Whatever your personal opinion of her may be, there is one fact that is truly undeniable: Lana Del Rey is in a league of her own. If you don't believe me, read her fantastically revealing cover piece with Fader. If you don't feel like it, listen to her albums, watch her videos, read other interview…
photo by Asbjørn Nilssen
San Francisco's Mikey Maramag has a gift for painting landscapes. As Blackbird Blackbird, Maramag has made our heads spin with dense texturing and ear-worm hooks that take you far away to a place untainted by the imperfections of daily life. Always alternating between driving pop accessibility and …
Maybe it's just me, but there seems to be a phenomenally awesome trend happening right now where dance bands are accompanying thumping tracks with a lyrical message of higher understanding and deeper self-knowing. Last fall, Cut Copy gave us Free Your Mind, a record musically inspired by rave cultu…
There's a moment on "Every Time the Sun Comes Up", the closing track on Are We There, the fourth studio album by Sharon Van Etten, when the New Jersey songwriter nonchalantly declares "I wash your dishes, but I still shit in your bathroom". For obvious reasons, it's a line that immediately stands o…
A rubber band is the perfect picture to fit Swedish electronic outfit Little Dragon. Up to this point, the band has been carving a unique sound that occupies a haunting modern space somewhere between historical influences like Massive Attack and Bjork. After singer Yukumi Nagano made an appearance …
As major labels continue to exist behind the times, artists and labels with little capital and lesser reputations are producing some of the most innovative, interesting, and inspiring music. Whether it’s creating a new niche in digital technology or looking to once obsolete formats, Agitated Atmosp…
The fact that Turn Blue, the eighth album by The Black Keys, is full of songs about being hurt by a woman shouldn't be all that surprising. Although they, sonically speaking, haven't been a dirty, traditionalist-leaning blues band in a few years now, they remain one at heart, which is why Dan Auerb…
There are very few bands that find a way to capture the absolute euphoria of endless, boundless love and affection. Plenty manage to navigate the confusing space between love and infatuation, the infinite battle of reconciling affection and compassion, and find countless new ways to spell the woes …
In 2018, KEXP celebrated the 30th anniversary of local record label Sub Pop with a four-month retrospective, "counting up" every catalog number in their vast discography of over 1,200 releases. Dig into the archives of our catalog coverage, featuring in-depth coverage on the history of their releases.
