Leave it to Minnesota expat DJ Kevin Cole to champion Bully, fronted by former Rosemount-native Alicia Bognanno. A former intern at Steve Albini’s famed Electrical Audio, Bognanno brought the band back there to record their debut full-length, Feels Like, out now on Columbia/Star Time. The result is…
"I'm not explaining this really good," said a flustered Kurt Vile to KEXP DJ Cheryl Waters during this KEXP in-studio session. Thankfully, the young singer/songwriter is able to let his music speak for itself: his sixth and most recent full-length b'lieve I'm goin down... has been topping Best Albu…
When it comes to young bands making self-assured, thoughtful and influence-referencing music, Ought already do. The Montreal-based four-piece formed just three years ago amid a burgeoning DIY scene in the city's Mile End district and, while drawing heavily from sonic inspirations like Talking Heads…
What a fantastic way to send off the KEXP Live Room at our Dexter/Denny studios! When the members of EL VY arrived to the station in matching polka-dot shirts, we thought they looked pretty cool, but then once they stepped into our studio with its iconic twinkling lights, we realized how special th…
Danish psych-rock band Mew returned to the KEXP studios in support of their first album in six years, + - (pronounced "plus minus"). It ended up being quite an appropriate title. Plus: the return of founding bassist Johan Wohlert, who left the band in 2006 before the birth of his first child. Minus…
In the microcosm of Iceland's music scene, where bands tend to germinate, blossom and wither as if viewed on time-lapse, the young twenty-somethings of Mammút might be seen as practically prehistoric. The five members literally grew up together during their decade as one of Iceland's most criticall…
Today, we conclude our weekly series of Polish bands KEXP recorded while at the OFF Festival in Katowice with a bang. Wrocław trio Ukryte Zalety Systemu, whose name translates to "Hidden Benefits System", clearly reference bands like Gang of Four as they decry the erosion of individualism in the fa…
There are many paths that lead one to emigrate and there are many roads to becoming a musician. When you combine the two, you often find a unique beast that exists in between dimensions. The legendary Balkan band Kultur Shock is such a beast. Sometimes a musician or band creates a persona to sell t…
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.
