KEXP

05/14/2022

Toro y Moi crept up to number 1 this week!

05/13/2022

Song of the Day: "Jerusalem" by Ben Zaidi. Through the sweet tune of this downtempo guitar strummer, Seattle's Ben Zaidi explores identity and culture in DJ Cheryl Waters' pick. Listen / subscribe: https://bit.ly/3wlCvbj

05/13/2022

Guitar slayer Meg Duffy gifted us with an intimate, lush third album as Hand Habits titled 'Fun House' in 2021. In this week's episode of Live on KEXP, we explore Duffy's heartfelt songwriting and the making of their latest project Live on KEXP. Listen / subscribe: https://bit.ly/3PiMMMS

05/13/2022

Parquet Courts Live on KEXP

KEXP favorites Parquet Courts expand their sardonic post-punk into dancier territories in 'Sympathy for Life.' The quartet recently joined DJ Troy Nelson in the KEXP studio to share tracks from the album and their 2022 single "Watching Strangers Smile": https://bit.ly/39OkE3E

05/12/2022

Fresh Off the Spaceship: OCnotes, the 808 Punk

In the latest episode of #FreshOfftheSpaceship, renegade songwriter, producer, and visionary OCnotes reflects on his expanding catalog – at nearly 300 LPs – and offers candid reflections on the music industry and music as a spiritual practice. Listen: https://bit.ly/3l3W3Kv

05/12/2022

We're hiring! If you're a graphic designer with experience coordinating projects with other designers and multiple stakeholders, we need your help... Like, we REALLY need your help. Apply today: https://bit.ly/3l0AUAW

05/12/2022

Sound & Vision: Tennyson Writes Album After New Hearing Condition

This week on the Sound & Vision podcast, Tennyson talks about his new album 'Rot,' which was written after he developed a hearing condition brought on by mold exposure causing intense sensitivity to sound. Listen / subscribe: https://bit.ly/38iG1df

05/12/2022

Midnight In A Perfect World: Harvey Sutherland

An in-demand remixer for the likes of Disclosure and Khruangbin, Harvey Sutherland has been capturing ears across genres with his "neurotic funk." His Midnight mix for KEXP features "moody groovers" that slowly ratchet up the pace "as the night goes on and all the street lights turn purple." Dive into his personal music library below.

Melbourne's Mike Katz has been steadily crafting his own unique "neurotic funk" sound through his moniker Harvey Sutherland for nearly 10 years now. Dropping his debut release Nexus on cassette tape in 2013, Harvey has been an in-demand DJ, producer, remixer, collaborator, and bandleader since then....

05/12/2022

LIV† Live on KEXP

Lakewood's LIV† gives Tacoma a whole lotta soul. Live on KEXP with EARLY host Gabriel Teodros, the local favorite gives us a taste of the confident, love-forward sound that we can't get enough of with "Sade to Infinity" and tracks from 'Black Girl Unbothered.' Watch: https://bit.ly/3FFD8PQ

05/11/2022

Sound & Vision: Hollis’ Love Letter To Seattle

This week on the Sound & Vision podcast, Hollis Wong-Wear sits down with Larry Mizell, Jr. to discuss her new album 'Subliminal,' journeying from Seattle to LA, and working with Ryan Lewis once more on "Let Me Not," her "love letter to Seattle." Listen / subscribe: https://bit.ly/39UYbSI

05/11/2022

50 Years of Music: No Age - "Everybody's Down"

In honor of our 50th anniversary, our writers are reflecting on a different song as we celebrate a different year in music every week. For this week's 50 Years of Music Song Spotlight, Martin Douglas looks back at No Age's 2007 quasi-anthem "Everybody's Down" and the emergence of a DIY experimental punk scene at the cusp of indie music's commercialization explosion. Read / listen below.

As KEXP celebrates its 50th anniversary, we're looking back at the last half-century of music. Each week in 2022, KEXP pays homage to a different year and our writers commemorate it with one song from that year that resonates with them. This week, Martin Douglas looks back at No Age's 2007 quasi-ant...

05/11/2022

Altın Gün Live on KEXP

Turkish psych-folk rockers Altın Gün always bring the party. Back in the KEXP studio after a banner 2021 that witnessed two album releases, the group flex their infectious fusion of modern and traditional, reimagining Turkish classics with rock flair. https://bit.ly/3Fwojiy

05/11/2022

Take it back to 2007 with KEXP, now through May 17th! Every week this year, we're celebrating a different year in music in honor of #KEXP50. Tune in today as our DJs play favorites and forgotten gems from 2007!

