On her fifth full-length, Dallas-bred, New York-based artist St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark) "successfully combines bigger production with some of her most personal songs to date," notes KEXP Music Director Don Yates. "The album's diverse sound ranges from frenetic New Wave and slinky funk-pop to lush, string-laded ballads on songs combining an intricately textured, densely produced sound with anxiety-fueled lyrics revolving around issues of power, control, identity, and mortality."
Melbourne, Australia's Courtney Barnett hooked up with Philadelphia's Kurt Vile for "a warm, casual and utterly charming set of shaggy-dog folk-rock. The songs are a mix of originals and covers, with most of them about writing songs, musician camaraderie and the creative process." On his latest solo LP, Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant delivers "a well-crafted blend of folk-rock, blues and various North African and Middle Eastern influences, featuring a warm, often-dreamy sound combining a variety of acoustic and electric instrumentation with his weathered vocals and reflective lyrics."
Montreal band Stars shine on their eighth album with "a fine set of anthemic, '80s-steeped synth-pop combining bright synths, ringing guitars and occasional strings with wistful melodies and melancholy lyrics of love's travails." Toronto-based trio The Rural Alberta Advantage bring a "well-crafted set of anthemic folk-pop with energetic acoustic guitar, soaring keyboards, punchy rhythms and fist-pumping song hooks."
Vancouver, BC artist Dan Bejar -- better known as Destroyer -- returns with his 11th album, which KEXP Music Director Don Yates describes as "a powerful set of dark,'80s-steeped New Wave/post-punk with prominent percussive synths, gleaming guitars and occasional strings and horns accompanying his d…
Over the past few weeks, DJ Kevin Cole has been premiering tracks from the new 2-disc set The Replacements For Sale: Live At Maxwell’s 1986, which is now in stores. The collection features remastered versions of a show taped with a 24-track mobile studio, with new liner notes by Bob Mehr, author of…
