Last year, The Shins released their fifth album called Heartworms. Next week, they're releasing a flipped version of the album entitled The Worm's Heart, featuring reworked versions of all the songs on the album. The basic premise is that all the songs keep the same lyrics and melodies but the slow…
On the one month anniversary of the death of guitarist Dave Rosser of The Afghan Whigs, the band is paying tribute by releasing a cover of Pleasure Club's "You Want Love," one of Rosser's favorite songs. “Pleasure Club was a legendary New Orleans band and Dave Rosser and I had spoken for years abou…
Beach House are releasing a compilation called B-Sides and Rarities, which features (you guessed it) previously unreleased B-sides and rarities on June 30 via Sub Pop. Today, they shared a video for the track "Chariot," which was self-directed by the band. The video depicts a movie theater audience…
k2k is the alias of Wellington, New Zealand, DJ, electronic producer, and vocalist Katherine Anderson. An alumnus of Red Bull Music Academy Paris 2015 and currently part of the Inky Waves collective that's taking over dancefloors around her home country, her love for highly-melodic, pop-tinged, hou…
In a wonderful example of "you never know unless you ask," powerhouses Neko Case, k.d. lang, and Laura Veirs are teaming up for a collaborative album, titled case/lang/veirs, out June 17th via ANTI- Records. Check out their first single "Atomic Number" below, as well as an album trailer. A few yea…
You know, it's bad enough when there's a band that I'm vaguely familiar with, that I know I should really check out, but have never quite gotten around to (we see a lot of those in this column). But when there's a band that I totally think "yeah, I know that band! I like them," only to realize that…
Jersey boys Real Estate head south of the border for the video for "Had to Hear," out 8/25 as a limited edition 7" single from Domino Records. (The b-side will be their cover of "Paper Doll" by The Nerves that they performed in their Seattle encore earlier this year.) Directed by Richard Law, the …
“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…
It's been six years, but former Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis returns with her third solo album, Voyager, this July on Warner Bros Records. She explained to the Charleston City Paper, "I worked on these songs for a long time so there’s no stone unturned, lyrically. I thought about them while w…
It's hard to believe that the album Dizzy Heights is only the third solo release from beloved singer/songwriter Neil Finn. From Split Enz to Crowded House to the Finn Brothers and his soundtrack work, the New Zealand icon hasn't stopped making music for the past 30 years. "It's confusing for the ge…
Since Lake Street Dive's stunning performances during the last two years at Pickathon, fans in the Northwest have been clamoring for a new full-length from the Brooklyn based soul peddlers. Fortunately, they won't have to wait much longer, as Bad Self-Portraits is due February 18, 2014. In anticipa…
Out in support of her third album, New View, Eleanor Friedberger stopped by the KEXP studios to share some of the new tracks. This wasn't her first time in studio - she was here back in 2013 in support of Personal Record , but it's clear that three years of grind have sharpened her act. Her albums …
Decked out in polychromatic tees, unabashedly hip San Francisco band Painted Palms lit up KEXP with a vibrant live set back in July. The band, brainchild of Louisiana-born cousins Christopher Prudhomme and Reese Donohue, released their new album, Forever, on Polyvinyl Records earlier this year. The…
After the band finished ripping through a particularly danceable rendition of "Spirit" off their new record Singles, Future Islands frontman Sam Herring looked down at his sweat soaked shirt and pants. After a failed attempt to wring a piece of it out, he just laughed along with the rest of the cro…
While many people are compiling their year-end lists and shopping for gift-worthy deluxe reissues for the upcoming holidays, some bands are still releasing excellent new albums that you'll want to hear before you make any final decisions. A few of this week's releases see some KEXP favorites making…
The Drums played a packed Neumos on July 17th, with frontman Jonny Pierce giving a spirited rendition of tracks from across The Drums discography. The Seattle show was the kickoff to an extensive tour for the band, which goes on until the end of the year, and includes a lengthy stint in Europe. A h…
Broken Social Scene released their first album in seven years, Hug Of Thunder, a couple of weeks ago and now they've shared a video for the track "Vanity Pail Kids." BSS's Kevin Drew directed the rather strange video, which seems to be a commentary on the music industry via a toilet who's trying to…
Bruce Springsteen is playing tonight, right next door to KEXP's New Home at Key Arena. He'll be revisiting his 1980 album The River, which was just re-released as a 35th anniversary box set at the end of last year. If you can't get tickets, watching videos on YouTube could be the next best thing. T…
