Long before the term was lazily slapped on every mainstream rock band that dressed like loggers in the halcyon days of the 1990s, grunge meant something very different. The grunge bands of the late ‘80s—Green River, Mudhoney, Sub-Pop era Soundgarden and Nirvana, and lesser-knowns like Gruntruck and the U-Men—cranked out a bastard weld of metal,…
I am genetically predisposed to appreciate any band that names itself after a trashy ‘80s horror movie. Combine that with a snotty, irresistible three-minute blast of a song, and a video for that song comprised entirely of clips from Plan 9 from Outer Space, and you can color me smitten. You can also color Artist…
<a href=”http://itsguayaba.bandcamp.com/album/guayaba-presents-fantasmagor-a”>Guayaba Presents: Fantasmagoría by Guayaba</a> It’s late on Juneteenth, and Bandcamp is offering a new angle to their now-regular giving back to the community ’til midnight tonight. Today, the website’s donating its share of proceeds to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Even better, a ton of artists and labels are getting in on the…
Today, June 5, Bandcamp is waiving their revenue share in order to help artists and labels impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that every purchase you make on the site today goes 100% towards the musicians and labels selling their wares. It’s a tremendous opportunity to support a creative community struggling with the financial…
I first heard it, what seemed like a million years ago; a spotty suburban teenage kid with feathered hair, listening to a new wave station called KYYX as it beamed in songs that were from half a world away. I hadn’t heard a new-wave song in waltz time before, and it enchanted me. Hugh Cornwell…
The COVID-19 pandemic has already dealt some traumatic blows to the world in general, and to the Pacific Northwest in particular. Aside from the horrific human toll that the virus has wrought, it’s also leaving economic devastation in its wake. Most every strata of the Pacific Northwest has been adversely affected, and thousands of employees…
The words, “We’re in this together,” have never, in any of our lives, held more meaning than they do now. Please, everyone, wash your hands, take care of yourself and your loved ones, and stay safe. To further the spirit of sharing the catharsis and joy that music can give us all, Jake Uitti and…
A few strong local releases have been occupying my ears of late. Read–and of course, listen–on. Jupe Jupe, Nightfall EP (Jupe Jupe Music) If the members of Jupe Jupe didn’t find adventure and escapism from British synth pop and jangling guitar tunes in the halcyon 1980’s, they damn sure sound like they did, in a…
Singer/songwriter/musician Melodie Knight has a million things on her mind as we chat during dinner at La Dive, the new wine bar on Capitol Hill where she works. “As a producer in this situation, I’m that creative nervous performer who’s like, we’re sounding good, we’re all professionals, but are we really gonna pull this together?”…
Guy Keltner and Ian Cunningham are busy guys. As co-founders (with Skyler Locatelli) of Freakout Records, they boast one of the best stables of artists at a local indie label. By extent, that means they’ve also had a strong hand in unleashing the label’s successful Freakout Festival, an annual hullabaloo that showcases a consistently terrific…
If I’da heard Zzyxz, the latest full-length from local psych-rock vets Low Hums, closer to its November 2019 release, it might well have found its way into my PNW 2019 Top Ten. It’s that good. Any fan of forward-thinking psychedelic rock will find myriad itches scratched by Zzyxz, big-time. Garage-pop infectiousness (the gloriously heavy and…
As is reassuringly consistent and expected, a tassel of great music’s been generated by PNW bands over the last (almost-) 12 months, and we here at Artist Home have been privy to an awful lot of it. Below please find my Ten Favorite Northwest Albums of 2019. As always, I’ve opted to acknowledge full-length releases…
