Congratulations to Bob Dylan, winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature! Also a critically acclaimed memoirist, Dylan was awarded the prize "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition", and he's the first American to win the prize in over 20 years! The 75-…
photo by John Shearer
We often forget, but even Patti Smith -- an icon who has inspired and influenced a generation -- had her own musical idols in her youth, in this case, Bob Dylan. As you may have heard by now, Smith was invited to perform at the induction ceremony for Dylan's Nobel Peace Prize for Literature, and s…
Happy 75th birthday, Bob Dylan! In honor of this momentous occasion, Animal Collective have decided to pay tribute to the legendary singer-songwriter. The experimental pop outfit shared their remix of Dylan's 1963 song "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright." On paper, this combination doesn't make any …
New music from Bob Dylan, St. Vincent, Kele Okereke, Benjamin Gibbard, The Get Up Kids, and Saba.
On November 11, the star-studded collaborative album Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes will finally be released. The album features unreleased lyrics written by Bob Dylan that date back to 1967. The track "Nothing To It" is lead by My Morning Jacket's Jim James and also features Mumford an…
1965 saw the release of what's become one of the most universally well-known songs of our time. Now, nearly half a century later, Bob Dylan has graced the world with an incredible, interactive video for "Like A Rolling Stone." Featuring appearances by Drew Carey, Danny Brown, and the Pawn Stars, t…
On November 6, Bob Dylan will release another installment of his Bootleg Series, called The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series Volume 12. The collection includes six CDs with reworkings of many classic tracks, including "Like A Rolling Stone" and "Subterranean Homesick Blues." Pre-order th…
Each week, KEXP’s Music Director Don Yates (joined this week by DJs Alex) shares brief insights on new and upcoming releases. See what's coming up this week below, including reviews for new releases from Sault, Bob Dylan, Haim, and more.
There is only one band in the world that would write a song about racing motorcycles with the infant Jesus in heaven and that band is named Diarrhea Planet. The band's third album, Turn to Gold, turns up the volume on both the Nashville sextet's guitar solos and their humor, and on their second tr…
At the end of the band's previous tour, Okkervil River leader Will Sheff returned to a Bob Dylan lyric that he's always circled back to: "He not busy being born is busy dying". With rebirth in mind, Sheff gathered a new group of musicians and created a new musical mindset that eventually…
DJ Alex shines a spotlight on 12 artists performing at this year's 12th annual Decibel Festival, Seattle's premier electronic music and arts event, happening all over the city from September 23rd to September 27th! As with years past, tune in to get a taste of this year's massive, diverse internat…
As the mythology goes, Trampled By Turtles formed as a side project by the band members in order to get a chance to play acoustic songs together. Now look at them! Featured in mainstream movies and on tour nationally! “The first year of existence of this band was also the last year of existence for…
Vikesh Kapoor is chasing the American Dream. Born to immigrant parents in rural Pennsylvania, he traveled cross-country going west, where he started work on his new album, The Ballad Of Willy Robbins, influenced by newspaper headlines, stories of the working class and ideas of loss. It’s nearly imp…
My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James has announced a collection of covers called Tribute To 2. James released a solo EP Tribute To in 2009 which was a handful of acoustic George Harrison covers following Harrison's death. For Tribute To 2 James is covering a variety of different artists such as El…
Soul legend Mavis Staples has announced a new album called If All I Was Was Black. The album was produced by Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, a regular collaborator with Staples since 2010. The title track has been shared, as well as the cover art and tracklist. Tweedy said of the political messages within the…
We've got new releases from a few music veterans this week. British rock legends The Rolling Stones return with their first album in 11 years. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it, "a shockingly potent set of Chicago blues. The band sounds raw and vital, and Mick Jagger tears into the set list of…
American influences from John Coltrane to Bob Dylan are clear in U.K. singer-songwriter Pete Molinari's acoustic bluesy-folk. Scratch the surface of his four albums and you'll find a broad range of sounds in the low-key Brit's music. Molinari grew up in an Egyptian, Maltese and Italian family, whic…
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…
The legendary Bob Dylan releases "an album of vintage songs associated with legendary crooner Frank Sinatra." KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes, "it works beautifully, with spare, low-key accompaniment (ethereal pedal steel, softly plucked bass, gentle guitars and occasional muted brass) and his …