Alex’s Parrot – Sara Brody
Friday, July 17, 2015 16:23 — 0 Comments
I am beginning to worry that my parrot is ill, but he dodges interrogation. I’ll say, “How are you feeling today?†and he’ll say, “How are you feeling today?†I’ll say, “Do you want a Ritz Bit?†and he’ll quote Nietzsche. He once belonged to my brother Alex, who is dead. A lot of people I know are dead. This happened when I was sixteen. That night I sat up in Alex’s room with the parrot, watching the lava lamp. At around three in the morning I tucked the cage under my arm and crept downstairs, intending to take my […]
“Alright”
Wednesday, July 8, 2015 17:50 — 0 Comments
Shaun Scott is one of the smartest and most eloquent people I know. I’m lucky that he even talks to me! And recently I watched Kendrick Lamar’s video for “Alright†and it blew my mind. Shaun is The Monarch’s leading Kendrick scholar so I thought it only appropriate to ask him his thoughts about the creative triumph of “Alright.†Jake Uitti: The video for Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright†is packed with imagery – from police shooting black men, to those same black men enjoying themselves in a car (which later turns out to be a fake car held up by stagehands), […]
Pencil Him In
Tuesday, July 7, 2015 11:37 — 0 Comments
Keegan Hall has spent almost as many years not drawing and he has spent doing that which he loves: putting pencil to paper and illustrating intricate portraits. His work reminds me of the Chuck Close’s work – no small comparison. His life changed when his mother passed and he began to throw himself into his artwork again – and it changed again when he was commissioned by Seattle Seahawks defenseman, Kam Chancellor, to do a portrait. Since then more offers have come in, including a commissioned portrait for Seattle Mariners star pitcher, Felix Hernandez, and a bottle label for Parliament Distillery. Hall was even […]
RIVER SONG – Jonathan Simkins
Monday, July 6, 2015 12:49 — 0 Comments
You visit me in the moment of waking With a syringe full of river water. If the river God is in my veins His burning is colossal and ferocious. I hear ten thousand women singing a song I know I’ve heard but cannot name. You have the face of a hundred spiders. Your furry arms glisten and tremble. You guide my hand to your leg, And as you dig your nails into my chest The sound of wings roars from your mouth, A dam breaks in some infernal region, The clock hands spin backwards, And moths pour in through the […]
The Mama Rags Live
Thursday, July 2, 2015 10:34 — 0 Comments
The Mama Rags make revival music: sonic quilts from disparate parts discarded from generations before as an attempt to rise up and be somebody. They are a thread of Led Zeppelin, a patch of cigarette ash, a bit of Bowie, a down comforter ripped to shreds by the very metal guitar strings that once provided the melodies to a song they wrote and have now forgotten. The band, to their credit, wants to feel established but there is a great deal of room for them to grow. That’s not to say they aren’t capable talents, it’s just that the quilt […]
A Day At The Beach: An Evening With The Artists Of RAW
Thursday, July 2, 2015 10:13 — 0 Comments
The worst part about the evening’s entertainment was waking up the next morning. I’d been drinking all night and went to bed late, but for some reason woke up early. My body wanted something that didn’t involve sleep. Food? Water? Not even close… More. I wasn’t craving more gin, just more RAW, more from the online organization of artists who’re part of a global community supporting local events. I spent the night before immersed in Splendor, RAW’s June art/fashion show at The Fremont Foundry. My interest in RAW was almost strictly in the fashion portion of the evening… My friend […]
Vinyl Revival
Wednesday, July 1, 2015 15:20 — 0 Comments
Below is a story that appeared in Alaska Beyond magazine in July 2015 Seattle resident Chris Darrell, also known as DJ absoluteMadman at area nightclubs, finds a certain Zen quality to the process of playing a vinyl record. There is taking the album out of the sleeve, cleaning it, placing it on the turntable and gently dropping the needle. He maintains that the mechanics of the operation put him at ease. “Listening to records calms me down,” he says. “My mom recently came by and dropped off a bunch of old records she picked up at an antique store, and […]
Pure Ups EP Release at Blue Moon
Wednesday, July 1, 2015 15:00 — 0 Comments
As their name suggests, Pure Ups incline to a sunny sound. Couch surf drums and aquatic bass lines evoke summer’s cold beer and lakeside daydreams. Cooing back-up vocals and shimmer-shatter guitars buoy Hedin’s slacker happy lyrics, which are lazy and urgent by turns, and full of amorous appeal and wistful knowing. But for all the love and longing that glows and shines here, there’s a sense of submerged melancholy, a kind of shadowy undercurrent from which these songs emerge so brightly. The light feels earned by darkness. All Flowing by Pure Ups Pure Ups release their new EP All Flowing at the […]
Meet Tim Tracey
Tuesday, June 30, 2015 11:16 — 0 Comments
“This is the second time I’ve ever been interviewed,†Tim Tracey tells me before going into a story about driving with friends around the U.S. post college. A local news station interviewed him about landing their van, which had to be abandoned, into a giant puddle. I’m sitting in the living room of Tim’s modest Greenwood home. Above us is a large banner that reads, “Great With Child But Longing For Stewed Prunes.†The floors are unswept – to be expected since Tim and his wife, Malka, recently had a baby, Bertram Boaz Buckwheat Tracey. Malka bounces the infant on […]
College and Beyond with Jamil Suleman
Wednesday, June 24, 2015 10:47 — 1 Comment
Jamil Suleman recently released a song lambasting the American college experience – how, despite having an impeccable academic record, he himself still had amazing trouble finding enough work to pay the bills. Jamil is bright fellow with a butter voice and an eye on social change. We had the chance to chat with the man about his inspiration for the tune and what he might say to a young person on the come up. What was the moment when you thought you had to write and record this song? I’d graduated college back in ‘07, and since then was in […]
The answer isn't poetry, but rather language
- Richard Kenney
Book Release and Reading Feb. 6
January 6th, 2016
Hello fellow readers, travelers and Monarchians! Our first book, Traveling Light, written by Seattle author, Jim Brantingham, is now for sale! And we will be throwing a release party for it Feb. 6 at 6pm in Ravenna Third Place Books (on the corner of 65th and 20th NE). Jim will be reading from the book and there will be guest readers accompanying him. Space is limited, so we suggest you come early. Books can be bought through this link here or at Ravenna Third Place Books (which just ordered it’s second wave of books). We are super excited for this release and […]
