First, Last, and Favorite is our now-and-again feature where we interrogate some of our favorite music makers on the records they love. This edition we delve into the listening habits, past and present, of Deep Sea Diver’s Jessica Dobson.
Deep Sea Diver is a four-piece Seattle band that also features Peter Mansen, Garrett Gue, and Elliot Jackson. They’ve been releasing music for the better part of a decade and their widely acclaimed 2016 record Secrets has been steadily one of our best-selling Seattle records since its release. Now Jessica and co. have a new record due imminently (street date 10/16/20) titled Impossible Weight. The tracks we heard thus far are impressive; dynamic production, super engaging guitar work (did you know Jessica’s put in time as lead guitarist with some BIG names), and of course top shelf songwriting. Deep Sea Diver might not be one of our town’s secrets forever. Give the title track a spin:
Anyway, Jessica was kind enough to share a few all-time top record choices with us. Presenting her FIRST, LAST, and FAVORITE in her own words:
FIRST
Brandy Self-Titled
My first musical purchase as a tiny person! I bought this album on cassette & you bet I rode my pink huffy bike around Long Beach California BUMPING this through some very cheap headphones. I have always had a deep love for hip hop and r&b & I fell in love with Brandy when MTV still played music videos. (Favorite track “I wanna be down”)
LAST
Feist Pleasure
One thing that I really appreciate about Leslie Feist is that she doesn’t give a rats ass about music industry expectations. She had a massive album in 2007 with the Reminder, and waited 4 years to follow it up with “Metals”, which was a stark departure from the pop forward arrangements of the previous record. She then went off for another 6 years and in 2017 emerged with Pleasure, a lofi album full of hushed and intimate stripped down songs. She could have easily gone back to doing a big studio album. But it’s so punk what she did! You hear Leslie and her spring reverbed guitar, beckoning for you to come in closer. There’s a loneliness and a longing in the album that keeps me coming back to it. (Favorite track “I’m not running away”)
FAVORITE
Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
It’s hard for me to think of another album that so perfectly bridges the gap between being completely experimental & also containing such undeniably gut punching grade A++++ songwriting. This is the album that taught me how to linger on the wrong notes, how to be ok with lyrics that don’t spell things out for everyone, how to be a better producer & create a unique world for myself and the listener to live in, and how to play more interesting guitar solos (play more dissonant notes) .... I could go forever about it. (Favorite track “Reservations”)