Both Mac DeMarco and Run the Jewels filmed sessions for the Black Cab Sessions video series — sadly, not together, but it's still pretty darn great. Watch our gap-toothed friend perform a solo acoustic version of "The Way You'd Love Her" off his forthcoming Another One, and see El-P and Killer Mik…
With their ridiculous number of side projects and other interests, it's amazing that songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Rob Crow and Armistead Burwell Smith IV continue to make killer albums together as Pinback. As ever, on Information Retrieved, their fifth LP, the San Diego duo expertly craft…
Capturing the energy in The Showbox SoDo is a difficult task. The venue’s high ceiling stretches for a great distance overhead, and without the proper performance, momentum can dissipate from front to back. Luckily, Run the Jewels are nothing if not seasoned performers. From El-P’s first project, C…
As clouds began to gather (though they wouldn't actually be super ominous until Earl Sweatshirts set) El-P took stage to a large audience totally ready to get down with the talented east coast rapper. He would later be called a brother to Killer Mike - and his ability to get the crowd moving whethe…
Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by Larry Mizell, Jr., host of the Afternoon Show on KEXP, is "SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS (feat. André 3000, Future, Eryn Allen Kane)" by Killer Mike, from the 2023 album MICHAEL on Loma Vista Recordings / Concord.
This weekend, Friday, August 4th and Saturday, August 5th, the Chautauqua Music Festival takes over the Vashon Eagles on Vashon Island. The festival was founded to benefit elementary and middle school arts programs on Vashon Island. To date, Chautauqua has raised over 14,000 dollars to "help augmen…
We've got new music to share from Seattle's own Car Seat Headrest (aka Will Toledo): check out the single "Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales" from their upcoming release Teens of Denial, out May 20th on Matador. It's the first CSH album recorded in a studio with a full-band, and Toledo lucked out to get…
The COMPLETE lineup for the Pitchfork Music Festival was announced today! On July 19-21 Chicago's Union Park will be saturated with killer live music. Joining the already impressive lineup include- Glass Candy, Yo La Tengo, Phosphorescent, Metz,Julia Holter, M.I.A. and MANY more. A full, detail li…
Brooklyn-based band Antibalas, which is Spanish for "bulletproof", released their fifth studio album last August. This release really launched them on a sizable worldwide tour and lucky for us they happened to make a stop in Seattle. Founded in the late 90s, Antibalas has never strayed from their s…
Closing out the KEXP stage on Sunday night, you couldn't have asked for a better send off than Smokey Brights. The Seattle rock outfit wasted no time jumping right into what they do best: blaring killer guitar riffs and belting out infectious melodies that are sure to get people up and moving. This…
Bamboo is known for its uncanny ability to spring up from the ground, growing tall against all odds while covering everything in its path. With each sprout though, the stalks' compositions change, and an altogether different group of shoots emerge. Like the plants themselves, The Bamboos, a resilie…
“Put your hands up if you love hip-hop!” shouted De La Soul as they opened a killer set of their career spanning hits cherished by fans of old and probably more than a few brand new fans. New York hip hop band of the last 25 years, De La Soul truly are masters of the craft and made it damn well kno…
For the third Friday evening in our free Concerts at the Mural series, on Donor Appreciation Night, clear sunny skies and sweet tunes beckoned fans to fill the Seattle Center lawn. KEXP truly is a community effort, and Friday night showed what the community is all about. Justin Chan won a chance to…
KEXP’s Larry Mizell Jr. speaks with Killer Mike about the continued struggle of being Black in America, and how it inspired his track “Run.”
2017 is off and running with some long-awaited LPs out now, like the latest from The xx. KEXP Music Director Don Yates says, "This London trio's excellent third album brings a brighter, more varied and pop-inflected sound to their spectral electro-pop courtesy of band member/producer Jamie xx, thou…
If Killer Mike had my favorite show at Sasquatch, Chvrches gets to take favorite pop show of the weekend. Where their albums are already pretty perfect in the realm of pop - the live performance blew them out of the water. Lauren Mayberry's vocals are so close to sweet that it's almost bitter - she…
The recently-renamed psych garage band Oh Sees (fka Thee Oh Sees) are gearing up to release their 19th album Orc. Today they've shared their second single "Animated Violence" which is a killer track and makes the anticipation for Orc that much greater. Oh Sees are also auctioning off 14 test pressi…
There's been one name on the lips of every credible music news source for the last two weeks: Disclosure. The band has been gaining buzz with excellent singles and some great international dance chart action in the six months, but two weeks out from their album's release, the duo - Surrey brothers …
Perhaps no other duo has collaborated, toured with or been covered by as wide a range of artists as Tegan and Sara. Canadian twin sisters Tegan and Sara Quin, who have been making music together since they were in high school, have toured with the likes of Neil Young, whose label they were first si…
Here's a killer word for your next round of Scrabble: Divisionary. You can thank delightful Portland band Ages and Ages for that knock out; it's the title of their second album. What does it mean? Splice together "division" and "visionary" and you can explain how even the best intentions sometimes …
