It's not often you get to say you saw a three band gig where all three bands blew you away for completely different reasons. Luckily for those crammed in Neumos basement at the sold out Pallbearer, Sólstafir, and Mortals show Thursday night, that was 100% the case. Each with an entirely different f…
This is one of those records where reading the DJ reviews from 1987 really makes me want to hear the album (without having to do anything so crazy as, say, buy it on iTunes or Amazon, cheapskate and preferrer-of-physical-media that I am). A lot of tantalizing phrases and references get thrown aroun…
Our second Iceland Airwaves band of the day live from Kex Hostel in downtown Reykjavik was Icelandic trip hop and electro pop group Young Karin, played Bumbershoot in Seattle this year. They are a new band, having formed just last year. But they are already garnering attention at home and abroad. T…
Paul Janeway's vocal range is some kind of miracle. For the young Alabama-based soul stirrer and his band, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, the sounds of Memphis and Muscle Shoals go marrow deep. On Half The City, their unbelievable mature debut, Janeway channels '60s R&B greats like Otis Reddi…
Throughout Okkervil River's in-studio session, frontman Will Sheff keeps breaking into giggles. And if you look closely around the room, you'll see plastic action figures perched on the keyboard or suspended from the mic stand. It's that sense of childlike wonder that Sheff taps into for the band's…
It's always a delight when psychrock voyagers Wooden Shjips return to dock in the KEXP studios. The band have just released their fourth album, Back to Land, on Thrill Jockey Records, an album that captures the feelings of home from frontman Erik "Ripley" Johnson, who has just thrown down anchor in…
Leave it to an Australian band to save Brit Pop. Actually, they may be destroying it because reportedly Noel Gallagher is too busy listening to Jagwar Ma to get the old band back together. In truth, the young Aussies have revitalized the Madchester sound, though rather than sustain one long bacchan…
HAIM introduced themselves to Seattle Wednesday night with a show at Neumos, and if you’ve been following anything about this band for the last year, you know that’s no small event. The sold out gig had lines starting up outside in the cold more than an hour before doors (that’s pretty much unheard…
Seattle band Ivan & Alyosha, in the lineage of local powerhouses the Head and the Heart and the Fleet Foxes, are masters of the bright, jangly guitars, tight, soaring harmonies and steady kick-drum rhythms. But there is something distinct about them, too – the band has more joy to it than maybe…
The love NYC drummer Miles Arntzen holds for the music of Nigerian legend Fela Kuti is so great it can't be contained by just one band. Arntzen, who drums for well-known funksters Antibalas, also started yet another 10+ member afrobeat-inspired group in EMEFE. Formed a year before his joining Antib…
The Sumner Brothers, the Vancouver B.C.-based alt-country band, co-led by brother Bob and Brian Sumner, stopped by KEXP to play a moving set on The Roadhouse with Greg Vandy. Looming with almost nightmarish instrumentation, but calming, yearning vocals, the band finds the listener’s ear immediately…
We knew that The Besnard Lakes would be on our list to see while we were in Montreal since first, they are one of our favorite Montreal-based bands, but also because frontman Jace Lasek is one of the three founders of Breakglass Studios. It was really fun to see The Besnard Lakes in their element a…
Funk music isn't just heard, it's experienced. You can have a great time playing a funk article at home on your stereo, but it takes on a whole new life when it's right in front of your face. Seattle future funk-fusion act High Pulp gets this. With a staggering 10 members in the group, they push an…
Back in August, KEXP traveled to Katowice, Poland for our third year at the OFF Festival. In addition to our live broadcast and on-site interviews with bands like Silver Apples, Beak>, and more, we were also able to capture some field recordings with Polish band L.Stadt.
Moon King is the project of Daniel Benjamin originally from Toronto, and now spending most of his time in the Detroit area. When Benjamin released his first tape as Moon King in 2011, he caught the attention of fellow Toronto band Fucked Up’s guitarist Mike Haliechuk who released his first two EPs.…
Senior Video Producer Jim Beckmann joins DJ Kevin Cole to preview some of the great Icelandic bands playing Iceland Airwaves 2016, featuring psych rock, hip hop, indie pop and more, from bands like Sin Fang, Singapore Sling, WESEN, SUÐ and JFDR. 1. Ljóðfæri - Intro 2. Andy Svarthol - Ofbirta 3. Si…
True to style, every year, there are one or two bands that manage to navigate the Sasquatch! Music Festival contracts and squeeze in a Seattle date right before they head east. For 2015, that band was UK electronic showcase Jungle. While they absolutely wowed crowds with their Sasquatch! set on Day…
Indie rock stalwarts Interpol returned to the scene earlier this year with a fantastic new LP, El Pintor, ten tracks of ageless Interpol mastery, heavy on the guitar hooks and light on filler. After a brief foray on a major label with 2007's impossibly underrated Our Love To Admire, tumultuous band…
It’s time again for Friday on My Mind. Our weekly blog post where we look at videos centered around one common theme. This is a collaborative effort between KEXP and King 5 News. So there is this band that is going to be stopping by my show next Tuesday. Maybe you’ve heard of them - Pixies? Yeah. T…
