The eternally sarcastic Father John Misty has created a country version of the title track off his latest album Pure Comedy. Clearly intentioned as parody, Josh Tillman puts on a country accent and changes the instrumentation, adding the exclaim: "That's right boys, bring it on home!" He even accid…
Don't expect to take the title of the second solo album by Kevin Morby literally. Still Life was written during a particularly busy time in his life, which included touring with two bands -- Woods (his former band) and The Babies (his project with Vivian Girls' Cassie Ramone) -- and switching coast…
As Oli Bayston, a.k.a. Boxed In, says, "Everyone who creates something is a product of their influences" - and he should know. The British record producer certainly has had a wide of array of influences, growing out of his previous work as frontman for the four-piece Manchester rock band Keith and …
It's been about two years since Hugo Manuel, a.k.a. Chad Valley, last released a record. "I've written a lot over the last year, I've just got to hone it down," says the angelic-voiced Hugo, who recently spent time in a house in France writing and writing (and biking to the nearest town for bread a…
A Four Tet remix has long been a universally accepted stamp of approval and new music from the beatsmith is always met with a rare intensity of excitement. And while new music and mixes from Kieran Hebden’s project are always a cause for celebration, his live sets are surely the best way to experie…
Over the years, Joseph Arthur has been such a frequent guest at KEXP that we consider him family, so it's no surprise to us he's taken the idea as the theme of his latest album, The Family, on which he entwines fact and fiction to explore these universal ties. For Joseph, the new LP also represents…
I have no idea what this album from 1959 was doing being added to the KCMU library in 1990, but I'm sure glad it was - and it seems like I would have been in good company at the time. Tom Lehrer is (and let me just jump in for a second to say how happy it makes me to type that "is," having establis…
Mac DeMarco is a walking contradiction. He's a hardworking slacker, a popular outsider, and his newest release Another One is laden with carefree melancholy. His shows have always been a celebration of his refusal to fit any sort of vague mold, and the fans that aspire to do the same. Thursday nigh…
This week, Sacred Bones invites a second filmmaker into their musical midst. Much like his label predecessor David Lynch, John Carpenter has influenced numerous generations across every genre with both his films and his music. Afrika Bambaataa sampled the Assault on Precinct 13 soundtrack on "Bamba…
Kendrick Lamar has developed very quickly to one of the most intelligent and humanely aware persons of our generation. This is only what we have been able to see. Kendrick has developed through his whole life, every experience, to what he is now, and he keeps us updated through his music. Following…
The most exciting new release this week is The Most Lamentable Tragedy by New Jersey band Titus Andronicus. On this 29-song, 94+-minute rock opera, frontman Patrick Stickles details his struggle with manic depression. KEXP Music Director Don Yates says the album, "features a full, grand sound to ma…
Sasquatch! 2014 started off so great on Friday. Everyone arrived on the grounds happy and smiling in their festival best - a range of fringe, platforms, sports sandals, sailor hats, Pokemon costumes, and crop tops with a stacked line-up from the get go. One gentleman in the crowd put it well saying…
Host Kevin Cole features some of his current favorites on this edition of KEXP's Music That Matters podcast. Why? Purely because he loves them and hopes you will too! Includes new songs from Jen Wood, Goat, The Juan MacLean and more! 1. Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas - Caught Up 2. Ex He…
While he may not have enjoyed the widespread attention that Kendrick Lamar received last year for his fantastic To Pimp A Butterfly, rising Oakland rapper Vince Staples deserves just as much credit for pushing the culture in new directions with his own 2015 LP, Summertime '06. Staples' first full-l…
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. The show to be at tonight is going to be Tom Petty way over in George, Washington, at the Gorge. Yeah, I said it. I ofte…
I have a confession to make: I am just now listening to Mark Lanegan's solo debut, The Winding Sheet, for the first time. I know, I should probably turn in my Seattle Rock Card (where did I put that damn thing, anyway?). I'm 38, I've lived here for 13 years; I have no excuse. Of course I've heard a…
Maybe ten minutes into his set, Iggy Pop, a man who has survived everything there is to survive and then some, pondered aloud about the afterlife. And not just any afterlife, but Valhalla, the Norse hall where those slain in combat are sent, which, for an artist who's lived the life Iggy has, is al…
“There’s so many kinds of music I’m interested in that I just never let into my own songwriting, so in a way with this record, it was kind just of like opening the curtains and letting stuff come in,” Jack Tatum of Wild Nothing says of Life of Pause. Continuing with his style of creating a new worl…
Brooklyn band The So So Glos lead this week's new release with their fifth full length. KEXP Music Director Don Yates says the LP, "finds them bringing a bit more diverse and hook-filled sound to their anthemic garage-punk, with often-politically charged lyrics contrasting anxiety, political extrem…
