"It's pretty windy, and Peter's cymbals are all over the place, but we're going to roll with it." Deep Sea Diver's Jessica Dobson may have introduced the Seattle quartet's performance nonchalantly, but they were anything but casual during their 45 minute performance as they opened the Bigfoot stage…
Whatever "chillwave" as a genre tag was, it's dead. However, its two biggest names, Toro Y Moi and Washed Out, have both (maybe coincedentally) evolved into something a little less ephemeral: electronic-savvy, funk machines. As he's gained more prominence, Ernest Greene's initially bedroom-sized pr…
Due to the windy weather and the consequential shuffling of band’s set times and locations, Sasquatch! Music Festival's El Chupacabra tent housed several acts that certainly didn’t fit the sound the EDM-themed stage is known for. Ibeyi was seemingly one of those bands, but the group had been schedu…
Seattle natives Iska Dhaaf now live in New York, but they still introduce themselves as a band from Seattle. This theme of sticking to your origins was found throughout their set at Sasquatch! Music Festival Monday afternoon. The group now takes the stage as a four-piece, a fitting change as their …
Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba are set on changing the way we think about world music. Pushing the limits of traditional West African instruments themselves to embrace western styles and a more versatile melodic range, Bassekou Kouyate is proud of the modern innovations he's made with the ngoni, a…
Staten Island's The Budos Band tore through a tight set of instrumental funk and soul tinged with a heavy, ominous dose of retro stoner metal. Their set on the Sasquatch main stage drew heavily on their latest album Burnt Offering. This fourth release is a marked departure for the eight-piece band,…
Foals frontman Yannis Phillipakis has 5+ water bottles put out for him every set, and he drinks maybe one of them during the Oxford quintet's set. That's because he kicks or sprays them on the audience, typically while taking a brief break from wailing on guitar or crowdsurfing in the audience. It …
Not sure if it's a compliment to be called a "thinking man's metal band" (or at least, it's not so nice to the other metal bands), but long running alternative metal band Helmet have always made smart music that never loses its punch. Vocalist/guitarist Page Hamilton founded the group back in '89, …
Something new's going on in Seattle. Well, something new and something old. This city's musical past is already peppered with its fair share of country rock, folk, psychedelic and metal bands, but several up and coming bands are tapping into those genres and styles with renewed vigor. Ballard was a…
From last week's Spud War, we continue our tuberous theme with Tater Totz, which you might think would be even more contentious than Devo's synth-heavy fifth album, but which seems to have been more well received at KCMU. What is the deal with Tater Totz? I think just attempting to explain this pro…
Portland's Moon Duo made maybe one of their most surprising moves yet: showing up and playing a set as a trio. Alright, that's not totally true. They did play with a third member on the KEXP Stage at the Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival, but the band is constantly taking surprising new avenues…
KEXP's stellar lineup at Bumbershoot continues with festival heavy-hitter Michael Franti & Spearhead live on the Secret Stage. Franti has his fingers in many pots. He’s a poet, rapper, and singer-songwriter, who has been spreading positivity all over the world since 1994 with his current projec…
The final day of Bumbershoot 2015 finally saw sunshine and good weather all around. Maybe the crowds could sneak in one more summer festival after all, after the torrential rains that started the whole thing off. The lineup for this day included another solid dose of excellent local bands, like Sis…
Thankfully, Failure never quite lived up to their name. Though in the 90's, they were never really allowed to sit at the cool table of grunge superstars, they found critical praise through their own inventive brand of heavy alt-rock. Record sales, unfortunately, never followed, and five years after…
Considering the early 80's were the heyday of The Dream Syndicate, you're forgiven if, like the song says, you're "just trying to remember the days of wine and roses". As leaders of the so-called Paisley Underground, the LA band carried the sounds of the previous decade, particularly of The Velvet …
Room Nine were, it seems, a pretty big deal in Seattle in the late '80s; like Diamond Fist Werny, they were another band doing their own thing — with their own lighting designer! — while it probably seemed like everyone around them was churning out noisy, grungy rock. Room Nine broke up not long af…
If you'd been following the prolific career of Bay Area musician Ty Segall, you might have been surprised when he was announced to perform Pickathon earlier this year. But the 26-year-old Bay Area musician, whose discography is as labyrinthine as an 80's record contract, and whose most recent recor…
We hope you had a successful and fruitful Record Store Day this past Saturday and that you've added many cherished discs to your vinyl collection. This growing movement has been a needed boon for ailing record stores as much as it's been a treasure trove for music fans worldwide. We'd love to hear …
If current trends continue, Thurston Moore will evoke the true spirit of rock and roll musicianship and artistry until the day of his death. 35 years into his career, he and his band of extravagantly talented musicians in Chelsea Light Moving are making hard and heavy rock with just as edge and dem…
ADULT. for nearly 20 years, consistently evolving their sound over six studio albums released on revered labels Mute, Ghostly International, Thrill Jockey, as well as their own imprint, Ersatz Audio. Currently in the midst of a stacked US tour in support of their new collaborative-heavy studio albu…
