Electronic music’s second massive wave of popularity is in full swing. For the first time since disco, Top 40 music is far more influenced by modern dance trends than traditional R&B or rock elements. By and large, the highest paid DJs do better than the highest paid rappers. After being critic…
A couple times a year, Starbucks, STG, and KEXP team up to put on the Little Big Show - a little show with a big impact - where 100% of the proceeds go towards helping the arts stay alive for young people. This evening's sold out show raised over $14,000 for The Vera Project, the non-profit all age…
As if the music was reflecting off the bicycles, Gliss' afternoon set at during our SXSW broadcast was a shimmering cooldown after Jovanotti threw a vibrant Italian party in Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop. As the group ran through a set of tunes from their latest LP, this year's Langsome Dans, frontwoma…
As Jamie Lidell started into his Neumos set Monday night, he recalled the Multiply tour, where at his Neumos stop back in 2006, he wore a leopard print suit that was blistering hot on stage. Here, he was dressed more akin to an R&B Dr. Who, with a dark full body coat over a simple v-neck. But t…
Suuns are riding high this year following the release of their second full-length Images Du Futur, and when they showed up to play at KEXP's broadcast in Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop at SXSW the crowd got to see the band burn with confidence through a set of powerful, propulsive post-rock. Suuns alwa…
A superstar in his native Italy, rapper Jovanotti, otherwise known as Lorenzo Cherubini, is making strides in the U.S. with a recent move to New York and a new retrospective, Jovanotti’s Italia 1988-2012, released by ATO Records. You definitely don't need to be fluent in Italian to appreciate his h…
Welcome to a start new vision of the apocalypse. Nick Cave may have soundtracked the movie adaption of Cormac McCarthy's The Road back in 2009, but with Welcome oblivion, Trent Reznor gives us a glitchy concept album realization of a similar internal battle that will keep you up at night with just …
Aaron Beam, bassist for Portland’s Red Fang, once told me that he believed the long-standing punk-versus-metal dichotomy died when Metallica’s 1984 sophomore album Ride the Lightning came out. I believe he is correct, and the fact that Oakland, California’s Neurosis formed in 1985 only provides mor…
Wow, what a way to open our last day of music live at Kex Hostel! We were fortunate to host legendary Icelandic musician Megas. Considered the father of Icelandic rock, Megas is one of Iceland’s most influential rock musicians. He's been working as a professional musician since 1968, when he publis…
Wow, what an unbelievable end to a great day of live music. Day one of the Airwaves broadcast live from Kex Hostel closed with a bang as we welcomed Iceland’s favorite new live act Hatari. Icelandic for "Hater," Hatari was formed by Klemens Hannigan, Matthías Tryggvi Haraldson, and Einar Stéfansson…
Before most of the festival’s attendees have even arrived at Seattle Center, KEXP’s Bumbershoot was already underway. Setting a high bar right from the get-go, gospel legends Blind Boys of Alabama opened the festival with an intimate set at KEXP's Secret Stage. From their humble beginnings nearly 8…
The career of Midnight Faces frontman Matthew Doty feels like scrolling through the KEXP Blog. He began making music as a teenager with childhood friend Jonny Pierce of The Drums (who was recently in town and who we interviewed). And as a young adult, he co-founded the band Saxon Shore with Josh Ti…
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…
By the end of Greg Dulli's second set of the night at The Triple Door, there were an atypically low number of dead bodies that had sung about by the Cincinnati songwriter. But while the fictional body count remained low, there were a few overeager audience members that might have pushed up the numb…
Next on the KEXP broadcast live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves was Icelandic art-rock band Agent Fresco. Formed in 2008, mere weeks before playing in the Icelandic battle of the bands (Músíktilraunir), at which they won best guitar, best drumming, and best bass playing. The four-piece band inc…
Red Bull Sound Select are at it again: the caffeine-packed beverage people throw concerts around the world, curated by local taste-makers (KEXP has curated a few of these shows ourselves). This time around, legendary label Sub Pop Records have picked the bill, and on Wednesday, October 7th, you can…
KEXP is excited to premiere a new video from Superchunk-frontman Mac McCaughan for the track "Box Batteries," off his debut solo full-length Non-Believers, out now on Merge Records. The clip brings you face-to-face with its director, Brooklyn-based performance artist Anya Liftig, whose big blue eye…
What's better than a surprise free album from one of your all time favorite bands? A surprise free album from one of your favorite bands that puts them at the top of their two decades and running game. Wilco wrapped up their contract with Nonesuch back in 2010, after their fourth release on the lab…
Listening to No Cities To Love, the eighth album by Sleater-Kinney, has to be done with one thing in mind: Sleater-Kinney did not have to make this album. That's not meant in a idol-worshipping, "we're not worthy" way, but quite literally. They all have alternate careers that they're perfectly happ…
Moby has announced that he is releasing his 15th album and third in the past 14 months, Everything Was Beautiful, And Nothing Hurt in March of next year. He's also shared the lead single for the album, "Like A Motherless Child" and comes with a black and white video. Moby released These Systems Are…
