Dave Segal on 'Are you a cat?' tonight:

Galdr, Same-Sex Dictator, Are you a cat?

(Josephine) There's a lot of black magic floating around out there. Music is a great harness for it," says Jason Smothers, half of the Seattle group Are you a cat? with Josh Welbel. The statement belies the duo's cutesy name. Are you a cat? create music that crackles with demonic intensity. The bulk of the material that they've culled from multiple hard drives' worth of music and slapped onto CD-Rs occupies a rarefied realm of experimental abstract electronica that's mainly been the domain of mad geniuses like Conrad Schnitzler, Biota, and the Residents. Other touchstones include Gil Mellé's disturbingly microbial soundtrack for The Andromeda Strain and Bebe and Louis Barron's forlornly bleepy score for Forbidden Planet.

In Data Breaker:

Robert Armani, Jimmy Hoffa, Travis Baron, Grindle

(Baltic Room) I haven't heard everything in Armani's expansive catalog, which includes releases on labels like Djax-Up-Beats, Tresor, and Dance Mania, but what I have experienced makes a beeline for that peak-time zone when the effects of the drinks, drugs, and people's biorhythms all seem to be culminating in a mass hands-in-the-motherfucking-air celebration. Dude's output isn't exactly subtle, but, damn, it gets the job done with admirable single-mindedness. And with "Circus Bells" (the Hardfloor remix, but still...), which I first heard on Laurent Garnier's X-Mix-2: Destination Planet Dream and which instantly blew my mind, Armani has created one of the most distinctive techno anthems ever. The man ain't clownin' around. Kudos to the Knightriders crew for booking this Windy City heavy hitter.

And in Up & Coming:

Albino!, Publish the Quest, Jonny Sonic

(Nectar) Bands with exclamation points in their names put undue pressure on themselves. Talk about raising listeners' expectations! (I'm looking at you, Wham! and !!!) So, what about these Albino! cats? Do they earn their exciting punctuation? Depends how you feel about Afrobeat emulators whose skin lacks pigmentation (okay, only 9 of 10 Albino! members look to be white). Racial makeup aside, these Berkeley, California, musicians approach Fela Kuti's brainchild with a reverent, understated brio. They have Fela's big band's ability to sound at once militarily precise and joyfully loose, enabling you to orderly freak the hell out to their intricate percussive interplay and triumphant horn charts. DAVE SEGAL

Take a look at our online calendar for a complete listing of bands, DJs and live music.

In Up & Coming:

Dirty Projectors, What's Up?

(Chop Suey) Portland's What's Up? create the sort of manic, netherworld pop that makes them ideal openers for Dirty Projectors. Restless, odd rhythms spasm below weirdly tuned keyboards and guitars that unpredictably billow and surge. A quasi-African notion of intonation animates the playing; songs sound like they're headed to non-Western places via the prog-rock path of most resistance. Their Content Imagination CD (on the Obey Your Brain label) is all instrumental and mostly rewarding, in a puzzling, furrow-browed way. DAVE SEGAL See also Stranger Suggests, and preview.

Derrick May, Pezzner, Nordic Soul

(Neumos) If you've never seen Derrick May work the decks, you need to catch this DJ gig at Neumos. Forgive me if I've written this before, but it bears repeating: The Detroit techno innovator is a brilliant electronic-music historian who invariably does the crucial job of educating and entertaining over multiple eras and styles; dude dropped a Pigbag cut in a fantastically polyrhythmic house and techno set last time he came through Chop Suey. Seattle's Pezzner (of Jacob London fame) is a freewheeling producer ushering minimal techno into some of the most enjoyable hot spots it's ever been taken. Fellow local Nordic Soul (Sean Horton) possesses an uncanny ability to read crowds and adapt to myriad situations, abetted by deep crates and deeper knowledge. DAVE SEGAL

Green Day, the Bravery

(KeyArena) Recently, a friend suggested that my continued, if seldom expressed, affection for Green Day's classic albums Kerplunk and Dookie was just misguided nostalgia, that these albums hadn't aged well, that my teenage tastes were just bad. While I'll concede that last point on some occasions, in this case, my friend is very, very wrong. I gave these records a spin the other day just to make sure that they were still exemplars of the East Bay pop-punk genre, and sure enough they totally rule. I lost touch with Green Day before they entered their current phase of scoring big, radio-ready, face-palmingly political mall-punk rock operas, but a quick listen to American Idiot and the new 21st Century Breakdown reveal the band have managed to take to their new role without completely embarrassing themselves. ERIC GRANDY

