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Grimes - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, February 20, 2012.
The appeal here is watching the songs get built. Grimes stacks loops of her own voice over drum machines and keyboards, so "Genesis" and "Be a Body" come together layer by layer instead of simply playing back. It is a short three-song set, and it shows an artist on the brink of a much bigger career, still working everything out with her own hands on the gear.
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Bomba Estéreo - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, April 3, 2013.
Colombia's Bomba Estéreo mix cumbia rhythms with electronic beats, and the studio turns that mix into a dance party with no dance floor. Li Saumet's vocals carry "Bailar Conmigo" and "Pájaros" with real swagger, and the band keeps the grooves loose enough that the set never sounds like a backing track. A strong first stop for anyone who thinks KEXP is all guitar bands.
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The War on Drugs - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, March 28, 2014.
Ten days after Lost in the Dream came out, the band brought four of its songs into the studio, including "Red Eyes" and "An Ocean in Between the Waves." That album went on to top a lot of year-end lists, and this session catches the songs while they were still new to the people playing them. The long, rolling guitar parts stretch out nicely in a room, and the 35 minutes pass quickly.
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Mac DeMarco - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, April 23, 2015.
Mac DeMarco at the height of his goofy, laid-back Salad Days era, with a band that plays the woozy guitar lines perfectly and clowns around in between. "Salad Days," "Let Her Go" and "Chamber of Reflection" sound as relaxed as they do on record, but the banter is what makes the video, since it shows exactly why fans loved his shows. A breezy 21 minutes.
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Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded at KEXP, May 23, 2016.
Charles Bradley sings like every line costs him something, and the closing song is the reason to watch. "Changes" is his cover of the Black Sabbath ballad and the title track of his 2016 album, and he turns it into a raw soul confession. He died of cancer the following year, which makes this one of the last full looks at a singer who came to fame late and gave every performance everything.
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Lee Scratch Perry & Subatomic Sound System - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, September 18, 2016.
Lee "Scratch" Perry was 80 when he made this session, and he is exactly as unpredictable as his reputation promises. Subatomic Sound System lay down heavy dub while the man who helped invent the style ad-libs his way through "Dread Lion" and "Black Ark Vampires." At 38 minutes it is one of the longer sets here. Perry died in 2021, so treat it as a rare, close-up chance to watch a reggae legend at work.
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Thee Oh Sees - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded at KEXP, November 25, 2016.
John Dwyer's band is famous for its shows, and this is the closest thing to one you can watch from a couch. Six songs, from "I Come From the Mountain" to a pile-driving "Gelatinous Cube" and "Encrypted Bounce," arrive with barely a breath between them. KEXP listeners voted it seventh in a station countdown of their favorite sessions, and it holds up as the go-to clip when someone asks why people rave about this band live.
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Tinariwen - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, April 4, 2017.
The Tuareg guitar band from Mali plays four songs, among them "Assàwt (The Voice of Tamashek Women)," and the hypnotic, interlocking guitars sound as good here as on any of their records. It has become one of the most-watched sessions on KEXP's channel, and it is the easiest way into desert blues for anyone who has only heard the name. Darek Mazzone hosts.
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Run The Jewels - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, July 21, 2017.
A standout among the archive's rap sessions. Killer Mike and El-P trade verses on "Legend Has It," "Early" and "Down" with the easy chemistry that made them one of the great duos of the decade, and the studio's close cameras catch how much they are enjoying each other. Seeing two veterans this loose and funny in a small room is the reason to watch. Kevin Cole hosts.
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ODESZA - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, September 8, 2017.
The Washington electronic duo recorded this on the day their album A Moment Apart came out, which gives it the feel of a home-state release party. Guest singers Naomi Wild and Wynne join for "Higher Ground" and "Line of Sight," and the set is a good answer to anyone who thinks electronic music can't come alive in a small radio studio.
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Japanese Breakfast - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, February 15, 2018.
Michelle Zauner's band gives "Diving Woman" room to drift and build, then tightens up for the punchy "Boyish" and "Road Head." The arrangements are fuller and looser than the studio recordings, and the set captures Japanese Breakfast a few years before Zauner's memoir and the album Jubilee made her a much bigger name. A lovely, low-key 26 minutes.
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Car Seat Headrest - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, April 24, 2018.
This is the session to show someone who thinks a live set should sound like the record. Will Toledo's band opens with Devo's "Uncontrollable Urge," then folds Neil Young's "Powderfinger" into the middle of "Sober to Death." It came two months after the band's re-recorded Twin Fantasy, and listeners ranked it tenth in KEXP's countdown of favorite sessions.
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Khruangbin - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, April 26, 2018.
