Lotus Magazine was a pop cultural blip, a publication that catered to a niche of a subculture. Independently published from 1996 – 2002, Lotus served the West Coast's underground rave community. It was a free magazine, half electronica rag, half semi-spiritual/environmentalist youth outreach project. This online archive presents a sliver of the material published in the magazine during its six years of bi-monthly publication. Some of the content is still relevant, and some of it's just silly. All of it's very, very earnest. Enjoy! – Seattle, Winter 2000
The rain has come to stay and the typical mid-winter slow down is in full effect in Seattle. But the holidays have been good to our community, giving us plenty of new things to ring in the New Year. First, Step Brothers Records, another new record store, opened recently at 817B Division Ave. N. in Tacoma to serve our friends south of Seattle. Next, I-Spy/Nation, a new 21 and over club, has moved into their beautiful new three story location downtown at 1921 5th Ave. Check out “Lick It!” on Saturday nights. With three floors of music, you are sure to find a beat that will move you. [You also may find easily excitable escaped office workers prone to dirty dancing and macarena on the dancefloor. -Ed.]
A host of new talent has come through Seattle in the past few months as well. Harvard St. brought us DJ Magic Mike (Orlando), Venom (RI), and Tommie Gunn (NH) from back east for "Ghetto Olympics," while Electronic Bliss presented DJ Irene (LA) and Dutch (SF) from our own coast for "Rx: Vinyl Therapy." And Healthe Productions went all the way to Germany for live PAs from Liquid Child and Nostrum to headline their final events of 1999.
Our best present has been a brand new venue for larger events, which was debuted by Pi Productions on December 30th for their party "It's Reel." I-90 and Funshine Productions celebrated New Year's Eve in a new space as well with "Plurple," a benefit for NW Harvest. Back again this year with their benefit for Toys for Tots, Recess Productions' "Another Dr. Seuss Christmas" was also in a new space. With admission set at one or more new, unwrapped toys, and no money taken at the door, "Another Dr. Seuss Christmas" offered a time to remember that it's better to give than to receive. Also bringing our community together for a good cause were benefit parties on November 26th for DJ Spun, recently diagnosed with cancer, and on November 12th from Abducted Productions to buy DJ Wheelz a new wheelchair.
Finally, what better gift could one hope for than a taste of summer in the middle of the months of gray in Seattle? On December 18th, For Your Butt Productions threw a party at the Greenlake Swimming Pool called "Aqua Element." Though the crowd was small, there was music, dancing, swimming, and a sauna from 9pm until lam. Talk about wishes coming true! Watch out for another one of these sometime soon. -David Center