At first I thought it was an piece in The Onion, but no, Seattle rapper Macklemore really did appear with President Barack Obama this past Saturday morning for the weekly White House Address. (Did you catch Obama's sly "same love" pun?) And the topic is certainly no joke: the two addressed opioid …
Who would have thought a "Big Black Coat" could be so inviting? The album of that name is the first in nearly five years for KEXP favorites Junior Boys, and it comes not just as a return to form but a revisitation of the pop sounds they've cherished for some time - house, techno, soul, disco and R&…
“Deltron is our hero, if he can’t do it nobody can”, sings the entire Showbox. On stage, Dan the Automator conducts the audience as Del the Funky Homosapien preps for the follow up. “With the wave of a hand and a flick of the wrist, word wizardry will certainly give you a glimpse”, re raps, smooth …
UK indie pop trio London Grammar have been causing quite a stir lately, and the fact that they don’t even have a record out in the United States yet didn’t deter a single member of the full house they met Monday night at the Crocodile. Their debut LP, If You Wait, has soared towards the top of the …
If volume is your only musical qualifier, then there is probably only one band on your best of 2013 list. San Francisco metal duo Deafheaven dropped Sunbather last month, a seven track sonic masterpiece that relentlessly pulls at your heartstrings and threatens hearing damage for 60 minutes. The al…
Named after a race of diminutive creatures in Magic: The Gathering, Kithkin's energetic, uplifting indie rock is the type of music that gets the cops called over to house shows (in the best way possible). Although the band's aesthetic is clearly a fantastical one - the self-described "Cascadian you…
Michael Mayer is an internationally renowned electronic producer, DJ, and in-demand remixer, as well as a co-founder of the influential German label Kompakt Records. Based in Cologne, Mayer works under his own name and as one-half of SuperMayer, consistently displaying under either guise his refine…
And so we witnessed another amazing music festival! This time it was the 4th annual Macefield Music Festival that took place this weekend across Conor Byrne, Tractor Tavern, The Sunset Tavern, and the charmingly bricked streets of Ballard Ave. Macefield Music Festival was named after Edith Macefiel…
Chelsea Wolfe is releasing a new album called Hiss Spun on September 22 via Sargent House. In collaboration with Converge's Kurt Ballou and Queens Of The Stone Age's Troy Van Leeuwen, she's delving deeper into metal influences on the new album. She's previously shared "16 Psyche" and "Vex" and toda…
As the sun set on KEXP's 2016 Hood to Hood broadcast from the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, the party headed a few miles away to the Skylark Cafe where DJ Troy Nelson was hosting an evening of local music. It's a good thing the show was All Ages, because we had the winners of this year's youth-o…
From a patio overlooking the foothills of the Cascade Mountains near Leavenworth, WA, Seattle musician, Josh Rawlings, prepares himself for a month-long writing session with famed Seattle music producer, Ryan Lewis. Rawlings, who has toured with the golden-voiced Allen Stone and is one-fourth of th…
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…
By the time this gets posted, Mac DeMarco's Brooklyn backyard will be overflowing with fans. Last night, the charismatic artist invited everyone over to 153 Morgan Avenue to hear unreleased music that he'll be blasting from his car stereo (presumably his forthcoming mini-album Another One out on A…
There's nothing pretty about Girl Band. In fact, the Dublin-based four-piece play some of the most abrasive pop songs you're likely to hear. But it hadn't always been that way. Singer Dara Kiely and guitarist Alan Duggan had played together in more conventionally "indie" type bands before hitting u…
Chalk it up to: You'll never see that again. Last week, Mercury Prize winners and KEXP fan-favorites Alt-J performed their headlining Seattle debut at the Crocodile, a venue whose size they've long outgrown. While previously they opened for Grouplove at the Moore (and I'd say at least half the full…
The alias of Georgia native Ernest Greene, Washed Out burst on to the music scene in 2009 with his defining and refreshing chillwave sound, and he's been a staple on KEXP's airwaves ever since. His style has evolved over the years, exploring various shades of dreamy and psychedelic electronic pop. …
Seattle's Michael Manahan has been a critical figure in the local electronic music community over the past two decades, playing a major role in Starborne Shows/Starborne Sound, Cascadia, and Decibel Festival, as well as through the iconic Seattle nightclub Re-Bar. The driving force behind the new C…
Succubass is the alias of Seattle-based DJ Jessica Duran, a member of the local TUF collective who's quickly become well-known for her exceptionally diverse tastes and ability to jump across multiple styles and confidently provide top-notch vibes to a wide range of dancefloor parties. A trusted sel…
