On Sprinter, the latest album by TORRES, Mackenzie Scott does not run away from the big issues. The 24-year old Brooklyn-based artist has clearly grown from her Southern Baptist upbringing, outpacing the usual "country girl meets big city" timeline but not so quickly that she dodges heavy themes of…
San Francisco has been doing the shoegaze revival right for a while now. There's something about the way bay area indie rock meshes with the sounds of My Bloody Valentine and Ride to give the classic, noisy 80s textures a brisk, airy sensibility, and the denseness of the classics is made new throug…
If you caught the most recent episode of HBO's Girls, you may have heard the previously unreleased track from St. Vincent. If not, stream the song below. The track is said to be a demo left over from last year's self-titled fourth studio album. Girls music supervisor Manish Raval told Billboard: “…
No other group in Seattle has the reach of THEESatisfaction. In creating their unique psychedelic hip hop stylings, local duo Cat and Stas reach as high among the stars as low within the roots below, and place their feet years beyond as eons ago. In fact, critics can't help but describe their new a…
When Sólstafir plays for KEXP, the gods take notice. Two years ago, during KEXP's broadcast at Iceland Airwaves, hurricane-level gales swept across Reykjavik as the hard rocking band brewed up their own storm inside Kex Hostel. Last month, on their first tour of the West Coast, heavy winds followed…
I guess this year I'm making up for the previous lack of XTC posts in this series. The Dukes of Stratosphear were XTC in all but name, working under a different moniker to crank out a couple albums of pop genius that heavily mined some of their favorite sounds of the '60s, from Barrett-era Pink Flo…
Sisters Kara and Johanna Söderberg embody the phrase "beyond their years". As Swedish duo First Aid Kit, they've managed to capture generations' worth of American country and folk while still in their teens, and on their reverential 2012 hit "Emmylou" sounded as if they could already hold their own…
This first day of live broadcasting from Iceland Airwaves ended with a bang. Kex Hostel was packed to the gills with eager fans of quintessential Icelandic singer songwriter Mugison (full name Örn Elías Guðmundsson). Raised in the small village of Isafjordur and now living in another tiny village, …
We began our broadcast at Iceland Airwaves from KEX Hostel in Reykjavik with familiar faces in a brand new group. Ólafur Arnalds and Janus Rasmussen have both been featured several times live on KEXP, and not just from Iceland in years past – Ólafur also in Seattle and Austin during SXSW and Janus …
We're talking about Seattle Center today, right? Of course a bajillion huge bands have played Bumbershoot and Key Arena over the years, but the lifeblood of this area – as of the city as a whole – is the underrated local bands. Sure, you saw the Pixies on the Bumbershoot main stage in 2004 with sev…
One of the golden voices of Grizzly Bear (and Department of Eagles), Daniel Rossen came out of hibernation to play a heartfelt set of songs from his 2012 Warp Records solo-release, Silent Hour/Golden Mile. From his songwriting alone, you can tell Rossen loves his work. But performing live on his tw…
LA garage pop outfit Bleached have been rising strong on the scene in the last year with a number of fantastic singles and well known strong live presence. The band mixes West Coast surf tendencies with the gorgeous melodic punk of bands like Vivian Girls and Dum Dum Girls, delivered through tight …
Ever since their first show in December 2008, Fitz and the Tantrums have established themselves as one of the hardest working bands on the circuit today. In between the release of their 2010 debut Pickin' Up The Pieces and their sophomore record, More Than Just A Dream (out this week!), the Los Ang…
Few artists resonate so strongly with KEXP listeners and all Seattle music fans as Kurt Cobain. His band, Nirvana, wasn't the first to break out of the Northwest nor did their groundbreaking breakthrough, Nevermind, sell the most among their contemporaries, but Cobain probably represented more of t…
With this short session in the KEXP studio, Karl Wallinger proved once again that the legacy of his one man brigade World Party still lives on. Today, Wallinger's timeless records are as powerful and effective as they've ever been, and in the stripped down setting of our studio, his heartfelt balla…
This month, KEXP’s Community Partnership Initiative, is proud to spotlight Amara, a local nonprofit that prepares and supports loving, adoptive families for children in foster care. For 90 years, Amara has been providing services to families and children, pioneering programs to meet the changing ne…
Holger Czukay, co-founder of the influential Krautrock band Can, has passed away at the age of 79. Cause of death is currently unknown. Via Facebook, his bandmates have written:
We are very sad to confirm that Holger passed away yesterday, in his home, the old CAN Studio in Weilerswist. His wife U-…
Faith Healer, out of Edmonton, Alberta, released their latest release Try;) ahead of our trip out to Montreal so I was able to spend some time with it before they did their session. This was one that I was most looking forward to seeing. Jessica Jalbert, the primary songwriter and guitar player, ha…
Wo' Pop host Darek Mazzone had a chance to spend some time in China this year and dug deep into the country's amazing indie music scene: "I was blown away by the complexity, range, and fervor of what I found. I feel that China could be one of the next hotbeds of music and culture - it's just …
Whether you're attending in person or in spirit, Midday Show host Cheryl Waters presents the perfect soundtrack for your trip to Sasquatch! Music Festival this year. 1. Sufjan Stevens - Should Have Known Better 2. Julia Holter - Feel You 3. Briana Marela - Surrender 4. Unknown Mortal Orchestra -…
