Lighthouses are cool. Thomas Dolby thinks so too – so much that he made a film, The Invisible Lighthouse, about them. The film has won awards at film festivals in the States already, and on November 18th Dolby brought the film and his music to the Showbox at the Market. For the evening Dolby played the film’s soundtrack along with the film, accompanied by artist Blake Leyh. Dolby, always one for innovation, continues to create new media, for example one of his recent creations, A Map of the Floating City, had a computer game. Dolby and Leyh also held a Q&A session. All photos by Steve Campagna:
Show Review & Photos: Robert DeLong @ the Neptune
Robert DeLong @ the Neptune, 11/5
Show Review & Photos by Dagmar
Our own Robert DeLong (okay, he’s technically from Bothell, Washington) was here in November to open for Twenty One Pilots. He’s based in Los Angeles now and released his debut full-length album, Just Movement in 2013 and it is excellent. It’s one of the year’s best, no doubt. You probably know the song “Global Concepts.” Whether you do or not, DeLong headlines Seattle’s Barboza on January 23rd. Be there. For the Neptune show standouts were “Survival of the Fittest,” “Change (How You Feel),” “Happy” and a wicked cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Miss You.”
Photos: Slayer, Gojira & 4Arm @ WaMu Theater
A world without Slayer would be a sad place indeed. This band’s music is a thing of great beauty, and we’re always thrilled to feature Slayer on Back Beat Seattle. They’ve also got cool fans, including one who put together a holiday light show to Slayer tunes in dedication to the late – and missed – guitarist Jeff Hanneman. Thank you to Alex Crick for the gorgeous Slayer, Gojira and 4Arm photos from the Seattle, November 1st date:
Photos: Reykjavik Calling w/ Kithkin, Vox Mod, Kaylee Cole, Sin Fang, Hermigervill & Borko
KEXP presented its fourth annual Reykjavik Calling, a free event with concerts by artists from Iceland and Seattle. Pretty cool. In case you did not know, Reykjavik is our Icelandic sister city, and KEXP matched up the Seattle and Reykjavik artists to see what would happen. Here’s some photographic evidence by Simon Krane:
Videos: Richard Hawley, the Fratellis & James Blunt
This summer saw the release of Standing at the Sky’s Edge, Richard Hawley‘s seventh album and first since 2009’s Truelove’s Gutter. What a welcome return! His video for single number one, “Down in the Woods” features that cool burn out film strip look.
The Fratellis had to cancel their appearance in Seattle recently (Jon had lost his voice), but we can still enjoy their video for “She’s Not Gone Yet But She’s Leaving” from new release We Need Medicine. A bit of retro, a bit of coffee and some fancy dancing go along with the lyrics. And more coffee with cream. Yes please.
I’m also really glad James Blunt is back. He doesn’t need my help, but I will always be a champion for Blunt. Moon Landing, his new album, is one you should get. I hope he’ll tour the States soon!