Info: kexp.org/50/

05/10/2022

KEXP celebrates 50 years today! In celebration, a generous long-time donor (30 years strong!) has offered a special $50,000 match. If you make a birthday gift of $50 or more to KEXP today, your gift will be doubled! Plus, your donation will automatically enter you in our KEXP50 Flyaway Contest ✈️

Donate here! https://bit.ly/3KVzQJn

05/10/2022

KEXP 50: Revisiting the Early Days of KCMU for the Station's 50th Birthday

"We never expected anything back from the station. It was a labor of love. And I think we probably all wondered, well, how long will it last?" Owen Murphy, producer of The Morning Show on KEXP, revisits the early days of KEXP, then KCMU, with a few of the DJs who started it all in 1972. Read below in honor of #KEXP50.

What you're hearing in the Soundcloud link above is an early broadcast at what was then KCMU and now exists as KEXP. The station was started by four students at the University of Washington and officially launched 50 years ago today on May 10, 1972. Cliff Noonan was the station’s first program dir...

05/10/2022

KEXP Celebrates 50 Years!

It's our 50th birthday! On this day in 1972, KEXP (then KCMU) went live on the Seattle airwaves as a college radio station started by four University of Washington students with a desire to learn the art of broadcasting. Half a century later, we honor their vision through music discovery.

KEXP has been close to shutting down a number of times, but it is because we're listener powered that we are what we are – and who we are – today. THANK YOU for building this community, and for making KEXP a home for music lovers and artists alike over these last 50 years.

Tune in all day as we celebrate this milestone! Streaming worldwide on our site and app, and of course on 90.3 FM in Seattle. Info: https://kexp.org/50/

All photos from Brent Wilcox, one of KCMU's first audio engineers and DJs! 📻

05/10/2022

New Music Reviews (05/09)

This week we're listening to:

🔉 Headful of Sugar - Sunflower Bean
🔉 Spell 31 - Ibeyi
🔉 Endless Rooms - Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
🔉 Radiate Like This - Warpaint

Learn more about the albums you're hearing on air via our New Music Reviews below.

Each week, Music Director Don Yates (joined this week by Morning Show Producer Owen Murphy) shares brief insights on new and upcoming releases for KEXP's rotation. These reviews help our DJs decide on what they want to play. See what we added this week below (and on our Charts page), including new r...

05/09/2022

Yard Act Live on KEXP

Flexing acerbic lyricism and gratifying post-punk sound in 'The Overload,' Yard Act are a band for these dystopian – and darkly humorous – times. Joining DJ Troy Live on KEXP, the Leeds group share "Dark Days" and more from their debut. Watch now: https://bit.ly/3FsOh6q

05/09/2022

omg. i turn 50 tomorrow.

05/09/2022

Song of the Day: "Happiness" by Gracie Gray. Gracie Gray's wistful acoustics invite us to reflect on childhood innocence in this DJ Cheryl Waters-selected track from Gray's latest album 'anna,' out now on Hand In Hive. Listen / subscribe: https://bit.ly/3Lc0SfL

05/07/2022

The first woman in history to arrange, produce, write, sing, and record a big band album, Jazzmeia Horn is a trailblazer not only in sound but in legacy. Listen as she bends the traditions of jazz with an R&B flare with her KEXP session in podcast form: https://bit.ly/3ybnUAq

05/07/2022

KEXP's Song of the Day: "It's a Shame" by Moon Palace. Moving their typical psychedelia sound into a space of slow and sensual disco club, Moon Palace pull inspiration from Solange, Taylor Swift & Prince to deliver this dreamy track. Listen: https://bit.ly/3vQyeMI

05/06/2022

DakhaBrakha Live on KEXP

Operating within the abundant intersection of art and political expression, dakhabrakha connect listeners with Ukraine's culture and music in a new Live on KEXP session hosted by DJ Ashley, out today. Watch: https://bit.ly/3FoMBe3

05/06/2022

Justin Gallego on Taking J.R.C.G. on the Road, the Future of Dreamdecay, and John Dwyer's Influence on Their Live Shows

KEXP's Jasmine Albertson caught up with Justin R Cruz Gallego of J.R.C.G. and Dreamdecay in Austin. While on tour behind 'Ajo Sunshine,' he spoke about packing a stage full of people for their live show, their new single "Drummy," and the significance of Dreamdecay Music Group.

