Songs that make their way into the public domain are curious objects. For the few that make their way into pop culture, like "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" or "Jingle Bells," there are thousands of others that just collect dust and remain out of the public conscious. They're songs from bygone eras.…
It may have been a holiday weekend, but some new releases still hit the stores, including the highly-anticipated ninth album from Icelandic icon Björk. Seattle's own Dude York shares a full-length holiday album, featuring mostly original material. And Sufjan Stevens shares a collection of demos, re…
The endlessly prolific Ty Segall has released a new track today called "The Main Pretender." The song is the latest in a stream of songs including "Alta," "Meaning," "My Lady's on Fire," and a cover of the Squidbillies theme. Mikal Cronin is featured on the song, playing sax. All the new singles s…
A very cool piece of Northwest history has emerged today. Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie has shared a recording of their very first show in Bellingham at a house venue called the Pacer House from November 22, 1997. Gibbard's friend Trevor Adams had the foresight to record the gig on his dictap…
Funk music isn't just heard, it's experienced. You can have a great time playing a funk article at home on your stereo, but it takes on a whole new life when it's right in front of your face. Seattle future funk-fusion act High Pulp gets this. With a staggering 10 members in the group, they push an…
Sigur Ròs guitarist and vocalist Jónsi has announced that he'll be releasing a collection of unreleased solo electronic recordings called Frakkur: 2000-2004, which will be available on limited-edition vinyl at the Norður Og Niður festival. The fest is put on by Sigur Ròs, who are also headlining f…
It takes a lot for a song to enter the Christmas canon. Most of the songs we sing every year have survived generations, outlasting our memory and seemingly always existing. It's not that new holiday songs aren't still being written -- good ones still emerge constantly, but very few can reach the ub…
My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James is releasing an album of covers at the beginning of next month called Tribute To 2. The album follows 2009's George Harrison-focused cover album Tribute To, will also be reissued with extra bonus tracks on the same day as Tribute To 2. James previously shared h…
This week sees new albums from two soul greats. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings share their seventh and final album, recorded before Jones passed away from cancer in November 2016. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it "a strong set of buoyant old-school soul and funk, with songs mostly written b…
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.
