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Founded in January 2009, PubliCola is a blog about Seattle written by journalists who are dedicated to non-partisan, original daily reporting that prioritizes a balanced approach to news. Started by longtime local editor and award-winning reporter Josh Feit, PubliCola is the first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol.

PubliCola was off and running. In June 2009, PubliCola hired another award-winning journalist, super-sourced Seattle city hall reporter Erica C. Barnett.

People were afraid that blogging would change journalism. Instead, we believe journalism can change blogging. Twenty-first century journalism may look and feel different, and yes Erica isn't afraid to get cranky, but we're committed to making sure online news still delivers independent, reliable, even-keeled coverage. And most of all, we're committed to making sure the coverage sparks honest civic debate.

Bringing you cola for the people, PubliCola is named after Publius Valerius PubliCola, the alias for the authors of the Federalist Papers—the original bloggers.

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The first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol and Seattle city hall, PubliCola has been called a “must-read” by the Seattle Post Intelligencer and a hot “New Media Mover and Shaker” by Seattle Magazine—which also cited our own Erica C. Barnett as the city's No. 1 news nerd.

#5: "Tokyo" by Telekenisis

News   December 30, 2009 at 10:30 am Anand Balasubrahmanyan

PubliCola MusicNerd Anand Balasubrahmanyan is counting down his top tracks of the year.

[audio:http://www.publicola.net/wp-content/uploads/Telekinesis_03_Tokyo.mp3]

Telekinesis makes me smile. It’s big, warm pop rock; major chords, heart clad sleeves and an extraordinary amount of fun. Singer/drummer Michael Benjamin Lerner pounds away manically, exhibiting levels of joy I thought only muppets could experience.

telekenisis

This track, “Tokyo,” will get stuck in your head. It starts with a riff every high school garage band is kicking themselves for not writing and amps up into an awesome thunder storm of chiming guitars.

The protagonist can only dream about going to the titular city, but when you write a song this catchy, it’s taking you there.

Anand’s previous picks here.