Sometimes the simplest recipes are the best and Seattle's Bread & Butter like to keep it free and easy with big, crunchy chords and juicy power pop hooks. The quartet are no joke though - the crashes and choruses on their debut album are plenty effective and sound best turned up loud. Pa…
After wrapping up Saturday brunch Capitol Hill was again swarmed for the Capitol Hill Block Party. Luckily, the line-up was jam packed with great music. Taking full advantage of the easy-going mid-afternoon crowds that make early time slots so enjoyable for fans, we were able to get right in front …
If there were baseball cards for Sub Pop bands, Toronto hardcore band METZ would be the 1.0 benchmark for live performance batting average. They just don't make 'em like METZ every day. No matter where they play, whether it be a massive festival stage (like Sub Pop's own Silver Jubilee several year…
Today's a big day for Ty Segall, that is if the legendary scuzz garage king can have big days anymore after his many releases, shows, and side projects. First of all his band Fuzz released a video that features the trio playing "Fuzz's Fourth Dream" at Burgerama in LA. The video starts with a littl…
Sleater-Kinney guitarist/vocalist and Portlandia star Carrie Brownstein did probably the most adorable interview of her life for the new podcast Bea's Big Laughs hosted by 10-year-old Bea. The interview focused mostly on Brownstein's work in Portlandia, but Sleater-Kinney was brought up as well, wi…
Every Little Big Show can't help themselves but get better and better each sold out night, which gives the Mitski, Kadhja Bonet, and Mal Devisa Little Big Show #18 coming up next on April 8 a great head start. What is equally great is the partnership between Starbucks, STG, and KEXP to make these p…
Seattle's Shaprece samples many musical styles and fuses them into a rich sound that you can dance to, mellow out to or go wild to. Her big, bright voice fills large spaces as soon as her songs start playing and the unique music behind her vocals tantalizes. Before Shaprece performs the Capitol Hil…
Positive, upbeat and all very new music from Morning Show host John Richards. This podcast is for those who are or did suffer from a miserable winter, be it weather, flu or anything else that has you looking forward to renewal. 1. Kins - Absblurd 2. There Will Be Fireworks - River 3. Patterns - …
On their sophomore release, Time to Go Home, local ladies Chastity Belt unveil a new maturity. While their 2013 debut, No Regerts, took a snapshot of the Seattle party, the follow-up captures the aftermath: maybe there are "regerts" after all? Take in the new songs in this excellent weekend afterno…
KEXP seems to get gayer every year, and this year's Big Gay Podcast, featuring twenty tracks spanning more than 40 years, is no exception. With everything from vintage queer country to an electronic interpretation of a black metal classic, El Toro's 2014 roundup of songs by, for, and about the LGB…
The name says it all with Boise's Treefort Music Fest — think intimate clubhouse, and since this is the Northwest, think very big tree. The line-up is tremendous: not just national acts, such as Foxygen, TV on the Radio, Viet Cong, Rubblebucket, Trampled by Turtles, and hometown heroes Built to Spi…
Could there be a better symbol of KEXP's rebirthing in our new home than the "Baby Big Man" that is Ty Segall? Donning a creepy torn-up baby mask and wielding an adult-sized umbilical chord, the KEXP listener- and DJ-favorite artist christened the new KEXP live room with our first ever live broadca…
It's worth reminding ourselves that the recent heady days are by no means the first wave of Seattle hip-hop, or even the first time Seattle hip-hop has made it big on the national scene. Of course we all know Sir Mix-a-Lot, but it's not like he just appeared out of nowhere. There were other artists…
Joining us in the studio for this year’s final Bumbershoot Secret Stage show is rising Nashville rising star Margo Price, who released her debut record A Midwest Farmer’s Daughter on Third Man Records earlier this year. Hers is an archetypal country star story: Price grew up in a small midwest town…
Cataldo's Eric Anderson writes big, beautiful songs that begin with just a hum or a whistle. His new album, Gilded Oldies, is full of tracks with bright melodies and powerful percussion - jungles from small seeds. It's a particularly strong record that has been received in Seattle with open arms. W…
KEXP is proud and excited to be partnering with the 2017 Northwest Folklife Festival to bring the Gathering Space Stage. From the words of Folklife, "The Northwest Folklife Festival is the place to learn, to dance, to play, to try something new, and to discover arts and cultures that inspire celebr…
This is the third album by The Jazz Butcher I've covered in this blog series (see also here and here), and I'm embarrassed to admit I have yet to properly spend time getting acquainted with this long-running English band's deep discography. Something tells me that the next several years will be a g…
Theoretically, if you asked me what show would constitute my ultimate pipedream throwdown in a basement by an active, living band, I think I'd pick METZ. The Ontario group signed to Sub Pop in 2012 and immediately took throneroom space aside some of North America's finest punk names. Two albums dee…
