Interweaving a patchwork of influences, from '60s psych to outsider folk, Boston band Quilt blanketed the KEXP studios with songs from their latest album, Held in Splendor, out now on Mexican Summer. Stitched together with their unique three-part-harmonies, the ambitious young band explained to DJ …
It's been over a decade since New York darlings Cibo Matto mixed up their unique batch of hip-hop-infused cocktail-pop. What have they been up to since their 1999 album, Stereo ★ Type A? With downcast eyes and a wink, vocalist Miho Hatori confessed to KEXP, "Well, we were in jail." Bandmate Yuka Ho…
From the dance clubs of São Paulo to the Kent Avenue scene in Brooklyn, Montreal-native Thomas Arsenault, a.k.a. Mas Ysa, has found inspiration across the globe to create his rich, beat-driven songs. After discovering techno while in high school in Brazil, Arsenault went on to study Modern Composit…
Seattle's Wishbeard is one of those great bands that keeps the high hat and snare drum going. This is part of what makes them eminently danceable. With etherial guitars and vocal shouts like wolves howling into the night, the drum keeps a tight, pushing rhythm highlighted by the quickly hit snares …
A lot has been said of how the latest album from Jersey quintet Real Estate is "their most mature to date," but when the boys showed up to their in-studio session carrying a large framed poster of Bob Marley, and then began sound-checking with Nirvana's "Come As You Are," it was apparent they're th…
La Luz has been through a lot since their debut EP Damp Face hit the airwaves and internets. From a U.S. tour, to playing with Of Montreal and The Head and the Heart, to sustaining serious injuries after getting hit by a semi while on the road, to releasing their new LP, It's Alive, to replacing th…
Augustines's new album is cause to rejoice -- as much for the band as for fans. From the ashes Pela, the Brooklyn band beloved by KEXP listeners but embattled by a disinterested music industry, songwriters Billy McCarthy and Eric Sanderson formed this new band named after their shared birth month, …
We might as well call Marissa Nadler a "local artist" for her latest release, July, out now on Sacred Bones. Recorded here in Seattle at Avast Studio with producer Randall Dunn (Earth, Sunn O))), the album also features local luminaries Eyvind Kang, Steve Moore, Jay Kardong, and the guitar wizardry…
KEXP, STG, and Starbucks kicked off the new year with another fine edition of our benefit series, Little Big Show. On January 31st, we joined together to raise money for Reel Grrls, a program where girls ages 9-21 can learn media production skills from volunteer professionals and voice their indivi…
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.
