Daft Punk's new video for Random Access Memories track "Instant Crush" shows that even inanimate object can have their own tragic love story. A museum mannequin was sculpted into Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas likeness by Tony Gardener, the makeup artist behind Michael Jackson's "Thriller." […
Timber! Outdoor Music Festival, happening July 26 and 27 in Carnation, WA, is a mini-festival out in the wilderness, off the beaten path, and tickets are selling out fast. There are so many draws to this event--bands, camping, hiking, mountain biking, stargazing with a UW astrophysics professor, op…
Wasn't I just talking about my childhood love of The Charlatans UK? Indeed I was. So it seemed like a fine time to take a moment to check out the debut album from these lovable Mancunians - who, it must be said, are still going strong, having released their 11th studio album in 2010 and rumored to …
Music from Pinegrove, Pinemen, and a group that was formerly known as Pinecones (now Arbor Labor Union) feature in a Cheryl Waters-curated Music That Matters podcast with an inadvertent pine theme. 1. Tomo Nakayama – Miss Misery 2. Blackberry Hill – Werewolf 3. Hot Hot Heat – Kid Who Stays in the…
Four years after the Denver, Colorado trio made the leap from small, sweaty clubs to massive outdoor stages, the Lumineers have retained their breezy, rustic charm on their sophomore effort, "Ophelia". Returning to an intimate venue not unlike the ones they cut their teeth on, the folk r…
Seattle independent artist Mark Diamond was surprised when he was able to pay his rent through song streams on Spotify. He later got picked up by a subsidiary label of Universal Music, only to realize he was making less money with the support of a label.
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The increasingly common trend of anniversary tours has further validated a longstanding posit that, for better or for worse, audiences and performers both hold: almost everyone wants to hear your old material more than they want to hear your new material.(There is a reason Paul McCartney closes wit…
There are few better ways to ring in the new year than staying up until 2am dancing incessantly to furious house music. Thankfully for us, John MacLean and Marcus Marr agree with us, and this week's The Juan MacLean show at the Nectar Lounge was a pretty fantastic way to kick off another year of li…
As we mentioned earlier this week, Yeasayer are releasing the Cold Night EP this Friday, which features two versions of the title track: the original off their latest album, Amen & Goodbye, and a "Dirge Version" which you can hear in this new video below. It's a particularly special song, as b…
With the sun about to set both literally and metaphorically at Sasquatch! Music Festival on Sunday, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard brought their electric sound to the Yeti stage, immediately riling the crowd into a massive mosh pit that wouldn’t subside until the band left the stage. The grou…
Dee Dee Penny is a woman who cannot be held down. With pretty much every album she's crafted with Dum Dum Girls, she's pushed forward the cutting edge of the Brooklyn indie rock scene. That case was especially evident with 2011's Only In Dreams. Together with its phenomenal coda EP, End of Daze, De…
Even on its way out, 2016 continues to take from us the things we love. Yesterday, we lost George Michael. The 53-year old pop singer reportedly "passed away peacefully at home" and "in bed", in Oxfordshire, England, leaving behind a catalog of songs that inspired as much movement on the dance floo…
After three days of drunken fun in the streets and more tank tops than you've ever seen in one place, Capitol Hill Block Party came through with one last hurrah. Sunday was non-stop for exceptional local music from the opening sets to the last minutes of Perfume Genius' set on the Vera stage. From …
If day one of Capitol Hill Block Party had that much energy with everyone arriving after work, day two never stood a chance. Fully rested, hangovers nursed, and a fresh set of bands to gawk over; fans at CHBP were ready to up the ante. Thankfully there was a wealth of local artists to help quench t…
KEXP's Day 2 coverage at Upstream Music Fest + Summit closed off with John Roderick's Seattle institution The Long Winters, who performed highlights spanning their three full-length albums in a memorable performance. Roderick was joined by Sean Nelson (KEXP, Harvey Danger), former Long Winters drum…
For the past 40 years, John Doe has done it all, from fronting legendary punk band X to acting in TV and film. On his twelfth solo album, The Westerner, he found inspiration in the desert around him in Tucson, Arizona, where he was recording with Howe Gelb of Giant Sand. Take a musical journey thro…
Closing out KEXP's 2016 Hood to Hood was Seattle's own Porter Ray, whose laidback flow at least kept things chill, y'know, musically. The wise-beyond-his-twenty-something-years rapper brought some romantic rhymes to the stage, combining some old-school R&B vibes to his hip hop sounds.
Bob Mould occupies an important role in the history of American rock, having been behind seminal groups like Hüsker Dü and Sugar and then pursuing a lengthy and varied solo career. So his appearance at our Grand Opening was particularly exciting for rock veterans and the grunge sector. He eschewed …
