For being as strange as they are - and in fact they looked possessed on stage this weekend - I have an awfully easy time listening to Sacramento experimental rap group Death Grips. While I know some purposefully avoided the Bigfoot stage during their hellish and angry set, I also watched many flock…
Day two started off cool and got warm - and at the sun drenched Yeti Stage, Rose Windows started the day with their deep psychedelic mystic rock. Singer Rabia Qazi's voice rumbled high and low as the Seattle band played through most of what we can assume comes from their upcoming album, The Sun Dog…
If current trends continue, Thurston Moore will evoke the true spirit of rock and roll musicianship and artistry until the day of his death. 35 years into his career, he and his band of extravagantly talented musicians in Chelsea Light Moving are making hard and heavy rock with just as edge and dem…
A review of Fauna Shade's single "Marzipan" described their sound as "Floydian... zapping electronic wiggles." This simultaneously whimsical yet vague description fits the band perfectly: their sound bounces through all the psychedelic subgenres, with droning stoner fuzz meeting some of Tame Impala…
Red Bull Sound Select are at it again: the caffeine-packed beverage people throw concerts around the world, curated by local taste-makers (KEXP has curated a few of these shows ourselves). This time around, legendary label Sub Pop Records have picked the bill, and on Wednesday, October 7th, you can…
I have to remind myself every single year, every time I look at the lineup, every time I hit a single event and walk into work dog tired the next day - Seattle is so lucky to play home to the visionaries that put on Decibel Festival year after year. There are so many electronic music festivals in t…
KEXP is excited to premiere a new video from Superchunk-frontman Mac McCaughan for the track "Box Batteries," off his debut solo full-length Non-Believers, out now on Merge Records. The clip brings you face-to-face with its director, Brooklyn-based performance artist Anya Liftig, whose big blue eye…
A 12:30 a.m. timeslot on the final day of a four-day Sasquatch! Music Festival is a daunting test. You're either playing to whoever's passed out on the lawn or people who are, for any number of personal and chemical reasons, not ready to let their festival experience end. Jamie xx wasn't the most e…
History was made (and relived) this weekend in Portland with the first ever Project Pabst. The festival, a testament to the PDX+PBR love affair, tossed Portland into a beer-fueled time warp. Along with newer acts, Zidell Yards hosted some 80s and 90s greats like Tears for Fears, Violent Femmes, GZA…
Electronic music’s second massive wave of popularity is in full swing. For the first time since disco, Top 40 music is far more influenced by modern dance trends than traditional R&B or rock elements. By and large, the highest paid DJs do better than the highest paid rappers. After being critic…
As if the music was reflecting off the bicycles, Gliss' afternoon set at during our SXSW broadcast was a shimmering cooldown after Jovanotti threw a vibrant Italian party in Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop. As the group ran through a set of tunes from their latest LP, this year's Langsome Dans, frontwoma…
As Jamie Lidell started into his Neumos set Monday night, he recalled the Multiply tour, where at his Neumos stop back in 2006, he wore a leopard print suit that was blistering hot on stage. Here, he was dressed more akin to an R&B Dr. Who, with a dark full body coat over a simple v-neck. But t…
"It's not a perfect record, but then you wouldn't want it to be" - The Quietus' Emily Mackay hits the nail right on the head in her review of Palma Violets' debut album 180: the London quartet's most endearing quality isn't their pop-sensible hooks, psychedelically-tinged guitar hooks, or their sha…
Montreal experimental band Suuns have grown in leaps and bounds in the last couple years. No doubt, their debut LP Zeroes QC was a solid entry point, with a clever mixture of noise and pop and a good sampling through the various electronic derivations of alternative rock we’ve seen in the last 20 y…
Domino don't have many missteps in their record of signees. Three years into their third decade, their roster only continues to shine more impressively with time. All of that rings especially true for the label's more recent American indie rock signings, of which tonight's sold out Vera Project spe…
Despite the surprise appearance of (perennial Bumbershoot headliner) rain on Satuday evening, the dedicated crowd of Babes in Toyland fans seemed completely indifferent to the downpur. And from Kat Bjelland's first snarling guitar chord, it was clear that she was too. In a set front-loaded with one…
