind the times, artists and labels with little capital and lesser reputations are producing some of the most innovative, interesting, and inspiring music. Whether it’s creating a new niche in digital technology or looking to once obsolete formats, Agitated Atmosp…


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Album Reviews

Album Review: Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell

If you really think about it, Sufjan Stevens has made a living for over 15 years now asking one simple question: what should I believe? On his debut, A Sun Came, belief was an overcrowded canvas, wet with word vomit and impossibly complex to navigate (much like all of our minds). For the two state …


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Album Reviews

Album Review: Twin Shadow - Eclipse

As soon as word came out earlier this year that George Lewis Jr. had signed with Warner Brothers, there was one thing that was clear: Twin Shadow was getting bigger. Not just in the commercial sense - rather, all of the massive 80s indulgences explored on past records were now going to have the cei…


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Album Reviews

Album Review: Heems - Eat Pray Thug

"Product of partition" - that's how Himanshu Suri, a.k.a. Heems, defines himself on Eat Pray Thug closer "Patriot Act". On that track, he talks about how growing up as a man of Indian descent in post-9/11 NYC was a nightmare. "From then on they called all of us Osama", he recalls towards the end, "…


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Album Reviews

Album Review: Will Butler - Policy

If you call yourself an Arcade Fire fan and have seen the band at least once in the live setting, there's a good chance that you need absolutely no introduction to Will Butler. When Arcade Fire skyrocketed to the moon amongst the Reflektor hype of 2013, it was clear that the one facet of their musi…


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Local Music Agitated Atmosphere Album Reviews

Agitated Atmosphere: Broken Water - Wrought

As major labels continue to exist behind the times, artists and labels with little capital and lesser reputations are producing some of the most innovative, interesting, and inspiring music. Whether it’s creating a new niche in digital technology or looking to once obsolete formats, Agitated Atmosp…


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Album Reviews

Album Review: Purity Ring - Another Eternity

Two and a half years have passed since Purity Ring dropped their debut LP Shrines on 4AD. Every time I hear that, I'm totally baffled. How has it only been two and a half years? It feels like Purity Ring have been a household indie pop name for an eternity. After a handful of one off singles over t…


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From the Archives:

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Sub Pop 30th Anniversary Count-Up

In 2018, KEXP celebrated the 30th anniversary of local record label Sub Pop with a four-month retrospective, "counting up" every catalog number in their vast discography of over 1,200 releases. Dig into the archives of our catalog coverage, featuring in-depth coverage on the history of their releases.


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