Formed in the span of a single weekend – after playing and writing seven songs without leaving a New Jersey house due to a flash flood – the members of Saint Rich play pop music in the vein of Franz Ferdinand and The Stokes. There is something spritely and up about the group's music, the snare alwa…
KEXP is back in Iceland this week, broadcasting live during Iceland Airwaves KEX Hostel in Reykjavik. On Wednesday, October 30, through Friday, November 1, we present 15 bands live on air, including Moses Hightower, Emilíana Torrini, Ásgeir, John Grant, Pétur Ben, Mono Town and many others. (See th…
What would a broadcast in Portland be without the city's most rocking political punk-pop band, The Thermals? Guitarist/vocalist Hutch Harris and bassist Kathy Foster have been pumping PDX audiences and fans all over the world for more than a decade with their high energy shows and thought-provoking…
Do you like dancing in your underwear? Yeah? Do you like dancing in public in your underwear? Well, !!!'s Nic Offer sure does. For their performance at KEXP's broadcast from Doug Fir Lounge during Musicfest NW, the frenetic frontman stripped down to his Some Girls-inspired skivvies before thrusting…
Formed on the campus of the University of Washington, the young men of Beat Connection play dance music infused with a bit of magical realism. With digital production, live guitar and drums, their songs slink, jump and dive. Accompanied on Portland’s MusicFest Northwest stage for a few songs by the…
With 9 LPs under his belt as part of the group Matt Pond PA, Matt Pond has dropped the "PA" to undertake a solo career. This East Coast born-and-raised singer/songwriter began playing music during college and eventually scored gigs opening for bands like Bikini Kill and Superchunk. While his debut …
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 comes from Memphis ga…
Elusive electronic duo Boards of Canada are set to release their first album, Tomorrow's Harvest, in eight years on June 5th. After having to track down specific six digit codes throughout the internet and on a record store day vinyl release to reach the online video announcement of the LP, the ba…
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. Today’s song comes from Seattle band …
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. Today’s selection comes from the exce…
Beloved Brooklyn band The National are back with their seventh album. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it "another masterful set of brooding rock that injects a bit more electronic experimentation along with an occasional welcome return to rock aggression. As beautifully crafted and intricately …
Sometimes I think I'm not remotely qualified to be doing this blog series. (Perhaps you've thought the same.) Take Sparks, for example. I don't think I'd ever heard of Sparks before pulling this album off the KEXP shelves, but they've been a band for over 45 years and released a couple dozen albums…
Host Larry Rose takes Total Control of GRMLNs on a YACHT full of Bleached Caribou on Acid. Ok, those are just a few of the bands that appear on this new podcast that takes you on a wildly varying musical journey featuring some of Larry's favorite new rock, funk, soul, and electropop jams. 1. Car…
If Thao and the Get Down Stay Down and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were related and they had a uniquely uncompromising third sibling it would be vocal-and-guitar-wailing Weaves. The Toronto four-piece isn't afraid to push the envelop in an free form, experimental effort to expand their own style of …
On October 2nd, Nathan Williams will release V, his fifth full-length effort as Wavves. Five albums deep, Williams finds himself at a bit of a crossroads. His 2013 record, Afraid of Heights, found him on a major label for the first time ever, writing bigger hooks, better sing-a-longs, and cutting t…
The past half-decade has seen Jessica Dobson powering through an alt-rock dream career: touring with and joining The Shins, touring with Beck, Spoon, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and starting local cult favorite Deep Sea Diver with her husband Peter Mansen on drums. The first DSD release was the '09 EP…
We couldn't be more excited for Seattle electronic group Beat Connection, who've seen nothing but forward, progressive growth over the six years of their existence. From the nu-house leanings of their debut EP, Surf Noir, and the massive pop thresholds of Palace Garden, the band has reached a focal…
Much talk surrounding Capitol Hill Block Party's 2016 notes the intentionally electronic turn that the festival made this year with its headlining choices. Of those, the crowning evening of the weekend had to go to Saturday night, where hometown heroes ODESZA played to maybe the biggest crowd ever …
"Everybody wants to be in a big black coat", Jeremy Greenspan sings on the title track from new Junior Boys LP, Big Black Coat (read our review, "everybody wants to have your style". Truly, few electronic bands have style like this Ontario duo. While Greenspan sings softly, Matt Didemus stands in h…
HEALTH's new record Death Magic has a pretty significant lead up to it. After working on a third album for some time, the band got an opportunity to work on the soundtrack for Rockstar's Max Payne 3, which they knocked out of the park in every plausible way. The extra time focused on production and…