Valis, Stone Axe

(Comet) Featuring ex—Screaming Trees member Van Conner, Valis peddle heavy rock that's neither outwardly psychedelic nor exceptionally beautiful nor bracingly powerful enough to stand out from muscle-bound rock's middling masses. Sorry, Van. Screaming Trees wrote much better melodies, and so did Solomon Grundy, Conner's other group, for that matter. Port Orchard, Washington's Stone Axe conjure a guttural, soulful hard-rock cauldron that suggests they've absorbed their share of Humble Pie and Thin Lizzy. Singer Dru Brinkerhoff valiantly rasps in ways that make Steve Marriott and Rod Stewart comparisons seem not at all absurd. DAVE SEGAL

Octagon Control, Le Face, B-Lines, Le Shat Noir

(Funhouse) Line Out commenter (and Police Teeth guy) J. Burns pointed my internet browser in the direction of Bellingham's Octagon Control recently, and I can't thank him enough. Octagon Control remind me a whole lot of the convulsive punk rock deployed by Seattle's defunct Popular Shapes, only here the guitars are replaced by one fuzzed-out bass guitar and some spastic keyboard riffs. Everything is going about a million miles an hour, and the singer has the ideal sort of smart-assy snarl to complement the racket. Dudes currently have a split 7-inch out with Philadelphia's Doctor Scientist; here's hoping we hear some more from them in the record department soon. GRANT BRISSEY

The Fall of Troy, Black Houses, Beware of the Sea

(Sunset) Seattle's guitar-shredding, screamo-influenced trio the Fall of Troy have been very quiet this year, as they've been hiding out in the studio writing new material with Terry Date (Pantera, Deftones, Smashing Pumpkins' Zeitgeist). Tonight we'll finally be able to hear the fruits of their labor, and you folks who might've shrugged off the band in the past may want to reconsider not attending, as working with Date has uncovered a new sound for the band. Singer and guitarist Thomas Erak says people can "expect a more mature and musically pleasing Fall of Troy. The new material is a lot more grown-up. It's darker and more moody, as opposed to just being fast and wild." MEGAN SELING

Also, you can browse our online calendar for a complete listing of bands, DJs and live music.

In Up & Coming tonight:

See Me River, Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death, Battle Hymns

(Chop Suey) Without a doubt, the personal highlight of this year's Sasquatch! Festival was Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death frontman Spencer Moody's amazing, blitzed ranting between (and then during) songs with his old band the Murder City Devils. To paraphrase: Beautiful faggots rule, disgusting jocks drool (and beautiful faggot jocks are presumably very confused). While Of Montreal brought their usual gender-bent spectacle and Monotonix predictably played in the crowd, Moody's inspired outbursts were the only truly unexpected and uncomfortable confrontation in a long weekend of rock and roll as harmless recreation. It was the punk rockers crashing the frat party, it was revenge of the nerds, and it was awesome. The boozy spontaneous combustion looked like it damn near killed Moody as well, but if you're going to sing about wanting to see Iggy bleed, you've got to be willing to make an effigy of yourself onstage. Triumph of Lethargy are kind of like that moment sublimated into one long howl. ERIC GRANDY

Reverend Beat-Man, Delaney Davidson, Atomic Bride, Bill Collectors, Autolite Strike

(Funhouse) Reverend Beat-Man is a swearing and swaggering (and Swiss) evangelist for trashy, garage-punk blues. He croaks froggily about being a hard man in a cruel world and plays his guitar like it's Sun Records all over again—but darker, druggier, and shtick-ier. His tourmate, Delaney Davidson, is a New Zealander whose quiet country-blues has deeper, more gothic depths. Davidson plays Johnny Cash to Beat-Man's Jerry Lee Lewis. They make a nice counterpoint, but we all know who would win in a fight. Brooding beats histrionic any day. About the show, Davidson says: "I reckon I will play a half-hour set and then merge into the band." Don't miss that half hour. BRENDAN KILEY

Also, you can browse our online calendar for a complete listing of bands, DJs and live music.

