The 10th anniversary edition of Decibel Festival begins on Wednesday, September 25, and gathers the crème de la crème of the international electronic music and visual arts community. Holding their own among them are some of Northwest's best electronic artists, like Seattle duo ODESZA. These two you…
It's impossible to get too much of Charles Bradley. The loveable soul singer has been thrilling KEXP listeners and audiences world wide since his late-in-life discovery by members of The Budos Band and has appeared on KEXP many times. Recently, he's been featured in the acclaimed documentary Soul o…
Born in Zimbabwe, Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi came to Seattle for two shows at Jazz Alley, but before those performances, the songwriter stopped by KEXP for a live in-studio with DJ Darek Mazzone. Accompanied by backup singers and an electric bass, Tuku, who also works with Mahube, Southern Africa’s sup…
British rock group The Heavy, rumored to be the only band David Letterman has asked to perform an encore on his show, stopped by the KEXP studios to deliver their own brand of rock and soul. The band effortlessly exudes cool, from lead singer Kelvin Swaby’s shades and grey tank top to Chris Ellul’s…
You'd be mistaken to think that the artists at Pickathon are all a bunch of wizened fingerpickers. One of the highlights of the Portland-area festival's carefully curated lineup is the pairing of musicians new and old. On stage, you'll hear veteran songwriters with more stories to tell than songs t…
Part of Minneapolis' Doomtree collective, Dessa, the 7-member group's only female emcee, may also be their most well rounded. A degree in philosophy, a background in writing, particularly in creative non-fiction and spoken-word, and enough business acumen to run day-to-days of the label itself all …
Born out of the humid Athens, Georgia, southlands, the music of Futurebirds washes over the ears like a welcomed rain. Utilizing pedal steel and a myriad of other instruments on their studio albums - the most recent of which is Baba Yaga, a tight, catchy collection - the band writes songs like acti…
“One of my dreams is about to come true,” DJ Derek Mazzone said, introducing the psychedelic Brazilian rock band Os Mutantes before their performance live on KEXP's Wo'Pop. The band, part of the Tropicália artistic movement that bridged popular culture with the avant-garde in the 1960s in Brazil, c…
Long standing but ever moving Gypsy punks Gogol Bordello are almost constantly on the road. Like wandering Gypsies of yore, the band travels from city to city, festival to festival, throughout the world, on a mission to provoke audiences to dance -- and open their minds -- through infectious and of…

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.