Playing while it's raining at a festival is always a gamble. Lots of people who would have otherwise wandered over out of curiosity are hiding out in every covered nook and cranny imaginable, so it was only the diehards waiting in the drizzle for The Julie Ruin's mid-afternoon set. But, to be hones…
After showing off one of the most refreshing album rollouts in recent history (see: fake websites, conference calls, and blockbuster billboards), synth pop duo Tanlines don't seem to be running out of ways to up the ante on tour. Eric Emm and Jesse Cohen brought a rock-heavy four piece setup to Neu…
To look at Jonathan Wilson, you know where he's coming from, or more likely when. His long straight hair tied back, his well but not too neatly kept beard, the worn army green coat over a very well-worn low neck DIY band t-shirt, the beaded jewelry, the knit hat -- it all evokes a 70's hippy chic t…
The forthcoming Kurt Vile album may be titled b’lieve i’m goin down..., but the songs on this release only reveal an artist on the rise. KEXP is excited to premiere the streaming debut of Vile's sixth (and strongest) full-length, out September 25th on Matador Records. The Philadelphia-based art…
Historically, Capitol Hill Block Party hasn't booked that many legacy acts, but when they do, they don't screw around. The Flaming Lips' triumphant '13 set, Neko Case's quiet hurricane of a performance in 2012, and now Built To Spill's '15 set will surely go down in those ranks. Built To Spill's le…
Truly, we can't do without you, Dan Snaith. With a discography 15 years deep and only getting sweeter with time, any chance to see Snaith in any venue under any of his monikers is an incredible blessing. In fact, I bet he could have sold just as many tickets throwing a DJ set as Daphni or even just…
Tom Krell has always been a thinker. On 2010 debut Love Remains, Krell introduced us to his unique blend of slow jam R&B and heady philosophy (what he studied at school in Brooklyn and Cologne, Germany) with an unforgettable collection of heartbreaking magic. On 2012 breakthrough Total Loss, Kr…
Warhol would've been proud. Although the wigged genius fostered relative grumps like the Velvet Underground as his house band, his own art was often considered just this side, if not over the line, of parody. Warhol was both revered and despised for presenting such common items as soup cans or doll…
“Everyone is dressed up, everyone to the nines”, Mike Kinsella whispers on the album’s closing track, “Someone must have found love or someone must have died”. That sentence - perhaps better than any other on the record - embodies the perfect mixture of awareness and distance that has haunted Ameri…
"I feel like all 4,000 people in this room should hug right now," the mid-30s woman beside me says to me as the house lights go on after The xx show last Monday night. I nod my head in approval. I understand what she means - not hugs of comfort but hugs of recognition of community and of the beauti…
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 DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on The Mor…
Now that they've played a number of shows on their much-publicized reunion trek, it's fair to judge whether or not the Outkast festival tour is merely a opportunistic cash grab or an enthusiastic celebration of the Atlanta duo's massive legacy (during which they will inevitably get real paid). At f…
In March 2012, Girls mastermind Lena Dunham told NY Mag, that "[Millennial] lostness and that questioning — I wish I could say that it completely went away when you were getting to do the thing you wanted to do, but unfortunately, that’s not the truth." The most recent season of Girls featured a nu…
Johnny Jewel makes music that calls upon the venue of cinema so regularly, that when he actually creates something meant to go along with film, it almost seems more meta than the imaginary films he's themed in other projects. Likewise, the whole of the Italians Do It Better catalog exists in this s…
"It's so fuckin' party you will die." That was The Avalanches self-endorsement of Wildflower from back in January 2007. It had been a long wait for a new Avalanches record (seven years), but the boys were getting it together. They just needed nine more to make it perfect. Back in 2000, the Australi…
Mean Jeans guitarist and vocalist Billy Jeans (Christian Blunda) took the stage for his second set of the night (he also performed in openers Patsy’s Rats). He was joined by Jeans Wilder (Andrew Bassett) on drums, and Jr. Jeans (Richard Messina) on bass. It was late, but the crowd at Chop Suey wasn…
Love him or hate him, you truly cannot say that Mac DeMarco isn't consistent. The indie rock songwriter is barely three years into his public career and he is already at the point of selling out the Neptune Theatre with ease, garnering a massive fanbase both young and old, and rocking every night w…
It's truly mind-boggling that It's Album Time is the first record we've seen from Todd Terje. If you're fond of disco, house, and easy grooving summer dance tracks, you've probably been putting Terje on your afternoon mixes for years in one way or another. The man has more phenomenal remixes than y…
Com Truise gave Seattle exactly one week with his interstellar new record Wave 1 before his show here Tuesday night. This is producer Seth Haley's first Seattle stop since Sasquatch! Music Festival in 2012, where he rocked the roof off the dance tent in middle of the day. If Tuesday night's sold ou…
