Why is it that with so many intriguing bands, you hear they formed without the intention of playing out, that they were just collaborative efforts for the members themselves? Perhaps it's because when artists make art for themselves, there is a sense of integrity, of personal experimentation and ex…
Since forming in 2007, Seattle's Cumulus – comprised of Alexandra Niedzialkowski, Lance Umble and Leah Julius – have only recently released their debut album, I Never Meant It To Be Like This, last month. But the wait was well worth it! The record is tight and rife with cheerful pop music, from sin…
On any given weekend in Seattle, there are a million amazing shows to see - from jazz at a coffee shop or theater, to a grunge show at a DIY space, to a major act at any one of our large venues. Maybe this weekend you want to try something new, maybe you heard one song by this small electronic, fol…
"It's your natural place", Sarah Versprille whispers, as the steady groove of "Scotty" beckons you on to the wonderful b-side of Pure Bathing Culture's debut record, Moon Tides. It sounds like she could be singing to David Hindman, the other half of Pure Bathing Culture, who is responsible for the …
More than a band, Savages is an idea. Guitarist Gemma Thompson said it herself during an in-studio session at KEXP: "We had the idea originally and wanted to put everything we'd all accumulated individually into creating a performance that had a sonic representation of the name Savages." Their deli…
Saturday night, 12 bucks (a cheap cover at nearby clubs) bought you a night of chilled out, near-perfect indie pop bliss. Though How To Dress Well just swung through town a couple months ago, they returned with friends - namely, rising indie pop icon Sky Ferreira and Australian psych-pop band High …
It didn't take long for the third Saturday in April to become the highlight of every music lover's spring, and this year's Record Store Day lineup is sure to be another memorable year for vinyl's national holiday. On April 20th, music fans everywhere will wake up early and flock to their favorite l…
There's something about the booming sound of an analog synthesizer that excites the imagination. Decades of filmmakers and composers have utilized the mesmerizing power of these instruments, from John Carpenter to Vangelis all the way through Hanz Zimmer and Cliff Martinez. So it made sense that Se…
Destroyer, aka Dan Bejar, shared a new video today for "Stay Lost" from his 2017 album ken. Directed by and starring Maxwell McCabe Lokos, formerly the keyboardist of Deadly Snakes, the clip seems initially to focus on a man likely building a house but as the video continues we see that he's on to …
Montreal natives The Luyas have been around since 2006 and have put out some really great records over the years, two of which -- Too Beautiful To Work and Animator -- were included on the long list for the 2011 and 2013 Polaris Music Prize respectively. Their sound is hard to pinpoint, using tons …
Metric frontwoman and Broken Social Scene collaborator Emily Haines is releasing the first Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton album in over a decade on September 15 via Last Gang/eOne. Entitled Choir of the Mind, it follows 2006's Knives Don't Have Your Back, which reached number 28 on the Canadi…
The music world struck it rich in 1977. It was ground zero for punk, with debut albums from the Sex Pistols, The Damned, and Dead Boys, to name a few. And not just one, but two albums each from David Bowie and The Ramones. The year was so notable, The Clash wrote a song about it, with lyrics like "…
It’s time again for Friday on My Mind. Our weekly blog post where we look at videos centered around one common theme. This is a collaborative effort between KEXP and King 5 News. If you haven’t already called in sick to work on Friday yet, then do it now and get over to Ballard for Hood-to-Hood Day…
Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by Mike Ramos, in honor of Pushing Boundaries, is "Nobody" by FiFi Zhang, from the 2023 EP So Beautiful So Lonely on Gum Studio.
It's no surprise that Radiohead's Saturday show at Key Arena is sold out; the band have amassed a rabid fan base since forming in Abingdon, Oxfordshire back in 1985. And, it's no surprise that this roundup of Radiohead covers goes on and on; many of our favorite artists cite Radiohead as one of the…
"This is the most beautiful festival we've ever played," beamed Bully's Alicia Bognanno. "I mean, I've still got sand in my pedalboard from Hangout, which was cool, but nothing like this." Bognanno's sentiment about playing while facing the Columbia River Gorge is one that's often repeated througho…
Last year, Sasquatch! Music Festival quite arguably had one of the best festival lineups in all of North America. Not counting the headliners, featuring leading voices in hip-hop, punk, and rock, the lineup was rich from bottom to top, covering a wide breadth of genres with a precisely-timed, (most…
On April 15, Sturgill Simpson will release a new album called A Sailor's Guide to Earth, his follow up to 2014's Metamodern Sounds in Country Music. Today he's shared the album's first single, "Brace For Impact (Live a Little)." In a press release, Simpson described his motivation for the album: …
When Julia Holter sings "Can I feel you?" on "Feel You", it's more of a question of capability than one of permission, recalling a feeling of faint familiarity mixed with a lingering inquisitiveness. That gap between existing in a moment and fully grasping it is where the songs on Have You In My Wi…
The Arcs, Dan Auerbach's new music project, have released a brand new single called "Fool's Gold." In an interview with Rolling Stone, Auerbach described the meaning of Fool's Gold as having "the same thrilling discovery, the same shiny luster and perceived weight as gold, but it isn’t gold and wh…
