The last time they were at the Paramount Theatre, Sigur Rós were touring behind their just-released sixth album Valtari, their final LP with founding member Kjartan Sveinsson, who declined to tour with them that year and would fully quit the band not long after. That album remains the most mellow i…
Brooklyn label 100% Electronica has, in its short existence, become a great hub for low profile electronic music in New York. Their releases span the electronic spectrum, riding every wave (chill, vapor, etc.) but also diving deeper into the subterranean bass houses that pepper the ground floor of …
Back in July, Annie Mac interviewed M.I.A. to announce the official release date for delayed fifth album AIM (formerly called Matahdatah). With the announcement, Maya gave us the bass-heavy single "Go Off" to mask the pain of some bummer news: this is going to be the last M.I.A. album before she go…
The cover of Skeleton Tree, the sixteenth studio album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds is the most minimal and least revealing artwork of their career. Against a black backdrop in computerized font, the title of the record glares menacingly like the stuck screen of a heart rate monitor. It's quite…
Legacy is such a weird concept. "We tried so hard", Wilco sing on Schmilco closer "Just Say Goodbye", "as if I have the answers". Back in a July 2009 interview with SPIN mag, describing the band's self-titled record contract wrap-up seventh album, frontman Jeff Tweedy told the world, "I think peopl…
Through years of hard work and countless projects, producer Kurt Feldman has made a name for himself as one of the greatest auteurs of the 80s who was also born in the 80s. Earlier this year, Feldman brought this knack for timeless synth pop to Kristin Welchez for her debut as Kristin Kontrol. Else…
While a room full of journalists listened to 22, A Million, the highly-anticipated third Bon Iver album, in the Oxbow Hotel on a Friday night in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Justin Vernon did what anyone else would do before a big interview: he smoked a cigarette. He knew he was maybe twenty minutes away…
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…
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.
