Check out two new videos from EL VY -- the stellar collaboration of The National's Matt Berninger and Brent Knopf of Ramona Falls (and formerly Menomena). The clip for "Sad Case/Happiness, Missouri" is a NSFW affair, filmed by Michael Brown and Ben Krall, and edited by Kelly Lyon. Matt's brother T…
Telekinesis is the name of Seattle's own Michael Benjamin Lerner and his soft-spoken, incredibly charming indie-rock solo act. Since his 2009 self-released debut EP, Lerner has garnered a reputation for himself blending 80's pop sensibilities with mellowed-out vocal stylings, a tried and true dynam…
KEXP seems to get gayer every year, and this year's Big Gay Podcast, featuring twenty tracks spanning more than 40 years, is no exception. With everything from vintage queer country to an electronic interpretation of a black metal classic, El Toro's 2014 roundup of songs by, for, and about the LGB…
L.A. dance music duo Classixx is band who gets what they want: when the pair decided they wanted LCD Soundsystem vocalist Nancy Whang for their track "All You're Waiting For," they flew out to New York, and as explained to KEXP DJ Cheryl Waters during a recent session at KEXP, they had to "kidnap h…
It may be Halloween, but this week's batch of new releases is pretty heavy on the Christmas theme, with collections out from She & Him, Jennifer Nettles, Kacey Musgraves, and Neil Diamond. I'm sure there will be more to come. For non-holiday albums, KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes the lates…
Though her first band, brother-sister duo The Fiery Furnaces, caught a lot of well-deserved internet buzz, Eleanor Friedberger has truly found her voice alone. Over two albums - Last Summer, 2011's acclaimed solo debut, and the recent Personal Record, sure to be a favorite on critics' year-end list…
You know when Hamilton Leithauser is about to hit a key vocal line. Like Arjen Robben dropping his shoulder before shooting on goal or Michael Jordan sticking his tongue out before driving to the hoop, Leithauser pulls the mic away from his face, tightens his shoulders, and then nails it - whether …
It’s a rare opportunity to see a band as hyped as Whitney at a venue as intimate as the Sunset Tavern. Or as frontman Julien Ehrlich noted with an off-the-cuff affect he deploys for most his on stage thoughts, “This show’s been sold out a long time.” No surprise there. With the June release of thei…
Throughout the nearly five decades of his career, Aaron Neville has performed and recorded hundreds of songs in a variety of styles, from his Billboard topping 1967 solo R&B classic "Tell It Like It Is" through the creole rock of The Neville Brothers, and he's covered innumerable greats of soul…
It’s time again for Friday on My Mind, our weekly blog post where we look at videos centered around one theme. This is a collaboration between KEXP and King 5 News. It’s that time of the season again, so we’re looking at holiday songs. In A.D. 350, Pope Julius I, bishop of Rome, proclaimed December…
Today marks the release of Dormarion, the third full-length from Seattle power pop project Telekinesis. The band was in-studio this morning celebrating its released, and a couple of weeks ago they played a bunch of material from the new album for the crowd assembled at Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop in…
There is no group of people more passionate at festivals than Australians. Ineffably, Aussie bands and fans always give notable performances and serve as fervent audience members, which is why Cloud Control felt like they were playing the steps of the Sydney Opera House instead of the much-smaller …
To those of you who might not know, Nirvana will soon be inducted by R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The inductees will include Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl. The latter two members will be performing with Pat Smear (who will not be inducted); however, …
Among all the new releases this week, it's hard to escape the one from Daft Punk. Their new album, Random Access Memories, is the first by the band in eight years. The 13-track record begins with a bang via its track "Give Life Back to Music", a funky, 70's-inspired song with trademark robot-style …
When Lorenzo Cherubini began his career in the late 80's, the stage name Jovanotti (derived from giovanotto, meaning "young man") refered to his youth, but now, decades later, the name that increasingly became synonymous with commercial success in his native Italy is being renewed through his rebir…
Save for the jam band-heavy lineup of the festival's inaugural year – it's weird to think about now, but in the early 2000s, jam bands were as prominent at festivals as EDM is now – Sasquatch has long been an indie rock heavy festival, and even though this year's lineup is slightly less heavy on gu…
I learn so much writing these blog posts! For instance, did you know that Michael Penn (whom you probably first heard about for his delightfully earwormy 1989 hit "No Myth," but has since done many serious and critically acclaimed things - not that there's anything unserious about "No Myth," that's…
Quadron have made some pretty big steps onto the American scene in the last few years, but they’ve received almost none of the credit for them as Quadron. The Danish duo is made up of singer Coco O and producer Robin Hannibal. Coco’s sultry soul has been heard from one end of the music spectrum to …
Only a year or two after establishing itself as the first NYC music festival to actually pull off an event with the caliber and scope fitting of the city, The Governors Ball Music Festival is at a crossroads. Stereogum's Michael Nelson does an excellent job explaining it in depth, but due to the em…
National Volunteer Week is an opportunity to celebrate the impact of volunteer service. .
