Posts by Tony Kay
Smokey Brights and True Loves Put Seattle on Ice for the Holiday
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…
Read MoreBe Thankful for New Releases: hERON, Leava, Sloucher
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…
Read MoreArtist Home Premiere: “She Lives on the Astral Plane” by Patrick Galactic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F1zfMwFAtM&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2YDFIsusBBCz0yUSATNrdW7DnXFgNmrb-0Yx3MpSR9X2GnFpxEU0msmLU It is Artist Home’s distinct pleasure to premiere the video for the haunting new Patrick Galactic single,”She Lives on the Astral Plane.” I’ve been a fan of space-folk troubadour Patrick Galactic since hearing his great 2016 EP, Running from the Sun. Galactic’s songs split the difference between Americana, glacial electronic music, and melodic psychedelia–Gram…
Read MoreProm Queen’s Alter-Ego Leeni: Synth Shakespeare, Sort Of
Celene Ramadan is never one to stay idle for long. Better known as the one-woman David Lynch soundtrack that is Prom Queen, she’s done a little of everything; even metamorphosing into a hippity-hoppity giant rabbit Gong Show contestant named Snax, no less. Now, Ramadan’s dusted off another persona: Leeni, synth-pop thrush. Leeni gives Ramadan another avenue for…
Read MoreArtist Home Premiere: SEA OF DYSFUNCTION, by Richie Dagger’s Crime
Artist Home is proud to give you your first glimpse into the world of Richie Dagger’s Crime, and a listen to tracks from the band’s great new full-length, Sea of Dysfunction. How great is it? Listen, and read on. Sea of Dysfunction by Richie Dagger’s Crime Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Richie Nelson has been dwelling amidst the Seattle…
Read MoreArtist Home Premiere: “It’s Not Sex,” by exdreams
Tacoma band Goldfinch amassed a sizable regional following with a thoughtful and affecting take on roots music. Thankfully, despite the band being no more, former Goldfinch members Grace Hope and Aaron Stevens have leapt back into music-making in a big way with their new project, exdreams. And Artist Home is proud to premiere the band’s first…
Read MoreTomten Gets Playful on ‘Viva Draconia’
Viva Draconia, the latest album from Tomten, begins with the homey whirr of (I think) an accordion, wheezing out a melody amidst the effortful, semi-audible strikes of human fingers on keys and buttons as chords change. That sound’s not just an evocative 20-some seconds of bittersweetness. It’s a reminder of the handmade quality that lay…
Read MoreLate Summer Jams from Charlie and the Rays, hERON, and Slang
Summer’s almost gone. And while that obscene yellow ball of gaseous flame in the sky doesn’t feel like slinking away just yet (here in Seattle, at least), it doesn’t have a habit of sticking around much past the first week of September. That lends some urgency to these recommendations, as all of them have made…
Read MoreArtist Home Premiere: “We Will Not Despair” by Breaks and Swells
Summer really is high time for Breaks and Swells. The Seattle band’s been bringing the breezy grooves since 2013, crafting jazz-tinged, airy soul just made for these dog days. On the face of it, “We Will Not Despair,” the fab title track from the band’s newest full-length, fits neatly into the playful sonic vibe that’s…
Read MoreLife-Changing Live Shows, Part 1: Tom Jones, Soul Singer
Conventional wisdom states that you shouldn’t write a review about a concert more than a week after you’ve seen it. I respectfully submit a formal proposal to screw that noise. A few weekends ago, I saw two childhood heroes of mine—musicians whose work is practically part of my DNA—play live. Something that significant is worth…
Read MoreThe Sacred and the Sensual Mingle on Vox Mod’s “Sense of Us”
The striking Frank Correa cover art for Sense of Us, the new release from Seattle electronica artist Vox Mod, depicts dual images of the musician (born Scot Porter) nude in a yin yang/fetal position, in the center of a tableau that’s somewhere between a coral reef and a psychedelic cellular organism. It’s an apt visual…
Read MoreTwo PNW Artists Tell it Like it Is on Video
News flash (not): This country’s pretty fucked right now. And maddeningly enough, that deeply profound state of fuckery is rooted in the elemental fact that even ideals that we hold to be self-evident can be yanked out from under us if we’re not vigilant. The most ostensibly obvious tenets of our country, the things that…
Read More