Their name spoofs the The Shangri-Las, their songs check the sounds of the 60's, from British Invasion to West Coast country rock -- the record store rats of Allah-Las have long been interested in contextualizing the history of rock with the music of today, both with their on-going, lost classics-u…
Bobbing for hits. Though Death Cab For Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard was making light of the his band's songwriting process during his interview with KEXP's Stevie Zoom, the fact is, with all the songs he's written over nearly the past decade, he'd accumulated enough songs he's grown fond of but never…
As Lord Huron, singer-songwriter Ben Schneider has always been influenced by the out-of-doors. Whether his inspiration comes from the rugged woods and Great Lakes of his origin state of Michigan or the dusty Mojave Desert closer to his adopted LA home, themes of exploration and adventure pervade hi…
The nation is catching on to the wealth of amazing music coming out of Seattle's experimental hip-hop scene. This year listeners have become entranced by Seattle's THEESatisfaction, and before that Shabazz Palaces -- expect the same kind of attention soon for OCnotes (Otis Calvin, III) and his gen…
Are bands really "side projects" when they sound this good? All members of RNDM are best known for other work, but with their debut, Acts, and a kicking live show, that may very well change. NYC based singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur has been insanely prolific as a solo artist since his 1997 debut, …
You won't be surprised to that members of Song Sparrow Research have roots in jazz and choir. As friends and classmates, Hamilton Boyce and David Balatero were both in school bands at Seattle's Garfield High, and now make lush folk-tinged chamber pop as together in this five member band. Equally a…
It's hard to believe that it's been 20 years since brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll first topped the UK charts as Orbital. Back then, raves were all the rage, but the duo never settled for mere mind-numbing dance numbers and constantly pushed their listeners with experimental loops and political ran…
Perhaps no other artist has brought Eastern music to the West like sitar master Ravi Shankar. His tutelage of George Harrison in the mid-60's kicked off a lifetime of cultural exchange. While rock bands like The Beatles were incorporating Eastern sounds in their music, Shankar himself was composing…
We're always excited to feature Oklahoma singer-songwriter, vintage rock and roller JD McPherson any time he comes to town. Not only was he one of the highlights of our SXSW broadcast, but he and his smoking-hot band tore up the KEXP studio this past summer. Right now, JD is celebrating the holiday…
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.
