Fans of The Joy Formidable are used to seeing guitarist and vocalist Ritzy Bryan thrashing about wild-eyed on stage, practically destroying her guitar, her amps and the audience's ears. She and bassist/vocalist Rhydian Dafydd and percussionist Matthew James Thomas always seem to keep it together, …
Influential British trio and longtime KEXP favorites Saint Etienne released a wonderful cover of Neil Young's song "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" as their breakout debut single nearly 30 years ago, and they're still going strong today. With each new release, they continue to find ways to tweak an…
Closing out this year’s video stream live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves music festival were legendary Icelandic rock band HAM. It was with a few gigs opening for the Sugarcubes in 1988 that HAM’s popularity bloomed, especially in Nordic countries (this part of the world does love their heavy …
This year's Oscar nominations rolled out this morning and some very familiar names to KEXP are on the list. Indie-folk genius Sufjan Stevens is nominated in the Best Original Song category for one of the two songs he contributed to Luca Guadagnino's Call Me Be Your Name, "Mystery Of Love." Stevens …
KEXP is proud to partner with the Upstream Music Fest + Summit, June 1 through 3 in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood.
Amelia Meath of Sylvan Esso breaks down some of the stories behind the music, explains how dancing is a major theme on the record, and shares her love of radio DJs, as demonstrated in the song “Frequency.”
David McGraw of The True Loves is an acupuncturist by day. Reporter Sararosa Davies caught up with the band’s drummer to hear how his day job informs his music.
Thanks to everyone who joined together as a community in KEXP's Gathering Space this morning for a Bed-In for Peace. KEXP DJs John Richards and Riz hosted an inspiring hour of music featuring local artists Wimps, Tomo Nakayama, DoNormaal, Grace Love, and Gabriel Teodros, and Sean Nelson led the aud…
Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard announced in December that he was covering Teenage Fanclub's 1991 album Bandwagonesque in its entirety. Today, he released his version of "The Concept." Gibbard explained why he was covering that particular album: “Bandwagonesque is my favorite record by my favorit…
Seattle's Car Seat Headrest is no stranger to covers: founder/frontman Will Toledo has previously taken on tracks by Radiohead and Bowie. Today, they add another musical icon to the list: The Smiths. Listen to his lovely, acoustic cover of "That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore" below. Car Seat Headrest p…
Moderat is the collaborative team-up between German electronic heavyweights Modeselektor (Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary) and Apparat (Sascha Ring). Longtime KEXP favorites with three stellar albums under the Moderat name as well as deep individual catalogues, the trio will be joining forces o…
