If their lyrics give any sense of how tough the ladies of Warpaint are, the Los Angeles quartet aren't a band so much as they are a gang. Not in the organized crime sense, but in the "don't mess with us" sense. Case in point: On "Elephants", the second track on the band's 2008 debut EP Exquisite C…
Sunday night was a great one for Seattleites pretty much every kind. The Seahawks’ final playoffs game against the Forty-Niners stayed tight throughout, but in the end, the Hawks emerged victorious and everyone in Seattle jumping and shouting in the streets. But perhaps the luckiest of the these ma…
Thinking of those who define the present-day Seattle music scene, musicians like Damien Jurado, who not only call the city home but who have influenced, promoted, and produced other local artists' music, come to mind. Jurado's soul-searching folk ballads have earned him a wholehearted embrace from …
Seattle’s feminist rock scene has a beautifully rich history at this point, and it’s a total blast to see where the kids are taking it. Three bands in particular have, hand in hand, brought the noise consistently for the last couple years: Chastity Belt, Tacocat, and Pony Time. These three acts hav…
I first listened to Damien Jurado's 11th album, Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son, while walking through our shared hometown of Seattle on a particularly rainy day. The first formidable moments of "Magic Number," transported me into a movie full of earnest life truths. Like his 2012 album, Ma…
Weighing Barboza's Tuesday night festivities by pictures alone would be a crime. What you don't see behind camera - in view of the focused eyes of Russell Whyte and Reed Juenger - is a bloody marvelous party. There's little-to-no room to move or breathe, dozens of couples or just-mets dancing toget…
Donald Glover has done a lot of thinking in the past two years. “That Camp was a million years ago, sing me a different song” he raps on the closer of his new record Because the Internet. The referenced 2011 studio album debut does feel like forever ago now. After self-releasing three albums and th…
There’s no sleep for The Flaming Lips this year. After releasing the uncharacteristically dark (but well received) concept album The Terror in the first half of the year and playing a string of supporting dates (including a headliner spot at this year’s Capitol Hill Block Party), the Lips went back…
As major labels continue to exist behind the times, artists and labels with little capital and lesser reputations are producing some of the most innovative, interesting, and inspiring music. Whether it’s creating a new niche in digital technology or looking to once obsolete formats, Agitated Atmosp…

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.