Record Store Day is monumental in Seattle in a way that isn't seen in the rest of the country: we crawl out of whatever grunge holes we live in and slither over to the nearest record stores and start feeding on vinyl, eating 45s, and rubbing the sleeves all over our bodies, happily rolling around in our own musical filth. Last year's Record Store Day saw KEXP hosting the legendary Sonics over at Easy Street Records, and it was a good old fashioned show in all regards: the hard, proto-punk garage rock The Sonics are known for, the crowd closing in at eye-level with the band just like the basement shows of yore, guest singers like Presidents of the United States of America's Chris Ballew and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder.
This Record Store Day, though, KEXP has a different surprise: we recorded last year's The Sonics' performance, and will be releasing the live show at our Grand Opening Celebration. We just put the videos of the performance online, but the whole 14-song set will also be available in hard copy as we celebrate our brand-spankin'-new studio down at Seattle Center with performances all day from acts like Deep Sea Diver, Hey Marseilles, Bob Mould, Samaris, and others - so make sure to come down this Saturday and rock with us in our new digs. And don't worry about missing the chance to do some crate digging - Easy Street will be running a pop-up over at the station, so you can still walk away with some of that precious vinyl we know you need.
Though they hail from Los Angeles, Dengue Fever are like Cambodian ambassadors to the Pacific Northwest. On their recent return to the KEXP airwaves, the six-piece seemed right at home, even in our new studio. The band's instrumentation is uniquely cinematic, a multicultural modernization of the ps…
Nobody does wistful like Nada Surf. The veteran NYC band have long made longing a thing, crafting some of the most loveably poignant pop melodies you're likely to hear. (Even their "Happy Kid" ain't so happy.) Thankfully, age hasn't settled them, and two decades after their debut, they return with …
"Cheers to evolution, cheers to knowing where you are going, cheers to the future.” Those were Trevor Power's parting words as Boise and the U.S. said goodbye to Youth Lagoon on the final night of Treefort Music Fest. It was a moment Boise was surely dreading, but after a fun day with acts such as …
