It's been a few years since Black Joe Lewis has visited the KEXP studios, and during that time, the Austin, TX musician has changed his line-up and dropped "the Honeybears" from the band name. "We never liked the name," Lewis explained to DJ Shannon. "We booked a couple of gigs when we first starte…
"I know everyone here by name", Ólafur Arnalds said during his first in-studio performance at KEXP. It was in fact the fifth time the Icelandic composer and performance has recorded with us, though previously it had been within his own apartment in Reykjavik (in both 2010 and 2011), live from KEX H…
For the final night of Decibel Festival 2013, Sunday September 29, I headed to the Crocodile for the Timetable Records showcase, featuring Nosaj Thing, with Lorn, Teebs, and D Tiberio. Aside from Nosaj Thing—a veteran of Decibel Festival I'd seen before — I was unfamiliar with the lineup and unsure…
Every Saturday evening, I look forward to playing you some of my favorite songs. I remember discovering our Northwest music scene: I was lucky enough to stumble on a host opening on the local show at my college station, KGRG FM. I trained with the original hosts of the show a couple of times, and t…
Though named for a popular British toy company, Chad Valley is more than just a plaything Oxford, UK's Hugo Manuel. Also the frontman for the group Jonquil, Manuel has turned a couple of lo-fi solo EPs into a fully realized project of lush, summery synth-pop. Like Jonquil, Chad Valley features Manu…
We're always excited to feature Oklahoma singer-songwriter, vintage rock and roller JD McPherson any time he comes to town. Not only was he one of the highlights of our SXSW broadcast, but he and his smoking-hot band tore up the KEXP studio this past summer. Right now, JD is celebrating the holiday…
It's easy to lose context with how massive grunge was in the early '90s. Bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Nirvana are so ubiquitous with the region at this point that it's hard to imagine what the Northwest was like before they came barreling through with heavy punk riffs with lots and lots o…
My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James is releasing an album of covers at the beginning of next month called Tribute To 2. The album follows 2009's George Harrison-focused cover album Tribute To, will also be reissued with extra bonus tracks on the same day as Tribute To 2. James previously shared h…
Next on our video stream live from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves was Colombian-Canadian musician Lido Pimienta. The queer-identified musician, visual artist, and curator blends Afro-Colombian and indigenous music with experimental electro-pop. Her first album “Color” was released in 2010 (KUDETA),…
KEXP's Morning Show host, John Richards, presents the first in a new series of Music That Matters podcasts, it's our Runner Powered Podcast, Volume 1. Enjoy this one hour training podcast, featuring 16 high-energy local and international artists with songs about running and songs that wi…
Seattle noise fans know when you see "Debacle Records presents" at the top of a show poster, you are in for something. New York's Pharmakon may be on the fantastic Sacred Bones Records, but I think she'd be welcomed with open arms into a lasting relationship with Debacle Records, who supplied the r…
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Ever since moving to Seattle from Lansing, Michigan, in 1989, Shomari Shanks (a.k.a. DJ Sho Nuph (f.k.a. Sho Nuff) has been immersed within the local music community, first connecting with seminal 1990s local hip-hop crew Tribal Music before diving into the electronic music scene in the early 2000…
CHVRCHES have teamed up with actress Kristen Stewart for a live version of their track "Down Side of Me," which can be found on the box set 7-Inches for Planned Parenthood (with 100% of the proceeds being donated to Planned Parenthood, natch). In a press release, frontwoman Lauren Mayberry says th…
We couldn't be more serious: the latest from longtime singer/songwriter Andrew Bird is the artist's most intimate album yet. Not only has Bird opened his life to a wife and child, but he's opened up his music. "Most of my productions have been very autonomous," he confirms to DJ Cheryl Waters. But …
Who would have thought a "Big Black Coat" could be so inviting? The album of that name is the first in nearly five years for KEXP favorites Junior Boys, and it comes not just as a return to form but a revisitation of the pop sounds they've cherished for some time - house, techno, soul, disco and R&…
Though they hail from Los Angeles, Dengue Fever are like Cambodian ambassadors to the Pacific Northwest. On their recent return to the KEXP airwaves, the six-piece seemed right at home, even in our new studio. The band's instrumentation is uniquely cinematic, a multicultural modernization of the ps…
The timing of this couldn't be more perfect with David Bowie's 70th birthday (and sadly, the anniversary of his passing) right around the corner: listen to a cover of "Sorrow" from Jenny Lewis below, which is actually a cover of a cover since it's originally by The McCoys, but then popularized by …
