Shabazz Palaces - Swerve... by subpop

Shabazz Palaces, Merm and Mall, OC Notes

(Neumos) See My Philosophy and Data Breaker.

Gigs4Good for Arts Corps: Curtains for You, Kelli Schaefer

(Columbia City Theater) The making of music and art: It is a good and a nice thing, and we can all agree that kids should do it even if their families have no money. This is why Arts Corps is good. But there's also a reason why Arts Corps, the Seattle nonprofit that will benefit from this show, is great, and that reason is that its teachers are artists. The combination of kids who need to be writing hiphop songs and artists who know how to teach them created, this year alone, at least two astoundingly great hiphop songs. They were performed by a crew of little guys, black and white, immigrant and not, from Laura "Piece" Kelley's Arts Corps hiphop music class at South Park Community Center. These two songs, which I cannot get out of my head and do not want to, are called "Stumble" and "Game Time." Go to this show, give your money to Arts Corps, and then buttonhole someone from Arts Corps and tell them to hook you up with these songs. Find these songs any way you can. JEN GRAVES

Dinosaur Feathers, Posse, the Royal Bear

(Tractor) I know absolutely nothing about the fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire. But I do know that Dinosaur Feathers' new single, "Please, Please George," is a perfect synthesis of the strengths found in the group's previous releases. "George" runs the gamut of 1960s sunshine pop influences. From singer Greg Sullo's raspy McCartney yowl to the crescendoing vocal harmonies to the bouncy, hunky-dory rhythms—it's a great summer release that steers clear of Fantasy Memorial's heavy experimentation with contemporary psychedelia. For George R. R. Martin fans, it's also an anthemic plea for the upcoming A Dance with Dragons. I'm more curious to hear what Dinosaur Feathers have got in store for their next record. DAN OBERBRUNER

As you may or may not have noticed, we've got three lovely features in this week's music section. Yay! The bummer is, all three shows take place tonight. There's even a music Suggests for tonight. First, Trent Moorman, apparently under the influence of some sort of hallucinogenic, interviews Ben Verellen of Helms Alee, a soon-to-be huge Seattle psychedilc metal trio that should please even the ears of people who think they don't like metal.

"Epic Adventure Through the Woods"

Sample question:

Do Helms Alee know that there are hidden people living inside a mountain who worship your music?

Yes, we know of them. They're called... alcoholics.

Read it here.

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Next up, there's the world-pop of Olympia's Angelo Spencer, who was raised in the French Alps and has just completed a dizzyingly fun record:

"Tanger, Tanger"

Raised in the French Alps, Angelo Spencer relocated to Seattle sometime in the last decade, settling in Olympia, where he lives with his family and chickens.

"I just built them a new pen!" he says over the phone. "We have three chickens. We used to have seven, but that was way too much, and then a bunch of them were eaten by raccoons." Such domestic concerns seem unexpected from a man so versed in multiple continents' worth of musical traditions.

Read about Spencer here.

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Thirdly, there's the devil-may-care garage rock of the Night Beats:

In under 24 hours, the Night Beats went from smashing guitars and toppling the barriers separating the minors from the drinkers at Portland's Wonder Ballroom, to taking MDMA in their hotel room at 5:00 a.m., to eating breakfast at a notorious Portland strip club known as much for its steak as its dancers. Today they're going on a couple hours of sleep, with frizzy hair almost as wild as their eyes, sitting in their friend's tiny Capitol Hill studio drinking warm PBR and listening to Beggars Banquet. It's just another day for the Night Beats. Founded three years ago by the 22-year-old Blackwell, soon after he landed in Seattle from Dallas, the lineup now includes 23-year-old drummer James Traeger, whom Blackwell has known since high school, and 25-year-old bassist Tarek Wegner.

Read all that here.

I feel like it's getting to the point where I can recognize a Chocolate Chuck beat as soon as I hear it—there's something about the way he warps his samples and the times his kicks that just knifes through my brain matter every single time. That ineffable "Chuck-yness" is definitely on display in the early cuts he just posted to bandcamp.

Chuck's just one of the many savvy beatmakers/musicians I've talked to who understand the value of schmaltzy, slippery guitar samples, and "Danielle" brilliantly employs a couple different upbeat, soft-rock-y axe sounds:

He performs tonight on Hollow Earth Radio, along with OC Notes and SwampmaN. The broadcast starts at 9 pm, and you can sit in on their sets, for free, if you so desire (2018 E. Union St.).

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