Dave Segal on Sir Richard Bishop:

Sir Richard Bishop & His Freak of Araby Ensemble, Oaxacan

(Crocodile) As part of Seattle's Sun City Girls, one of underground music's most revered bands, Sir Richard Bishop usually played guitar while masked and costumed. He, brother Alan Bishop, and the late drummer Charlie Gocher gained a reputation for upturning conventional notions of live performance. At a Triple Door show earlier this decade, for example, they hit golf balls into the crowd, spouted virulent anti- American sociopolitical commentary while roaming around the elegant dinner theater, and wore Osama bin Laden masks during the height of his reign as Most Wanted Terrorist.

Sun City Girls' live unpredictability also funneled into their recordings, which varied wildly in style and quality. Omnivorous genre hybridizers and assimilators of many nations' musics, Sun City Girls toggled between iconoclasm and reverence, while filtering everything through a warped beatnik/mystic sensibility that unfailingly provoked strong reactions. At their best (Torch of the Mystics; 330,003 Crossdressers from Beyond the Rig Veda; Bright Surroundings Dark Beginnings), SCG made some of the most transcendent, third-eye-popping music ever

Also in Up & Coming:

VNV Nation, War Tapes

(Showbox at the Market) I thought Hamburg, Germany—based VNV Nation were glowering industrial-electronic ruffians, judging from the stream of promos I used to receive from genre stronghold Metropolis Records. But while I wasn't paying attention, VNV Nation drastically changed. The duo's new album, Of Faith, Power and Glory, sounds like a slightly more masculine Erasure and Dead or Alive, with melodramatic melodies redolent of new-wave bands like the Call (I hate that I remember them) and much modern trance. VNV Nation are unabashed romantics who use heroically galloping rhythms and sincerely overwrought strings that beg for big-budget Hollywood scenery to accentuate. It's a rich sound, for sure—maybe too rich. DAVE SEGAL

View our online music calendar for more shows and concerts going on tonight!

In Up & Coming tonight:

Pentagram, Nachtmystium, Emeralds, Sol Negro, Witchburn

(Studio Seven) Chicago's controversial black-metal band Nachtmystium (see their Wikipedia page) flaunt ultratechnical instrumental flourishes, shredding guitars and vocal cords with equally sadistic relish. Led by guitarist/vocalist Blake Judd (aka Azentrius), they build up a helluva symphonic ruckus. If composer Richard Wagner were born in the 1970s, he'd probably be in a band like Nachtmystium. Maryland's venerable Pentagram emerged in 1971, when Ozzy was svelte and somewhat coherent, and they've maintained an on-and-off career as one of doom metal's most resilient post-Sabbath metallurgists. Local sextet Emeralds inject some liveliness into the stoner-rock template; their exciting dynamics and memorable riffs prove the green hasn't gotten the best of 'em yet. DAVE SEGAL

Remember to check our online music calendar for a complete listing of bands, DJs and live music.

In Up & Coming tonight:

King Sunny Ade and His African Beats, Occidental Brothers Dance Band International

(Triple Door) For decades an ambassador to the West for the Yoruban Nigerian genre juju, King Sunny Ade touches his guitar and liquid sunshine emits from it. His spangly, cyclical riffs come equipped with beaucoup good vibes, as they undulate over the preternaturally intricate, interlocking rhythms of His African Beats. Even after 40-plus years in the biz, Ade can still wring magic from juju, as he proves with his latest album, Seven Degrees North. Singing in a light, warm, weathered tone, Ade sounds like a wise, content elder statesman, utterly confident about the joy he's spreading. His mantric songs make you feel as if you have all the time in the world and not a care in the world (okay, maybe one—like is my face going to break from smiling too much?). In his Nigeria, he's known as the "Minister of Enjoyment," so it's official. DAVE SEGAL

Looking for more events tonight? Try searching our online calendar for music and concerts.

Kelly O on Hunx and His Punx:

Hunx and His Punx, Ononos, Telepathic Liberation Army

(Funhouse, early) Some might recognize Seth Bogart as the keyboard player and singer from the hamburger-loving electro-pop band Gravy Train!!!!. Now he's also the mustachioed, leather-jacket-wearing lead singer of bubblegummy, homorrific garage band Hunx and His Punx. I don't think I've ever heard a band quite like them. The best way I can think to describe them is if someone put equal parts Ramones, John Waters, and the Ronettes in a blender with some ice and made hot-pink frozen daiquiris to serve at one of those big gay pool parties where everyone looks like early-'80s-era Freddie Mercury in a bathing suit. Hunx and His Punx have released singles on San Francisco label True Panther (think Ty Segall), Atlanta's Rob's House (think Demon's Claws, Black Lips, Golden Triangle), and Jay Reatard's Shattered Records. I predict their weird trashy combo of '60s girl-group styling and catchy lo-fi punk is going to seriously take them places, especially if Bogart keeps taking his clothes off every chance he gets. Much like the lyrics to new single "Cruising," I'd bet dollars to doughnuts he really does have "so many fellas, [he] makes all the girls jealous."

