Featured Album

WXPN Radio

The premier guide for new and significant artists in rock, blues, and folk - including NPR-syndicated World Cafe ®

Listen Xpo

24/7 Musical discovery. A unique mix of emerging and heritage blues, rock, world, folk, and alt-country artists.

Singer Songwriter Radio

Featuring classics from heritage troubadours to new musicians and bands in the singer-songwriter tradition.

Folk Radio

Folk music radio streaming on the web; Americana, Roots Music, recordings, and stories from folk's best.
Listen Live

Minus The Bear - Omni - Dangerbird

For many, Omni, the new album from the Seattle-based band Minus the Bear is an introduction. However, as fans of the experimental rock band already know this is a band and a sound, that for years has escaped mainstream success, yet record after record saw their fan base only grow larger. On stage the music of Minus the Bear is undeniable from small club stages to major festivals. Until Omni however, harnessing their fearlessness for sonic boundary, seductive lyricism and muscular energy never seemed so easy.

Omni works on a variety of levels. The bands technical prowess and progressive nature has really never been in question and they deliver on sonic adventures again like "Secret Country." Songs like the standout single "My Time," which marries the bands experimental side with an undeniable pop hook, and "Hold Me Down" showcase the bands raw power and pure rock band ability. And perhaps the most appealing portion of Omni comes when the band offers their best attempt to create dance-grooves on the segued pair of songs "Into the Mirror" and "Animal Backwards."

It's easy to say that Minus the Bear, XPN's Artist To Watch for August, sound more accessible on Omni, and while that may be true the bands agility to shift shapes and sounds is anything but undemanding. Beneath the sonic layers of Omni, frontman and guitarist Jake Snider crafts a set of songs that explore sexuality and seduction that may be his best batch to date. What is easy to say about Omni is that it is a definitive point for this band and steady step forward.

Help Support WXPN

Blondie returning with a new album and a show at the Keswick in October

Blondie are releasing a new album, and have announced its No Principals Tour playing the Keswick Theatre on Thursday, October 3rd with...Read More

Make Music Philly Spotlight: Joy Ike

Here’s another great artist you don’t want to miss at Make Music Philly this Friday: Joy Ike.  This Pittsburgh...Read More

The Week So Far: 12 must-read stories on The Key (incl. Big Footprints Project, Make Music Philly, Light...

  The Dead Milkmen continue their sudden streak of new recordings with Welcome to Undertown  Light Heat recorded a...Read More

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros Release new single “This Life” (playing XPoNential Fest in July and Longwood Gardens in...

Last week, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic  Zeros released the music video for “Better Days,” the first single from...Read More

Photos: Black Flag goes hard at Union Transfer

All photos by Abi Reimold | abireimoldphoto.com On the occasion of its first new music in 28 years, the reformed Black Flag played...Read More