From pin dropping to firewatching, Brandi Carlile has lately shown a lot of range. On the heels of her unamplified Pin Drop Tour, the Northwest roots rock troubadour has released her fifth and and most rocking LP. The Firewatcher's Daughter is the first since the birth of her own daughter, but this…
Spring is springing with excellent new releases, including the highly-anticipated debut (of sorts!) from Melbourne, Australia artist Courtney Barnett. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls the release, "a masterful set that improves upon her promising early releases with even sharper songwriting and …
The fabulous Jon Spencer Blues Explosion are back with their latest garage-rock freak-out Freedom Tower – No Wave Dance Party 2015, out March 24th via Mom + Pop. The boys go drag in this John Waters-inspired video for the track "Betty Vs. The NYPD", directed by Michael Lavine. Check it out below, …
No other group in Seattle has the reach of THEESatisfaction. In creating their unique psychedelic hip hop stylings, local duo Cat and Stas reach as high among the stars as low within the roots below, and place their feet years beyond as eons ago. In fact, critics can't help but describe their new a…
All hail Father John Misty, whose sophomore release I Love You, Honeybear comes out tomorrow on Sub Pop. Watch the charismatic performer turn out an acoustic rendition of "I Went to the Store One Day" in a French café, via La Blogothèque's famed "Take Away Show" series. And tune in to KEXP tomorro…
Following up from her stunning debut, Toronto’s Cold Specks drops by the live room to give us a crucial shot of excitement by sharing a sprinkling of sultry and sincere tunes from her new sophomore longplay Neuroplasticity. Helping to embellish Al Spx's powerful and magnetic voice is her minimal bu…
Sisters Kara and Johanna Söderberg embody the phrase "beyond their years". As Swedish duo First Aid Kit, they've managed to capture generations' worth of American country and folk while still in their teens, and on their reverential 2012 hit "Emmylou" sounded as if they could already hold their own…
We woke up Kex Hostel this morning with a surprise dorm room performance by DJ flugvél & geimskip, who rolled in all her equipment on a cart equipped with a speaker, lit incense, turned on some DJ lights, and greeted the sleepy travelers with charming electronic backed songs about evil cats, ma…
This first day of live broadcasting from Iceland Airwaves ended with a bang. Kex Hostel was packed to the gills with eager fans of quintessential Icelandic singer songwriter Mugison (full name Örn Elías Guðmundsson). Raised in the small village of Isafjordur and now living in another tiny village, …
Our third Iceland Airwaves performance at Kex Hostel was Uni Stefson, who shortened his name Unnsteinn Manuel Stefánsson for his first solo outing earlier this year. This solo project is a marked departure from his past eight years fronting electro pop band Retro Stefson. His new album, Enginn Græt…
It's gray and slightly rainy in Reykjavik, but eager music lovers from all over the world are bundled up against the bluster and fortifying themselves with Iceland's good, strong coffee (or maybe skipping straight to the schnapps). Official Iceland Airwaves concerts don't start until 7:00 tonight, …
Prepare for liftoff with London duo Simian Mobile Disco's kosmische influenced electronic beats. While their array of sequencers, keys, colorful wires, and a mixer might call the duo's namesake mobility into question, they've had no trouble traveling with their equipment (or "mobile studio"). Their…
The lore of Seattle's Motopony begins not in a dense, leafy forest in the rainy Pacific Northwest (a scene which heavily inspires their music), but in a warehouse in Tacoma. Frontman Daniel Blue set the story of the now acclaimed band in motion when, at 27, he picked up his ten year-old guitar. Wit…
It's always a good time to celebrate Lucinda Williams, but now is an even better time than usual: She just released a new album, Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone, which seems to be universally adored and is currently in rotation here at KEXP (she's still got her spot in M). This album has a loc…
James Mercer and Danger Mouse, a.k.a. Broken Bells, share a new video today for the track "Control," featuring archival footage of space travel and alien encounters. No J Mascis cameo though. Check out the video below, and watch them perform more songs from the album After the Disco in the KEXP st…
Despite the miles between songwriters Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp, The Rosebuds continue to bloom on their sixth full-length album, Sand + Silence. Crisp currently resides in New York as Howard continues to live in North Carolina, but the two met up in the woods of Wisconsin to record with their fr…
We've recorded him several times in the woods, but for his first in-studio at KEXP, Shakey Graves shook the dust off (unfortunately, on our floor) for a rowdy set of blues fueled rock live on the Morning Show. Sure, it was early for Alejandro Rose-Garcia and his co-producer and collaborator Chris B…
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Morn…
The 40th Annual Seattle International Film Festival is upon us, and this year's SIFF is probably the best one for fans of the KEXP-sponsored Face The Music series. Seriously, if you’ve found the festival has been a little light on the music movies before, this year will change your head. In the off…
One of the golden voices of Grizzly Bear (and Department of Eagles), Daniel Rossen came out of hibernation to play a heartfelt set of songs from his 2012 Warp Records solo-release, Silent Hour/Golden Mile. From his songwriting alone, you can tell Rossen loves his work. But performing live on his tw…
