Seattle radio station KEXP is celebrating Sub Pop's upcoming 30th anniversary by playing EVERY Sub Pop release on the air. The independent station plans on playing a few releases every day leading up to Sub Pop's anniversary which takes place in August.
Sub Pop famously championed Seattle bands and the "Seattle sound," and over the years as the grunge scene faded the label managed to stay relevant by adjusting their musical focus. Sub Pop continues to successfully release records from a host of diverse and artistically credible cutting edge bands, but the label has a less "definitive" sound. Meaning: in the late 80s/early 90s if a release was on Sub Pop you had a pretty good idea of what it might sound like; today when Sub Pop announces a new release you may not know what it'll sound like, other than it'll be something cool. Current bands on the roster include Moaning, Metz, Goat, Kyle Craft, Father John Misty, Beach House, Low, and Bully, alongside heritage acts such as Afghan Whigs, Mudhoney, Sleater-Kinney, and J Mascis.
Today KEXP kicked off their Sub Pop celebration and so far they've played music off the first 12 Sub Pop releases, including selections off of Soundgarden's Screaming Life/Fopp, Green River's Dry As A Bone EP, and an EP from the shortlived Blood Circus (Nirvana and Mudhoney both opened for them back in the day).
As this is a pretty large listening draw, KEXP have tied their Sub Pop celebration to their 2018 fundraising campaign. KEXP is a commercial-free public radio station and is entirely listener funded. The station is entirely independent with an excellent and varied playlist, plus they host many exclusive live sessions. A key factor in KEXP's success is their passionate and knowledgeable DJs who not only live, breathe, and respect the music, but they curate their own shows and champion true alternative artists both new and old. This is way radio SHOULD be done.
Read more about KEXP's Sub Pop celebration here and stream KEXP here.
Published March 12th, 2018