It's a chilly morning in Reykjavik, and KEXP is setting up for another great day of live music at KEX Hostel. While today's performances won't be broadcast on air, there will be live video streaming all day on Facebook. First up are English dream-pop duo Let's Eat Grandma, Icelandic post-punk band …
This Saturday, March 11th, MoPOP hosts this year's finals of Sound Off!. KEXP will broadcast the competition live on air as part of Audioasis, our local music show. The pairing is perfect, as not only is Sound Off! the Northwest’s premiere 21-and-under battle of the bands, but many past artists hav…
On September 9, Local Natives will drop their third album, Sunlit Youth. Today, they've shared a dreamy lyric video for their new album track called "Coins." It's a bright and lively look at relationship struggles. There's no wonder why the band describes it as "one of their favorite songs to play…
One of the hardest working artists in the Seattle music scene, DoNormaal (the moniker of Seattle-via-California musician/poet Christianne Karefa-Johnson) burst onto the local stage in 2015 with the release of her excellent debut LP, Jump or Die. Since then, she has unfailingly proven herself as a t…
Portland band Battleme are lovers not fighters. Frontman Matt Drenik may have fueled his project's perpetually punchy new LP with hard-hitting beats and muscular rhythms, but Habitual Love Songs is Battleme's billet-doux to '70s-steeped power-pop and glam guitar rock, populated with characters from…
You can't live in Seattle and not have heard of the O.K. Hotel. In the late '80s, Steve Freeborn and Tia Mathies transformed the now-legendary building, located under the viaduct in Pioneer Square, into a music venue, fine arts gallery, and cafe. In fact, in the 1992 Cameron Crowe film Singles, it'…
You're going to hear plenty of songs all day as we celebrate International Clash Day today from 6AM to 6PM, featuring the The Clash's officially released songs plus rarities, side projects, and an exclusive interview with Julien Temple, but that's just part of the picture. The band's fame was earne…
There's a deceptive appeal to Hinds. At first listen to their buoyant jangle pop, and even at first glance at their fresh faces, the young Madrid garage rockers might be taken less seriously than they deserve. No doubt, they perform to have fun, but it's exactly their carefree attitude, slightly of…
Purity Ring are known for their use of light in the live performances (just watch their KEXP in-studio set here), and now the Canadian electro-pop duo illuminate their video for "heartsigh," a track from their latest 4AD full-length Another Eternity. Directors Cecil Frena and Alex Fischer capture …
Following yesterday's live session with Polish band Hańba!, today we offer the second performance in a soon-to-be weekly series of recordings KEXP captured during the OFF Festival in Katowice, Poland. During our trip there - made possible by the festival and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute's Don’t Pa…
As lighthearted as they are lethal, Seattle’s Mommy Long Legs stepped into our live room to rock out a handful of tracks from their debut release, Life Rips, comprised of clever, hooky punk rock that mixed furious righteousness with a wicked sense of humor. Songs like "Horrorscope" and the title tr…
Fresh off globetrotting tours to Australia, Canada, and the U.S., local based surf rockers, Guantanamo Baywatch, stopped by the KEXP live room to share new tracks from their sophomore LP, Darling... It's Too Late. The Portland four piece embody the sounds of summer as they shred through rockabilly …
Chicago guitarist/songwriter Ryley Walker blows back into the Emerald City to bring a little Windy City whimsy into the KEXP live room. Drawing likely comparisons to Tim Buckley and Ray Lamontagne for his heartfelt folk style, Walker treats us to four fabulous cuts from his sophomore LP, Primrose G…
To call a band brimming such powerful emotion Holy Esque is like calling Scottish indie music in general "kind of sad". The Glasgow quartet has already built a ton of buzz with their 2012 EP while touring with the equally impassioned (but sadly defunct) Wu Lyf, but they took time since then to deve…
Another local favorite - the impeccable Erik Blood drops by KEXP to sink his multitalented fangs into a succulent selection of tracks from his upcoming untitled release. With help from XVIII Eyes talent Irene Barber, Blood fills the KEXP live room with warm, caressing tones that mingle freely with …
I have a confession to make: I am just now listening to Mark Lanegan's solo debut, The Winding Sheet, for the first time. I know, I should probably turn in my Seattle Rock Card (where did I put that damn thing, anyway?). I'm 38, I've lived here for 13 years; I have no excuse. Of course I've heard a…
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 Morning…
For as good natured a duo as you're like to find, Cary Ann Heart and Michael Trent can get darker and more dangerous than you can imagine. As Shovels & Rope, they play gritty boot-stompin' roots-rock that spans between rousing sing-alongs, heartwarming ballads and harrowing tales of vengeance. …
