The increasingly common trend of anniversary tours has further validated a longstanding posit that, for better or for worse, audiences and performers both hold: almost everyone wants to hear your old material more than they want to hear your new material.(There is a reason Paul McCartney closes wit…
There are few better ways to ring in the new year than staying up until 2am dancing incessantly to furious house music. Thankfully for us, John MacLean and Marcus Marr agree with us, and this week's The Juan MacLean show at the Nectar Lounge was a pretty fantastic way to kick off another year of li…
Joining us in the studio for a KEXP Secret Stage performance at Bumbershoot is Austin post-rock powerhouse Explosions in the Sky. Playing together for over 15 years, their sound is hugely emotive, accented with glistening guitar. It’s a unique listening experience, both cathartic and calming, comfo…
Local hip-hop heroes Shabazz Palaces have been slowly rolling out single after single from their two forthcoming albums Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star and Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines for the past couple of months. So far they've shared "Shine a Light (feat. Thaddillac)," "Since C.A.Y.A." (wh…
From his hardcore punk days to being called one of the most "important dance music figures" by AllMusic, Richard Melville Hall has led an interesting life under the moniker Moby. This Thursday, June 23rd, he'll be reading and signing from his new memoir, Porcelain, at the downtown branch of the Sea…
Some singers can sing anything, and some of them practically do. Mark Lanegan has one of those voices that will stop you dead in your tracks no matter when or how you hear him. The former local boy (he's lived in LA now probably longer than anywhere else) began a series of deep, dark solo albums th…
Anyone still lamenting the demise of Sonic Youth has clearly not yet listened to Thurston Moore's new band, Chelsea Light Moving. While not to diminish the longtime contributions of Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo, Steve Shelley, et al, this new collective of Moore and his Ecstatic Peace! labelmates Samara…
LA producer Shlohmo (Henry Laufer) has been establishing himself over the last couple years, and it's really only a matter of time before he seriously pops. He's release two full length records and a handful of singles and EPs, and all of them set him just far enough apart from his competition that…
Are bands really "side projects" when they sound this good? All members of RNDM are best known for other work, but with their debut, Acts, and a kicking live show, that may very well change. NYC based singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur has been insanely prolific as a solo artist since his 1997 debut, …
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of 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. Today’s song, featured on The Midd…
From humble beginnings cleaning toilets in Cleveland, to being a Grammy Award-winning, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-nominated artist, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails is an inspiration. With the release of a new EP, Add Violence, out now via Reznor's own label The Null Corporation, KEXP DJ John Rich…
The Drums played a packed Neumos on July 17th, with frontman Jonny Pierce giving a spirited rendition of tracks from across The Drums discography. The Seattle show was the kickoff to an extensive tour for the band, which goes on until the end of the year, and includes a lengthy stint in Europe. A h…
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on The Aft…
Broken Social Scene released their first album in seven years, Hug Of Thunder, a couple of weeks ago and now they've shared a video for the track "Vanity Pail Kids." BSS's Kevin Drew directed the rather strange video, which seems to be a commentary on the music industry via a toilet who's trying to…
They may not have made the majors like The Replacements and Hüsker Dü did, but Minneapolis-based band Arcwelder were more than a perennial local favorite, cracking John Peel's Festive Fifth countdown in 1992 and getting crowned NME's "Punk Rock Single of the Week" by none other than guest editors, …
Every once in a while in this series, I like to take a break from posting albums by bands I'm embarrassed not to know more about, in order to post an album by a band that there's pretty much no way I could ever have heard of - unless I was born a decade earlier in the midwest, or was a college radi…
