It's almost summer 2014, and that means we get to see the indie pop scene evolve once again. Back at the beginning of 2012, Grimes dropped a bomb with Visions that didn't stop shaking up the synth pop scene for nearly an entire year. The post-modern (or post-Internet, if you prefer) aesthetic and m…
If you are at all like me, I Never Learn is not the Lykke Li album you were expecting this year. After the rapturous viral success of "Get Some" from her 2011 sophomore LP, Wounded Rhymes, it is easy to imagine Li taking her sensual, entrancing songwriting to a more pop-centric place. After all, th…
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…
Though it's the first album released solely under his own name, there is a strong argument to be made that Everyday Robots is not the official solo debut of English legend Damon Albarn. That could be the soundtrack to the 1999 film Ravenous, which was the first music outside of his then-main band B…
Determined and unwavering Brooklyn-based folk rock band WOODS have released over six albums since their inception in 2005, distinguishing them as some of the hardest-working indie rockers. Singer-guitarist and founder Jeremy Earl even runs the record label Woodsist, from which WOODS release their a…
It's truly mind-boggling that It's Album Time is the first record we've seen from Todd Terje. If you're fond of disco, house, and easy grooving summer dance tracks, you've probably been putting Terje on your afternoon mixes for years in one way or another. The man has more phenomenal remixes than y…
Even without all Black Flag related nonsense that’s been happening on and off for two years, Keith Morris has recently enjoyed a compelling and visceral return to the spotlight. He hosted his own punk station on the new Grand Theft Auto game and has returned to present tense conversation for all th…
Of all the happy-go-lucky twenty-somethings in the world learning to deal with the anxiety of entering the first chapters of independent adulthood and being 100% responsible for one's own actions, there are few you can picture less concerned than Mac DeMarco. If you've played witness to his erratic…
Well, can't say we saw that one coming! In the next phase of the ever-evolving state that has come to define them, experimental indie rock chameleons Liars come to us now as... a synth pop band?! Well, perhaps that's a bit of an exaggeration. But still, on new record Mess, we find Liars a far cry a…
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.
