The album cover for Minnesota rapper Brother Ali's 2012 LP, Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color, features the Muslim artist praying towards Mecca and kneeling on an American flag as his prayer rug. The image encapsulates much of the spirit which Brother Ali has staked his career on. Brother…
We should believe in each other's dreams"Wholy Holy" - Marvin Gaye
Watching these videos you might be thinking: political outrage hasn't seen this much ferocity in music since Rage Against the Machine disbanded a dozen years ago. The fact is, Raymond "Boots" Riley and his band The Coup have been making socially outspoken jams for just as long and have turned out e…
It's been pretty cold in Seattle lately, but that shouldn't stop you from going out and catching some great live shows. Starting on Monday night, Bandoliers, The Van Allen Belt, and Fey Moth are at Chop Suey. On Wednesday, Los Lobos are at Benaroya Hall. Thursday night, Yo La Tengo play one of the …
Thanks to all who came out for this month,s KEXP Audioasis benefit show at The Sunset with Don’t Talk To The Cops, Stephanie, Dude York and Wimps. The super-strong all-Seattle lineup packed the house for a sold-out show with proceeds benefiting Food Lifeline.
Last year, Odd Future (a.k.a. OFWGKTA) really stepped up its game. Although it has always been more than the negative headlines that circulated around co-founder Tyler, the Creator, who nonetheless held critics' praise, the LA hip hop collective proved to be more than a gimmick with the huge succes…
Aaron Beam, bassist for Portland’s Red Fang, once told me that he believed the long-standing punk-versus-metal dichotomy died when Metallica’s 1984 sophomore album Ride the Lightning came out. I believe he is correct, and the fact that Oakland, California’s Neurosis formed in 1985 only provides mor…
It’s time again for Friday on My Mind, our weekly blog post where we stop to look at videos centered around one common theme. This is a collaborative effort between KEXP and King 5 News.
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.
