Check out some of the KEXP DJ’s favorite artists from the Pacific Northwest and around the world on-the-go. KEXP’s Music That Matters weekly podcast brings you an exclusive mix of new music from the world’s best independent artists.
On April 15, Sturgill Simpson will release a new album called A Sailor's Guide to Earth, his follow up to 2014's Metamodern Sounds in Country Music. Today he's shared the album's first single, "Brace For Impact (Live a Little)." In a press release, Simpson described his motivation for the album: …
Every year, EMP's Sound Off! competition showcases emerging stars in the all-ages music scene. Previous winners have included The Lonely Forest, Dyme Def, Sol, Kithkin, Brothers from Another, Manatee Commune, Fauna Shade, Schoolyard Heroes, Tomten, and Brite Futures, just to name a few.
Nada Surf have made a career out of finding their place in the world. When they were just kids, they wrote the teenage guide to popularity, navigating a close proximity between love and lust and insecurity. When they grew up and into real relationship, they found the inside of love, discovering tha…
Seattle duo Crater - Ceci Gomez and Kessiah Gordon - stopped by for an in-studio, both to play us some tracks from their debut, Talk to Me so I Can Fall Asleep, and to talk to DJ Sharlese about drooling in their sleep and The Sims "Hot Date" Expansion Pack. Crater only emerged in 2014 to immediate …
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Aft…
Like most of you, we can't wait for the debut full-length from UK trio Hælos to hit the streets. Get a sneak peek with the video for "Separate Lives," a track the band describe as "a reflection on the moment when you are choosing between staying or leaving and the underlying love that keeps you th…
Angela Conway, the force behind A.C. Marias, doesn't seem to have been particularly prolific as an artist, but what she lacked in quantity she more than made up for in quality - as evidenced by the KCMU gang's high regard for One of Our Girls, the sole A.C. Marias full-length. Conway collaborated e…
Super-ambient Icelandic duo Kiasmos brought their very space-y minimalist brand of techno to the new KEXP live room in support of their Swept EP, the second they dropped in 2015. The two longtime friends began working professionally together when Ólafur Arnalds was the touring sound engineer for Ja…

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.