In Stranger Suggests:

Sir Thomas Gray vs. Terry Radjaw (one-on-one basketball challenge), They Live!, We Are Not a Cult, Lamborghiniz, Fresh Espresso

(Funhouse) MCs Terry Radjaw of Mad Rad and Sir Thomas Gray of Champagne Champagne are notorious for a few things: drunken debauchery, wild live performances, and their beards. Both men will enter the patio-side basketball court at the Funhouse, but only one will leave with his facial hair intact. Indoors, hirsute and shorn alike will enjoy sets from some of Seattle's finest and funnest hiphop crews—from the glitzy and adroit gab of Fresh Espresso to the chronically cartoonish raps of They Live! to the ridiculous booty bass of Lamborghiniz (to the un-Googleable whatever of We Are Not a Cult). ERIC GRANDY

In Up & Coming:

The Dutchess and the Duke, Fences

(Tractor) On October 6, the Dutchess and the Duke will release their sophomore record, Sunset/Sunrise, 10 new tracks recorded by Gris Gris frontman Greg Ashley. I asked the Dutchess, Kimberly Morrison, what set this one apart from the last. "The main difference is instrumentation. The last album, recorded in our friend's basement—at the Magical Basement Studios—we worked with percussion, guitars, vocals, and the occasional flute. With Greg and his studio—he had so much stuff hanging around for us to work with. So much, it would have been shameful not to experiment. The new record is much bigger sounding. There's strings, bells, piano... There's also a new optimism. We recorded it when Jesse [Lortz] had a baby on the way. It sounds so much more hopeful." Let's hope they play a couple of the new songs at the Tractor. KELLY O

Ball of Wax 17: Daniel G. Harmann, Solvents, Happy Birthday Secret Weapon, Brian Baillie, Seth Howard, Jack Shriner, Chris Wise, Black Math

(Sunset) An audio quarterly produced by local singer-songwriter Levi Fuller, Ball of Wax for years has featured dozens of local artists in a variety of genres—Katharine Hepburn's Voice, Lake of Falcons, Plan B, Joy Wants Eternity, and many more have contributed a song (or two or three). Sometimes the releases have themes, sometimes they're just random snapshots of the local music scene. Every quarter, BOW celebrates another valiant effort with a CD-release show. Tonight's installment features Daniel G. Harmann, Solvents, Black Math, and Seth Howard, to name a few. And if you missed an issue, don't worry—many back issues are available for free download at www.denimclature.com/ballofwax (however, should you like what you hear and want to support the cause, you can donate money). MEGAN SELING

Rusty Willoughby, Buzzy Shyface, Jim Biggs, the Young Evils

(marsBar) Beloved by many for his work with the Seattle bands Flop and Pure Joy, Rusty Willoughby won me over all by himself, as the sweet solo singer with an acoustic guitar and more melodies than he knew what to do with, playing out in support of an uncommonly strong self-titled EP in 1999. Since then, Willoughby's released one other record—2008's Filament Dust—and played a smattering of shows both alone and with his reunited bands. Tonight, Willoughby is solo once more, and if it holds to past performances, it will be a quiet, endlessly melodic delight. DAVID SCHMADER

Nappy Roots

(Studio Seven) Excluding Goodie Mob, OutKast, and Nappy Roots, the South is nothing but a dead end for hiphop. True, at the beginning of the 20th century, the South gave blues to Northern cities, but the cities in the North transformed it into a high type of music: jazz. However, when the Northern cities gave the South hiphop at the end of the 20th century, they turned it into a lower form of music. It was like giving someone a cow and all they do with it is cook the entrails. Nappy Roots are one of the few Southern crews that made something more out of hiphop's materials. For one, the rap quintet successfully blended black country music with urban hiphop beats and scratches. They are also very much alive and creative on the mic, producing a steady flow of high-quality hiphop. CHARLES MUDEDE

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