The Triple Door was the place to be last night if you're a fan of Decibel Festival and need something to tide you over until September. The venue featured two identical back to back shows of Erased Tapes artists Nils Frahm and Douglas Dare. The two pianists made for an impressive showcase of everyt…
During SXSW this year, KEXP returned to Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop and teamed up with Distiller Promo, Sub Pop Records + Hardly Art, and Merge Records for three days of free showcases featuring Dum Dum Girls, Wye Oak, Black Lips, La Luz, Hurray for the Riff Raff and many others. Between sets, we ask…
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…
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Morn…
While there was often a healthy debate on any given album's merits at KCMU, every once in a while it seems that everybody just ganged up on some poor defenseless record for no good reason. Icky Joey (not a name familiar to me until I pulled this record off the shelf) was a super group of sorts, fea…
Our friends at Merge Records are celebrating their 25th Anniversary all year long -- not only with our recent SXSW showcase, a buncha great reissues, and a 25K run, but with Merge 25, a four-day music festival taking place July 23rd through 26th in the label's hometown of Carrboro, NC. They've jus…
During SXSW this year, KEXP returned to Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop and teamed up with Distiller Promo, Sub Pop Records + Hardly Art, and Merge Records for three days of free showcases featuring Dum Dum Girls, Wye Oak, Black Lips, La Luz, Hurray for the Riff Raff and many others. Between sets, we ask…
“Boy, the come down here was easy, like the arrival of a new day.” That’s how Adam Granduciel chooses to open the new album from The War on Drugs after a minute and a half of dreamscape Americana. As the listener, you could say the same thing. The Philadelphia band have always found a way to worm i…

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.