As Cheryl Waters jokes, it's taken over ten years to get Trevor Powers' band Youth Lagoon in the KEXP studio. Really, the band has only been around since 2010 - it just feels like we've all been waiting that long. We were all happy finally to have wrangled Youth Lagoon come grace us, and the timing…
Sun Liquor and Silversun Pickups - the pairing pretty much writes itself - yet there's so much more to the LA band's relationship to KEXP and history behind their generosity in performing an exclusive show for our donors. Our love for Silversun Pickups goes back to their debut EP, Pikul. KEXP was n…
The fact that Theoretics remixed the Blade Runner theme a few months back automatically backs up drummer Adam Gross' statement, "We're all sort of sci-fi nerds." A five-piece livetronica band from our very own city, Theoretics certainly deliver sound-wise, taking us on a funky space-age aural explo…
Talk about a storied past. The Jayhawks rose from the fertile era of Twin Cities rock that also produced such contemporaries as The Replacements, Hüsker Dü, Soul Asylum and Prince. Though they often get tagged as "country rock revivalists" or "alt-country icons", the band's sound and personnel shif…
Perfume Genius mastermind Mike Hadreas is a local, but it wasn't until the 2010 Matador 21 anniversary shows in Las Vegas that I first saw him live. Sandwiched on the bill between two iconic heavyweights (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Cat Power, for crissakes), Mike sat timidly behind his piano w…
Twenty-plus years into a varied and universally celebrated career, Spoon can still surprise and delight us. They Want My Soul, the Austin-based band's follow-up to 2010's Transference, has all the Spoon hallmarks you expect: the fiery voice of frontman Britt Daniel, the wry if sometimes bittersweet…
Not all of the magical places in Iceland are majestic glaciers, crystal waterfalls, bubbling thermal springs, or the lava field dwellings of the so-called hidden folk -- some are as common as public swimming pools. Sundlaugin, for instance, was for some sixty years a local pool just outside Reykja…
Recently, Wo' Pop favorites Tinariwen played a live set for KEXP while moving through Seattle on their sold-out international tour to promote their new album, Emmaar. Drawing influence from West African music, traditional Tuareg assouf stylistics, and bootlegged albums by western artists, Tinariwen…
Drum machines, laptops and keyboards don't generally lend themselves to physical expression in music. In many cases, the minute adjustments that can change an entire track are invisible to audiences during electronic performances. The Seattle group Kingdom Crumbs, on the other hand, is captivating …
"Bouncing keyboards." "Thumping four-on-the-floor beats." "Synth-driven." Those are just a handful of phrases that probably wouldn't have been used to describe Ra Ra Riot prior to 2013. However, for their third full-length, Beta Love, the now-quartet moved away from their string-laden sound in favo…
Throughout the nearly five decades of his career, Aaron Neville has performed and recorded hundreds of songs in a variety of styles, from his Billboard topping 1967 solo R&B classic "Tell It Like It Is" through the creole rock of The Neville Brothers, and he's covered innumerable greats of soul…
This summer we were treated to an early look at Indians, a new one-man project by Denmark’s Søren Løkke Juul, who dropped by KEXP to preview four new songs during a recent in-studio session. Already, with just a rough demo, the Copenhagen-based artist had thrilled so many with his wholly accessible…
In conjunction with the 20th anniversary of Death Cab For Cutie's 1998 session on KCMU, KEXP looks back on the band's remarkable debut which also came out two decades ago next month.
The night after the end of this year's Capitol Hill Block Party, Waxahatchee played the Neptune Theater, joined by Cayetana and Snail Mail. This timing dig beg the question of why the Block Party bookers did not snag Crutchfield & co. Either way, the bands played spirited sets, filling the thou…
Tonight The Paramount is filled with Northwest pride, a sense of growing up, and “WOOOOOO”s. Seattle band Sloucher is first to take the stage. They are quite the classic take on a Northwest pastime of mixing grunge with alternative rock and singer-songwriter vibes. Sparklehorse, Ben Kweller, and Sw…
The night after the end of this year's Capitol Hill Block Party, Waxahatchee played the Neptune Theater, joined by Cayetana and Snail Mail. This timing dig beg the question of why the Block Party bookers did not snag Crutchfield & co. Either way, the bands played spirited sets, filling the thou…
Eddie Cuscavage, a.k.a. Kadeejah Streets, is one of Seattle's most loved and trusted DJs in the local dance community as well as a co-founder of the Innerflight Music party crew and record label. While he's a diverse DJ that's able to seamlessly handle multiple genres, his exclusive live mix for Mi…
This past Thursday at the Sunset Tavern over in Ballard was blessed to be hosting an intimate showing of some of the most face melting and forward thinking UK indie rock that’s around today. You might think that’s a big statement - and it is. The band, you ask? None other than Drenge. And if you mi…
Today, we celebrate what would've been the 85th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., one of history's greatest voices of liberty. King's contributions to civil rights have inspired millions, including many musicians who've paid tribute to him in song. Below, we've collected some of those odes t…
