Next on the KEXP broadcast live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves Music Festival is the boss MC of Iceland, Emmsjé Gauti. The stage name for Icelandic rapper Gauta Þeyr Mássonar) Emmsjé Gauti is reigning king of Iceland’s burgeoning hip hop scene. Though he’s only in his mid-twenties, he’s been r…
If the city of Seattle created a position for a house band, The Cave Singers would immediately top the shortlist. Across their eight-year run, Peter Quirk, Derek Fudesco, and Marty Lund (along with sometimes-member Morgan Henderson) have steadily become one of the city's more reliable bands across …
KEXP's Online Content Manager Jim Beckmann celebrates his birthday today, and for the occasion, singer/songwriter Kevin Morby has shared the video for "The Parade," one of Jim's favorite tracks from last year's full-length Still Life on Woodsist. (Okay, that might not be why the video came out tod…
Elliott Smith fans, rejoice! KEXP presents the Seattle premiere of Nickolas Rossi's Elliott Smith documentary, Heaven Adores You at Northwest Film Forum, Friday, May 15, with an extended run by popular demand through May 26. Heaven Adores You follows the beloved musician's musical evolution, from p…
Hey kids, it's time for another installment of Levi Feels Old! What would you say if I told you Primus's debut studio album Frizzle Fry was turning 25 this year? If you're me, you'd say "shit, I feel old." But that's OK, aging is a thing that happens. Some of us age better than others, and some alb…
Last year, Mike and Jaime made a free record that they expected a handful of Killer Mike and El-P fans to like. After all, the two have been working together for a while – Mike made an appearance on El's Cancer 4 Cure, then El produced Mike's best record ever, R.A.P. Music. Together, the two form R…
The guys of indie band The Lonely Forest represent much of what it is to be born-and-bred Pacific Northwest musicians. The four, from Anacortes, WA, were launched into the local music scene in 2006 when they won EMP's Sound Off! competition. This under 21 battle of the bands has been the catalyst f…
Last month, Street Sounds went old school, featuring veterans of hip-hop Mobb Deep, who've been keeping it real since the early 90's, when New York MC's Havoc and Prodigy first made a name for themselves depicting hardcore street life and became key players in the East Coast rivalry with West Coast…
Their latest LP may be Most Messed Up, but Old 97's are sounding their most fired up yet. Over 20 years in and now on their 10th studio album, the veteran Dallas band continues to fuel their raucous country rock sound with elements of twang-punk, power pop, and psych-tinged folk-rock while featurin…
Longtime KEXP-friend Bob Mould has announced his next album, Beauty & Ruin, is slated for a June 3rd release on Merge Records. He'll continue to be backed by bassist Jason Narducy (Split Single, Verbow) and drummer Jon Wurster (Superchunk, Mountain Goats), who pretty much killed it on Mould's …
Once again, Sub Pop and KEXP are teaming up to present a very special Record Store Day release! In 2012, we offered the now out-of-print and highly-coveted Shabazz Palaces: Live at KEXP EP. And, now, in 2014, we will offer: Mudhoney On Top: KEXP Presents Mudhoney Live on Top of the Space Needle LP.…
We've got another insanely long-running band this week, with the Fleshtones, a band that's as old as I am and wayyyyyyy more productive. These garage rockers have been steadily serving up their "super rock" since their CBGB debut in 1976. In fact, Yep Roc is releasing their twenty-somethingth LP - …
Steamier than a geothermal pool, My bubba write songs that will warm your heart (and other parts) on a cold winter's day. The Icelandic/Swedish folk duo, formerly known as My bubba & Mi, shared their sultry songs for the second year in a row at KEX Hostel in Reykjavik during Iceland Airwaves, t…
It's been "a long time coming" — The Head and the Heart's own Josiah Johnson said what was on all of their fans' minds. Though only two years have elapsed since local label Sub Pop released their self-titled debut, the Seattle band had been making a name for themselves well before, and given their …
The history of the band Islands is so rich that it's almost hard to find where to start. Founded in Montreal in 2005, the band relocated to New York and then eventually moved the long distance to Los Angeles, where frontman Nick Thorburn decided to live after a difficult romantic breakup. In 2006, …
Considering all of the terrific live sessions Cheryl Waters is witness to in the KEXP live room, it's rare she'd be knocked speechless after a first song. But clearly London Grammar has learned from the best. Through the moody atmospherics of guitarist Dan Rothman and keyboardist Dot Major and the …
This weekend, the streets will be alive with the sound of music – the Seattle way! There are a ton of terrific bands to see and hear this year at the Capitol Hill Block Party, from The Flaming Lips and Dirty Projectors to La Luz to Pickwick. Whole areas of Capitol Hill will be blocked off from traf…
It's hard to believe that That's It!, the new album by Preservation Hall Jazz Band, is their first record of all new material, not just because they've had a prolific 50 year history already, but also because the songs fit so seamlessly into the rest of the New Orleans traditionalists' catalog. Ban…
There's been one name on the lips of every credible music news source for the last two weeks: Disclosure. The band has been gaining buzz with excellent singles and some great international dance chart action in the six months, but two weeks out from their album's release, the duo - Surrey brothers …
There are a lot of great showcases happening around the SXSW this year, but one the most anticipated events kicking off the music portion of the conference on Wednesday, March 13, is NPR Music's Showcase at Stubb's with Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cafe Tacvba, Alt-J, Youth Lagoon,…
