I didn't realize that I was familiar with Altered Images when I pulled out this record, but it turns out I know two of their songs (and I'm sure you know at least one, if not both): the title track from their debut album, Happy Birthday (which is exactly the one you think of when I say it's an '80s…
Elia is the most recent project of Seattle-based singer, musician and producer Ignacio Izquierdo. The name comes from Elia Liut, an Italian aviator, who was the first person to fly over Ecuadorian territory. This reflects both Ignacio's home city of Quito and his life of movement. A son of a diplom…
One of the cornerstones of Wo'Pop, and what has kept it a unique program is its focus on emerging global music and genres. This focus on the new is important, but you have to have context in order to make sense. Traditional music can be quickly overwhelmed by new ideas and the essence of its origin…
I don't know how much needs to be said about Hasil "Haze" Adkins that wouldn't be better communicated by merely listening to any of the approximately one million songs he recorded to various fidelities of tape over his fifty-ish year career. The first song I ever heard by Mr. Adkins (thanks to a ca…
OK, you're all in trouble. Why am I only just now learning about Happy Flowers? Noisy, disturbing/hilarious songs written from the perspective of a toddler? Band members named Mr. Anus and Mr. Horribly Charred Infant? Covers of Big Star, Michael Schenker, and Silver Apples on the same album? These …
Can you believe there was once a time where Reggae wasn’t a word everyone recognized? In the musical world you have to really be in awe of how a sound from a tiny island in the Caribbean has propelled itself into the Global Consciousness. The legendary Reggae singer Winston Jarrett can clearly reme…
If you're my age and MTV was a huge part of your musical awakening, this album (or really its hit single "Goody Two-Shoes") was your first exposure to the artist known as Adam Ant. And you probably thought it was pretty cool. But if you were a college radio DJ at the time, and had been enjoying the…
Arto Lindsay, the guitaring/singing half of the art-pop duo Ambitious Lovers, is one of my favorite - and one of the most underrated - musical artists of the late 20th century (he has gone relatively quiet in the past decade or so, although some recent posts on his facebook page instill hopes that …
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.
