Local faves Death Cab for Cutie share another track from their upcoming release, Kintsugi, their first new full-length without founding member Chris Walla. Stream the album's opening track "No Room In Frame" below. Kintsugi hits stores March 31st via Atlantic, and the boys play two nights at The P…
You could feel the weight of the road lifted from their shoulders. After wrapping up their North American tour with a packed, energetic show at The Neptune the night before, indie-rock legends Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks joined us in the KEXP studios with Springtime on their minds. "It's pretty…
It's been hard for us to forget the beautiful and intimate session we had with Ólafur Arnalds during our Iceland Airwaves broadcast last year at KEX Hostel. This year, when we saw that the young Icelandic composer and songwriter would be performing at SXSW, we wanted to get him live on air again, n…
It's another chilly morning in Reykjavík, with the sun shining on the iconic snow-capped Mt. Esja, and the KEXP road crew is here at Kex Hostel getting ready for another great day of live music at Iceland Airwaves Music Festival. We'll be starting the day with exquisite Finnish singer-songwriter Mi…
London's Kitchens of Distinction, like so many bands championed by KCMU, were a promising and critically acclaimed band in the late '80s and '90s that never quite broke as big as they might have hoped, but have maintained a devoted following over the years. Last year, almost two decades after break…
Thao Nguyen is a voice of the people. While her music leans a bit more toward peppy indie pop than hippy folk rock, Thao's songs on her fourth LP, We The Common, are about the individual experiences and personal interactions we all have. As she says about the new Thao & The Get Down Stay Down a…
Whether it's their surroundings, the air, the water, the isolation or a communal appreciation of the arts, something has given Icelanders a lock on creating otherworldly sonic landscapes. Sigur Rós and Björk are of course the most famous of them, but if you've been listening to KEXP's broadcasts fr…
Icelandic etherealists Sigur Rós have released a special remix of their track "Hoppípolla," exclusively for the BBC TV series Planet Earth II. This nature documentary program is presented and narrated by Sir David Attenborough. In a statement to the BBC, the band state:
In Iceland we are blessed wi…
Historically, Sasquatch has a pretty mercurial relationship with the weather; a mix of hail, pouring rain, and upper-80s temperatures aren't out of the question. Most of the time, however, there's at least one afternoon where the weather is warm but not hot, breezy but not gusty, and it enhances wh…
There's only one thing that's remained constant on the weird, mystical journey of Seattle experimental hip-hop duo Shabazz Palaces: progressive thinking. Everything else is up for grabs. Where their debut EPs were bombastic and shocking in their odd use of sampling and jazz rhythms in a bass-heavy …
It seemed like just yesterday that Icelandic singer/songwriter Ásgeir was in Seattle and sitting on a park bench next to Kurt Cobain's house on Lake Washington. Just over a year ago, he was performing from his glorious debut, Dýrð í dauðaþögn, and revealed that he had been working with U.S. born, I…
Ever since we caught sight of Rising Mountains, their 2009 release, we've been fans of Capsula. The Bilbao by way of Buenos Aires band always thrills with their glam rock inspired riffs and pounding rhythms, reminding you as much of Sonic Youth as T.Rex and David Bowie. Their stage shows, in partic…
Another day, another dollar (or is it another krona?). While I'm not quite sure what the conversion rate is for days and poorly-executed metaphors here in Iceland, one thing I am sure of is that we are bringing you another incredible day of live music here at Kex Hostel during Iceland Airwaves Musi…
We're a week away from the release of the new Father John Misty album, the highly-anticipated Pure Comedy, out April 7th on Sub Pop Records. He's been sharing tracks left-and-right all year, including a 13-minute opus titled "Leaving L.A." Today, he offers up the Radio Edit, which whittles it down…
Maybe ten minutes into his set, Iggy Pop, a man who has survived everything there is to survive and then some, pondered aloud about the afterlife. And not just any afterlife, but Valhalla, the Norse hall where those slain in combat are sent, which, for an artist who's lived the life Iggy has, is al…
It's a clear, crisp afternoon in beautiful Reykjavík, Iceland and locals and visitors alike are gearing up for what is sure to be another great year at Iceland Airwaves Music Festival. Here at Kex Hostel, the KEXP road crew is putting the finishing touches on our preparations for this year's off-ve…
