The Seattle International Film Festival kicked off its 2019 incarnation last night, and for the next three weeks the festival will present literally hundreds of films, from myriad nations, of all genres and stripes. To help guide you through the wealth of great music-themed films unspooling between now and June 10, enclosed herein is a…
If there were any justice in the world (and specifically in this part of it), there’d be some sort of monument celebrating The (Legendary) Young Fresh Fellows. Back when Nirvana was still just a gleam in the eye of some kid in Aberdeen named Cobain, The Fellows had already staked out a devoted cult following…
A devoted regional following has been building around The Black Tones since their beginnings almost a decade ago. But a succession of knockout live shows in recent years (including a slot on the Paramount Theatre’s 90th Anniversary concert alongside Death Cab for Cutie), an assemblage of killer tunes, and near-deafening buzz has put the Seattle…
From where I’m sitting, Big Bldg Records is doing the Lord’s work. The Seattle nonprofit indie label, created by co-founders Rob Granfelt, Pete Jordan, and Ben Schauland, was built to give support to great fledgling musical acts. That boost comes in the form of what’s perhaps the most costly aspect of making music: Big Bldg,…
Let’s just get right to it. The below releases merit your attention. Stop, look, and most crucially, listen. Terabyte, ¥€$ (Qentaro Records): Terra Marotz—AKA producer/writer/singer Terabyte—boasts some deep PNW connections. She called Seattle home for several years, running with this town’s goth and EDM scene. She also enlisted Portland boardman Adam Straney to master her…
Planet, the debut LP from Seattle band Love and Fury, marks a fertile collaboration between two of Seattle’s legit rock veterans. It’s smart but primal, wise but rawly emotional—powerful testimony that a band of functioning grownups can craft riveting, beautiful noise with the best of them. Love and Fury is the fruit of a collaboration…
It’s a universal given. If you’re a thinking, feeling human being, you’ve either been in love, or are in love now. Maybe you’re one of those lucky, happy few who managed to find that heady, joyous sensation reciprocated. Or maybe you bravely allowed your heart to reside unguarded on your sleeve, only to have it…
Rachel Angerman, lead singer of Seattle band Hel Mary, possesses one of this town’s most distinctive voices. It resides somewhere between a siren’s song and a low gothic purr, and she can deploy it in the service of narcotic allure, or dark malevolence, with equal effectiveness. Faint echoes of other voices thread through her dusky…
For five years now, Seattle singer/songwriter Nick Foster has been recording hand-crafted, finely-wrought folk songs with an air of disarming ease, and intelligent lyrics that hit home with bracing immediacy. The Glowing Heart, Foster’s 2013 debut, was an ingratiating serving of rough-hewn Americana. He then stripped things down to (mostly) spare acoustic songs with…
Three days ago, I received sonic deliverance from the autumn’s cold snap, and from the mundane necessity of my day job. It came through my earbuds while I was en route to work, in the form of a 3.5-minute adrenaline burst delivered—remarkably—by the latest iteration of a rock band formed before I was born. The…
During the holidays, Seattle’s rife with great live shows. And those shows often include bills brimming with sharp local talent. But to stand out from the holiday-themed live music pack, sometimes it’s vital to give an audience something more than just great music. Enter Seattle on Ice, which hits the Neptune Theatre next Thursday December…
No, I don’t have some clever post-Thanksgiving angle for this new-release rundown, aside from the fact that I’m damn thankful for these new releases by PNW bands, all of which merit much praise, induce much joy, and should probably be on your Black Friday shopping list. hERON, Desolate Paradise (Concuss Music): I lent an enthusiastic shout-out…