In Up & Coming:

Spindrift, Black Nite Crash, Levator

(Chop Suey) If Spacemen 3 were from the California desert and harbored an Ennio Morricone fixation, they'd probably sound like Spindrift. They exude that downered cool that comes from wearing fringed suede jackets and writing songs in minor keys with descending chord progressions and judicious use of reverb. Speaking of Spacemen 3, Seattle quintet Black Nite Crash tap into that seminal British group's '80s retrofitting of late-'60s psych rock with fiery aplomb. Their songs bear familiar structures, but they're executed with passion and liberal dosages of burnt-orange fuzz tones. A healthy worship of elegant Aussie psych-pop songsmiths the Church also surfaces. Levator purvey sweet, ethereal shoegaze with the methodical earnestness of Slowdive and Windy & Carl completists, distinguished by Sky Lynn's dreamy, featherweight vocals and glistening guitars. DAVE SEGAL

Remember to check our online music calendar for a complete listing of bands, DJs and live music.

The first time I heard the words "Mecca" and "Normal" in the same sentence was on a mixtape I received, circa age 16, from a girl in Pennsylvania who subsequently (I think) ended up on the wrong side of the law. The last time I heard those two words in tandem was on this flyer that my buddy Clyde from Your Heart Breaks emailed me.

House shows in Seattle are almost always a cozy, low key good time. Hollow Earth Radio is a quality organization to support. And if potlucks and friendly, DIY-minded company are your thing, please allow me to introduce you to your plans for the evening.

In Data Breaker:

Joy Von Spain

(Josephine) Von Spain's new album, Lady Lazarus (on the Scatological Liberation Front and available at Dissonant Plane and the Capitol Hill Sonic Boom), largely was recorded as collaborations, with much assistance from SLF's Gerald Hansen. "Beast Blob Parasite" is the wild bull in the symphony auditorium, coming off like a no-wave fracas that could make Lydia lose her Lunch. But with "Entrance of Durga," Von Spain attains a zenith of aural firepower, unleashing bitter torrents of scarifying noise, like some infernal choir of the Apocalypse.

In Up & Coming:

Bill Callahan, Bachelorette

(Triple Door) Bachelorette is the stage name of New Zealand musician Annabel Alpers. At the core of Bachelorette's songs on the new album, My Electric Family, is Alpers's alternately glassy and evaporating singing voice. Surrounding her singing are lush layers of traditional live instrumentation, expansive audio effects (delay and reverb up to the heavens), and tasteful electronic flourishes. The lyrics can get wincingly wonky, as on utopian electro-pop number "Technology Boy," but the arrangements—such as that song's stuttering vocals reminiscent of Morr Music softies Lali Puna—are consistently captivating. Bill Callahan is the dour tenor behind the much-loved, long-running solo project Smog. Recording under his own name for his past two albums, Woke on a Whaleheart and Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle, Callahan continues to churn out the terse and brutal and just sometimes bright-around-the-corners folk songs, always sung in that coldly commanding voice of his. ERIC GRANDY

These Arms Are Snakes, the Coathangers, the Whore Moans

(Comet) If you have a spot in your heart for TacocaT, then you'll definitely want to be sure to catch the Coathangers' set tonight. On their debut full-length, Scramble (released on local label Suicide Squeeze), these four fun ladies from Atlanta, Georgia, summon some of that same bratty and messy punk-rock prowess. Their songs are lo-fi and sloppy and put together in less than a day by musicians who've done more partying than practicing, but what the fuck ever—that's punk rock. It's not supposed to be perfect. And if you're ever really pissed, try cranking up the iPod and screaming along with "Gettin' Mad and Pumpin' Iron," where a squeaky voice yowls, "I'm gonna break your fucking face!" It's wonderfully cathartic. MEGAN SELING

