Holy Fuck! Noise upon noise, wires upon wires, dance beats upon dance beats - and a dinner knife traversing a slide guitar? Yep, that's how the unconventional Canadian electronica gang Holy Fuck rolls when performing songs off their new album, Congrats, which magnifies their noise-enthusiast, gear-…
In what's easily become a summer tradition for many KEXP listeners, the 4th Annual Timber! Outdoor Music Festival kicks off tonight in beautiful Carnation, WA. It's more than just a music festival: it's a beautiful escape to Tolt-Macdonald Park with recreation tree climbing, swimming, kayaking, an…
Seattle's Joe Martinez brings old-school skills into a contemporary world every time he gets behind his beloved turntables as Scratchmaster Joe to unleash his wildly unpredictable sets. The renowned turntablist has competed in DJ battles all over the world, and his workmanlike philosophy towards DJ…
"Cheers to evolution, cheers to knowing where you are going, cheers to the future.” Those were Trevor Power's parting words as Boise and the U.S. said goodbye to Youth Lagoon on the final night of Treefort Music Fest. It was a moment Boise was surely dreading, but after a fun day with acts such as …
Every year, EMP's Sound Off! competition showcases emerging stars in the all-ages music scene. Previous winners have included The Lonely Forest, Dyme Def, Sol, Kithkin, Brothers from Another, Manatee Commune, Fauna Shade, Schoolyard Heroes, Tomten, and Brite Futures, just to name a few. This Saturd…
All this year, KEXP has been hosting a series of unique fun events to raise money for our New Home campaign! Back in October, we hosted a two day showcase in Portland, one at Holocene and the other at Doug Fir. While there, we were fortunate to work with Louie Herr and Aaron Colter of Banana Stand …
Rap Class is the alias of Portland's John Kammerle, a vast resource of knowledge and skills as a DJ, a chameleonic and exploratory electronic producer, a school music teacher, and also a founding member of the beloved Dropping Gems collective. While he's offered up his own productions on releases f…
Indie rockers Ra Ra Riot will release their fourth studio album Need Your Light on February 19. Today, the band has shared the video for the album track "Water," which was directed by Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij. They have an extensive promotional tour planned for early next year, and on M…
Danish psych-rock band Mew returned to the KEXP studios in support of their first album in six years, + - (pronounced "plus minus"). It ended up being quite an appropriate title. Plus: the return of founding bassist Johan Wohlert, who left the band in 2006 before the birth of his first child. Minus…
Next on the live video broadcast from Kex Hostel at Iceland Airwaves Music Festival was popular Icelandic rap group Úlfur Úlfur. Comprised of rappers Arnar Freyr and Helgi Sæmundur with a rotating group of musicians, they combine hard rock, post rock, melodic choruses and hard rap. They debuted wit…
It's been a few years since we've heard from Denver band DeVotchKa, and in that time they've been doing the usual - you know, gardening, making babies, growing beards, writing ballets - just not releasing new material... at least not yet. Between occasional shows and a handful of concerts with the …
Joe Jackson has never been an easy artist to pin down. His first album's lean, edgy, punk-leaning pop sound has aged incredibly well and influenced a thousand bands (without Look Sharp!, I maintain, there is no Spoon), but over the 35-plus years since then he has constantly played with different fo…
What a great way to kick off 2015: our very first in-studio session of the year was with Canadian musical craftsmen Dan Mangan + Blacksmith. On his fourth album, Club Meds, out now on Arts & Crafts, the Juno Award-winning singer/songwriter expands into new sonic soundscapes with his band, Black…
The guys from ADHD keep busy with a multitude of projects, but that's not to say they distract easily. In fact, since forming on a whim in 2008, this award-winning Icelandic super-group of sorts has produced five albums of expressive avant jazz. But still, bringing brothers Óskar and Ómar Guðjónsso…
Easily one of this year's biggest breakouts, FKA twigs is no mere singer, songwriter, or dancer. She's all those things, actually, plus a director, a producer and much more. In fact, it's twigs' ability to combine all of those elements into a multi-sensory feast of performance art that has propelle…
It's true: Sleater-Kinney are back! The beloved Northwest trio went on hiatus in 2006, but will release their eighth full-length album, No Cities to Love, on January 20th via Sub Pop. Get a sneak peek with the lyric video to the first single "Bury Our Friends," featuring director/actor Miranda Jul…
Forget the big sales and weekend trips, KEXP spends Labor Day at Bumbershoot every year, where once again we returned to the "secret space" of the Music Lounge to present 14 exclusive live sessions with many KEXP listener favorites, including an otherworldly set of live and electronic instrumentati…
What's the best thing about the Seattle band Country Lips? Is it their name? Maybe. Is it their traditional Americana music? Getting close... Is it that they get people to dance and dance often? Yes! In a city not known for it's folk music, accordion playing and hip shaking, Country Lips bring the …
Sorry not sorry: I'll confess outright to being a huge Real Estate fan. Their previous album, Days, easily cinched the number one spot on my Top Albums of 2011 list. So, understandably, I've been excited for the follow-up, Atlas, which came out earlier this year on Domino Records, and the resulting…
Since we first heard them four years, Capsula have thrilled us with on blazing performance after another. The Argentinian, by way of Spain, band returned to Seattle his past December and since they had already previewed their stellar 2013 album, Solar Secrets, last time we had them in, this time th…
