photo credit: Joel Brodsky/Corbis Ray Manzarek , founding member of influential '60s band The Doors, passed away this morning at the age of 74 after a battle with bile duct cancer. Doors guitarist Robby Krieger said in a statement, "I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and bandmate Ray Manzarek today. I'm just glad to have been able to have played Doors songs with him for the last decade. Ray was a huge part of my life and I will always miss him." Manzarek formed [...]
photo by Morgen Schuler Last night, singer-songwriter Beck , appeared at Santa Cruz's Rio Theatre to perform music from last year's sheet music album, Song Reader . These songs have not been recorded and this is the first time he has played "Sorry" and "Heaven's Ladder" live. Watch both performances below. [ CoS ] Indie rockers, Smith Westerns , have shared "3am Spiritual," [...]
A session performance from UK post-punk outfit Savages, which comes courtesy of KEXP. The band performs a number of cuts from their new, debut full-length, Silence Yourself. Catch a review for the album below:
English post-dubstep engineer James Blake came to Seattle last month for an excellent show at the Neptune in support of widely acclaimed new record Overgrown . The same day, he stopped by the KEXP studio for a four song session with Cheryl Waters. Below, we have videos of Blake's entire performance, drawing from the new record as well as the self-titled. Even here in the stripped down setting, Blake's innate blend of singer/songwriter minimalism and bass-heavy dance music is brilliantly prevalent. With Overgrown , Blake is only moving towards a [...]
photo by Brittney Bollay If any weekend were to officially signal the start of the Spring/Summer Concert Festival season in the Northwest it has to be Sasquatch Music Festival weekend! Running from Friday thru Monday, Sasquatch is sure to have some surprises in store with a fantastic lineup this year. Of course, KEXP will be broadcasting from the festival all weekend so come say hello! Some great shows during the week too. On Monday night, Detroit Cobras, Pangea, and TacocaT are at Chop Suey, Black Moth Super Rainbow, The [...]
photo by Trevor Crump Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription . This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Afternoon Show with Cheryl Waters, is “My Heart Beats” by Veronica Falls , from the 2013 album Waiting For Something To Happen on Slumberland . Veronica Falls - My Heart Beats ( MP3 ) [...]
photo by Dave Lichterman When a 4-year-old, Erik Blood began sneaking 45-rpm records from his sister’s room and listening to them while she slept, a future was being formed. Music shapes us like few elements can. The sounds, words, and images associated with certain songs can leave lasting impressions that often influence who we become. For Blood, this early exposure to his sister’s Cure records and his mom’s R&B, Motown, and ‘70s disco albums proved significant. “The music I grew up listening to made me who I am, musically and otherwise,” says [...]
In March 2012, Girls mastermind Lena Dunham told NY Mag , that "[Millennial] lostness and that questioning — I wish I could say that it completely went away when you were getting to do the thing you wanted to do, but unfortunately, that’s not the truth." The most recent season of Girls featured a number of guest roles/cameos starring Millennial actors, but none was more on-target than that of Vampire Weekend singer/guitarist Ezra Koenig, who delivers a single line in the season's sixth episode. Although he didn't get much [...]
all photos by Jim Bennett A couple times a year, Starbucks, STG, and KEXP team up to put on the Little Big Show - a little show with a big impact - where 100% of the proceeds go towards helping the arts stay alive for young people. This evening's sold out show raised over $14,000 for The Vera Project , the non-profit all ages music venue at the Seattle Center where artists at any age can hear music, participate in the music scene, learn to screen print, and more. [...]
photo by Dave Lichterman Chelsea Light Moving have shared a new video for their hardcore, psychedelic rock song "Lip." This happens to be the bands first ever music video and it looks like they chose to make a bit of a political statement. The track sounds like a rebel's anthem, so it's very fitting that it features riots and protestors clashing with cops. See what you think of their first venture into videos below. [ Stereogum ] [...]
