Feast of Music: Three New Albums From Seattle Bands
... And how to work them into your Thanksgiving festivities
By Seattle Mag November 6, 2014
This article originally appeared in the November 2014 issue of Seattle magazine.
Jen Wood: Wilderness
With her first album since 2010, Jen Wood reveals a bolder, more layered sensibility. Her pretty voice shines over poppy piano riffs, anthemic guitars and smashing cymbals graced with electronica elements. The result feels like rushing forward into hope.
Best played: During last-minute food prep, final table decorations, general pre-dinner optimism
CD release party 11/15 at Barboza on Capitol Hill.
Photo credit: January Fredericks
Smokey Brights: Taste for Blood
This debut full-length album resonates with a warm, vintage rock feel that blends flickers of Pink Floyd and Death Cab for Cutie for an entirely contemporary indie sound. The overall vibe is mellow and inviting, suggesting you sit down and sink into it.
Best played: During the meal, when the strummy guitars pair perfectly with a pleasant food buzz
Photo credit: Andrew J.S.; layout by Josh Froscheiser
Perfume Genius:Too Bright
The third album from avant-garde musician Mike Hadreas has garnered praise in The New Yorker and on NPR as much for his intense, Radiohead-Portishead-PJ Harvey–ish sound as for his confidently raw lyrics. Hadreas doesn’t shy from dark, personal places—and he’s so intriguing you can’t help but follow him.
Best played: During the post-meal coma, when bellies are distended and family tensions have broken through the holiday veneer. As Hadreas sings, “I wear my body like a rotted peach/You can have it if you can handle the stink,” you will think: “Exactly.”
matadorrecords.com/perfume_genius
Photo credit: courtesy of Matador Records
Follow Us
Nord-West Connection
Food for thought.
There has always been a strong connection between Seattle and the Nordic countries, and the National Nordic Museum’s current exhibition, New Nordic: Cuisine, Aesthetics and Place, is a visual reinforcement straight from Norway. A cross-disciplinary show exploring how New Nordic Cuisine—a culinary movement that developed in Scandinavia in the early 2000s that focuses on using…
Black History Month in Seattle
Events, landmarks, and businesses to support year-round.
Black pioneers first arrived in Seattle in the mid-19th century. The city’s earliest known African American resident was Manuel Lopes, who arrived in 1852 from Cabo Verde. A couple of decades later, African Americans began migrating to the Pacific Northwest from Southern states to work in coal mines. During this period, two Black enclaves began…
A New Year of Influence
Seattle magazine’s Most Influential list kicks off 2026 with leaders across the city.
New year, new issue! As we kick off 2026, Seattle magazine is proud to present this year’s cohort of the Most Influential list, which showcases local leaders in politics, philanthropy, arts, hospitality, and business. Determined, creative, empathetic, humble, and bold are just a few of the words you’ll see describing them—each one has achieved great…
The Queen of the Seattle World’s Fair
With a fur coat and gold Cadillac, Gracie Hansen struck a figure. Her business savvy and whip-smart humor made her a star.
In 1960, a group of well-attired men from the Seattle World’s Fair planning committee gathered in a downtown office. With the fair only two years away, people were starting to pitch their business ideas and on this day, some lady wanted to meet with them to do the same. At the scheduled time, the door…