Despite keeping busy with Dinosaur Jr and Sebadoh, Lou Barlow managed to find time to record a new solo album. The latest, Brace the Wave, hits stores September 4th via Joyful Noise. In a press release, Barlow explains, "Having moved back to Massachusetts (after 17 years in Los Angeles), I recorde…
If you had told the DJs at KCMU 25-plus years ago, as they listened to the debut album by the New Jersey rapper known as Queen Latifah, that in 2015 her name would the second thing suggested by Google when you type in "Queen" (just under "Queen Elizabeth"), they would have said "what's Google?" But…
"Girls to the front!" This was the mantra for feminist artist Kathleen Hanna when she fronted the influential punk band Bikini Kill in the '90s. Twenty-five years later, Hanna is on tour, presenting the lecture Riot Grrl: Then and Now, and the girls were down in front at the Neptune Theatre, excite…
Uncanny! DJ Kevin Cole's favorite band has written a song about his favorite grocery store: listen to a live version of The Replacements performing "Whole Foods Blues" at a recent show in Los Angeles. Frontman Paul Westerberg displays his usual wicked way with words, lamenting his journey to get a…
West coast weirdo Ariel Pink shares a video today for the track "Jell-O" off last year's stellar full-length Pom Pom. The psychedelic clip, directed by Dan Kapelovitz, showcases vintage meat industry footage interspersed with the band making Jell-O shots. The video is dedicated to the late Kim Fow…
Twenty two years is a long time to wait for a group's second album, but The Juliana Hatfield Three have not missed a beat on the new songs from their recently released, Whatever, My Love. Unlike the vast majority of '90s bands currently slugging it out on the road, this trio does not have to rely o…
December kicks off with another slew of great reissues, including a deluxe version of Yo La Tengo's 1994 release Painful. As frontman Ira Kaplan delightfully quips, "Anyone who ever said they liked our older records more than Painful, I just told them they’re wrong." The deluxe version, titled Extr…
Vancouver/Toronto-based band Gold & Youth continue in the Canadian tradition of bands like Stars and Broken Social Scene, combining boy/girl vocals over danceable pop beats. Released on the iconic Arts & Crafts label last year, their debut full-length Beyond Wilderness captures '80s-style s…
A lot has been said of how the latest album from Jersey quintet Real Estate is "their most mature to date," but when the boys showed up to their in-studio session carrying a large framed poster of Bob Marley, and then began sound-checking with Nirvana's "Come As You Are," it was apparent they're th…
There's lots to love in the record stores this Valentine's Day week, like the aptly titled Hotel Valentine, the first release in fifteen years from New York City duo Cibo Matto. If you're in a more somber mood, check out the album Benji from Sun Kil Moon aka Mark Kozelek (ex-Red House Painters), fe…
Starbucks are at it again with Sweetheart 2014, their annual compilation of artists covering their favorite love songs. This year's romantic roster includes Beck, The Head & the Heart, Vampire Weekend, Phosphorescent, and Jim James, covering Bob Marley, as you can stream below. Sweetheart 2014…
Ever since Bliss Release, Cloud Control's breezy debut LP hit the KEXP doorstep, we've been waiting for our chance to see them live. That was over two years ago, and the band, already critically acclaimed and beloved at home in Australian, and now with their second LP widely available, only just ma…
As DJ Cheryl Waters declared, “Let’s welcome one of the greatest bands to see live, Superchunk!” And boy, did their Bumbershoot Music Lounge performance live up to her introduction. The veteran indie rockers attacked their set with the energy and intensity of bands half their age, tearing through 2…
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part 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. This week we have some special holida…
The expectations are always a little different when you go see a musician who is potentially past his/her prime. John Cale has been playing for over thirty years, and as a seminal member of the Velvet Underground and a striking solo artist since the 70s, there is an incredible amount of material h…
St. Vincent made her glorious return with the single "New York" earlier this year and today it's received the video treatment from Alex Da Corte. The colorful and fashionable video features Clark and a slew of models in a variety of cartoonish settings. Da Corte said of the video, “I think Annie’s …
Oneohtrix Point Never and Shabazz Palaces' Ishmael Butler have teamed up to form a new project called 319. Shared via the Adult Swim Singles Series, "The Rapture" is the first taste we've gotten of the collaboration. It's an unsurprisngly glitchy, experimental track that holds promise. In the past …
MGMT are releasing the follow-up album to their 2013 self-titled called Litte Dark Age sometime this year, with estimates being at some point in February. Today they've shared the third single from the album, "Hand It Over." The groovy synth-psych song follows previous singles "Little Dark Age" and…
Arcade Fire have shared a remix of the title track of this summer's Everything Now from their tourmates from the European leg of their recent tour, Colombian psychedelic cumbia band Bomba Estéreo. Simón Mejía of Bomba Estereo said that Win Butler approached the band with a couple of song possibili…