Khruangbin's music is mostly instrumental and built on restraint, and that makes the studio a perfect fit: you can hear every bass line and every bit of space around the guitar. "Maria También" and "Evan Finds the Third Room" lock into grooves that feel effortless. It is one of the channel's most-watched full sessions and an ideal one to put on for friends who say they don't like rock.
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Mdou Moctar - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, May 25, 2018.
The Tuareg guitarist from Niger plays left-handed, fast and loud, and this 44-minute session gives his solos all the room they need. "Tarhatazed" became the breakout clip, but the full set is better, since the band keeps building intensity song after song. Watch it to catch Mdou Moctar before his later albums brought him to far bigger stages. DJ Rhythma hosts.
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Kikagaku Moyo - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, August 1, 2018.
Three long tracks, "Dripping Sun," "Tree Smoke" and "Fluffy Kosmisch," let the Tokyo psych band drift, jam and erupt the way it did on stage. Kikagaku Moyo went on indefinite hiatus after 2022, so this session is now one of the best ways to see what fans miss. Put it on when you have half an hour and want to get lost in sitar, fuzz and long grooves.
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IDLES - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, October 4, 2018.
A Bristol punk band in full flight, about a month after Joy as an Act of Resistance made their name. "Colossus" builds from a slow, menacing crawl into a release that shakes the room, and "Danny Nedelko" lands as a joyful anthem for immigrants. KEXP listeners voted this the second-best session ever in their countdown, and the energy still comes through the screen.
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Courtney Barnett - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, October 8, 2018.
Courtney Barnett has played KEXP more than once, and this is the session to start with. Five months after Tell Me How You Really Feel came out, she plays four of its songs, from the gentle "Sunday Roast" to a snarling "I'm Not Your Mother, I'm Not Your Bitch," and her deadpan lyrics land even harder with nothing between you and the amp. Listeners ranked it 24th in KEXP's countdown of favorite sessions. A tight 26 minutes.
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Mitski - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, October 31, 2018.
At 18 minutes this is the shortest session on the list, and it doesn't waste a second. Mitski plays four songs from Be the Cowboy, recorded about ten weeks after the album came out, including "Geyser," "Nobody" and the closer "Two Slow Dancers." The songs on that record are short and sharp, and live they hit even harder. Her control of a quiet room is the whole show.
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boygenius - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded for KEXP at Avast! Recording Co. in Seattle, November 24, 2018.
Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, years before boygenius became a headline act, trading lead vocals on "Souvenir," "Me & My Dog" and "Ketchum, ID," with harmonies that give you chills. They also cover "Cowboy Take Me Away," and the three voices together are the whole reason to watch. Listeners ranked it 12th in KEXP's countdown of favorite sessions.
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Fontaines D.C. - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, May 28, 2019.
Before the big festival stages, Fontaines D.C. were a scrappy Dublin band with a poet for a frontman, and this session catches that version of them. Grian Chatten paces through "Sha Sha Sha" and "Too Real" with the restless energy of their debut era, and "Dublin City Sky" shows the softer side of the songwriting. Five songs, 35 minutes, and a clear look at where their rise began.
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King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, August 18, 2019.
King Gizzard have played KEXP many times, and this is the one listeners voted number one in the station's countdown of favorite sessions. It was filmed two days after the release of Infest the Rats' Nest, the band's thrash-metal album, and they tear through "Mars for the Rich," "Perihelion" and "Hell" at punishing speed. Stu Mackenzie mixed the audio himself, and it sounds huge.
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Black Pumas - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, October 18, 2019.
A month later, the Austin soul duo was nominated for the Grammy for Best New Artist, and this session shows why. Eric Burton's voice fills the room on "Colors" and "Fire," while Adrian Quesada's guitar and the band play with a warm, vintage grit that never tips into pastiche. If you only know "Colors" from the radio, the full set is a great way to hear how much more the band can do.
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Big Thief - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, October 26, 2019.
Big Thief can go from a whisper to a howl in one song, and "Not" is the proof. Adrianne Lenker's guitar and voice get rawer with every verse until the whole band is pushing at the edges of the room. Around it, "Shoulders," "Masterpiece" and "The Toy" show the gentler side, which makes this a balanced 28-minute introduction to one of the most loved indie bands of its era.
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Altın Gün - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Recorded in the KEXP studio, April 13, 2022.
Altın Gün take Turkish folk songs and play them as psychedelic groove music, with Erdinç Ecevit's saz and synths sitting next to a funky rhythm section. The Amsterdam band's studio set moves from the sway of "Ordunun Dereleri" to the dance-floor push of "Cips Kola Kilit." It is pure fun, and a gateway to a whole tradition of Anatolian rock that many listeners never hear.
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