Kismet brought both myself and Justin R. Cruz Gallego to be in Austin, Texas at the same time. Me, to visit my dad, and Gallego on tour behind his solo project J.R.C.G. After two years of phone and Zoom interviews, it’s a real treat to be able to occasionally chat with artists in person these days...

05/06/2022

Throwaway Style: Playtime (and Cultural Dread) with Rachaels Children

While in Boise for the 10th annual Treefort Music Fest, KEXP's Martin Douglas witnessed the emergence of what he feels is the best new(ish) band in Seattle, Rachael's Children. Read this month's #ThrowawayStyle and listen to the full interview below.

I’ve been hearing about Rachaels Children for a bit before falling in love with their debut single “Running.” Whispers of their fun and unpredictable sets turned to excited chatter well above the accepted decibel level for an inside voice. The nearly unnerving intensity of songs about entitlem...

05/06/2022

would you follow kexp on tiktok? asking for a friend..

05/06/2022

This week on the Sound & Vision podcast, Belgium electronic duo Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul dig into one of our favorite new albums of the moment: 'Topical Dancer.' They discuss the themes of wokeness, racism, and the #MeToo movement in the LP. Listen / subscribe: https://bit.ly/3LQAzg0

05/05/2022

KEXP's Song of the Day: "Let Me Let It Go" by Night Shop. Off 'Forever Night' on Dangerbird Records, Justin Sullivan channels "A desire to see and feel everything and escape from the smallness of your own thoughts" into this rollicking horn-laden discovery pick. Listen / subscribe: https://bit.ly/3KM5fhd

05/05/2022

50 Years of Music: 1983 – New Order - "Blue Monday"

As we celebrate the music of 1983, DJ Kevin Cole reflects on New Order's classic "Blue Monday" and the revelation of playing it on the dance floor for the first time. Read or listen below.

As KEXP celebrates its 50th anniversary, we’re looking back at the last half-century of music. Each week in 2022, KEXP pays homage to a different year and our writers are commemorating with one release from that year that resonates with them. This week, Kevin Cole reflects on New Order's 1983 clas...

05/05/2022

ENTER TO WIN! This morning we announced KEXP50, our big anniversary bash coming up in August. And we want to fly you and a friend to Seattle to celebrate with us. You can enter to win airfare and lodging for two (or a staycation package if you’re local). This is going to be the biggest event we’ve had in a few years now and we can’t wait to celebrate with our community – and of course, with live music on our outdoor stage. Find out how to enter: https://bit.ly/3vL2ckU

05/04/2022

KEXP is looking for an IT Operations Engineer! If you're interested in providing quality technology solutions for KEXP through resilient and secure systems while prioritizing the user experience, consider applying today: https://bit.ly/3KDWg1D

05/04/2022

Midnight In A Perfect World: Apt E

Seattle's Cameron Kelly and Maxwell Washburn join forces as Apt E. Operating as a duo, record label, and party series, the duo have built a reputation on underground dance parties – an energy they brought to KEXP's Midnight in a Perfect World. Listen to their "hypnotic, oceanic, and vast" journey through adventurous, psychedelic dance music.

Apt E is the collaborative project of Seattle-based friends Cameron Kelley (aka tondiue) and Maxwell Washburn. Operating as a DJ duo, a record label, and a party series, Apt E was founded in 2017 through Cameron and Maxwell's deep shared love for music of any and all kinds, and a friendship in which...

05/04/2022

KEXP's Song of the Day: "The Mainline Song" by Spiritualized. On this collaborative track from Spiritualized's ninth studio album 'Everything Was Beautiful,' the long-running space rock pioneers offer up yet another hit. Listen / subscribe: https://bit.ly/3N8Knm3

05/03/2022

Sound & Vision: The Head and the Heart on Going to Band Therapy and New Album

12 years into their career, The Head and The Heart have released a new album, 'Every Shade of Blue.' This week on the Sound & Vision podcast, the band dig into the album and reflect on creating a sustainable band dynamic by attending therapy together. Listen / subscribe: https://bit.ly/3MHUYE2