“You must set an example - to be a good person, you must be a good person.” The English translation of Ladilikan, Trio Da Kali's 2017 LP, has some weight to it, but the trio of musicians from the Mande culture of Southern Mali have so much life in their music. Joining Darek Mazzone on Wo&apos…
Pieces of Sky, Tomo Nakayama's latest record, is one of the Seattle veteran's most delicate and powerful works, reflecting on the nature of traveling and going through life during chaotic times. Backed by a full band in this session on the Morning Show with John Richards, Nakayama and hi…
Although the musicians surrounding them aren't always the same, the couple of Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia's impeccable chemistry has kept their Malian rhythms dazzling for more than 30 years. Their first record in five years, La Confusion, is as vibrant as any of their previous wo…
The warm, golden Finnish-style Americana of Tuomo & Markus flows with the aqueousness of jazz and bursts of a post-rock glow. Backed with a crack band, the Helsinki duo join Kevin Cole in the KEXP Live Room to play songs from their latest releases, tell the story of how they became a band, and…
Twenty two years after its release, Jeremy Enigk's Return of the Frog Queen continues to enrapture with its baroque arrangements and Enigk's inimitable songwriting. Performing four cuts from the album alongside a new song on KEXP's broadcast from the Upstream Music Festival with a …
The Tunisian singer Emel Mathlouthi breaks cultural and musical boundaries on her own terms, bringing in traditional Tunisian sounds with modern production and protest themes on her latest album, Ensen (English: Human.) Joining Darek Mazzone on Wo' Pop, Mathlouthi performs four songs from En…
Even if the definition of "Northwestern band” has to be stretched a little to include the Alaskan outfit Portugal. The Man, they have plenty of Northwest ties. Returning to the KEXP studios for a session featuring songs from their last three albums (all of which had a portion recorded in Seat…
"This is the music of the spirit," proclaims host John Gilbreath ahead of Jaimeo Brown's Transcendence's majestic set. It's high praise, certainly, but the trio of percussionist Jaimeo Brown, guitarist Chris Sholar, and saxophonist Jaleel Shaw create music that is truly impossible to box…
To name your debut LP The Epic takes quite a bit of confidence, but in the case of Kamasi Washington, it's the only title that would make sense. The Californian saxophonist, composer, and bandleader's sweeping style of jazz is nearly overwhelming in its scope and scale, but Washington's virtuousti…
With three album released in the span of 13 months across 2014-15, there was a lot of musical ground for Wand to cover when they made their KEXP debut in July 2016. But across four songs and countless crushing riffs, the Los Angeles outfit ran through the rapidly-expanding "story of Wand”, …
Melbourne, Australia-based seven piece fuzz-driven psychedelic garage band King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard deliver a mindbogglingly amazing performance of songs from their new record "Quarters" and the out-of-this-world record "I'm In Your Mind Fuzz" live on KEXP's The Mid…
On July 18, Tame Impala will drop their latest album, Currents. They have already shared a few album tracks and it seems like each song keeps getting better and better. "Eventually" is a stunningly smooth piece of psychedelic music. [Pitchfork]
The Black Angels - Currency - from the 2017 album Death Song on Partisan Records.
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Midd…
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unrealeased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Mo…
Take it from the crackpot behind the annual Big Gay Podcast and the 4AD 4VR blowout—YOU make it incredibly fun to program themed programs and podcasts on KEXP. Did you hear John’s hour-long set of songs about rain on Wednesday? My favorite part was your emails pouring into the DJ booth. They teemed…
At nearly every day of any festival, there's an artist who's set time becomes a casualty to equipment changeover delays, and on Friday, that artist was Phosphorescent. But maybe it was a blessing in disguise, because those who waited through the nearly 20-minute delay at Sasquatch were rewarded wit…
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings recorded one last album before Jones passed away due to pancreatic cancer last year. Entitled Soul Of A Woman, the album will be released November 17. Today the Dap-Kings shared the track "Call on God," a song Jones wrote in the '70s for E.I. Fields' Gospel Wonders an…
