Archives
Bob Gillis’ maturity is showing in his mini-retrospective, “Work After 70 Years,” at Art House Designs in Olympia. I’ve followed his progress over an almost 20-year period, and his latest works are the strongest yet. Gillis has always done wonderful things with intricately textured surfaces. His earlier works were all about
Music
The folk revival of the indie scene seems to find its basis in an interesting ideal: the continuing search for beauty in little moments. Though it's difficult to avoid the perception of artifice - perhaps rightly so - in hipsters reprising a genre that more or less defines itself as
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The folk revival of the indie scene seems to find its basis in an interesting ideal: the continuing search for beauty in little moments. Though it's difficult to avoid the perception of artifice - perhaps rightly so - in hipsters reprising a genre that more or less defines itself as
Outdoors
Long before Tacoma was a trendy art hub known for its downtown museums and culture, it was a port town bustling with incoming ships and trains the western terminus for the Northern Pacific Railroad. Maritime Fest, which will be held this weekend, July 18 and 19, started as a way to
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Here, my dear reader, is what I have been able to determine about the Buddha Magoo via harried research of what little exists in reference to the band: (1) they have a silly name, (2) they are a supergroup of Olympia experimental folk veterans with a purported 175 years of
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Sordid Sentinels play rock music, plain and simple. They are upfront about it. They're not reinventing the wheel, nor do they intend to. What they mean to accomplish is to perform good, soul-nourishing rock music, and they accomplish it quite nicely. They pride themselves on delivering
Music
The way in which music enthusiasts relate to music has changed remarkably in the Internet age. As I've spoken about before (and will keep speaking about until I can wrap my head around it), the idea of an indisputable subgenre has become irresistible to music bloggers and fans alike -
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You need the Atomic Outlaws - a band seemingly designed specifically to accompany the moment when rock ‘n' roll and your c*** become acquainted. Nothing fancy is at play here, just straightforward, riff-heavy RAWK with a little eyeliner around the edges. The Atomic Outlaws have been rock workhorses since the band's
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Corpus Callosum are a seven-piece traveling sideshow. Their music is made using arcane and unusual instruments like wine glasses and Stylophones, and it sways and hums in a style similar to fellow anachronistic acts like Beirut and DeVotchKa. The show is rounded out by their emphasis on performance. Puppets, stilt
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Experienced inhabitants of the Tacoma music scene may recognize Molly Hamilton as a SOTA alumna, and former member of the loose music collective known as Dear Records, where she recorded as Haircuts. Himilton - along with people like Paul Daly (of Greenfield and Fashion) and Colin Reynolds (of Tree Roots
Arts
It's a treacherous thing, this New Year's Eve. As was last New Year's Eve and countless Eves of the past and an indefinite more to come. This pattern will continue until we, as a species, come to recognize a year as nothing more than a blurry, furiously spinning pin-wheel -
Music
Hey, did you ever rock out with your c*** out? Really? Not even once, in college, after attempting a poorly thought-out keg stand and downing that pink concoction your friend Dave insisted was a real cocktail called a "Peruvian Nipple Slipper" but you knew that it wasn't but you drank
Archives
Vicci Martinez checked her bags and made her way through Sea-Tac Airport security on Sunday. She found her gate and checked in. As she took a seat in the waiting area, she fished her cell phone out of her bag, and then dialed my number. Busy girl that she is,
Music
No matter how much you want to attribute egotism to the idea, it's a hell of a thing to perform in front of a crowd. Depending on how much of you you let show, something very special can happen. Thinking back on my year of attending live shows, one immediately
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As I'm sure I've noted in the past, if there is any possibility of you attending a Mighty High show, you kind of don't need me to tell you that one is coming up. Chances are you'll be there with blown-glass bells on. But, in case you've been trapped
Archives
Chopstix might push — OK, hurl — you over the edge. It all starts innocently. You sit down to dinner. A friendly blonde brings drinks. More drinks. Co-owner PJ Pedroni speaks of heartwarming harmonies about to envelop you, people of many generations all singing along to the same Billy Joel song. Then
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The Shivas (Portland, Ore.) and My Friend Wallis (Vancouver, B.C.) are two bands that are evocative of a time in music that is gone forever, but is still persistently resurrected and updated for new audiences. At The New Frontier, My Friend Wallis and the Shivas will share a
Music
At about 12 years old, I may have been the last person on my block to still believe in Santa Claus. I recall the tearful night when I approached my parents and said (paraphrasing), "Hey, some kids at school have been talking some bullshit about how Santa doesn't exist. What
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Oh, folks. Are you ready for something absolutely ridiculous? You may look no further than KEG. I can't do his act justice by merely describing it - he is a one-man hair metal band. Sure, it sounds kind of funny, but to watch it is a thing of eye-rubbing, snort-inducing
