Most of the bands playing SXSW 2013 are probably going to play about five shows during their time in Austin. Ozomatli are playing five in one day. Founded in 1995, Ozomatli’s multicultural blend of Latin, funk, reggae, and hip hop (among other things) has made them cultural ambassadors on a number …
Alejandro Escovedo - that's all I knew about the True Believers when KEXP's lineup for SXSW at Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop was first announced. OK, then someone mentioned it was his mid 80's band, a crew that had a brush with fame, but never quite broke through. They had label issues, personnel cha…
San Diego-based surf rockers Wavves have announced the release of their fourth album this spring. The LP, tentatively titled Afraid of Heights, will be out March 26 on Mom + Pop, and fellow California crooner Jenny Lewis is slated to make an appearance. "You know the tone of King of the Beach and t…
Whatever your personal opinion of her may be, there is one fact that is truly undeniable: Lana Del Rey is in a league of her own. If you don't believe me, read her fantastically revealing cover piece with Fader. If you don't feel like it, listen to her albums, watch her videos, read other interview…
The deeper we get into Animal Collective's Painting With chapter, the more it feels like a real renaissance for the band. As the band themselves described it, the process for the new record felt natural and fun - a far cry for the laborious process it took to put forth Centipede Hz. Spending time i…
Seattle duo Crater - Ceci Gomez and Kessiah Gordon - stopped by for an in-studio, both to play us some tracks from their debut, Talk to Me so I Can Fall Asleep, and to talk to DJ Sharlese about drooling in their sleep and The Sims "Hot Date" Expansion Pack. Crater only emerged in 2014 to immediate …
Seattle's Lemolo specializes in the kind of dark, introspective, and haunting music that fit so well in the old live performance space at KEXP's Dexter studio (and will surely fit in the new one as well!), which is perhaps one reason we keep asking them back. Ahead of the release of their 2015 albu…
Here at KEXP, we firmly believe that music matters. But we live in a world that is more awash in music than ever before. So how do you, as a musician, make your mark? How do you stand out and create a brand that will get you noticed and while still being true to your image and intent? What tools ar…
Of all of the late night sets at Sasquatch 2015, none was more subtle than James Blake's. Unlike most of the nighttime sets in the Gorge, Blake's performance revealed itself gradually rather than blasting the audience over the head with lights and sound, and it was all the more effective because of…
Tycho has seen a marvelous ascent to brilliance in the last couple years. With each album, Scott Hansen seems to find himself in a brighter sense of awareness and emersion in the beautiful, captivating world that the music of Tycho embodies. The band is now two albums deep with a fleshed out live s…
After a dozen years and now five albums, there's no doubt about it: the BROOD are all grown up. On their newly announced forthcoming album, Work and Love, Ontario trio Elliott BROOD turn from the historical subjects they depicted with great poignancy on their previous albums, like 2011's Days Into …
As if we needed an excuse to get Cloud Cult on our airwaves again... The longtime KEXP favorites released an acoustic album earlier this year featuring live recordings of acoustic sets the band performed at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis. Seattle, though, was their inspiration, as band re-tool…
Singer-songwriter Nikki Lane, elated with country spirit and outlaw enthusiasm, recently popped into the KEXP studio again (you can see her first session here) to feature some songs from her new album, All Or Nothin'. With whatever endeavor she's pursuing, Lane simultaneously appeals to the great c…
The lyrics "My fingers have shriveled and dropped to the dirt / and two giant talons have grown where they were" sound like a recurring nightmare, but in Chad VanGaalen's song "Monster," that's exactly what he's looking for. Ramshackler extraordinaire, DIY genius, and honestly weird CVG showcased h…
The final act to be affected by the mid-afternoon Bigfoot set delay at Sasquatch, Mogwai were fortuitous enough to be the only set to perform in full darkness. Although the Glaswegian quintet don't move much onstage – save for Stuart Braithwaite's possessed, wide-eyed wiggle – their dark lighting …
Last month, Street Sounds went old school, featuring veterans of hip-hop Mobb Deep, who've been keeping it real since the early 90's, when New York MC's Havoc and Prodigy first made a name for themselves depicting hardcore street life and became key players in the East Coast rivalry with West Coast…
Last night Nirvana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with enthusiasm and fanfare fit for one of the most influential bands of our time. With the 20th anniversary of frontman Kurt Cobain's death barely behind us, there was the question of who would fill in for him at the induction ce…
Once again, Sub Pop and KEXP are teaming up to present a very special Record Store Day release! In 2012, we offered the now out-of-print and highly-coveted Shabazz Palaces: Live at KEXP EP. And, now, in 2014, we will offer: Mudhoney On Top: KEXP Presents Mudhoney Live on Top of the Space Needle LP.…
To say Ian Moore has had a tumultuous career in music is an understatement. He was so popular of a blues guitarist early in his career that once screaming tipped his tour van over, leaving him and his band trapped for hours. He studied musicology in college, once fled to a cave near Krause Springs …
