Next month, New York City's Museum of Modern Art will open an interactive exhibit celebrating Icelandic songstress Björk. The retrospective, which runs until June, will "chronicle her career through sound, film, visuals, instruments, objects, costumes, and performance." Below, she's shared a brief…
One of Iceland's most popular musical exports, after Björk and Sigur Rós, has to be Of Monsters & Men. We were fortunate to discover this talented young band early and capture them on video as they practiced for their first ever performance at Icelandic Airwaves Festival back in 2010. They've s…
Björk fans, prepare to get violently happy: the iconic Icelandic pixie announced last night that she'll be releasing her ninth studio album, Vulnicura, this March. In a handwritten note posted online late last night, she shared the track listing. The release will be her first album in four years, …
More than any other day, Saturday at Bonnaroo was filled with things that could only really happen at the Farm, among them, Björk's jellyfish facemask thing, R. Kelly entering on a boom crane, a 5k at 9 in the morning (in 80 degree heat), and a moment where Jim James, R. Kelly, Billy Idol, and John…
Björk has announced a new single called "The Gate" that will be released digitally on September 18 and via a limited edition single-sided 12" vinyl released on September 22. She announced the new album last month, which will reportedly be co-produced with her Vulnicura co-producer Arca. It will als…
Rounding out a stunning second day of the KEXP Broadcast live from KEX Hostel at Iceland Airwaves Music festival are the incomparable Kronos Quartet. The San Francisco-based string quartet has been around for over 40 years, with a roster of rotating musicians, currently comprised of David Harringto…
Whether it's their surroundings, the air, the water, the isolation or a communal appreciation of the arts, something has given Icelanders a lock on creating otherworldly sonic landscapes. Sigur Rós and Björk are of course the most famous of them, but if you've been listening to KEXP's broadcasts fr…
Our third live show of the day from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves was Mammút. This rock band won acclaim with their latest album Komdu til mín svarta systir (Come to Me, My Dark Sister), scoring eight nominations at the 2013 Icelandic Music Awards. Eventually they snagged wins for best album, song…
Wow, what a way to open our last day of music live at Kex Hostel! We were fortunate to host legendary Icelandic musician Megas. Considered the father of Icelandic rock, Megas is one of Iceland’s most influential rock musicians. He's been working as a professional musician since 1968, when he publis…
Nominations were announced this morning for the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, and many KEXP faves were on the list, including Kendrick Lamar, who garnered 11 nominations for his latest To Pimp A Butterfly. Courtney Barnett was nominated for Best New Artist, while local boys Death Cab for Cutie will b…
It's the annual April Fool's Day Video Round-up, a compilation of jokes and fools for your viewing and listening pleasure! You can prank me later. What will April Fool's Day 2015 bring? Here's hoping someone tries to top last year's Flaming Lips release, "Sell Out," or Björk's 2009 announcement tha…
KEXP can’t get enough of today’s first act, Samaris. They’ve been featured as song of the day, highlighted on several Music that Matters podcasts and yearly top-10 lists, and even played at the station’s New Home Opening in Seattle earlier this year. Today we have the pleasure of having them open d…
Today we talk with two mastering engineers, who put the final touches on music before it’s released. It’s Seattle’s Rachel Field, who has worked with Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam, and the Cairo-born, Brooklyn-based engineer Heba Kadry, who has worked with Björk, Lucy Dacus, Slowdive, The Mars Volta a…
Car Seat Headrest have unveiled a (sort of) new song today, "Beach Life-In-Death." The 13-minute single is actually an updated version of a song of the same name off of Car Seat Headrest's 2011 Bandcamp album Twin Fantasy. The previous version was a fan-favorite and the new one is a sprawling epic …
We made it out to the Trans Musicales festival grounds last night after we wrapped up filming for the day. The festival grounds are located at the Park Expo, which is a complex of large buildings, a couple of which are the main festival areas, like the food court, for a lack of a better term and I …
