Named after a race of diminutive creatures in Magic: The Gathering, Kithkin's energetic, uplifting indie rock is the type of music that gets the cops called over to house shows (in the best way possible). Although the band's aesthetic is clearly a fantastical one - the self-described "Cascadian you…
We opened this year’s broadcast live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves Music Festival with a newer Icelandic band, Between Mountains. Hailing from the Westfjords, the promising new duo were this year’s winner of Músíktilraunir, a youth-focused battle of the bands (similar to Seattle’s Sound Off!)…
Anyone who got to kick off 2017 with Sleater-Kinney is already very lucky, but it sounds like the show was even better than we could've imagined. For their New Year's Eve concert at San Francisco’s Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium, the ladies paid tribute to artists we've lost this year: David Bowie an…
The White Stripes, Dead Weather, The Raconteurs... that Jack White has been recording music with lots of different projects over the years. And, you can check out unplugged versions of his songs on the career-spanning collection Acoustic Recordings 1998-2016, out later this month. As an example, c…
Half-man, half-enigma, UK electronic producer Darren Cunningham has been transfixing listeners over the past decade with his experimental electronic productions under the alias Actress, offering up releases on his own label Werk Discs as well as a steady supply of fascinating sounds for both Honest…
This Saturday, August 13th, The Vera Project & Friends of Waterfront Seattle present Vera at the Waterfront: a much needed, free, all-ages excuse to pretend the summer's end isn't rapidly approaching. Complete with a stacked lineup of local musicians and art installation provided by Vera's scre…
From a KEXP Song of the Day in 2013 to a Grammy nomination and Saturday Night Live in 2016 -- it's been fantastic watching the rise of our beloved Courtney Barnett! Over the weekend, the Aussie superstar made her first live TV appearance in the U.S. with "Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go to the…
Who would have thought a "Big Black Coat" could be so inviting? The album of that name is the first in nearly five years for KEXP favorites Junior Boys, and it comes not just as a return to form but a revisitation of the pop sounds they've cherished for some time - house, techno, soul, disco and R&…
If there's another performer who has received two standing ovations for a single song at the Moore, Jason Isbell should call them and see if they'll go for best two out of three, because chances are that he'll win. The revitalized Southern songwriter is at a career high at the moment, and no other …
With their new release The Wanting, Seattle’s Nightmare Fortress have created the perfect blend of somber and emotionally intense sonic streams of grandiose grave wave soundscapes. Enthralled by this ambiguous and unnerving artwork, KEXP caught up with guitarist Cassidy Gonzales to discuss the maca…
"I just wanna keep very, very quiet," admits Aly Spaltro (a.k.a Lady Lamb) at the end of the fourth verse of "Billions of Eyes". It's not an inaccurate statement, but it also doesn't mean she won't get loud when she needs to. Spaltro builds intricate songs that move through dynamics and lyrics more…
Our third act at our awesome off venue stage at Kex Hostel show of the day live from Iceland Airwaves in Reykjavik was Prins Póló (this also happens to be the name of a Polish chocolate bar here in Iceland, but we assure you it was the artist, not the candy, that we broadcast live). Svavar Pétur Ey…
Santa Barbara synthpop group Gardens & Villa have been on the road for nearly four months straight. Ever since their sophomore LP Dunes dropped on Secretly Canadian, they’ve been road-tripping around this county and others, showing off what a new batch of tunes and a refined live show have to o…
Back in July, Annie Mac interviewed M.I.A. to announce the official release date for delayed fifth album AIM (formerly called Matahdatah). With the announcement, Maya gave us the bass-heavy single "Go Off" to mask the pain of some bummer news: this is going to be the last M.I.A. album before she go…
Courtney Barnett may prefer the mundane, but that doesn't mean we have to. In the songs on her debut album, The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas, really two early EPs mashed together, the young Australian singer-songwriter relates with hyperfocus the details of a day or of moments of average signific…
Although they're mostly critical darlings in the United States, Elbow have been headlining stadiums and festivals in their native UK for a few years now, so it's no surprise that their Sunday evening set on the main stage at Sasquatch was a brilliant display of showmanship. Their latest album, Marc…
After the band finished ripping through a particularly danceable rendition of "Spirit" off their new record Singles, Future Islands frontman Sam Herring looked down at his sweat soaked shirt and pants. After a failed attempt to wring a piece of it out, he just laughed along with the rest of the cro…
Weighing Barboza's Tuesday night festivities by pictures alone would be a crime. What you don't see behind camera - in view of the focused eyes of Russell Whyte and Reed Juenger - is a bloody marvelous party. There's little-to-no room to move or breathe, dozens of couples or just-mets dancing toget…
In the late 90's, few bands were like Firewater. The NYC band was mixing Balkan folk with contemporary post-punk for sound that would eventually inspire others like Gogol Bordello, Balkan Beat Box, Devotchka and even Beirut. Led by former Cop Shoot Cop frontman Tod A, Firewater became musical world…
Christopher Owens took us all by surprise last year when he randomly announced that he was leaving his own band, Girls. Girls started back in 2007 with Owens and Chet JR White, but they really got off the ground and running in the last couple years with 2009's very popular Album and 2011's pitch pe…
