KEXP Radio hand selects all of its music, with expert DJs showcasing both established and emerging bands. Rock is generally a broad term for KEXP, as indie and alternative sounds are often blended with a variety of other genres in an innovative music format. KEXP variety mix programming makes up …
Close your eyes. Recall that garage with cardboard boxes in the corner, shelves stacked with hammers, duct tape and screwdrivers, and the faint aroma of fresh paint? You’re laying on your back, daydreaming, and you hear rock and roll music playing somewhere. This is the sound of Beach Fossils. The …
Don Slack features some of his favorite new songs from smoldering Italo-Disco and fiery roots-rock to incendiary punk. 1. Daughn Gibson - It Wants Everything 2. Chromatics - In Films 3. Heaters - Mean Green 4. Wild Yaks - Paradise 5. Fort Lean - New Hobbies 6. Hop Along - Waitress 7. Sheer Mag -…
The Juan MacLean is the stage name of talented electronic musician and DJ John MacLean. While his roots trace back to post-hardcore Sub Pop band Six Finger Satellite in the first half of the 1990s, he's been a force on the revered DFA Records label for over a decade with three critically-acclaimed …
With a voice nurtured by her Tennessee church roots, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Valerie June skillfully combines gospel, folk, bluegrass, and a bevy of other genres in her music. Known for her distinct voice, June was determined to succeed as a solo artist and taught herself to play gu…
For as good natured a duo as you're like to find, Cary Ann Heart and Michael Trent can get darker and more dangerous than you can imagine. As Shovels & Rope, they play gritty boot-stompin' roots-rock that spans between rousing sing-alongs, heartwarming ballads and harrowing tales of vengeance. …
Formerly known under the alias Spazzkid, Mark Redito is a Los Angeles-based electronic artist creating an energetic and emotional sound that finds a perfect middle-ground between pop perfection and club bangers. Recent releases on Cascine, Magical Properties, and IHC 1NFINITY have displayed his evo…
Don Slack features some of his favorite new songs for Spring 2017, including new tracks from Valerie June, Sera Cahoone, and The New Pornographers. 1. White Reaper – The World's Best American Band2. The New Pornographers – This Is The World Of The Theater3. Zebra Hunt – I Won't Blame You4. Diet C…
Armed with a fine assortment of tracks from their new Seattle-recorded release, Ohio band The Sidekicks unleash their brand of hooky rock in the KEXP live room. On Runners in the Nerved World, they've branched out from their punkish roots and now take pleasure in crafting out songs that are invigor…
The very first band we had in during our residency at Breakglass Studios for POP Montreal was Montreal-via-Beirut duo Wake Island. Comprised of Philippe Manasseh and Nadim Maghzal, the two grew up in war-torn Beirut before coming to Montreal where they ended up meeting in college and bonding over t…
Congratulations to Mavis Staples, who just won a Grammy last night for Best American Roots Performance. It's great timing as the legendary blues singer will release Livin' On A High Note, on Friday. This, her fourteenth studio album, features songs written by Justin Vernon, M. Ward, Benjamin Booker…
The weather was still shades of gray on Sunday, but overall promised to cooperate a bit more than the deluge of Saturday. The second day of Bumbershoot kicked off with the big, warm country rock sounds of Israel Nash. Nash plays very much in the tradition of Neil Young, and marries swelling rock wi…
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…
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…
As major labels continue to exist behind the times, artists and labels with little capital and lesser reputations are producing some of the most innovative, interesting, and inspiring music. Whether it’s creating a new niche in digital technology or looking to once obsolete formats, Agitated Atmosp…
Presenting Songbook: KEXP’s Music & Literature Series, bringing together authors and artists for engaging discussions in the KEXP Gathering Space.
Back in 2010, KEXP was broadcasting from the Ace Hotel in New York City during the CMJ Music Festival, and we were lucky to score not one, but two guest DJ sets from The Roots drummer Questlove. Apparently the guy had so much fun the first time, he returned to the decks the following day! As the be…
Windy City singer/songwriter Ryley Walker shares his third album this week, which KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls, "his strongest and most sophisticated set to date, combining fluid guitar lines, intricate rhythms and elliptical lyrics on expansive songs that masterfully blend elements of folk-…
Folk - like rock, hip-hop, or jazz - is one of those elevated sub-genres on the music tree of life that’s just specific enough to conjure an immediate sound in one’s imagination while being just broad enough to have an endless array of tendrils splintering off of its hefty branch. Joanna Newsom and…
Next on the KEXP broadcast live from KEX Hostel at Iceland Airwaves is an Icelandic/Swedish folk duo My bubba. Their earlier efforts (released under the moniker “My bubba & Mi”) are deeply rooted in southern americana and folk. The songs are sparse, allowing their pure, delicate voices and entr…
