What’s in Store: Shabazz Palaces & Gillian Gaar

   Join us at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Friday, November 24 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM for a special evening of comix, lit, and music with Shabazz Palaces and special guest Gillian Gaar. Seattle’s adventurous hip hop artists Shabazz Palaces will perform a DJ set and sign copies of their new illustrated album, Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines, from Sub Pop Records and Fantagraphics Books. The full-color, hand-numbered book finds comix artist Joshua Ray Stevens working with the band to interpret the album’s tracks, creating a cohesive synchronization of music and imagery. A download code of the full album…

Re/Read: In the Pines by Erik Kriek

Re/Read is an occasional column by Fantagraphics Bookstore curator Larry Reid examining backlist books you may have missed or are worth another read. This time we’ll break with routine and discuss a more recent title, In the Pines: 5 Murder Ballads, by Erik Kriek. I’ve been thinking a lot about these songs since the passing earlier this month of Billy Roberts, who penned the classic murder ballad “Hey Joe” in 1962. He later played with my friend Steve Lalor in the West Coast folk trio The Driftwood Singers. I saw Roberts perform only once, in 1968 at the legendary Sky…