Justin Vernon, James Blake, Thom Yorke, Pat Grossi — all artists whose voices soar happily in the upper register. Add to them James Vincent McMorrow. With his gorgeously produced new LP, Post Tropical, the Irish singer-songwriter left his folky debut in the dust, choosing instead horns, synths, and…
Since forming in 2007, Seattle's Cumulus – comprised of Alexandra Niedzialkowski, Lance Umble and Leah Julius – have only recently released their debut album, I Never Meant It To Be Like This, last month. But the wait was well worth it! The record is tight and rife with cheerful pop music, from sin…
Since Lake Street Dive's stunning performances during the last two years at Pickathon, fans in the Northwest have been clamoring for a new full-length from the Brooklyn based soul peddlers. Fortunately, they won't have to wait much longer, as Bad Self-Portraits is due February 18, 2014. In anticipa…
It's impossible to get too much of Charles Bradley. The loveable soul singer has been thrilling KEXP listeners and audiences world wide since his late-in-life discovery by members of The Budos Band and has appeared on KEXP many times. Recently, he's been featured in the acclaimed documentary Soul o…
When Palma Violets first played live for KEXP in March at SXSW, singer/bassist Chili Jesson nearly missed the gig due to flight complications. When they came to Seattle the following month, they more than made up for it by showing up first thing in the morning for an in-studio session at KEXP's stu…
English post-dubstep engineer James Blake came to Seattle last month for an excellent show at the Neptune in support of widely acclaimed new record Overgrown. The same day, he stopped by the KEXP studio for a four song session with Cheryl Waters. Below, we have videos of Blake's entire performance,…
KEXP is heartbroken to announce the passing of beloved soul singer Charles Bradley at the age of 68. The "Screaming Eagle of Soul" found a tumor in his stomach towards the end of 2016, but returned to the music world after an operation, including a stand-out set at the Sasquatch! Music Festival and…
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…
Barely a year away from the release of her sixth album Short Movie, UK singer/songwriter Laura Marling has announced a new album, Semper Femina, due out March 10th on her own label, More Alarming Records (via Kobalt Music Recordings). Via a press release, she elaborates: "I started out writing Sem…
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 …
While KEXP celebrated their landmark 1989 debut last Friday, De La Soul released their eighth album (and first in 12 years). KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it, "a lengthy, somewhat inconsistent set with a diverse sound ranging from funky hip hop and smooth R&B to hypnotic electro-pop and m…
Throughout the history of punk, director Julien Temple was there to film it. His very first short film was Sex Pistols Number 1, a documentary of the band from 1976-1977 that led to the 1980 mockumentary The Great Rock And Roll Swindle, and subsequently The Filth and the Fury. In addition to his fi…
Northwest singer/songwriter M. Ward stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night to share two tracks from his forthcoming full-length, More Rain. Watch a replay of "Confession" and the web exclusive of "Girl From Conejo Valley" below. More Rain hits stores on March 4th via Merge, and f…
Opening the third day of KEXP’s broadcast live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves Music Festival was Icelandic singer-songwriter and KEXP favorite Sóley. Previously a member of Seabear and Sin Fang, the soft-voiced multi-instrumentalist has had a very successful solo career. She released her debut…
George Lewis Jr., or as he's known by his stage name Twin Shadow, is one of the most gifted indie pop artists in music today, and now, he's proven to be one of the most resilient. Earlier this year, the Brooklyn based singer/producer/writer released Eclipse, his third studio album, to critical accl…
"I did want to rip off Yo La Tengo a little bit. I also wanted to rip off The Feelies a little bit," admits singer/guitarist Martin Frawley of Australian band Twerps. But the quirky quartet infuse those influences with their own cheeky charm, resulting in a unique style they jokingly refer to as "j…
American influences from John Coltrane to Bob Dylan are clear in U.K. singer-songwriter Pete Molinari's acoustic bluesy-folk. Scratch the surface of his four albums and you'll find a broad range of sounds in the low-key Brit's music. Molinari grew up in an Egyptian, Maltese and Italian family, whic…
tUnE-yArDs — even the typography of the name seems to pop off the page like the ecstatic rhythms of the band's new album. For Nikki Nack, Merrill Garbus has traveled far, sonically and literally, expanding upon the conceit of her self-recorded debut and turning tUnE-yArDs into a communal arts tribe…
After a while, it's easy for a British indie pop band to fall into sense of safety and sameness, but Bombay Bicycle Club stay true to their name with their most adventurous and exotic album to date. The newly released So Long, See You Tomorrow channels singer and principle songwriter Jack Steadman'…
Every year, Seattle sends a multitude of great artists down to Austin this week to showcase how our great city continues push the independent music scene forward in our own unique way. Of course, there is no shortage of Seattle bands at SXSW this year. But it was a special treat for us to get to se…