Skeletons with Flesh on Them

(Mars Bar) Have you listened to Skeletons with Flesh on Them's latest record, All the Other Animals, yet? Have you!? I've told you over and over... what are you waiting for? I mean, I'd understand if you're a little hesitant. I once told you to like that melodramatic tween crap band Say Anything (I stand by their first record!). But trust me on this one! All the Other Animals is a sonic gem, beaming with fun pop tracks perfect for summer days. It's all playful and bright, it's got humor à la They Might Be Giants, but it's also got a menagerie of instruments and harmonies that fans of BOAT would appreciate. I love them and you should, too, and I won't stop saying so until you finally listen. MEGAN SELING

Project Lionheart, Fresh Espresso

(High Dive) Last month, Fresh Espresso's first album, Glamour, rose to number one on KEXP's Northwest charts, and it's still holding steady. Rapper Rik Rude and producer P Smoov came, saw, and conquered with "Lazerbeams," one of the freshest tracks on an album that's packed with raw energy. Indeed, there is an excitement on this record that makes you believe in the impossible: that hiphop still has a long future ahead of it. With Rik and Smoov, it is as if the past and its failures do not exist. Nowhere on any track is there a hint of bitterness, exhaustion, or resentment. The album presents the present as a brand-new day, as a fresh start, as a dawn of something new and unexpected. Rik and Smoov are on the move. CHARLES MUDEDE

Fences, the Lonely Forest

(Crocodile) Fences is the solo acoustic project of Seattle-based musician Chris Mansfield, a heavily tattooed dude who looks like he ought to be fronting a gutter-punk outfit. Appearances aside, Mansfield is wholly convincing as a folky singer-songwriter with a broken heart (inked) on his sleeve. His voice is faintingly soft, his lyrics bruised, his guitar strumming simple and augmented by only the occasional brushed backbeat. Mansfield spent some time studying jazz at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and while his stripped-down guitar ballads aren't overly complicated, they're clearly the work of a learned hand. Recently, Mansfield spent 28 days at a rehab facility in Kirkland for his "excessive consumption of alcohol." His last report is that he's "sober as a saint" and full of gratitude for the music he's making, as well he should be. ERIC GRANDY

Thee Satisfaction, Thee Emergency, Telepathic Liberation Army, TacocaT, Leslie & the LY's, Weekend, the Redwood Plan, Goon Squad, Hunx and His Punx, the Dutchess and the Duke

(Wildrose, 1 pm—midnight) Through the diligent efforts and fine taste of booker Jodi Ecklund, Wildrose once again hosts a damn strong lineup for Pride. Heavy on local talent and rock 'n' roll, today's party boasts, among others, retro garage-soul rockers Thee Emergency, scrappy pop-punk quartet TacocaT, and glitzy GarageBand purveyors Leslie & the LY's. Headlining are "campfire punkers" the Dutchess and the Duke and San Francisco's bubblegum punkers Hunx and His Punx, who've got showmanship to spare. All of this goes on outside in the sun (let's hope) until nightfall, when things move into the club and MC BenDeLaCrème and DJ Ponyboy take the wheel(s). GRANT BRISSEY

Don't see what you're looking for? Search our online calendar for a complete listing of bands, DJs and more.

Larry Mizell Jr on Thee Satisfaction:

Feelin' Alright, Thee Satisfaction, MKNG FRNDZ, The Redwood Plan, My Parade, the Get Off and Lesbianic
"It's been interesting, because we get a lot of love from the hiphop community," says Harris-White. "But it's kind of slower on the queer side—because we're hiphop, we're black. Maybe they're afraid their shows are going to get shot up, just like hiphop heads are scared their shows are going to get queered up. The thing is, fear is the same all over, no matter who you're fearing. But things are changing. We're performing at the Wildrose, and we're doing Pridefest, which is a big, big, big deal. Sure, it maybe took a little shoving, a little 'hey, we're doing stuff, and we'd like to, y'know, be a part of our community!'"

