OK, you're all in trouble. Why am I only just now learning about Happy Flowers? Noisy, disturbing/hilarious songs written from the perspective of a toddler? Band members named Mr. Anus and Mr. Horribly Charred Infant? Covers of Big Star, Michael Schenker, and Silver Apples on the same album? These …
Icelandic hip hop collective Reykjavíkurdætur ("Daughters of Reykjavik") are a force to be reckoned with. A huge group of seventeen women, they work together to create songs about topics ranging from sexual politics to political ones. During KEXP's broadcast at Iceland Airwaves last year, they play…
When Courtney Barnett sings about "Three Packs a Day," she's not talking about smoking. (I mean, c'mon. Haven't you listened to the lyrics of "Avant Gardener"? She's not that good at breathing in.) Instead, the brand-new single from the Australian singer/songwriter is an ode to ramen. While dietit…
Closing out our live video broadcast from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves 2015 was a crazy set from Icelandic post-punk band Æla. Icelandic for "Puke," Æla is known for a raucous live show, with costumes, glitter, and wild antics. Their debut album Synið tillitssemi, eg er fravik was released in 200…
Veteran indie rock trio Yo La Tengo tackle iconic goth-poppers The Cure on their forthcoming covers album Stuff Like That There, out August 28th on Matador Records. Check out their rendition of the 1990 hit "Friday, I'm in Love" in this video directed by Jason Woliner. As drummer/vocalist Georgia …
She hinted at it last week on Instagram, and today, M.I.A. rolls out her epic audiovisual project titled Matahdatah Scroll 01 Broader Than a Border. The video highlights a brand-new track, "Swords," as well as the song "Warriors" off 2013's Matangi. The clip, directed by M.I.A. herself, features f…
It's another jam-packed week of great releases! San Diego duo Crocodiles return with their fifth album, which KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes, "was recorded in Mexico City with production by Martin Thulin (lead singer of Mexican band Los Fancy-Free), and he brings some occasional Latin rhythms …
Last month, in a powerful, heartfelt and sonically stirring set live in the KEXP studio, Israel Nash and his band had given it their all... well, just about all, anyway. The Dripping Springs, Texas-based musician and his band re-entered our studio shortly after their live session was over and pract…
A "rain plan" is practically unknown in the Northwest. It rains here too frequently, but rarely fervently, for anyone to need that kind of contingency. Instead, for us rain plans are active ones, scenarios for doing and being. Maybe that's why Israel Nash's 2014 album, Rain Plans, gripped us so fir…
This morning, Flying Lotus continued the rollout of preview tracks from his forthcoming fifth album, You're Dead!, with the release of "Coronus, The Terminator", a jazzy, smooth three minute track from the album's middle section. The track follows the release of the FlyLo/Thundercat/Herbie Hancock …
Between his bluegrass voice, genuine love for performance, and one-man-band resilience, there's just something so authentic about Scott H. Biram. If that weren't enough, in 2004, Biram was involved in a near-fatal car crash, requiring him to have his bones re-connected with metal rods and even nec…
For over twelve years now (not to mention the many years of hard-work they spent playing on the streets of Mexico City and Dublin to perfect their sound), guitar-wielders Rodrigo y Gabriela have been consistently cranking out classical improvisations, maintaining a steady sound while redefining wha…
It's fitting that the Arts in Nature Festival is where Cloud Cult planted the seed. Their concert last summer inside the Lodge at Seattle's Camp Long marked the first time the the Minnesota band went fully acoustic. They had recently rearranged songs spanning their entire catalog for what would bec…
Dum Dum Girls are no fools. The NYC group combines fashionable urban chic with a deadly cool to a devastating effect, and they approach music the same way. On their third album and latest album, Too True (which we adoringly reviewed here), Dum Dum Girls mastermind Dee Dee Penny filters girl band po…
After years of extensive touring, Seattle band Ivan & Alyosha released a new album called All the Times We Had. The group celebrated its release by hanging with DJ Cheryl Waters earlier this year and playing a live set at the KEXP studios. “I want to be the man who understands his woman and you…
When I first heard of Chastity Belt, it was through word of mouth. My friends highly endorsed this band from Walla Walla, WA. They had just moved here and were playing some shows around town. Their song titles kinda freaked me out in the beginning, but that quickly changed when I got the chance to …
Noise-rock duo Stagnant Pools have been compared to the likes of Sonic Youth and Disappears, but they truly have a flavor all their own. Bryan and Douglass Enas are recent graduates of Indiana University that are using this exciting time in their lives to make a dream a reality. The brothers have t…
Iron and Wine, the music project of singer/songwriter Samuel Beam, delivers simple, folk ballads that evoke powerful complex emotions. With each album Beam seems to be reinventing himself; from the minimalistic, soulful melodies of The Creek Drank the Cradle and Our Endless Numbered Days to the mor…
Can we say "finally!"? After nearly two years since their first KEXP performance, Pickwick will release their full-length debut on March 12. The beloved Seattle soul rockers have introduced R&B to a whole new generation with the Myths 7-inch series, including listener favorites like "Window Sil…
Natalie Mering, better known as Weyes Blood, has had a busy year. She released her latest (and very good) LP Front Row Seat To Earth late last year and followed that up a few months later with a collaborative EP with Ariel Pink called Myths 002. Next on her agenda is a 7" of two covers of two songs…
