Arts
Read More ›
Three New Albums to Listen to This Fall
Fresh incarnations and new albums for three beloved Seattle musicians
This article originally appeared in the October 2014 issue of Seattle magazine.
If you’ve been following the career of David Bazan (center of main photo above) you know he moved from lead singer and songwriter for indie-darling band Pedro the Lion to existential crisis to creating acclaimed solo work. For his newest album, David Bazan + Passenger String Quartet, he bonded with Seattle’s most sought-after experimental neoclassical backing band, led by Andrew Joslyn. Bazan’s beautiful voice recalls Elvis Costello, and is a perfect, scratchy complement to the beautiful strings aching underneath.
Jenn Ghetto
PHOTO CREDIT: CHRISTOPHER WILSON
Jenn Ghetto, former lead singer of dearly departed indie rock band Carissa’s Wierd [sic], is back in the form of the moniker S (under which she’s released several prior solo records). The dreamy new album, Cool Choices—produced by Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla—is a breakup record of the best kind. Gorgeous melodies swim above propulsive guitar and drums, carrying emotionally raw (and sometimes bitingly funny) lyrics that feel both incredibly personal and universal.
Levi Fuller (center)
PHOTO CREDIT: MEGHAN FULLER
Local musician-of-all-trades Levi Fuller (of The Bushwick Book Club music collective, quarterly audio magazine Ball of Wax, Hollow Earth Radio disc jockey, singer-songwriter, etc.) is working with a new backing band, The Library, and has a new record, The Wonders That There Are. The songs are as diverse as Fuller’s many interests—strummy folk ballads buddy up against soaring guitar rock and songs tinged with jangly ’60s psychedelics. It’s a marvelous ride.
Follow Us
Rearview Mirror: Spinasse at Home, a New Spa Experience, and Seattle Mag’s Reader’s Choice Awards
Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).
YOUR VOTE MATTERS Everyone has a favorite restaurant, coffee shop, or local boutique. Call me old-school, but I will die on the hill that Caffe Vita has the best coffee in town. Disagree with me? Now’s your moment to speak up. Each year, we survey Seattle magazine readers, asking them to weigh in on everything…
Studio Sessions: Ling Chun
The Seattle-based artist brings playful color to ceramics and neon while exploring memory, transformation, and life between cultures.
For Ling Chun, creating begins with something sensed before it can be named. Working with clay, glass, light, and sometimes synthetic hair, the Hong Kong-born artist gives physical form to things that words cannot always hold. “For me, the magnitude of making goes far beyond the object that is eventually produced,” Chun says. “The object…
The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever
PAX West draws more than 100,000 people to Seattle each year. Co-founder Jerry Holkins reflects on what the gaming convention set out to change, how its community has grown and why gathering face to face still matters.
Access to game news as it was happening was difficult back in the day. Even with the advent of the internet, communication between game publishers and journalists was still a very elite affair. I used to fake credentials—via fax machine!—to attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo, mostly just known as E3. It was simultaneously as loud…
Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026
Navigate Seattle’s wildest end-of-summer weekend with 20 picks spanning Death Cab for Cutie, Blood Orange, wrestling, skateboarding and—obviously—movies made in 48 hours.
Four years after Bumbershoot returned with its quirkiness revivified, Seattleites broadly acknowledge the two-day multimedia extravaganza as a welcome finale to the summer festival season. Fests like Bumbershoot are designed around a choose-your-own-adventure model, but if you’re the kind of person who looked at this year’s sprawling lineup—featuring multiple bands, artists, and exhibits happening at…