Okkervil River's 2005 masterpiece, Black Sheep Boy, is one of those records that grabs you wherever you're at. If you haven't gotten the divine pleasure of experiencing it yet, I promise you, it will grab you at some point soon. There's just something about the coming-of-age brilliance of its narra…
Back in 1989, The Replacements covered the song "Another Girl Another Planet," originally by late '70s UK power-punk band The Only Ones, and it never would've happened if not for their former manager Peter Jesperson, who put the song on a mix tape for the tour van. Jesperson will be familiar to KEX…
As we waited at the Paramount Theatre for the Father John Misty show to begin, a fellow show-goer said to me, "Sometimes he walks around the crowd during the opener. He followed me on Twitter today and I literally died, so I'm gonna say hi to him if I can find him." I wondered in my head how this g…
Tomorrow, Beat Connection drop their new LP, Product 3, on ANTI- Records. Everything about that sentence makes me want to run outside shouting for joy and hug the first person I see. Beat Connection fans, both in their home town of Seattle and afar, have been waiting on Product 3 for a minute now. …
As we previously noted, Brooklyn band Parquet Courts make a sound whose exact genre is hard to nail down. Settling comfortably into a blend of seventies and eighties punk, avante rock, 80s pop, and no wave, their songs harken to indie rock's humble beginnings -- think Blonde Redhead but less sad, a…
Next on the KEXP broadcast live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves 2016 was incredibly talented American singer Adia Victoria. Hailing from South Carolina, Adia was raised by a devout seventh-day-adventist family, and was isolated from much of popular culture for most of her childhood. In high sch…
It's been a long wait, but the new Bon Iver album, 22, A Million, hits stores this Friday. We've heard a few new songs already, and today, we've got another one: check out the single "8 (a circle)" below, which debuted on Annie Mac's show on BBC Radio 1. You can read more about the new album on th…
Following his fantastic third solo album, Singing Saw, Kevin Morby shares a digital 7” single today titled "Tiny Fires." The acoustic track was written and recorded in Morby’s bedroom in Los Angeles, and features two members of his touring band -- Meg Duffy on slide guitar and bass, and Justin Sul…
On Saturday, February 18th, musician Clyde Stubblefield passed away from kidney failure in his Madison, Wisconsin home. He was 73 years old. Stubblefield rose to prominence as the percussionist for the James Brown Band during the ’60s and ’70s. His improvised backbeat in the song "Funky Drummer" b…
Detroit's Protomartyr are returning this fall with Relatives In Descent, their follow-up to 2015's The Agent Intellect and their debut album for Domino. Today they've shared the lead single and video for album opener "A Private Understanding." Directed by Tony Wolski and Trevor Naud, the video star…
Partly-local band Widowspeak has announced the follow up 2015’s All Yours. Their new album is titled Expect The Best and will be released later this summer. Frontwoman Molly Hamilton wrote the songs while she was living in her hometown of Tacoma, Washington. The band, formed in Brooklyn, have under…
Droning feedback. Static. The mechanical thrust of distorted, blown out drums. These are the first few sounds you hear on CHARMS’ debut album, Human Error, out June 16 on Killroom Records (which you can stream below). Even before the song descends into a flurry of manic, sharp riffs and guttural sy…
Tonight, Thursday, April 20th, KEXP and Goodwill team up to present Break Up 4 Good, part of Goodwill's Sustainable Sounds series. Local faves Acapulco Lips, Cataldo, Prom Queen, Star Anna, and Goodbye Heart will take the stage of the Tractor Tavern, covering some of the best break-up songs. (Prom …
On August 12, The Oh Sees' will drop A Weird Exit, their TENTH studio album. Very impressive. The first taste of the album, "The Axis," is a psychedelic track that will take you on a 6-minute ride to the 1970s. Be sure to catch them at Oregon's Pickathon festival on August 6 and then in Seattle at…
Leave it to a neuroscientist to create an out of body experience. UK's Sam Shepherd blows minds post-doc with his experimental electronic project, Floating Points, combining jazz, space rock, prog, EDM, classical and other genres that can but shouldn't be named into an out of this world experience.…
Kyle Craft leads a storied life. The Portland-based singer-songwriter trails with him a cast misfit characters and messed up relationships from his former home in Shreveport, Louisiana, to populate is his rollicking full-length debut, Dolls Of Highland. He also carries with him a sound with a past …
Arguably one of the Pacific Northwest's most enigmatic and charismatic artists, Tilson XOXO has carved a singular lane within Seattle's music community with his leading role in party-starting Seattle trio The Saturday Knights and more recently emerging with new solo material that defies easy catego…
Local duo Chimurenga Renaissance (aka Tendai Maraire of Shabazz Palaces and Hussein Kalonji) debut a new track today titled "Girls With Gunz," a song they say was inspired by African assassin Grace Maseva, a woman who fought in the Second Chimurenga, the war that ended white rule in Zimbabwe. Loca…
