Quick, imagine there's a band that formed in Berlin in the mid-'80s and named themselves after an instrumental song by Tom Waits. What do you think they sound like? Guess again. Rainbirds' hooky New Wave sound, at least on their 1987 debut album, was decidedly more conventional than their name's or…
Dauwd is the alias of Dauwd Al Hilali, a US-born, UK-raised, Berlin-based electronic producer who has provided a steady supply of stellar tech-house grooves over the past six years, releasing high-quality EPs for Pictures Music, Ghostly International, and Berlin's renowned Kompakt Records along the…
The National debuted several new songs at their first concert of 2013 last night in Berlin. Each of these three new tracks will be featured on their new album Trouble Will Find Me that will be out May 21. Thanks to a brilliant YouTube user, we are able to live vicariously through the fans in Germa…
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part 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 selection, featured on the Mi…
Atoms for Peace's Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich will mark the release of their new album, Amok, with a brief series of shows. The duo will take on London, Berlin, and New York in the coming weeks to perform DJ sets along with special guests like Actress, Throwing Snow, Shed, and Anstam. Pitchfork ha…
Now here's an interesting one. Ry Cuming dropped his first full length album back in 2010, top to bottom filled with coffee shop ready singer-songwriter wanderings, guest spots on the record going to Sarah Bareilles and Jesse Carmichael. Then in 2013, we got a complete reintroduction with the Austr…
As the days grow shorter, the list of exciting new albums seems to grow longer. Though none of the big year-end blockbusters are out yet, there's a lot to choose from on the new release shelves at your favorite record store, including the latest from Moderat. This second LP by the collaboration of …
During Decibel Festival, Optical 3: Playful Dischord took place at the Sky Church, this time featuring Berlin's Kangding Ray, Atom™ HD/AV and ending with Oneohetrix Point Never with visual artist Nate Boyce. This stacked line-up explored everything from dance to deep space. Kangding Ray, a former a…
My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James has announced a collection of covers called Tribute To 2. James released a solo EP Tribute To in 2009 which was a handful of acoustic George Harrison covers following Harrison's death. For Tribute To 2 James is covering a variety of different artists such as El…
DJ El Toro presents nineteen of his favorite new tracks (including a couple of recently unearthed archival gems) for singing, dancing, shredding, and sulking. Lather, rinse, repeat. 1. Mocean Worker - Julius, Irving, Berlin 2. Peaches (feat. Kim Gordon) - Close Up 3. Escort - Animal Nature 4. Tu…
Perera Elsewhere is the solo alias of Sasha Perera, a London-born, Berlin-based Sri Lankan singer/songwriter/producer that also fronts the futuristic electronic/pop trio Jahcoozi. Debuting the Perera Elsewhere moniker in 2013 with an EP of adventurous, sophisticated, and modernized trip-hop for Los…
Anika is the stage name of British-born, frequently Berlin-based singer, songwriter, and political journalist Annika Henderson, a magnetic vocalist and writer that emerged as a solo artist in 2010 with releases on Portishead member Geoff Barrow's Invada Records as well as the highly revered Stones …
If composers like Mozart and Tchaikovsky were born today, would we recognize their work? Would they create the same kind of heady and emotive symphonies and concertos as they did in the past? Or would the history of rock and electronica bend them in a new direction? Maybe only time will tell if we'…
If you, like myself, live in 2014 but still can't get over 80s new wave, you can't get much better than Berlin band Ballet School. The band is a godsend for new wave diehards and make some of the most incredible synth pop around. But tribute isn't Ballet School's only trick in the cards - the band …
My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James is releasing an album of covers at the beginning of next month called Tribute To 2. The album follows 2009's George Harrison-focused cover album Tribute To, will also be reissued with extra bonus tracks on the same day as Tribute To 2. James previously shared h…
It may be Halloween, but this week's batch of new releases is pretty heavy on the Christmas theme, with collections out from She & Him, Jennifer Nettles, Kacey Musgraves, and Neil Diamond. I'm sure there will be more to come. For non-holiday albums, KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes the lates…
Berlin-trio Moderat, featuring the combined forces of the German electronic projects Apparat and Modeselektor, stopped by KEXP's studio to showcase a few of their new bangers from their 2016 release, III. The "bored-with-current electronic-music-back-in-the-day" musicians put out a quick caveat tha…
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…
