Death Cab for Cutie is a band that embodies change. From the light-hearted melancholy of "Photobooth" to the heavy-handed post-marital blows of "Cath...", Death Cab have shown us hundreds of ways in which circumstances shift and we find ourselves to be different people when the light changes. We mi…
There's always drama with Tame Impala, according to frontman and band mastermind Kevin Parker, but this time, it's only relative to the backstage amenities: the refrigerator holding their beer is leaking. But considering that Parker and his bandmates have their light show and all of their gear – wh…
It seemed so daunting when Joseph Arthur first talked about The Ballad of Boogie Christ during an in-studio session two years ago. Back then, he thought it might be a potential rock musical or even a "rock opera" about a man who was either enlightened or insane, and it was either going to be about …
Congratulations to Searching for Sugar Man for winning Best Documentary Feature at the 85th annual Academy Awards tonight! Directed by Malik Bendjelloul, the musical biopic uncovers the mystery behind the Detroit-based musician Rodriguez and, most interestingly, how he became a legend for decades i…
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It’s a rare opportunity to see a band as hyped as Whitney at a venue as intimate as the Sunset Tavern. Or as frontman Julien Ehrlich noted with an off-the-cuff affect he deploys for most his on stage thoughts, “This show’s been sold out a long time.” No surprise there. With the June release of thei…
Northwest artist/musician Geneviève Castrée lost her battle with pancreatic cancer this past Saturday. Castrée recorded music under the names Woelv and Ô Paon for local labels K, Marriage Records, and her spouse's label, P.W. Elverum & Sun. She was an accomplished artist, releasing her debut g…
You could feel the weight of the road lifted from their shoulders. After wrapping up their North American tour with a packed, energetic show at The Neptune the night before, indie-rock legends Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks joined us in the KEXP studios with Springtime on their minds. "It's pretty…
It's hard to believe it's already been three years since the release of the Fleet Foxes album Helplessness Blues (voted #1 album of 2011 by KEXP listeners). Frontman Robin Pecknold took to Facebook yesterday to share an update:
For anyone who’s curious, this is a short Fleet Foxes update – been a w…
Bobbing for hits. Though Death Cab For Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard was making light of the his band's songwriting process during his interview with KEXP's Stevie Zoom, the fact is, with all the songs he's written over nearly the past decade, he'd accumulated enough songs he's grown fond of but never…
To know Kanye West is to love him, but to be in an endless mosh pit fifteen feet under him is something even more. It's limitless devotion to the church of Yeezus. It's agreeing wholeheartedly when Ye compares himself to Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, or, most notably, God. And in turn, much like I Am fe…
We wrapped up day two of the OFF Festival in Katowice, Poland in the wee hours of the morning, tired but very happy and with the desire to reflect on the many positive aspects of the festival. We have been so impressed with OFF Festival, not just because of the high caliber of the lineup but also i…
Due to the windy weather and the consequential shuffling of band’s set times and locations, Sasquatch! Music Festival's El Chupacabra tent housed several acts that certainly didn’t fit the sound the EDM-themed stage is known for. Ibeyi was seemingly one of those bands, but the group had been schedu…
The Cure celebrate their fortieth anniversary this year. Let that soak in for a second. Then consider that the English quintet are playing three-plus hour sets with multiple encores night after night. Needless to say, Robert Smith and the current Cure lineup are doing right their legacy night after…
One of the few bands promoting a soon-to-be-released album, Parquet Courts' Sunday night set at Sasquatch was a partially a showcase for their forthcoming second album, Sunbathing Animal. (Interestingly enough, the album went up for streaming just as their set started.) Their debut, 2013's Light Up…
