This week, he does it again. The moment you think you've finally pinned down James Blake, he'll give you the slip and turn the tables upside down again. Blake is no chameleon - he doesn't change based on his surroundings or to try and fit in with any particular scene. Rather, he's stayed on the cut…
Mark E. Smith, leader of influential UK post-punk band The Fall, passed away this morning at home at the age of 60. His manager Pam Van Damned states, "A more detailed statement will follow in the next few days. In the meantime, Pam & Mark’s family request privacy at this sad time." The band ca…
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…
Recently, KEXP returned to the grotto-esque space of Robert Lang Studios for another intimate session with one of our favorite bands. This time, veteran Tucson band Calexico performed an exclusive set for KEXP donors, featuring songs from their terrific new release, Edge of the Sun, plus an older f…
This Sunday, January 15th, KEXP is proud to present the 17th Annual Expansions MLK Unity Party, taking place this year at the Northwest African American Museum! The celebration begins at 6:00 PM and will be all ages from 6:00 – 9:00 PM, with the LIVE Broadcast happening from 9:00 PM to Midnight and…
The last time I saw Sylvan Esso was over two years ago, in a much smaller room about 2,500 miles away. It was a cold January night in Charlotte, North Carolina (my hometown), about three hours outside of Sylvan Esso’s hometown of Durham. It was just a few months after the release of their debut sel…
Danny Newcomb, a long-time fixture of the Seattle music scene, returns with a new album tomorrow, Friday, August 11th. All the Way is the second release for the project Danny Newcomb & the Sugarmakers, but is just another addition to a lengthy discography for Newcomb who previously played in lo…
"Welcome to the show (We Missed You)", the projector screen read before Fleet Foxes made their homecoming on a warm May evening. From the chatter and mingling happening in the crowd ahead of the set, it was clear that the feeling was mutual. It'd been five years since the Seattle group played their…
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…
Fleet Foxes are getting back together. The Seattle indie band went on hiatus five years ago after they released their sophomore album, Helplessness Blues. At the time, frontman Robin Pecknold had decided to go back to Columbia University to earn his degree. Now it seems the hiatus is coming to an …
Even within its own darkness, Moonlight shines bright. LA rocker Hanni El Khatib improves upon his Dan Auerbach-helmed second album with his latest, and self-produced, LP. This time, Hanni El Khatib pulls just about everything he can find off the shelf to add to his garage-rock riffs, including psy…
Sounds like nowhere you'd want to be, and as far a band names go, maybe not something you'd want to hear, but believe us when we tell you, Diarrhea Planet rules! Six guys from Nashville – four of them playing guitar! – live the credo of "Shred 'Til You're Dead" by blasting a fiery torrent of riff-h…
Yesterday, we shared a poignant cover of Joey Ramone's “I Got Knocked Down (But I’ll Get Up)” that School of Seven Bells recorded before the passing of Benjamin Curtis to a rare type of Non-Hodgkins Lymphona. Today, we have news that his bandmate Alejandra Deheza is currently in the studios, finis…
Cymbals Eat Guitars will release their new LP LOSE, the band's first since 2011's Lenses Alien, on August 26. According to a press release, the LP was inspired by loss, as indicated by its title. The songs were written at a time when frontman Joseph D'Agostino was dealing with the death of his col…
No one knew it at the time, but Saturday would be the end of Austin City Limits 2013. Rain had been threatening all weekend, and around 9:45 p.m., it finally showed up, and as of Sunday morning, it hasn't left. That being said, Saturday would have been a hard day to top. The weather was (mostly) wa…
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, selected by Morning …
Preceding the mass media's adoption of the "green" movement by almost forty years, Earth Day celebrates and demonstrates support for environmental protection. Now in its 43rd year, the initially proposed date for the internationally-observed holiday was March 21 - the first day of spring in the nor…
They're making a list, and checking it twice -- no, not Santa Claus, the KEXP DJs! Record Store Day is coming up on Saturday, April 20th, and our DJs are more excited than a kid on Christmas morning. Yesterday, DJ Kevin Cole shared his wishlist and shopping tips, and today we have a chat with seaso…
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part 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 Afterno…
The last time we saw Ólafur Arnalds was at 2010's Iceland Airwaves where he played our Hostel KEXP. In that show, he demonstrated his continued desire to engage in experimental recording practices by asking the audience to help him sing a loop for a song. Since his first album, Found Songs, back i…
