“How much is your 15 year old self flipping out right now?” That’s the text I got from Brittany right after we saw the date go up. She Wants Revenge, celebrating the 10th birthday of their 2006 debut by playing the album in its entirety at the Showbox. Wait, 10 years? Has it already been that long?…
Pickathon is a music festival from another time. Coming down from Seattle, you find yourself coming across the breathtaking Columbia Gorge, taking exit 17 off of I-205 straight onto Woodstock Drive, and maybe that’s no mistake. The closer you get to Happy Valley, the further back in time you seem t…
Madrid indie rock quartet Hinds made their full length debut on Mom + Pop at the turn of the new year with a fantastic album called Leave Me Alone. But, after seeing them live, it's hard not to interpret the title as being somewhat ironic, because there are few bands around that are as fun to be in…
Portland singer Charlie Hilton and her band Blouse have consistently found themselves in KEXP's watch list for rising talent. Blouse played Iceland Airwaves back in 2012 behind their first record, then toured extensively behind Imperium, their second, including a great stint with Dum Dum Girls. Thi…
J-Nasty is the alias of Seattle's Janice Ibarra, an emerging DJ and co-founder of the Women.Weed.Wifi collective/movement, who also finds time to teach yoga, run the online thrift shop Seamlessly Supernatural, and help out at Moksha, an art gallery and clothing boutique in the U-District. A multi-f…
I've covered a lot of obscure bands in the (gulp) 9 years I've been doing this series, but The Invisible really takes the cake. Interestingly, their album Dystopia seems to be available on all the usual internet music services, but the only smidge of information I can find on them is a discogs list…
Every year that Capitol Hill Block Party returns, I can't wait to be uncomfortable with a bunch of sweaty people in the red-lit basement that is Cha Cha Lounge. That's not sarcasm. This year's lineup boasts some incredible headliners like Run The Jewels, Angel Olsen, Thundercat, Wolf Parade, and mo…
Broken Social Scene are releasing their highly anticipated new album Hug of Thunder this Friday, July 7th but, luckily for us, NPR is streaming it ahead of time. Seven years after last release, Forgiveness Rock Record, the album sees all 15 original members featured on the album, including Feist, M…
The Greatest is gone. More than just a boxing legend, Muhammad Ali was a cultural icon and humanitarian above nearly all else. He passed away on Friday after a long battle with Parkinson’s. Ali didn't just fight inside the boxing ring. Outside of it, he stood up for those who couldn't or wouldn't, …
Many in the area have known Seattle's Success for a while, but it was last year that these hometown heroes got some love on a national level. Their breakout LP, Radio Recovery, was released by Chicago indie label Red Scare Industries and the quartet accepted tour offers from bands like Masked Intr…
We could think of no better band to close out the live room at KEXP's Dexter and Denny studio than legendary shoegazers Ride. In celebration of the 25th anniversary of their landmark debut Nowhere, the UK quartet reunited for a worldwide tour. We captured a stunning acoustic session from founding f…
Of all of the late night sets at Sasquatch 2015, none was more subtle than James Blake's. Unlike most of the nighttime sets in the Gorge, Blake's performance revealed itself gradually rather than blasting the audience over the head with lights and sound, and it was all the more effective because of…
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. Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck opened Thursday, April 23, as an exclusive engagement in select movie theaters prior to the…
