Artist: The-Maldives

photo by Brittney Bollay Last Friday, KEXP celebrated Ballard as the winners of the Hood to Hood Challenge during our 2011 Summer Membership Drive. As promised, we brought the party to them, with five Northwest bands playing free shows outside in downtown Ballard at Bergen Place Park. Ramona Falls , Deep Sea Diver , My Goodness , The Maldives , and Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band all threw down amazing sets with new music, and KEXP DJs Cheryl Waters and Kevin Cole did their shows under our tents. The sun [...]

photos by Brittney Bollay and Dave Lichterman It's 4pm in Seattle and as more booths around the stage gets set-up, more and more families pile in to catch a glimpse of the next band to play during KEXP's live Ballard Day broadcast for Hood to Hood 2012. In Seattle, The Maldives need no introduction. They've been playing sold out shows in the area for years, including two more sold out dates at the Tractor Tavern last week. The alt-country veterans appeared on King 5 in February to raise money for [...]

With a week of awesome weather (not just for Seattle, I mean period .) comes a very back-heavy bevy of both shows to go peruse and enjoy. Hump Day sees Buffalo Death Beam , Yarn , Red Heart Alarm occupying the Tractor; Thursday, Sunset Tavern hosts a set by Ramona Falls , Land of Pines , and Natural Selection while Deadkill , Grenades , Battle Stations , and Strap Straps plays Neumo's. Friday, though, is Hood to Hood 2012 , the festivities of [...]

May 18 will mark victory for Ballard in last year's Hood to Hood Challenge ! That means that all day on May 18, KEXP will be hosting live music and live DJ sets all over Ballard. They will also be accepting food and hygiene donations for Ballard Food Bank all day at the KEXP tent at Bergen Place Park. For a full description of all events happening on Ballard Day, check out the Hood To Hood page on our website . There are plenty of awesome live performances and events happening on Ballard Day 2012. Starting [...]

Ghostland Observatory will lazerize WaMu this weekend / photo by Christopher Nelson We've got another great week of shows in Seattle, with a ton of variety. This is a city where you can see a good show just about every night of the week, and this one is no exception. Starting on Monday night, we've got some great Northwest connections back in town with former Fleet Fox Josh Tillman's new project, Father John Misty , performing at Neumos. On Tuesday, there's a psych fest at Neumos with Black Moth Super Rainbow, Lumerians, and Pictorials . [...]

Though a church is a religious space, should it always remain that way? It's also a community gathering space, and one meant for a performance of sorts. The natural acoustics that big old church provides are rarely a feature of any normal performance space for popular music, and that it should only be utilized on [...]

The February installment of the Feel Bad For You Mixtape is up and streaming. The FBFY mixtape has entered a new segment of it's life moving from a message board tape curated by Ms. Rockstar Aimz , of My Aimz Is True , to a mixtape put together by a collection of (mostly) like minded bloggers. You can stream it below and head over to the official FBFY mixtape web site for some dialog on why each song was selected. Track Listing: 01. Shayfer James - Title: Weight [...]

We thought Treefort's initial line-up announcement gave enough compelling reasons to make the road trip to Boise. But the upstart music fest has made four more line-up announcements since then giving us even more reasons to be planning a visit to Idaho. In addition to Pickwick, Lemolo, Built to Spill, Of Monteral and WHY? the [...]

Dessa, one of the Doomtree crew photo by Alex Crick We've finally dug out of the snow here in the Northwest, just in time for a few noteworthy shows this week. The star of the week has got to be Wednesday night, when Wu-Tang Clan hits the stage at the Showbox with guests Black Knights, Reverend Burke, and Champagne Champagne . Ambulance plays at the Comet Tavern with The West and Us On Roofs , and you can hear the twangy sounds of Jessie Baylin with The Watson [...]

American Girls at Slack Fest ::: photo by Abbey Simmons The things we would do to relive this summer's return of Slack Fest are obscene. For now, these photos will have to do. My Goodness at Slack Fest ::: photo by Abbey Simmons Dancers at Slack Fest ::: photo by Josh Lovseth Maldives Finale at Slack Fest ::: [...]

Merry Moondoggies ::: photo by Abbey Simmons I get tired of writing about the same bands all the time. Just as I'm sure you get tired of reading me write about the same bands over and over again. So what do you think I did for this holiday season? I wrote a letter to the North [...]

The Moondoggies in Denver ::: photo by Abbey Simmons The Moondoggies are obviously equipped for December year-round, so it's ironic that December is the time we really get to see them strip off the checkered long sleeves and in their place rep their collection holiday sweaters. Have you got a problem with Christmas themed ties or [...]

Grand Hallway ::: photo by Abbey Simmons Over the last year with Drew Grow's accident, stolen gear and my own medical mishaps, I've witnessed first hand some incredible outpouring of support and organization by local musicians and music fans. This Saturday friends and fans are coming together again to support a friend in need, Mark Giese, [...]

sure, the maldives record listen to the thunder came out in 09, and there is no word on anything new coming out but that aint stoppin me! i have listened to it quite a bit since i first discovered it sometime last year, but as of late its really hitting hard. to my ears, its almost a perfect record. stuff i wasnt hearing a a year ago, i am now. its very much like how i fell in love with the everybodyfields nothing is okay , just kept on listening, paying attention and just burrowed [...]

• The Maldives - Blood Relations

American Girls at Slack Fest 2011 ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons How do you get a eight of Seattle's best rock bands all on the same bill on the same day? You take them to Stanwood. Stanwood? Yes, Stanwood. Far enough from anywhere to trigger a proximity clause problems, but close enough to where it can [...]

Who doesn't enjoy watching bands playing on the back of a flatbed truck in the middle of a racetrack? I'll be somewhere on that Ranier-like mountain of... um... Ranier. Hopefully, I'll stay sober enough to snap some photos.

The Maldives at Slack Fest ::: photo by Abbey Simmons [COI alert: Slack Fest has paid me to help with press, but as you can tell by the line-up I'd be excited for and writing about Slack Fest were that not the case.] Rock'n'Roll festivals and racetracks don't have the best, um, track record. But unlike [...]

KEXP Concert at the Mural ::: photo by Josh Lovseth Since the weather's not cooperating, we're going to have to take cues from other places to remind us it is, in fact, summer. Things like a partial peek at KEXP's always excellent free summer concert series at the Mural Amphitheater during the month of August. There's [...]

A short drive north of Everett, among unmowed fields and farmland, nestled by the Stillaguamish River, lies Slime Dog Raceway. The river has a current, but in the hot summer sun is a true escape. The dirt track circle feels small for cars to be racing around at any speed as you walk inside of [...]

A short drive north of Everett, among unmowed fields and farmland, nestled by the Stillaguamish River, lies Slime Dog Raceway. The river has a current, but in the hot summer sun is a true escape. The dirt track circle feels small for cars to be racing around at any speed as you walk inside of [...]