Symphony For The Superhero, a symphony by local composer Mateo Messina (best known for composing the Juno score, as noted before), is going down at Benaroya, starring the one and only Cut Chemist- turntablist, producer, innovator.

Bridging hiphop and the symphony is no small feat- in fact, it's a fucking recipe for disaster in the wrong hands- but I think this cast of characters is up to the task. Says Messina:

Symphony of the Superhero explores our cultures fascination with superheroes. Comic book fans will love this look at their favorites and how they've played into our society.

This is my 12th symphony as a composer and I still don't know how to read music. I write symphony for our generation. These are not typical symphonies. These are crazy, big, hairy, fun events where we enchant the audience. We will have over 280 performers on stage. A full orchestra, 4 choirs, drummers, a DJ, and a few tricks up our sleeves.

Our solo violinist, Lili Haydn, hails from LA and has played with, for Sting, Paige & Plant (Zeppelin), Parliament Funkadelic, Herbie Hancock, and so many others. She is currently writing and performing for the next Pirates of the Carribean film score (Hans Zimmer). She's a unique talent in that she plays violin and sings at the same time...in a really beautiful, yet haunting way.

THIS IS NOT A TYPICAL SYMPHONY. This is a crazy, big, hairy, fun concert written by a composer who isn't classically trained and doesn't even read music (yet, but probably will someday). This is something you have to see to believe.

Starting tonight, They Live!’s DJ BlesOne (aka Bruce Illest) hosts a new monthly called Filthy Nice Fridays at the Baltic Room (it’ll happen every first Friday and run until it stops). He is the jock who often provides the backdrops to which the Massive Monkees flex their world-class breakdancing moves. I imagine the funk will be very strong here all night. And word is, the flyest girls are down with BlesOne's Mash Hall and co-sponsor Paperboy's crews. This matters.

Email your name to pbp206@gmail.com for guest list privileges from 10 pm-11 pm; cover is $5 after 11.

From Data Breaker:

Sun Circle, Story of Rats, Eric Ostrowski, Aures

(Josephine) Sun Circle (Greg Davis and Zach Wallace) explore beatless space, but in a more expansive manner. Whereas Mem1 score the body's inner gurgles and expirations, Sun Circle, as their moniker implies, radiate solarized drones that wax and wane in intensity in subtle increments. The sound is akin to that of Davis's Kranky Records labelmate White Rainbow: Cursory listens could trigger knee-jerk accusations of "new age"—ism, but the music of both artists is too interesting and psychedelic for that tarnished term. More accurately, Sun Circle create a rarefied, spiritual strain of healing music whose only gods are Terry Riley and Pauline Oliveros. Check out Sun Circle's split 12-inch with Eleh, Fading Spectrum of Darkness/Parhelion (on Important Records), for ample proof of their gently ecstatic, peace-inducing vibe rations. DAVE SEGAL

From Up & Coming:

John Abercrombie Quartet

(Triple Door) In the '70s and '80s, guitarist John Abercrombie recorded for the impeccable ECM label, abetted by phenomenal players like drummers Billy Cobham and Jack DeJohnette, keyboardist Jan Hammer, bassist Dave Holland, guitarists John Scofield and Ralph Towner, and brass specialists Randy and Michael Brecker. On records like Timeless and Gateway, Abercrombie flaunted a fluid, crystalline style that could chill and enflame with equal adroitness. His work is marked by subtle melodic beauty and a quiet intensity that recalls Terje Rypdal's own ECM output. With his latest quartet, Abercrombie tempers some of his peak era's more outré excursions for a more refined, trad-jazz (and folk) approach. But his gorgeous, icy tone and incredible dexterity remain, making the man's live performances an exquisite pleasure. DAVE SEGAL

Symphony of the Superhero: Cut Chemist, Mateo Messina, the Northwest Symphony Orchestra

(Benaroya Hall) Born in Seattle, Mateo Messina makes his living as a soundtrack composer in L.A., where he's written music for such films as Juno and Thank You for Smoking. Once a year, Messina returns to his hometown, to write and produce—along with the Symphony Guild—an annual benefit concert for Seattle Children's Hospital. For the 12th annual benefit, Messina's presenting Symphony of the Superhero, a "magical musical journey" through heroism, featuring performances by Cut Chemist, the Northwest Symphony Orchestra, Northwest Chorale, Northwest Boychoir, and more. DAVID SCHMADER

