If not for radio, punk and new wave would never have spread across the country the way it did. Thanks to groundbreaking DJs from the 1970s like Rodney Bingenheimer at Los Angeles station KROQ and Vin Scelsa at New York's WNEW, bands were able to reach an audience their crappy tour vans may never ha…
It won't just be the record-breaking temps that make this weekend the hottest of the year so far. Besides the start of KEXP's own Concerts at the Mural series this Friday, down in Happy Valley, Oregon, our friends at Pickathon are at it again. It's always hard to say that "this year" is the best ye…
Today would have been Chris Cornell's 53rd birthday. Since news hit of his death in May, there's been an outpouring of love for Cornell and his music. From Soundgarden and Temple of the Dog to Audioslave and his prolific solo career, he gave generations of fans music to adopt as their own. He gave …
“Iceland is hands down the most beautiful place I have ever visited and even though I know there are many great festivals happening all around the world, I have a difficult time imagining something as special as Iceland Airwaves.”
– Miyuki (2013 Iceland Airwaves Flyaway winner)
The music world struck it rich in 1977. It was ground zero for punk, with debut albums from the Sex Pistols, The Damned, and Dead Boys, to name a few. And not just one, but two albums each from David Bowie and The Ramones. The year was so notable, The Clash wrote a song about it, with lyrics like "…
KEXP listeners know: we love Canada Day. We were honored to have Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stop by the station to record a station ID for us. We've even teamed up with the Consulate General of Canada in Seattle to include Vancouver-based artist Louise Burns to our Rocks the Dock line-u…
This Wednesday, June 7th, on what would have been Prince's 59th birthday, KEXP will be Feelin' Minnesota as we celebrate with a spotlight on bands from the Land of 10,000 Lakes. From 6AM to 6PM, you'll hear from artists like Hüsker Dü, Brother Ali, Poliça, and The Jayhawks, leading up to a four-hou…
This week in El Sonido, I’ve got a video round-up and mixtape preview of Primavera Sound 2017.First though, a quick recap of my favorite things from last year. Hands down I have to say my favorite performance from 2016's edition of Primavera was PJ Harvey. I've been a super fan since the early 90s,…
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.
