Andy Bookwalter – The guy who designed the Ballard Blocks “retail and commerce center” in one of Seattle’s oldest neighborhoods wanted to draw a big rectangle with a Trader Joes crammed inside it but Edith Macefield didn’t want to move, and NO ONE wins a game of real estate chicken with an 80 year old woman.
Abe Beeson – One of the best live rock shows I ever saw was in a small, “black box” theater in the wings of the Washington Center for the Performing Arts in Olympia, 25 years ago.
Ian Cunningham – Leonard Cohen recently celebrated his birthday by releasing a new album, Popular Problems, the day after turning eighty. That’s right, EIGHT-ZERO. Thirteen years past the normal retirement age in the United States. And you know what? The album is good.
Cee Cee Hill – Perfume Genius’s Too Bright is a bold record that is worth a listen. The cover of the album, which comes out September 23 on Matador Records, features a picture of Mike Hadreas (aka Perfume Genius) that’s reminiscent of a Dior perfume commercial.
Ben Allen – Stop what you’re doing, put down the bong and bottle of cheap tequila: the debut full-length from the phenomenal Survival Knife requires active listening and engagement.
