I know we’re well over a week into the new year but I wanted to recap some of my favorite music albums that were released in 2017. There was so much new music that was so good to listen to. There were also so many new artists I discovered because of the Eclipse festival that I still haven’t time to explore them all.…
2016 has seen some amazing albums released. Here is a list of albums that helped get me through this year and what I’m looking forward to next year.…
This was my second year at What the Festival with the same wonderful Struggle Crew. Yes that’s what we’re called because the struggle is real. We don’t have elaborate totems or camps set up. We’re just there to dance, drink and have a good time.…
As I leaned forward peering over the edge of a third tier box down at the stage in Benaroya Hall, I reflected on what was about to happen and why I was here to see Morrissey. 10 years ago I had tickets to see him in Spokane, where I lived at the time, when the show was changed to 21+, I was 17. My ticket was refunded. Then after a few days of outcry, the show was changed back to all ages. Except my then boyfriend seemed upset that I was going to go and I didn’t buy a ticket again. This is one of the few decisions that has bugged me well into my post-college years. I was head over heels into the 80s at the time, deep into Depeche Mode, The Smiths, Joy Division, New Order, and I didn’t go see one of my idols because of a boy. I don’t sit and brood on this often but when I do see that someone is coming into town that I really absolutely must see, that decision and the disappointment that followed pops up in the back of my head. So when I saw Morrissey tickets, fuck yes I said, and…
It feels like such a long time since I’ve done a festival recap. Paradiso seems so long ago (2 years ago). At the last minute I bought tickets to What the Festival?! in Oregon. Two of my favorite people in the world told me to come and as an early, joint-birthday bash with one of those favorite people, I went. Me & said favorite people 🙂 And I don’t think I’ve ever been happier about a decision. What the Festival is small, 4,000-ish people, and a combination of art installations and music, in the shadow of the cascades. Literally. Oh hey there Mt. Hood. Four days of music (if you arrive early like we did), and a generally rad time with a group of really chill, positive festival goers. I haven’t had this type of experience since Re:generation in 2011. This is the type of festival experience I’m after now. Paradiso is too big, too overwhelming, and despite a stunning venue, there is no shade, a lack of respect to festival goers and vice versa, a lack of respect to the venue by the festival goers. There is none of this at WTFest and it makes for a much more enjoyable…
Bassnectar’s latest EP goes back to the sounds of ‘Diverse Systems of Throb’. I love it. This is the Bassnectar I fell in love with. I’ve enjoyed his last 2 albums, Divergent Spectrum more than Vava Voom. Vava Voom seemed more full of thug bass. The Freestyle EP goes back to those ethereal vocals and the slow build up of beats that drops into trance-like bass beats. It’s dreamy. It’s what I love about Bassnectar. The ability of his beats to transport you into a dream. Breathless is on repeat. I can’t get enough. [soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/2618220″ height=”200″ iframe=”true” /]…
Now that I’m finally recovering from the amazing electronica music rally that is Seattle’s Decibel Festival, it’s time to share. What a whirlwind of amazing artists and events over 5 days that the dbCrew has managed to put on. This is my first year going, and I will be returning next year. I attended so many shows all across Seattle between the 26th and 29th of September, that actually, I didn’t make any shows on the final day, the 30th because I was so tired. My boyfriend, our friend Scott and I were that wiped out. I have a sneaky suspicion this 4 day rally contributed to the cold I’m battling now (which is terribly lame btw). DAY 1 Machinedrum Jimmy Edgar (bloody blinding light show to accompany an awesome set) DAY 2 Outfit post! Black Milk Phoenix Leggings. Actually Black Milk clothing was like a staple for me this festival. I pretty much lived in leggings and boots. Shlohmo @Neumos Tipper @Showbox at the Market Mimosa @Showbox at the Market DAY 3 Erykah Badu & the Cannabinoids @the Paramount Between the Paramount and the aftershow at 2AM we went to the Baltic Room and saw Teengirl Fantasy and Nosaj…
Paradiso was a much needed break from the month of June, which has been given unflattering names due to the amount of work everyone in my company has to finish before the end of it. June was such a blur of 50 hour work weeks, leaving work only to come home and work more, much needed dinners and drinks with friends on Capitol Hill, and weekend escapes to the other side of the mountains. alcohol + glow sticks + black milk skeleton leggings = awesome ideas. Avicii & Knife Party & Above&Beyond were the highlights of it all for me. There was a beautiful moment when Above & Beyond was playing. A remix of Depeche Mode’s ‘Personal Jesus’ blared from the main stage speakers, and nothing in that moment could have been more perfect. I was exhausted from dancing for 8-9 hours, curled up next to my boyfriend, surrounded by all of my lovely friends, in a state of bliss. Work was nowhere in my mind, just the present and what was happening then. It is more than the music at these events that I care about. It’s the people I care about that I get to share it with.…
The past two weeks I have had quite a lot going on, so I’m going to start with the most recent and go from there. My birthday was on Monday, and we celebrated by leaving the previous Thursday and spending 4 days in the middle of the woods in northern Oregon at a place called Horning’s Hideout. It’s a beautiful venue with one stage right on a resevoir, and wild peacocks wander around the area, fluffing up their beautiful feathers. Camp sites were tight, tents right on top of each other, but it made for an interesting experience, and unlike at Sasquatch, we actually interacted and chilled with our neighbors when we weren’t asleep or at one of the shows. People had driven from Santa Cruz, and even as far as Chicago. We really didn’t know what we had walked into, I thought it was going to be like Sasquatch but it became apparent that we were surrounded and immersed in counter culture. This has been by far the most hippe, for lack of a better word, fest I have ever been to, but I say that with respect. I have never been to a music event where people aren’t…
Memorial weekend was my first official music festival. Four days of camping and raving out at the Gorge Amphitheater in the middle of Washington, along the Columbia River. I have only been to the Gorge once before, 5 years ago when I went to Pearl Jam with some coworkers from Camp Reed for our weekend off. I had forgotten what a truly breathtaking view there is from the hill around the main stage. It is a beautiful venue, but also extremely hot in the summer, it is in the middle of a desert/farmland. I got sunburned and was wearing my sunglasses too long over the weekend. I look like the coon. Over the course of the weekend, I saw these artists play: DJ Anjali & the Incredible Kid The Head & the Heart Local Natives Pink Martini Washed Out The Glitch Mob Sleigh Bells Bassnectar Fitz & the Tantrums Tokyo Police Club Beach House Cold War Kids Flogging Molly Gold Panda The Flaming Lips Flying Lotus MSTRKRFT Ratatat Young the Giant Old 97’s Chromeo (Bolded artists were the performances I really loved, but ALL the performances were amazing) And then the Trailer Park Boys made an appearance and it was…