In Up & Coming:

Osaka Explosion, Daniel G. Harmann & the Trouble Starts

(Jules Maes) Daniel G. Harmann's newest release, the Our Arms EP, finds the stalwart Seattle musician expanding and further electrifying his beautiful downer ballads with the help of his band, the Trouble Starts. In the past, Harmann has sometimes played things lo-fi and spare, and while his foggy singing and his sad songs certainly don't suffer from that treatment, they tend to land with a little more satisfying weight this way. The songs are still sleepy-headed and soft, but they're wrapped up in warm, buzzing guitars against far-off echoes, with hard-hit drums holding everything down. It's mope rock for sure, but it's pretty lively mope rock. ERIC GRANDY

Thunderbird Motel, Antique Scream, High Class Wreckage

(Blue Moon) There's nothing on Thunderbird Motel's new record, Rock It Til the Wheels Fall Off, that you haven't heard before—blistering guitar solos, spoken-word intros about "feelin' sneaky," quick blasts of rock and roll with cocky lyrics about being an 18-wheel trucker and the kind of guy your "momma told you not to let in the door." But typical blues-tinted rock be damned, these dudes still deliver the goods. They're gritty, gnarly, and dirty—they're named after a motel on Aurora Avenue, for chrissakes. And just like that establishment, the sole reason they exist is to ensure that you have a good time, at least for one night. MEGAN SELING

Also, you can browse our online calendar for a complete listing of bands, DJs and live music.

Here's a list of places in town who will be remembering Michael Jackson tonight. If you have any to add, e-mail me at megan@thestranger.com or leave a comment and I'll add it to the list.

*EMP|SFM is hosting a Michael Jackson tribute happy hour tonight at See Sound Lounge. We will be spinning MJ’s tunes, showing videos and remembering an icon. 6-10pm, drinks specials a-plenty. See Sound is at 115 Blanchard.

*Thifty at Capitol Club (414 E Pine) is throwing a dance party tonight with DJs playing classic and remixed MJ tracks! 10 pm, drink specials all night, no cover.

*J-Justice promises to play plenty of Michael Jackson tonight at Grey Gallery for Blueprint. 9 pm, no cover.

*DJ Shotgun Lab will be spinning Michael Jackson vinyl tonight at Lottie's Lounge in Columbia City.

*There will be two hours of Jackson's music tonight at Havana (10th and Pike) from 7-9 pm, no cover.

*DJ Soulpatch has a four hour tribute to Michael Jackson tonight at the Triple Door Musiquarium (216 Union St) from 9 pm-1 am. No cover charge and happy hour specials available from 10 pm-midnight.

*All day Friday and Saturday, from 11 am-9 pm, the International Fountain at Seattle Center will be paying tribute to Michael Jackson while playing musical highlights from his life.

Also, word on the street (ahem, Twitter) says that some folks plan on partaking in some Michael Jackson karaoke tonight at Hula Hula, and Captain Black's DJ will also have a special MJ setlist.

Eric Grandy on Major Lazer:

Major Lazer ft. Diplo and Switch, DJ Ayres, Tigerbeat

(Neumos) Diplo and Switch are clearly no strangers to this music or its makers—they're professionals who make their living in record shops and recording studios—but it's safe to say they're counting on an audience whose knowledge of dub and dancehall might not necessarily extend any further than what they've sampled in their previous productions or occasionally mixed into their DJ sets. So Guns is more of a casual survey, a vacation to Jamaica, than it is an academic guided tour. This isn't a Soul Jazz anthology we're talking about here; it's a Saturday-morning cartoon. It's dancehall for dummies, but it's not (all) dumb.

Also in Up & Coming:

Here We Go Magic, Final Spins, Brittain Ashford

(Chop Suey) Lavishly praised by indie-pop icons like Ben Gibbard and Sufjan Stevens, and media institutions like Rolling Stone and the Onion, Here We Go Magic (Luke Temple) is gifted with an angelic voice that somehow doesn't cloy. Temple pens rich and strange songs of enchantment, seemingly out of an altruistic urge to bring more fragile beauty into the world. "Tunnelvision" represents the zenith of his artistry: a breezy slice of psychedelic folk seemingly woven out of Stevie Nicks's blouses and stardust, and powered by centaurs' hoofbeats. But HWGM is also capable of creating seriously eerie ambience that wouldn't sound out of place on a Kranky Records release. Here We Go Magic? Truth. DAVE SEGAL

Key Element, Neema, Mad Rad, Spaceman, DJ 100Proof

(Nectar) If Fatal Lucciauno represents the gangster side of his label, Sportn' Life, then Spaceman represents its pop side. (Or, better yet, what sounds like pop to my ears—it may sound like something else to other ears.) Spaceman, who has worked with Jake One and other notable beat-makers in town, is more in the stream of national hiphop trends. Though based in Seattle, he very well could be based in Atlanta or Chicago—and this is no bad thing. It shows that hiphop here is not limited to sad sounds, or to an obsession with rain, clouds, and gothic atmospheres, or to political and social realism. Spaceman could be the next big thing to come out of Seattle. He certainly has the commercial appeal that's needed to reach the stars. CHARLES MUDEDE See also My Philosophy.

