Shabazz Palaces sound like no one else. Whether you call it "sci-fi", "way-out", "weirdo" or even "planetarium" rap, the Seattle duo's music might as well be in outer space considering how far off they sound from their contemporaries. But it's not like they don't want anyone else to follow. In its …
It's been an interesting year and a half for Sheffield indie rock duo Drenge. The band's rise to public awareness has taken a pretty incongruent path: being name checked by a member of Parliament upon resignation, dubbed "Derbyshire's Black Keys" by the Guardian UK, and getting commercial appeal fr…
In a sharp contrast from years past, this year's Sasquatch! Music Festival lineup has considerably less folk-inclining music on the main stage, making Lord Huron one of the weekend's folk rock acts that would play directly in front of the Columbia River Gorge. The Michigan-via-Los Angeles quintet s…
Next on the KEXP broadcast live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves was Icelandic art-rock band Agent Fresco. Formed in 2008, mere weeks before playing in the Icelandic battle of the bands (Músíktilraunir), at which they won best guitar, best drumming, and best bass playing. The four-piece band inc…
I have to remind myself every single year, every time I look at the lineup, every time I hit a single event and walk into work dog tired the next day - Seattle is so lucky to play home to the visionaries that put on Decibel Festival year after year. There are so many electronic music festivals in t…
Listening to No Cities To Love, the eighth album by Sleater-Kinney, has to be done with one thing in mind: Sleater-Kinney did not have to make this album. That's not meant in a idol-worshipping, "we're not worthy" way, but quite literally. They all have alternate careers that they're perfectly happ…
Besides deliberate misspellings and prodigious capitalization in band names, we hope that one of the trends people will note about the music of 2013 is the ascendency of female voiced indie pop. CHVRCHES, HAERTS, HAIM (okay, a few bands fall into both categories!) as well as London Grammar, Lorde, …
Welcome to a start new vision of the apocalypse. Nick Cave may have soundtracked the movie adaption of Cormac McCarthy's The Road back in 2009, but with Welcome oblivion, Trent Reznor gives us a glitchy concept album realization of a similar internal battle that will keep you up at night with just …
Tom Krell sure had one hell of a year last year. The new How To Dress Well record, Total Loss, was almost unanimously well received for its bare bones mixture of R&B and electronica. It also helps that it was a heartfelt, heartbroken record that tells the true story of Krell's last year (read m…
Despite the surprise appearance of (perennial Bumbershoot headliner) rain on Satuday evening, the dedicated crowd of Babes in Toyland fans seemed completely indifferent to the downpur. And from Kat Bjelland's first snarling guitar chord, it was clear that she was too. In a set front-loaded with one…
In recent years, the Gorge has hosted some incredible singalongs: "Skinny Love", "Seven Nation Army", "Where It's At", and "Wake Up" have all been shouted by 15,000+ people in unison to make a you-had-to-be-there festival moment. As great as all of those are, there's something special about listeni…
Finally. This week, that's probably the only thought that comes to mind as M.I.A. sees her fourth LP hit shelves. It's just shy of three years since we first heard a sample of "Bad Girls" on Maya's new year's eve Vicki Leekx mixtape. Now, the song has been an international hit for over a year and a…
You don't have to be a DJ, or even relate to anything on this list, to go to University of Washington's Rainy Dawg Radio's excellently curated 10th Anniversary Party this Thursday the 23rd - they've managed to captured many of Seattle's local sounds in one show. From the electro-soul of Natasha Km…
KEXP's Resident Runner and host of the Morning Show, John Richards, presents Volume 2 of our new Runner Powered Podcast series. Hit your second wind with two hours (31 tracks!) of high energy KEXP favorites. 1. Animal Collective - What Would I Want? Sky 2. Small Black (Feat. Aaron Rockers) - Free…
Last weekend saw the return of Reykjavik Calling, the annual showcase featuring artists from sister cities Reykjavik and Seattle. Each year, KEXP curates the bill, selecting likeminded artists whose complementary styles might lead to fruitful collaboration. This year, we made our choices with a min…
On a rainy Wednesday evening, Annie Clark brought wonder and beauty to Seattle and to the Moore Theater with her St. Vincent return to our fair city. Both of the last times we've had the chance to see clark, it was alongside David Byrne, playing some original material, but mostly cuts from their co…
KEXP’s Song of the Day podcast features stand-out tracks from independen…
I learn so much writing these blog posts! For instance, did you know that Michael Penn (whom you probably first heard about for his delightfully earwormy 1989 hit "No Myth," but has since done many serious and critically acclaimed things - not that there's anything unserious about "No Myth," that's…
Listening to St. Vincent's new self-titled LP, I find it harder and harder to market Annie Clark's music to friends by method of comparison. On her past efforts, including 2011's excellent Strange Mercy and her breakthrough 2009 record Actor, Clark has stood out on the forefront of a brave, new wav…
