Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. This week, we are featuring Christmas…
The bad news continues to roll through the music world: singer/songwriter Leon Russell died in his sleep yesterday morning in Nashville. No cause of death has been cited for the 74-year-old musician, but NBC News reports a number of prior health conditions, including surgery to stop leaking brain …
Uncanny timing! As KEXP broadcasts from the Iceland Airwaves Music Festival, we've got news from headliner, Björk. The Reykjavík-born artist has announced a virtual reality (VR) video for the Vulnicura track "Notget" is on the way. Watch a trailer below. Björk has previously released VR Videos for…
This weekend, Friday, August 4th and Saturday, August 5th, the Chautauqua Music Festival takes over the Vashon Eagles on Vashon Island. The festival was founded to benefit elementary and middle school arts programs on Vashon Island. To date, Chautauqua has raised over 14,000 dollars to "help augmen…
As Toronto-based teens, best buds Katie Monks and Liz Ball would sneak off to the park to play guitar. What started as a secret has now become broadcast around the world on KEXP: as Toronto quartet Dilly Dally, Monks and Ball channel their '90s influences into fierce, grunge-inspired pop, spotlight…
The last time I posted on The Smiths in this space, I was pretty bummed about the disappearance of various local businesses and the gloomy weather. Good thing those days are behind us, right? Hahahahaha! Ha! Ha. Suffice it to say it's been a while, and there are a number of fine Smiths albums with …
Effortlessly weaving notes together to create airy, meandering harmonies, Shana Cleveland truly shines in the KEXP studio. In comparing Cleveland's other music project La Luz, which has has quickly gained a respectable fan base over the past years, Shana Cleveland & The Sandcastles' 6-year time…
Poor Tom Petty. He gets no love. Actually, that's not true. He probably has lots of money and lots of people, including some prominent contemporary songwriters, do love him, but back in the day, KCMU DJs couldn't seem to be bothered even to comment on the single for "Change of Heart", which was add…
For as far and wide as East India Youth has traveled over the past couple of years, it's surprising that William Doyle still hasn't really left his bedroom. After wowing listeners with his genre-bending self-produced debut, Total Strife Forever, a pleasantly strife-free auditory adventure, the Lond…
Seattle. 1998. The Murder City Devils, a band of Seattle's top garage punks, is playing shows with Pacific Northwestern 90s greats Pearl Jam, Built to Spill, and The Black Halos. Flash forward to 2014, and the band has gone through three albums, a deficit of one member, and most importantly, one br…
Considering his past, The Lightness of Being might be a suitable alternative to name Hiss Golden Messenger's new album, The Lateness of Dancers. Whether he's has found answers to the questions haunting his darker, folkier albums or just accepted the mystery and moved on, the Durham, NC, songwriter …
In honor of the late Jason Molina, Graveface Records has announced the release of a tribute album (due out on April 23). Weary Engine Blues has an impressive roster of singer/songwriters -including John Vanderslice, Will Oldham (Bonnie 'Prince' Billy), Phil Elverum (The Microphones), Mark Kozelek, …
Seattle songwriter Kris Orlowski has the honesty, voice, and soul needed in a great pop folk songwriter. Since the mid-2000s, Orlowski has been on the Seattle circuit building a reputation for the highest quality songwriting with an equally talented band that seems to understand every turn and moo…
Grant Hart, drummer , songwriter, and co-lead singer for the influential rock band Hüsker Dü, has died. He was 56 years old. The cause of death has not been announced, but he had reportedly been fighting cancer. Bob Mould confirmed the news via Facebook. The Minneapolis band was formed in 1979 by H…
Funk music isn't just heard, it's experienced. You can have a great time playing a funk article at home on your stereo, but it takes on a whole new life when it's right in front of your face. Seattle future funk-fusion act High Pulp gets this. With a staggering 10 members in the group, they push an…
Sigur Ròs guitarist and vocalist Jónsi has announced that he'll be releasing a collection of unreleased solo electronic recordings called Frakkur: 2000-2004, which will be available on limited-edition vinyl at the Norður Og Niður festival. The fest is put on by Sigur Ròs, who are also headlining f…
The two Pacific Northwest rappers deep dive into the lyrics of their song "Solidarity," discuss the importance of acknowledging our shared racial history as resistance, and shed light on how if oppression is collaborative, then our freedom has to be.
Hanukkah kicked off yesterday evening, and KEXP has your playlist of songs for the season. The eight-day festival of lights will run through Monday, December 14th, so spin these tracks while you spin the dreidel. Happy Hanukkah from everyone at KEXP!
Do you wish more people knew about your favorite nonprofit (besides KEXP, obviously)? Do you dream of putting on a kickass concert on its behalf? If you answered “yes” to both of those questions, then KEXP has an opportunity for you.
An essayist as well as a rapper, Dessa’s lyricism has always been a pool fed by both hip-hop and those forms of storytelling and poetry meant for the page. The Doomtree affiliated, Minneapolis MC is especially sharp-eyed on her latest single “Fire Drills,” off the soon-to-be-released album Chime.
