Block Party at the Station aims to stay true to the community-oriented, neighborly idea of an actual block party. All of the artists are local hip-hop musicians from throughout the region, the festival has no corporate sponsorships, and it’s free.
Sam Chapman
Sam Chapman is a human who lives and writes in Seattle, Washington. After growing up in Spokane and graduating from Pacific Lutheran University, desirous of more widespread awareness of composting and mold, he moved to the big city, and has never looked back. Except sometimes when he has. He enjoys music, eating at Beth’s Cafe and scrapbooking pictures of Patti Smith. He dislikes people who are rude to waiters, sunburns, and how your hands smell after chopping garlic. On top of covering music for Jetspace Magazine, he also posts his thoughts about music and life (but mostly music) on his personal blog.
Patti Smith and the Power of Diva
Many of us–perhaps all of us–have a diva. She (or he) is many things to many people, but she is there, a trellis onto which we graft our hopes, desires, ambitions, failings–in short, our lives.
Totally Unofficial Seattle Summer Music Calendar
Here is a totally incomplete, completely subjective list of must-see Seattle summer music events. They’re relatively cheap and feature great local artists who are just as worthy of your time and money as a big summer music festival–maybe more.
A Soundtrack for Critical Thinking
As consumers we have economic, and therefore cultural and political, power. Refusing to critically examine the content that you consume, simply because it’s uncomfortable, is, at the very least, irresponsible.
Anohni Speaks The Truth
One of the most visionary poets, artists, dramatists, and avant-rockers of post 9/11 America, Anohni has never shied away from publicly engaging in radical politics.
Making Lemonade With the Future of the Album
If a cultural juggernaut like Beyoncé can create something as formally radical as Lemonade without anyone even noticing, surely that says some things about the fate of the album as we know it.
Whitney Mongé Is One Hard Working Woman
From recording to performing almost constantly to managing herself as a business, you can’t question Whitney Mongé’s commitment to her career and her craft.
The Divine Revelation of Raven Matthews
Raven Matthews. Photo by Ivan Mršić. There’s a lot of bullshit music floating around on the internet. The fact that any kid with a synthesizer and Soundcloud can produce and disseminate their work in an instant is incredible, but for every M. I. A. or Grimes that...
How Could You Possibly Be Disinterested In Tacocat?
Whenever we talk about aesthetic judgment, we’re gonna have to talk about Immanuel Kant. Even here, in an article about a Seattle punk band, there’s no ignoring the big, 18th century, German elephant in the room. In his Third Critique, Critique of Judgment, Kant...
The Question of SOPHIE
Late on Sunday night, stumped on how to begin this concert review, I did what any truly great music critic would do in a time of need–I got on the internet. I found myself on YouTube, watching (for what I believe is the 3000th time) Madonna’s 1990 MTV performance of...
Kacey Musgraves Made Me Love Country
It’s often hard to like country. In the pantheon of American music it’s right up there with metal in the most-likely-to-get-sneered-at category. Truthfully, it’s not hard to understand why. There is a lot of terrible country music. A large chunk of mainstream country...
Local Music In A Global Age
In case you missed the memo, we live in an increasingly globalized world. No realm is safe–least of all music. In a lot of ways, this is a really good thing. The ease with which artists and culture creators can now create and share content, even across thousands of...