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…
Portland band Radiation City have come a long way since their cassette-exclusive underground releases, tapes that quickly earned praise for their vintage stylings, pleasant dream-pop explosions over 60's harmonies and sways, synth parts that sound like what people thought 1984 would sound like befo…
You'd be mistaken to think that the artists at Pickathon are all a bunch of wizened fingerpickers. One of the highlights of the Portland-area festival's carefully curated lineup is the pairing of musicians new and old. On stage, you'll hear veteran songwriters with more stories to tell than songs t…
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…
As far as new releases go, it's a bit of a slower week than in the past hectic month, but 2013 still holds many terrific new albums yet to be released, including quite a few just hitting stores today. Among them, is the excellent new mini-album, Fade Away, from LA duo Best Coast, which at seven son…
Resident Advisor is among the best online magazines for electronic music fans out there since 2001, and their showcase at Decibel Festival was nothing to be messed with. Not only did they pull from local talent, but they are responsible for bringing Actress to Decibel, a feat which was met with a m…
Unknown Mortal Orchestra is a bit of a conundrum, at least when it comes to classifying them. Not really a "band," UMO is really the project of Ruban Nielson, who wrote and recorded songs in his bedroom and even posted the insanely catchy "Ffunny Ffrends" first online anonymously. Not really a loca…
Aminéisn't just up-and-coming anymore -- he's arrived. The Portland rapper made his Seattle debut in probably the biggest way possible -- playing to a packed out crowd at Key Arena at the Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival. Walking on to the beastly, hyphy-like beat of "Red Mercedes," Aminé kept…
While the standout track of Ages & Ages' 2014 sophomore album, Divisionary, surely still has you singing "Do The Right Thing" in grandiose fashion, the Portland group has not been content to sit idly behind the success of a past project. Instead, they have been hard at work crafting their third…
While it's a fairly slow summer week for new releases, there are definitely some terrific Northwest releases to get you shopping at your favorite record store today. In the past three years between their second and third albums, Seattle's Feral Children seem to have grown into men... wild men, sure…
On the show this time, it’s the groovy, new-classic roots-rock of Portland’s Rose City Band.
KEXP is excited to present another special all-electronic edition of Audioasis this Saturday, September 5th! This weekend's show is a celebration of this year's upcoming Decibel Festival that will be held all across the city of Seattle from Wednesday, September 23rd through Wednesday, September 27t…
Since 2012, Freakout Records has taken over venues in the Ballard neighborhood for multiple nights of blaring, sweaty, and all around thrilling local music with their namesake Freakout! festival. Now entering its fifth iteration on November 17th and 18th, Freakout! is stepping up with one of their …
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unrealeased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Mi…
For longtime followers of the band, it's a little strange that Modest Mouse has now spent more time as a big-name ticket than a scrappy indie rock band from Issaquah, but in retrospect, the band's current status goes along with Modest Mouse's singular trajectory. Although many would label them with…
You won’t believe the golden light you wake up to crawling out of your tent at Pickathon. The tree-lined hills of the Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley, Oregon make you feel like you are in an other-worldly paradise. Taking a light walk around the Back 40 to enjoy the surroundings, among the sleepy co…
I hate to break it to you, but you're gonna be heading toward Record Store Day this Saturday at a deficit. Why? Because there are too many excellent new releases coming out today that you'll want to pick up right now. First and foremost: the latest from Yeah Yeah Yeahs, whose fourth album our Music…
Dusty Henry and Martin Douglas dive into the three albums by the Portland band Wipers, the band with the most entries on Kurt's list (unless you count "anything by Kleenex").
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Fresh off of the release of sixth studio album, Doom Abuse, Nebraska synth and dance punk band The Faint brought one hell of a Friday night to the Neptune. While Doom Abuse is the band's first new record in six years, the band hasn't lost any steam in time away - least of all in their famously fant…
It's a very short list of new releases this holiday week, so you can probably tie your record store shopping to your quest for 4th of July BBQ supplies. While you're stocking up on burgers, weiners, beer and soda, you might stop to grab the latest from British producer Zomby, whose third album, our…
