While KEXP celebrated their landmark 1989 debut last Friday, De La Soul released their eighth album (and first in 12 years). KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it, "a lengthy, somewhat inconsistent set with a diverse sound ranging from funky hip hop and smooth R&B to hypnotic electro-pop and m…
Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of Wilco's surprise release of Star Wars (voted #15 in KEXP's Top Albums of 2015 countdown), and to celebrate, the band have done another surprise release. Check out the single "Locator" below, which you can download for free in exchange for an email address…
Her newest album is called Have You In My Wilderness but Julia Holter doesn't typically play outdoors. "I'm not used to being outside in the sun, but I'm glad we're all here," the Los Angeles composer said after "Silhouette". This year's Sasquatch lineup is mostly a high energy affair, but Holter's…
Mac Demarco’s declaration of “make yourself at home” at the beginning of his set at Sasquatch! Music Festival on Saturday was a fitting notion, as Mac has been making himself at home in the ears and hearts of fans for years now. The Canadian songster has a knack for writing songs that float and dri…
"That’s how it’s DONE!" -- As Conan O’Brien recognized, Charles Bradley & his Extraordinaires brought a fantastic performance to Conan last night. Watch the 67-year-old showman perform "Ain’t It a Sin" off their latest Changes, and you'll most likely agree. Keep up with all the late-night TV h…
Who doesn't want to learn how to play guitar like Bob Mould? The veteran musician has certainly honed his chops over the last 40 years with previous projects Hüsker Dü and Sugar, and last night on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, he broke down his technique. Watch below. He and his fantastic ba…
Now that we're in our New Home, the Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival is in our own backyard of Seattle Center! And now that they've announced their 2016 line-up, we're even more excited: local boys Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Death Cab for Cutie, and (former Seattleite) Father John Misty are …
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings are recent legends and have become one of KEXP's core artists. The band, and the Daptones label that it represents, were the main force behind the soul funk revival of the last fifteen years, the stylistic rebirth that bands ranging from The Alabama Shakes to The Bu…
West coast faves Silversun Pickups kick off their three-month-long North American tour with a video for the track "Circadian Rhythm." The clip spotlights bassist Nikki Monninger (with a cute doggie co-star) in a dreamy, sparkly scene. Watch below, and then watch the band's KEXP New Home benefit pe…
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. Last week, …
I don't know how much needs to be said about Hasil "Haze" Adkins that wouldn't be better communicated by merely listening to any of the approximately one million songs he recorded to various fidelities of tape over his fifty-ish year career. The first song I ever heard by Mr. Adkins (thanks to a ca…
The middle set of today's broadcast live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves is British pop artist Lonelady. The pseudonym for british pop artist Julie Campbell, LoneLady combines funky guitar riffs with fun, dancy synths and beats, and influences the likes of “That’s Us/Wild Combination”-era Arthu…
George Lewis Jr., or as he's known by his stage name Twin Shadow, is one of the most gifted indie pop artists in music today, and now, he's proven to be one of the most resilient. Earlier this year, the Brooklyn based singer/producer/writer released Eclipse, his third studio album, to critical accl…
The Mynabirds took over a year to record Lovers Know, and while that’s far from unheard of for a band of their stature and import, it’s a figurative lifetime compared to the mere weeks the Omaha pop masters had spent on their previous two albums. Of course, all those additional hours make sense giv…
The gaudy, sterile synths, the contrapuntal guitar and bass, the party ready drums, and especially the high-ranging, free-wielding, devil-may-care vocals - if you were there in 2005 when Clap Your Hands Say Yeah rose to indie-stardom with their self-titled, self-released debut, you remember it all.…
It's with terrible sadness that KEXP reports Darius Minwalla, longtime drummer for local band The Posies, passed away yesterday, May 21st, in his home in Vancouver, BC. Cause of death has yet to be determined. Minwalla joined the power-pop quartet in 2001, appearing on their 2005 comeback album Eve…
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…
Coinciding with the rise in popularity and influence of American roots music, a new generation of songwriters has cropped up to transcend the stories and culture that inspired their predecessors and paint pictures of modern American life. At the forefront of this new chapter is Hurray For The Riff …
Summers in Seattle just keep getting better and better: now beloved local label Light in the Attic Records have announced they're launching a Summer Spectacular series at their new warehouse/storefront in Ballard. Join them on Saturday, July 12th for a very special performance from Donnie & Joe…
