Jason Clackley, Cobalt Cranes, Maxirad, Diver Down

(Funhouse) Jason Clackley is a busy man who always seems to be trapped in basements (or the YMCA, rented halls, etc.). As an outspoken advocate of the local all-ages community, Clackley has opened up for screamo bands, delicate indie rockers, and ear-piercing grindcore acts alike, each time proving that his straightforward blend of acoustic punk and folk can fit anywhere you place it. Along with having the best band name I've seen in months, San Francisco trio Maxirad play quirky garage rock with lyrics everyone can get down with—"I don't wanna be an example, I just wanna have fun and have sex with everyone." Go ahead, prove it. KEVIN DIERS

Stay Gold

(El Corazón) Stay Gold are playing El Corazón? THE Stay Gold? The totally rad Seattle hardcore band that sounded like a scrappier and more emotional little brother of Avail? The band that played their last show in 2005? THAT STAY GOLD? No, it's not that Stay Gold, goddamnit. This is actually a release party for a new skateboarding photo book called Stay Gold. The book is a collection of images taken of and by Emerica's skate team (Ed Templeton, Justin Regan, Aaron Suski, et al.). There are pictures of beer drinking, skate tricks, bloody ears, and naked butts, and while that's neat for those of you who like skateboarding, it's not my Stay Gold. Next time, before I get all excited, I'm gonna remember to Google some shit first. MEGAN SELING

And there's always more in our complete music calendar listings.

New Jersey garage trio Screaming Females play tonight at Healthy Times along with Rvivr, Tacocat, Stickers, and Pony Time. Here's what I wrote about Screaming Females back in May:

New Jersey trio Screaming Females have only one female, singer/guitarist Marissa Paternoster, and her vocal style is as often a kind of an exaggerated, declarative sotto voce as it is an overdriven scream. But even when her singing is dialed down, the band makes a mighty racket, bashing out fuzz-fucked, triumphalist rock with flailing guitar solos. The robust rhythm section of bassist King Mike and drummer Jarrett Dougherty keeps lively time but mostly stays out of the way of Paternoster's hot-wired, steamrolling playing. It's not all screaming and shredding either, as evidenced by the band's chugging cover of Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer" or the original "I Do"; the latter is a ridiculously poppy midtempo number whose bright melodies and vocal hook emerge from a smother of distortion, worthy of scoring a mid-'90s TV montage, say, something from The Adventures of Pete & Pete.

Meanwhile, former Seattlite and current San Franciscan Deceptikon is down at Lo-Fi for Stop Biting tonight along with ER Don, Absolute Madman, and the weekly night's regulars. Here's what Dave Segal had to say about Deceptikon's latest, Mythology of the Metropolis, for a recent Data Breaker:

Mythology of the Metropolis consists of 14 examples of crisp, vibrant, post-Dilla instrumental hiphop, with flashes of pretty IDM melodies and late-'00s bass wobble. Deceptikon keeps the head-nod factor high while wrenching out some interesting, exotic melodies. "Echolocation" genuflects to the Far East with its fluttering, quasi-Zen garden motif (à la Philip Glass in his Mishima soundtrack) set amid splatting, stalwart funk beats. "Indo Loops" also is riveting, with its distorted (presumably Indian) chant warbling over a sinuous synth drone, staunch Madlib-elous clapper beats, and furious, pitch-shifted tabla slaps. "The Fall of Humanity" majestically glides like 1977 Kraftwerk, while "Dissolving in Acid" lives up to its title, running crinkly Roland 303 squiggles through a dense thicket of kick-drum thump and toxic squalls of low-end pressure. "Broken Synthesizers" growls and bristles like a peak-time Cannibal Ox/El-P joint.

MPC sampler maestro (and Tyler Swan collaborator #327) ER Don is not to be missed, either; last time I saw him, dude painfully upstaged Four Tet:

ER Don frankly stole the show, with both the best sounding set and the best live setup. ER Don's Robert Nelson records his own live electric/acoustic instrumentation into his trusty Akai MPC sampler and then chops his recordings up live to great effect. Last night, he added a Moog analog synthesizer and a laptop (sequencing the synth, I'm guessing) to his usual setup, he had his different instrument outputs routed through the appropriate amps—guitar samples through guitar amps, bass through a bass amp, etc—and he was joined on live drums by Tyler Swan of Foscil/Truckasauras. The result was the most full, live sounding set than I've ever heard from ER Don, eschewing jarring fragmentation for cohesive jams. The guitar and bass sounded like they were being played by phantom musicians onstage, the analog synth was bright and slippery with portamento. It all sounded less like a producer edging towards a full band by adding a drummer and more like a full band condensed and evoked via MPC. They really made themselves a fine match for Four Tet's eclectic and expert sound—there were jazzy, off-kilter loops; there was motorik guitar riffing; there were miniature echos of Battles' weirdo prog funk (call them Skirmishes?). And it all sounded clear and powerful, with the bass rattling the windows.

Now you know.