It's the most wonderful time of year... if "wonderful" actually means insanely busy. All the more reason to make some time for the music and attend KEXP's 2014 Yule Benefit! It's back and better than ever. This year features an amazing line-up of artists — Strand of Oaks, Cymbals Eat Guitars, S, an…
We've recorded a lot of unique performances during Pickathon over the past few years, but there's nothing quite like lush orchestration and natural harmonies to complement the gorgeous wooded oasis that is the Bunny Glade. Two of the bigger ensembles this year were also two of the most enjoyable, i…
"It's what turns the kids on," guitarist and vocalist Chuck Cleaver said, defending a bit of questionable narrative during a recent in-studio. We've been fans of Wussy since their first LP, but this year's Attica! is easily one of the year's best. Even if the kid's aren't listening to it, we're gla…
In a sharp contrast from years past, this year's Sasquatch! Music Festival lineup has considerably less folk-inclining music on the main stage, making Lord Huron one of the weekend's folk rock acts that would play directly in front of the Columbia River Gorge. The Michigan-via-Los Angeles quintet s…
I have to remind myself every single year, every time I look at the lineup, every time I hit a single event and walk into work dog tired the next day - Seattle is so lucky to play home to the visionaries that put on Decibel Festival year after year. There are so many electronic music festivals in t…
Historically, Sasquatch has a pretty mercurial relationship with the weather; a mix of hail, pouring rain, and upper-80s temperatures aren't out of the question. Most of the time, however, there's at least one afternoon where the weather is warm but not hot, breezy but not gusty, and it enhances wh…
"Seriously? Another song?" Kristin Hersh, frontwoman for Throwing Muses, teased KEXP's DJ El Toro (a.k.a. Kurt Reighley) in mock-exasperation during their in-studio session, "We are so old, Kurt -- why are you doing this?" The veteran alt-rock legends are doing it for their latest release, Purgator…
Montreal experimental band Suuns have grown in leaps and bounds in the last couple years. No doubt, their debut LP Zeroes QC was a solid entry point, with a clever mixture of noise and pop and a good sampling through the various electronic derivations of alternative rock we’ve seen in the last 20 y…
Tom Krell sure had one hell of a year last year. The new How To Dress Well record, Total Loss, was almost unanimously well received for its bare bones mixture of R&B and electronica. It also helps that it was a heartfelt, heartbroken record that tells the true story of Krell's last year (read m…
There are always one or two potentially great albums that get snuck in at the eleventh hour (or twelfth month), just as music critics and fans are putting together their year end lists. (Did you vote for yours yet, by the way?) Our Music Director, Don Yates, couldn't wait to hear the new Big Boi al…
Cover tunes from the 60's that Seattle jazz hall-of-famer Dave Lewis had in his sets during those defining years for the organ trio sound. D'Vonne Lewis (drums), Joe Doria (B-3 organ) and Andy Coe (guitar).
In the midst of a hellish year, the self-described "postmodern beach music family band" wrote and recorded a salvo of togetherness and perseverance. Martin Douglas explains.
Before breaking up due to the pressures of their sudden explosion in popularity, the Olympia band created one of the most important punk releases in recent memory. Martin Douglas explores.
KEXP chats with frontman Adam Granduciel on the making of the new album, the part his two-year-old son played on it, and more.
Net proceeds benefitLatino Community Fund of Washington State and Open Doors for Multicultural Families.This year, KEXP partnered with Seattle Foundation to relaunch and expand the impact of the KEXP Community Partnership Program to achieve a new level of public engagement, awareness, and support f…
Three cheers! Bigass Boombox – the free, all-ages music and literature festival – is in its second year!
I first met Cheb i Sabbah as most people did: through his music. I had been a lover of classical Indian music for years, and was completely transfixed by Chebiji's reworking of these classics for the intelligent dancefloor.
Seattle electronic/pop songwriter PSA shares her own reflections on digging deeper into black history, creating generational wealth, and her inspiration from both Janet and Michael Jackson.
KEXP catches up with the golden-voiced musician Allen Stone and asks him about the new project, how his life has changed over the years, and when he realized he could really sing.
The Vancouver band's fourth release in a little over two years is a high-concept ball of threadbare post-punk. In a special Friday edition of Throwaway Style, Martin Douglas explores the shades of green displayed on the album.
