What other band is even nearly as iconic to KEXP DJs and listeners as Pixies? Their early independent spirit sent a beacon for other artists to follow and their eventual rise from arty cult rockers to alternative music mainstays proved that unique and uncompromising artists could make a huge and la…
It's a family affair for local artist Noah Gundersen. Accompanied by his sister, brother, and friends, the soft-spoken singer/songwriter performed a dynamic, yet delicate Morning Show session featuring tracks from his then-unreleased debut full-length, Ledges. It comes as no surprise that Gundersen…
Seattle continues to prove how rich a music scene it really has. Sam Anderson, who plays in the popular Hey Marseilles, is continuing the trend of band members in well-established groups putting out solo projects that blow people’s minds. Before him just a few months ago, Benjamin Verdoes of Iska D…
Since we first heard them four years, Capsula have thrilled us with on blazing performance after another. The Argentinian, by way of Spain, band returned to Seattle his past December and since they had already previewed their stellar 2013 album, Solar Secrets, last time we had them in, this time th…
KEXP staffers aren't the only Americans to fall under the ethereal spell of Iceland: when musician John Grant played the Iceland Airwaves Music Festival in 2011, he liked it so much, he decided to stay! Performing songs from the album he recorded there, his sophomore release Pale Green Ghosts, Gran…
"We're not one-dimensional human beings, so why should our music be?" asked Honus Honus, the mastermind behind Philadelphia band Man Man. Their names may be repetitive (true to theme, the drummer goes by "Pow Pow"), but this experimental group is anything but, always striving to evolve their quirky…
It seemed like just yesterday that Icelandic singer/songwriter Ásgeir was in Seattle and sitting on a park bench next to Kurt Cobain's house on Lake Washington. Just over a year ago, he was performing from his glorious debut, Dýrð í dauðaþögn, and revealed that he had been working with U.S. born, I…
Despite her delicate stature and soft-spoken voice, Malian musician Rokia Traoré is one strong artist. Since 2012, her West African home has been besieged by a military coup d'état in the capital city of Bamako. The political power struggle has created a tension that fueled her fifth and most power…
"So, what did y'all motherfuckers do to get in here? What makes you VIP? Is this like one of those fucked-up... when the celebrities go play the show at the Eastern European child dictator's party?" So asked Travis Morrison, mischievous frontman for the DC post-punk veterans The Dismemberment Plan,…

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.