"You don’t have to be anyone if you don’t want to / You don’t have to get a job if you don’t want to" and you definitely don't have to listen to Howler if you don't want to. But that would be a damn shame because the Minneapolis yeehaw boys have returned with their second album of infectious punky …
Recently, Alec Ounsworth, frontman of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, happened to be in the vicinity of the KEXP studio. He wasn't scheduled, and we only learned he was in town the same day, but we grabbed him anyway, sat him down, and asked him to play a few songs on the Midday Show with Cheryl Waters. …
New Zealand band Ghost Wave blew us away with their hypnotic set of moody psych-rock songs at our CMJ broadcast last year, so we're especially thrilled to debut the band's music video for the track "Orb." The closing track off their debut Flying Nun Records release, Ages, "Orb" finds the group of A…
The nation is catching on to the wealth of amazing music coming out of Seattle's experimental hip-hop scene. This year listeners have become entranced by Seattle's THEESatisfaction, and before that Shabazz Palaces -- expect the same kind of attention soon for OCnotes (Otis Calvin, III) and his gen…
Today's song of the day, as chosen by Afternoon Show host Larry Mizell Jr., is "The Message Continues" by Nubya Garcia from the 2020 album 'SOURCE' on Concord.
When Rose Windows released their debut album last year, it was obvious that the Seattle music scene was in for something special. Founded by songwriter Chris Cheveyo in 2010, Rose Windows has become a band that delivers the perfect amount of '60s nostalgia while still sounding unlike anyone else. W…
Inspiration can come anytime; Montreal experimental trio Big Brave can attest to that. Guitarist/vocalist Robin Wattie and guitarist Mathieu Bernard Ball began playing together in 2012 when they were roommates, Robin told us after their set. She played acoustic guitar and was working on writing son…
Philadelphia rockers The War On Drugs have been touring tirelessly on the wide success of their third album, 2014's Lost In The Dream. KEXP listeners voted it as their top album of the year, and with good reason. Singer and songwriter Adam Granduciel wrote the songs during a post-tour period of iso…
If Sharon Van Etten were a different person, her brutal honesty would be too much to bear. On her terrific new album, Are We There (read our review of it here), no painful moment, self-critique or regret is too deep to share... and there are real depths in her songs! But just as her songs never dwe…
The popularity of today's folk rock stars, from Iron & Wine and Billy Bragg to Mumford & Sons and Of Monsters and Men, all owe a large debt to American folk legend Pete Seeger, who passed away yesterday at age 94. To the end, Seeger was a champion, activist and resounding voice for civil ri…
Jyoti B. Fly talks about Peruvian artist Sofia Kourtesis and her new collaboration with Daphni of Caribou fame on the song "Unidos."
Brooklyn-based band Crumb talk about Domenique Dumont's song "Deux Paradis."
KEXP Music Director Chris Sanley talks about POP Montreal International Music Festival’s best acts, including Shn Shn and her song "Home is Another Place."
KEXP DJ Goyri, co-host of El Sonido, joins host Evie Stokes to talk about Mexico City’s bursting music scene and unperro andaluz’s new song “malabares” featuring another Mexican artist – Manuel Ávila – off their record tragaperras on ERiZO.
Seattle's own Delvon Lamarr of the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio shares a guest DJ mix for Midnight In A Perfect World showcasing the timeless soul, funk, and R&B songs that have influenced him as an artist.
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.
In KEXP's new weekly series Living Singles, the KEXP staff contributors highlight three brand new singles that are resonating with them right now. Listen to Dusty Henry talk about his picks alongside Sound & Vision's Rachel Stevens.
Chilean musician and film director Alex Anwandter's guest DJ mix spotlights the songs that inspired the vibrant and expressive sound on his new album El diablo en el cuerpo.
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.
"Actions, situations, feelings, things you've witnessed or taken part in can stay in your eyes for others to feel when they look at you. That is what this song is about. Eyes and big souls."
