Broken Social Scene released their first album in seven years, Hug Of Thunder, a couple of weeks ago and now they've shared a video for the track "Vanity Pail Kids." BSS's Kevin Drew directed the rather strange video, which seems to be a commentary on the music industry via a toilet who's trying to…
What does your typical lunch break look like? Shoving a sandwich in your face in the break room? Enduring the long lines at your favorite food truck? With summer in full force, maybe it's time to mix it up. The 39th annual Out To Lunch Summer Concert Series, presented by the Downtown Seattle Associ…
Amidst massive popularity, U2 has always been a misunderstood band. From theatrical bombast to musical pivots, the band has often followed its own muse as opposed to succumbing to critical constraints, but their artistry may get lost amidst the theatrics. Even now, one may wonder why 30-years later…
The third set from KEXP's Day 2 coverage at Upstream Music Fest + Summit came from local glam rock outfit J GRGRY, memorably led by the eponymous Joe Gregory. Shirtless, donned with extensive pink and gold makeup, Gregory commanded KEXP's stage at Little London Plane, playing tracks from his record…
A band is like a marriage; the divorce rate for groups started two decades ago is high. Add in more members, each with significant side projects, and the odds of a split only climb higher. By all estimates then, The New Pornographers, formed twenty years ago in Vancouver, B.C., by players from a ha…
For the past 40 years, John Doe has done it all, from fronting legendary punk band X to acting in TV and film. On his twelfth solo album, The Westerner, he found inspiration in the desert around him in Tucson, Arizona, where he was recording with Howe Gelb of Giant Sand. Take a musical journey thro…
Ms. Sharon Jones! is a new documentary that follows Sharon Jones (and her Dap-Kings) through 2013, the year she and the band released their amazing Give the People What They Want and when she was diagnosed with cancer. The film was directed by two-time Oscar winner Barbara Kopple and will premiere…
Closing out KEXP's 2016 Hood to Hood was Seattle's own Porter Ray, whose laidback flow at least kept things chill, y'know, musically. The wise-beyond-his-twenty-something-years rapper brought some romantic rhymes to the stage, combining some old-school R&B vibes to his hip hop sounds.
I could have a whole sub-category of this series called "why didn't I listen to this band in high school?" If I did, this record by the Hard-Ons (Or is it just "Hard-Ons"? a quick survey of Internet usage is inconclusive.) would most certainly be part of it. Loud, fast, guitar-driven songs ping-pon…
Bruce Springsteen is playing tonight, right next door to KEXP's New Home at Key Arena. He'll be revisiting his 1980 album The River, which was just re-released as a 35th anniversary box set at the end of last year. If you can't get tickets, watching videos on YouTube could be the next best thing. T…
Mavis Staples releases another teaser off of her February 19th album, Livin' on a High Note, the Nick Cave written "Jesus Lay Down Beside Me" which is available below. The album, produced by M. Ward, features songs written by a variety of artists specifically for the 76-year-old R&B titan-esse,…
Singer-songwriter Matthew E. White teamed up with childhood friend Natalie Prass on his new song "Cool Out." This isn't the first time the two have worked together, White produced Prass' self-titled debut album last year. "Cool Out" is a laid back jam that finds perfect balance between the difficu…
What a fantastic way to send off the KEXP Live Room at our Dexter/Denny studios! When the members of EL VY arrived to the station in matching polka-dot shirts, we thought they looked pretty cool, but then once they stepped into our studio with its iconic twinkling lights, we realized how special th…
It's been four years since we last had a full-length from Philly-based dynamo Santigold, but the eclectic artist announced her third album, 99¢, will be out in early 2016. Check out the first single "Can’t Get Enough Of Myself" below, via Zane Lowe's Beats 1. In an interview with Lowe, Santigold e…
Okay, sure, this show was almost, like, a month ago, but I'm still reeling from seeing former Stereolab frontwoman Laetitia Sadier perform at the Vera Project. The influential artist spotlighted tracks from last year's Drag City solo full-length Something Shines, as well as her most recent single "…
The Decemberists waste no time. Earlier this year they released the LP What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World and now they're back at it. Today they've announced plans to release a 5-track EP of songs that didn't make the album, called Florasongs, on October 9. Listen to the album's opening…
My Morning Jacket return with their seventh studio album, The Waterfall, on May 4th via ATO Records/Capitol Records. It'll be the band's first release since 2011’s Circuital, and the first of two new albums planned for this year. Jim James and friends have shared a video trailer for the album, fea…
Canada’s musical climate got a couple of degrees cooler this year with the debut self titled release of Toronto’s Alvvays. During their journey through Seattle, the band turned the KEXP live room into cosmic ocean of tranquility with their gleaming melodies, luxurious tones and the haunting beauty …
No, we haven't time-warped to twenty years ago: on this holiday week, the reissues and anniversary editions dominate the new release list. One of the highlights is the reissue of Flake Music's 1997 debut (and sole release) When You Land Here, It’s Time to Return. Flake Music was an early incarnatio…
Earlier this year, Swedish sister duo First Aid Kit released their third album, Stay Gold, and the siblings do just that in the video for the title track, streaming below. In the clip, Klara and Johanna Söderberg wander dreamily around the island of Gotland. Check it out, and tune in on Saturday, …
