Highlights this week include the latest from London/NYC-via-Atlanta trio Algiers. KEXP Music Director Don Yates describes their debut as "an electrifying blend of edgy post-punk with soul and gospel, featuring a dark, haunting sound with ominous guitar squalls, icy synths, hypnotic drum-machine rhy…
This week, you can finally get your hands on the debut from London trio HÆLOS. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it "an excellent set of moody electro-pop with a dark, haunting sound featuring atmospheric synths, hypnotic hip hop and electronic beats, ethereal vocals, melancholy lyrics and anthem…
It's a strong week for new albums, including the long-awaited solo debut from Blur frontman (and Gorillaz leader) Damon Albarn. KEXP Music Director Don Yates describes the release as "a mostly dark, brooding set of eclectic, beat-driven pop with a stripped-down, dub-influenced sound combining haunt…
Split Single, the music project of Jason Narducy (Superchunk, Verbow), will release their sophomore album, Metal Frames, on November 18. Today they've shared the album track "Leave My Mind." The beautiful harmonies, haunting lyrics, and bad ass guitar rifts really knock this one out of the park. […
New Radiohead! The idiosyncratic UK band sneakily released a new album online this past weekend. KEXP Music Director Don Yates says, "This British band's ninth album is a transportive blend of brooding avant-pop, spacy prog-rock and psych-folk, with an intricately textured, tension-filled sound com…
We haven't heard much from Shabazz Places this year. Thankfully, Seattle's own hip-hop outfit have returned with a contribution to Adult Swim's summer singles series. "The Mystery of Lonnie Don" is a fuzzy and haunting track that's worth the wait, listen below. Here's hoping we hear more from them…
King Tuff returns to Brattleboro, VT with a video for "Sun Medallion" - a non-fiction song about a beautiful little necklace King Tuffy picked up while working at a thrift store. "My favorite part is when I turn into a witch, played by my BFF Ruthie," he told Rolling Stone, where you can see for yo…
Audioasis host/Expansions rotating host Sharlese spins a continuous, danceable set with a spectrum-spanning mix of silvery electronic music featuring new songs from Boy Harsher, Youryoungbody, and Sally Dige. 1. Iv/An - Somewhere There's a Hunger Strike 2. Wire Spine - Hellraiser 3. Frequence Noir…
After spending some time apart to work on other projects, Black Mountain eased back into the void between heavy and haunting that they've long occupied for their fourth LP, 2016's "IV". Their crunchy sludge now a potent force for over a decade, the Vancouver quintet join Cheryl Waters fo…
Making the long journey from their native homeland, Italy, Be Forest drop by KEXP to transform our live room into a warm cocoon of earthly awesomeness. The distinctive drum setup offers a foundation of unique rhythms that the echoing guitars and firm vocals are simply poured over. From the haunting…
She'll haunt your dreams and shreds guitar with the best of them, so its no surprise Courtney Barnett chose Freddy Krueger as her alter ego on Halloween. The whole band, in fact, took to the holiday with gusto, dressing up for their in-studio set at KEXP in some inconvenient but very entertaining c…
French dance producer Alan Braxe has created a stunning remix of Franz Ferdinand's single "Evil Eyes." It's a bit of a creepy track, but Braxe was able to make it a haunting dance groove. This should be an instant addition to everyone's Halloween party playlist, somewhere between "Thriller" and "M…
The tummy ache Music That Matters podcast, featuring a vast array of fantastic new music. Why? Because I said so. Keep asking and I'll turn this podcast around and we'll go home. 1. Hand Habits - Sun Beholds Me2. Porcelain Raft - Big Sur3. Tori Bukle - Rooms4. C Duncan - Nothing More5. Western Hau…
Hardly anyone on the Seattle electronic scene does intimacy quite like NAVVI does. In the two and a half years since they started asking about our weekend plans, the duo of Brad Boettger and Kristin Henry has worked slowly and steadily on perfecting the tug of war that makes their vision of relatio…
Neko Case will drop her new album, The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You, on September 3 via ANTI- Records. She previously shared the track "Man", but today we have the lyric video for a haunting new song called "Night Still Comes." Her beautiful voice a…
Midday show host Cheryl Waters brings you a new mix stacked with Pacific Northwest artists and more. 1. Chris Staples - Cheap Shades 2. Pete Quirk - Desert Eagle 3. Shana Cleveland & The Sandcastles - Holy Rollers 4. Sharon Van Etten - Just Like Blood 5. Widowspeak - All Yours 6. Ultimate Pa…
Canada’s musical climate got a couple of degrees cooler this year with the debut self titled release of Toronto’s Alvvays. During their journey through Seattle, the band turned the KEXP live room into cosmic ocean of tranquility with their gleaming melodies, luxurious tones and the haunting beauty …
Ryan Adams announced that he will be covering Taylor Swift's mega-hit album 1989 in its entirety. Although there's no official release date, he's been posting his progress on twitter. Below you can hear brief snippets of "All You Had To Do Was Stay" and "Out of the Woods." Adam's haunting vocals a…
My favorite song of the year is “Color Decay” by Icelandic singer-songwriter Júníus Meyvant. I wasn’t blown away by the song the first time I heard it, but it’s not that type of song. It’s deceptively subtle, with a quality that pulled me in, haunted me, and made me want to listen to it again, and …
It's scary how many great albums are coming out on this Halloween week! Highlights include the fourth album from Scottish band The Twilight Sad. KEXP Music Director Don Yates says the band, "brings back the loud, shoegazerish guitars that were mostly absent from their last release (2012’s No One Ca…
