Martin Douglas dives into Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth. When it comes to art punk, indie rock, or alternative rock, there are few bands more widely influential than Sonic Youth.
The Gits guitarist Andy Kessler and bassist Matt Dresdner talk about the band’s story, legacy, and the life of Mia Zapata.
KEXP’s Roddy Nikpour spoke Panchiko about being “rediscovered” two decades after recording their demo.
KEXP listener Holden Colyer weighs in on Seattle-based band M.O.S.S. and their new song “Youth Loser.”
Adrian Quesada talks about an old song he still takes inspiration from — Junip’s “Always.”
KEXP DJ Tory J talks about writing to music, math rock and Snooze, a happy heavy mathy band from Chicago.
Emily Fox caught up with the band to hear about how the songs on the new album reflect the loss of a parent to cancer, the overturning of Roe v Wade and an ode to Seattle’s Northgate Way.
Next month we celebrate the 20th birthday of High/Low, the timeless full-length debut from New York indie rock stalwarts Nada Surf. The band celebrated the milestone in great fashion, reissuing the record on beautiful orange vinyl through Vinyl Me Please and giving it a fantastic packaging makeover…
Every once in a while, I post an album from a band that's been so minimally documented on the Internet that I feel I'm adding significantly to the body of public knowledge about them with one little blog post. This is dangerous because usually I know next to nothing about these bands. Take Ism, for…
It’s a rare opportunity to see a band as hyped as Whitney at a venue as intimate as the Sunset Tavern. Or as frontman Julien Ehrlich noted with an off-the-cuff affect he deploys for most his on stage thoughts, “This show’s been sold out a long time.” No surprise there. With the June release of thei…
While gale winds canceled some early main stage shows, a different force of nature was met with far warmer reception on the Bigfoot stage. Yo La Tengo is certainly a force of nature in the indie music scene and a walk back through their discography is a long one, as the group have consistently rele…
As Cheryl Waters jokes, it's taken over ten years to get Trevor Powers' band Youth Lagoon in the KEXP studio. Really, the band has only been around since 2010 - it just feels like we've all been waiting that long. We were all happy finally to have wrangled Youth Lagoon come grace us, and the timing…
It's an impressive week for new releases! Beloved Northwest band Sleater-Kinney end their hiatus with the release of No Cities To Love. KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes, "The recently reunited trio’s eighth album (and first in 10 years) is a strong return-to-form, with an intense blend of punk, …
Talk about a storied past. The Jayhawks rose from the fertile era of Twin Cities rock that also produced such contemporaries as The Replacements, Hüsker Dü, Soul Asylum and Prince. Though they often get tagged as "country rock revivalists" or "alt-country icons", the band's sound and personnel shif…
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…
Crystal Antlers is hard to pin down. With each release, the energetic band leaves genre behind, making fans uncertain of their future endeavors, yet they manage to avoid slipping into frustrating unpredictability. Recently, Crystal Antlers wrapped up their North American tour with a stop in Seattle…
Sometimes it’s the simplest words that stop you cold. Soft-spoken Tuareg artist Omara ‘Bombino’ Moctar proved this to me on a stiflingly hot summer evening at the 2012 Pickathon Festival backstage. I was talking to him for their post-performance video interviews, aided by French-Canadian guitarist…
On this episode of Music That Matters, Wo' Pop host Darek Mazzone highlights artists on the record label Awesome Tapes From Africa, including Professor Rhythm, Dur-Dur Band, and Awa Poulo.
Backed by his band, Bazan performs a set of songs from the new album, Phoenix, along with some Pedro the Lion classics in the KEXP Gathering Space.