Ghostland Observatory

(Showbox Sodo) This one time, a couple of Daft Punk's interns were messing around in their recording studio in Paris, working on some synth pads for the new Tron movie or whatever, when a mangy alley cat snuck in. They called the Parisian equivalent of animal control, they tried to get rid of the thing themselves, but nothing was working. After days of this cat interfering with their productions and knocking around in their synthesizers, the guys finally were forced to beat the animal to death with the cheapest, crappiest keyboard they could find. The cat squealed and howled and made an awful racket; the keyboard broke apart, making terrible bleeps and burbles; both poor things eventually died. Some tapes of the incident got out and so inspired Ghostland Observatory that the Texas duo re-create the sound live onstage, with the bonus of goofy outfits and lasers. ERIC GRANDY

The Raveonettes, Crocodiles

(Neumos) One St. Patrick's Day, I ended up alone on a friend's couch, in a dark room, peaking on psilocybin, listening to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska on an old turntable. There was a large dust ball on the needle, and those haunting reverb-soaked melodies struggled to peek out beyond the fuzzy blocks of white noise. In that altered state, I'd never heard anything more beautiful—a lonesome, nostalgic cry that only periodically popped through the static, as if projected from some distant radio tower. The Raveonettes come close to harnessing that sound. Their charming '50s pop melodies run through a filter of skuzz and distortion, producing something that's simultaneously reminiscent of oldies radio and the haze of seedy, late-night soundtracks. BRIAN COOK

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

From Data Breaker:

Mem1, Wyndel Hunt, Steven Barsotti, Tiflin

(Rendezvous) My eyes and ears perk up when I see the names Jan Jelinek and Frank Bretschneider—even if it's in an e-mail from an unknown electronic outfit. Such was the case with San Francisco's Mem1 (Laura and Mark Cetilia on cello and electronics, respectively), who cold-contacted me about a show they're playing at the Rendezvous on Thursday. They mentioned their new CD involving collaborations with those two genius minimalist producers, plus seven others, including Steve Roden. As it turns out, that disc, +1, burrows into microscopic furrows in the stereo field, tickling the most delicate cilia in your ears and forcing you to focus mightily on the subliminal friction between catgut and silicon chip. At times you feel as if you've been inserted into somebody's body and can hear their internal organs (mal)functioning. The prevalent mood is mournful yet tranquil, evoking the aftermath of a tragedy and the resultant calm; think of the music moving from wah to aaahhh, very gradually. DAVE SEGAL

From Up & Coming:

Big Business, Thrones

(El Corazón) Live, Big Business are a powerhouse of deafening bass chords and dexterous drums. Yet the band have repeatedly recruited indie-pop producer Phil Ek—the man behind records by Fleet Foxes and the Shins—to lay these barrages to wax. It's as if the Biz were hearing something more elaborate and nuanced in their sound, something that the two members couldn't channel alone. Enter Mind the Drift, their third album with Ek and their first featuring new member Toshi Kasai on guitar. The record retains Big Business's unrelenting percussive energy and gargantuan overdriven bass, but adds grandiose Brian May—inspired guitar, transforming their sound into an amalgam of triumphant arena rock and irreverent punk fury. Is this the sound to which they've always aspired? If so, more power to them. BRIAN COOK

X-Ray Press, Marasol, Post Harbor

(Sunset) Seattle's X-Ray Press rock with controlled chaos. Their songs bluster, pause, bristle, and vroom with unpredictable vigor. The singing's agitated, the guitars caustic and bruising, the drumming George Hurley—swift and —brutal. Anyone with Slint, Don Caballero, Minutemen, or Upsilon Acrux releases in their collection will find X-Ray Press a welcome addition to this angsty, angular canon. San Diego's Marasol and Seattle's Post Harbor are more conventional rock bands with arena-size aspirations. Those comfortable with the collected works of Jane's Addiction, Smashing Pumpkins, and Pearl Jam will snuggle up to these acts' XXL, emote-to-the-rafters jams. DAVE SEGAL

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