It's almost time to shut down the streets of the neighborhood for an amazing weekend of music: Capitol Hill Block Party 2014! This year's line-up features a great range of artists, both local and visiting, many who've stopped by the KEXP studios before! In fact, the list is so long, we've split it …
If Sharon Van Etten were a different person, her brutal honesty would be too much to bear. On her terrific new album, Are We There (read our review of it here), no painful moment, self-critique or regret is too deep to share... and there are real depths in her songs! But just as her songs never dwe…
As if we needed an excuse to get Cloud Cult on our airwaves again... The longtime KEXP favorites released an acoustic album earlier this year featuring live recordings of acoustic sets the band performed at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis. Seattle, though, was their inspiration, as band re-tool…
After pumping out five albums in seven years, The Hold Steady were due for a break. But during the time between albums, the Brooklyn-via-Minneapolis band just couldn't keep from working. While vocalist Craig Finn released and toured a solo album of his own, guitarist Tad Kubler got the guys togethe…
Bamboo is known for its uncanny ability to spring up from the ground, growing tall against all odds while covering everything in its path. With each sprout though, the stalks' compositions change, and an altogether different group of shoots emerge. Like the plants themselves, The Bamboos, a resilie…
Already, between the blazing Seattle sunlight and constant music he's been cranking out, it's been a solid summer for Chimurenga Renaissance's front-man and activist Tendai Maraire. After having released his album riZe vadZimu riZe in March, an ambitious collage of contemporary rap and traditional …
We couldn't describe Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires' recent Sub Pop debut any better than label co-founder Jonathan Poneman himself, who claims in his own press release for the album, "Dereconstructed is a careening, road raging, all night party of a record", adding that even frontman Bains' "…
"Follow me to hill country," singer-songerwriter Israel Nash invites at the outset of his recent in-studio at KEXP, and you can't help but feel immediately transported not just in place but in time. Born in Missouri, Nash sought his fortune in New York before settling in Texas hill country. In Drip…
"It's what turns the kids on," guitarist and vocalist Chuck Cleaver said, defending a bit of questionable narrative during a recent in-studio. We've been fans of Wussy since their first LP, but this year's Attica! is easily one of the year's best. Even if the kid's aren't listening to it, we're gla…
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.
