"It's not the average, kind of whiny divorce record... You can dance to half the record and cry your eyes out to the rest of it." That's how Sondre Lerche describes his seventh and newest album, Please. Despite the innate heaviness of the subject material, Lerche is eager to explore every facet of …
With a name like Dog Mountain, how could you ever fail? The Bellingham indie rock quartet doesn't need the name as a crutch -- they match both the majesty of mountains and dogs by crafting powerful, tastefully arranged guitar-heavy tracks that aptly blend the band's humor with their own introspecti…
Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by John Richards, host of the Morning Show on KEXP, is "Cosmic Television" by Of The Heavy Sun, a 2023 self-released single.
Between his bluegrass voice, genuine love for performance, and one-man-band resilience, there's just something so authentic about Scott H. Biram. If that weren't enough, in 2004, Biram was involved in a near-fatal car crash, requiring him to have his bones re-connected with metal rods and even nec…
Madison noisemeisters Killdozer certainly had their fans at KCMU, if the reaction to 1986's Burl EP is to be believed, but it seems their loyalty was being tested by the covers collection For Ladies Only. From 25 years in the future, it's hard to remember that heavy, noise-laden (and maybe ironic?)…
For almost two years, Cumulus kept the tracks for their debut album hidden. After beginning their songwriting process in 2011, the group, led by singer/guitarist/songwriter Alexandra Niedzialkowski, slowly but surely put the pieces together while recording in Anacortes, WA, with Phil Elverum. The r…
Did you know about the current infestation of pythons that Florida is facing? Yeah! They're eating all the small animals and slowly squeezing the biodiversity out of the region - but there is a different python at work in Surfer Blood's new album, Pythons. It's a surf rock kind of slippery happy su…
It started as part-joke, part-challenge. The Austin-based band Brownout were exploring different themes during an extended club residency, and one night they chose to cover Black Sabbath, as many of their members of the grew up listening to the godfathers of darkness. Almost immediately, the 8-piec…
The acoustic, rainy-day ballads of Ghosts I've Met, fronted by Seattle's Sam Watts, are minimal in structure, soothing in spirit, sotto voce in tone, and come with a heavy sense of hope and fleeting moments. Having just released a new body of songs for his 2016 album, Night Repairs, Watts continues…
Bumbershoot has been a local institution since 1972. Ask anyone who's lived here for even a few years and they'll likely be able to talk off your ear with stories of their first experience at the fest in Seattle Center. In 2017, the arts and music festival is continuing strong for another weekend u…
Irene F. Barber has led many musical lives. She's lent her vocals and multi-instrumental talents to various projects in Seattle — from the heavy distortion of Dust Moth to the psych-production of Erik Blood. She's an artist that constantly embraces change, pushing her sonic ventures into varying di…
What do you get when Malian refugees decide to meet up to make inventive desert rock? The brilliant, heartfelt grooves of Songhoy Blues. Originally from Timbuktu, the four-piece make beautiful, eastern-scaled music not only born out of political unrest but also out of an unwavering love for a rich …
Self discovery can be euphoric. Finding yourself can lead to a tidal wave of confidence, and that confidence is infectious. This confidence isn't based in complete knowledge of the future or perfect success without any mistakes - rather, it stems from an overpowering believe that whatever happens, …
Not surprisingly, a country known for its epic landscapes like Iceland also produces similarly cinematic music, like that of Kiasmos. The breathtaking sound of this new duo, featuring composer Ólafur Arnalds and Janus Rasmussen (also of Bloodgroup), was the perfect intro for the first day of KEXP's…
Delorean's synth-heavy alternative dance music resonates like the clean whir of a fully-functioning flux capacitor. Typically, their albums contain influences ranging from punk rock to electronic music, giving Delorean their eclectic sound. Having dropped a new album, Apar, in Fall of 2013 on the N…
Phantogram can't help but fire up your passion. The upstate New York electro pop duo of Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter came on strong with their seductive self-titled EP back in 2009, which they followed with two increasingly alluring LPs quickly in the next two years, but then left us hot and bothe…
Although it began as an anonymous solo project, Arthur Ashin's Autre Ne Veut has emerged as one of the leaders of the current electronic and indie-tinged R&B explosion. Now that the project has evolved into an entity outside of his bedroom, Ashin's live takes on the songs from Anxiety, his seco…
Montreal's Suuns make a particular kind of low-drone heavy but never "drone music" - they walk the fine line between being experimental and being simply loud rock music. There's never really been the kind of rock n roll vibes you get from other bands walking that line, but instead an industrial syn…
Billy Corgan is a man of extreme dichotomy. It's this gleefully dynamic binary that has made him one of the most interesting artists of the last three decades. And really, you don't have to go back that far into the throws of The Smashing Pumpkins history to get there. Take just the last couple yea…
Chicago DJ and electronic producer Chrissy (real name Christopher Shively) has been a prolific provider of exciting underground electronic rhythms over the last 10 years. Beginning with his debut EP in 2005 under the Chrissy Murderbot alias, his steady evolution in sound has witnessed multiple new …