The ascent of electronic producers from the obscure underground scene to the fringes of pop mainstream is a path that is becoming more and more common these days, and few have done it as seamlessly and organically as San Francisco's Barrett Richards, best known to the music world as Kastle . With a forward-thinking sonic vision that skillfully balances infectious, sexy, bass-heavy beats and seductive, emotional, heavily-treated vocals that bounce off woozy, synthetic soundscapes, Kastle's new, long-awaited, self-titled debut album captures an en vogue fusion of electronic, R&B, hip-hop, and pop elements that’s an ideal soundtrack at the club, [...]
photo by Brittany Bollay More than a band, Savages is an idea. Guitarist Gemma Thompson said it herself during an in-studio session at KEXP: "We had the idea originally and wanted to put everything we'd all accumulated individually into creating a performance that had a sonic representation of the name Savages." Their deliberate intention tends to separate them from many of their contemporaries and actually puts them closer in touch with their inspirations (like Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, The Cure and Wire), so it's not surprising Savages spent a year developing their ferocious [...]
You can do anything with a bike... Even make music! The Barr Brothers photo by Jim Bennett It’s time again for Friday on My Mind , our weekly blog post where we look at videos centered around one common theme. This is a collaborative effort between KEXP and King 5 News. May is officially National Bike to Work Month. There have been events taking place all month that have been designed to help motivate people to get on their bikes. Bike to Work Day originated in 1956 and was started by [...]
May is Bike to Work Month, and Cascade Bicycle Club and KEXP is supporting the movement by participating in F5 Bike To Work Day , which is today, Friday, May 17. To help fuel all of you bikers, KEXP will be hosting an Energizer Station from 6:00AM to 9:00AM, where you can get your bike checked out for any maintenance issues and grab a refreshment. At 7:45AM, the F5 Bike To Work Day Rally will begin outside KEXP studios with Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn , who will lead the group into the city toward [...]
photo by Will Miller Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription . This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Morning Show with John Richards, is “Fallen Giants” a 2013 self-released single by Seattle band Kithkin . Kithkin - Fallen Giants ( MP3 ) Unlike the rest of the [...]
There is a place where the sounds and sights of summer are always abounding and where you can sing about the beach all year long. That place, according to Zach Yudin, is Cayucos, California. His project Cayucas (formerly called Oregon Bike Trails) is an unapologetic love letter to the feeling given to those who have the rare blessing to live near this magical place. This feeling of endless summer is what the Beach Boys gave us decades ago - the feeling that can warm your heart no matter how much you shiver when you [...]
screenshot from Consequence of Sound There is no end to the incessant, bizzarre, and wonderful sonic/visual spectacular that is The Flaming Lips . Last night on Jimmy Fallon the band played a version of Bowie's "Heroes" wearing capes, hoods, and -- in Wayne's case -- hardly anything at all, except for a loincloth and a full-stage rat's nest of shimmering electric light tubes. The band also played "Try To Explain" from this year's album The Terror . Check out the clips below, and head over to Consequence of [...]
Can you believe it's been over a year since our last David Sylvian post? My, how time flies. Back in 2012 , we looked at his 1986 album, Gone to Earth , so it seems only fitting to move forward in time by another year and see how KCMU reacted to its followup, 19872s Secrets of the Beehive , his last strictly solo album until 19992s Dead Bees on a Cake (which I guess you'll be reading about here in a dozen years or so?). This effort seems to be somewhat less divisive than the [...]
photo by Morgen Schuler May is Bike Month, and on Friday, May 17th , KEXP will celebrate our second year participating in Bike to Work Day ! Alongside our partner Cascade Bicycle Club, we’ll present the KEXP Energizer Station. Our parking lot (at 113 Dexter Ave N) will be closed from 6 AM to 9 AM and open to bike riders! You can enjoy bike safety checks, refreshments, bike outreach and the 7:45 AM “Ride & Rally” (ride to City Hall) w/ Mayor Mike McGinn! To [...]
photo by Renata Steiner Musician, songwriter, author, actor, producer... in whatever he does, country rock living legend Steve Earle is uncompromisingly in his art and an outspoken critic of what's wrong in our country. On his many albums -- fourteen, not including his many collaborations, compilations and live releases -- Earle often embodies the voices of the disenfranchised and downtrodden. His latest, The Low Highway , was directly inspired by our current economic times and depicts what the world outside his tour bus has become in recent years, which, in Earle's own words, [...]
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The Needle Drop
[stream] Smith Westerns // 3AM Spiritual
The Dodos – “Confidence”