Deer Tick, Dawes, Widower

(Tractor) Providence, Rhode Island, band Deer Tick play pretty traditional folk rock, marked by delicate, careful fingerpicked guitar and banjo, gentle walking bass lines, upbeat snare shuffling, and, most distinctively, singer-songwriter John Joseph McCauley III's simultaneously reedy and gutturally growling voice, which he plies in service of typically hard-luck lyrics. "Easy," the lead single from new album Born on Flag Day, finds the band sounding more electrified and amplified than on their previous War Elephant, but soon the album settles back down into calmer rootsy territory. If you don't dig McCauley's dingy singing style, these sparer arrangements, which throw his voice way out front, will irk, but some ears will enjoy the dissonance between the sweet background sounds and that worn-down whine. ERIC GRANDY

Remember to check our online music calendar for a complete listing of bands, DJs and live music.

In Stranger Suggests:

David Byrne

At age 57, this Talking Heads icon exhibited phenomenal athletic grace and stamina during his February concert at Benaroya. Byrne performed much of the two albums he recorded with fellow genius Brian Eno—as well as some of the Heads' most scintillating output—as if it were 1983, not 2009. Much of Byrne's appeal now hinges on nostalgia, but rarely do old chestnuts burn (down the house) as brightly as this spry New Yorker's avant-rock compositions. (Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St, 467-5510. 7:30 pm, $45, all ages.) Dave Segal

In Up & Coming tonight:

Tom Brosseau, Zera Marvel

(Tractor) Listening to Tom Brosseau's semi-nasal voice, you wouldn't initially think of it as a successful vehicle for the blues. (In fact, some of his tracks sound more like the ragtime classics that Robert Crumb has built a whole noncartoonist side career championing.) But combined with his minimalist guitar playing, some of Brosseau's sadder songs—especially "Rose"—definitely evoke some of that dust-bowl longing. If his tracks came with an old-record pop and hiss added in, you might get confused about when the songs were written. You can draw a family tree that would make perfect sense: Brosseau's folk is as much a full-blooded cousin to the blues as Josh Ritter's early work was kin to bluegrass. PAUL CONSTANT

Matisyahu, K'naan

(Moore) Writing about the Canadian-by-way-of-Somalia rapper K'naan back in March, I said, "Time will tell if [the just released] Troubadour jells into something as significant as [2006's] The Dusty Foot Philosopher..." And three months later, I can report that it has not. Still, consider that a testament to the brilliance of Philosopher, not a dis of Troubadour, which remains a sturdy if unspectacular release by a spectacular talent whose gifts are fully evident in his live show, which headliner Matisyahu will have to work his ass off to top. DAVID SCHMADER

Kelly O talks with Airpocalypse:

US Air Guitar Championships - Seattle Regional

Tell me what you're training for.
El Corazón is ground zero for the Seattle regional air-guitar competition. The survivor gets the privilege of competing in the nationals, where one of our nation's greatest will be chosen to represent the USA at the world finals in Oulu, Finland.

Are you worried about competition here in Seattle?
Absolutely. The ranks of great air guitarists grow with each passing day, and every competition brings a finer crop of new recruits. Seattle has several seasoned air guitarists at the moment, some of whom I have battled onstage.

...you might like to go see Goran Bregović and His Wedding and Funeral Orchestra. They're playing at the Moore tonight. You've probably heard one thing or another by Bregović: His music has appeared in the Borat soundtrack. Here's video of the Orchestra in concert from a few years ago:

On their website, Orkestar Kirkonium lists Bregović as an influence. I think the Balkan sound is about three minutes away from someone Pogues-izing the genre—mushing a folk music tradition with punk rock and creating a totally different kind of sausage—and it's always good to get some background before it breaks. If you're up for it, I think this will be a great show.

In this week's issue, Dave Segal profiles Flexions, the dark dub punk duo of Past Lives guitarist Devin Welch and photographer/musician Robin Stein:

A month and a half after forming, Flexions cut a 7-inch single that reflected their burgeoning psych and dub proclivities, and then in May issued Leisure Time, an eight-track EP available on vinyl and MP3 via the Journal of Popular Noise. Tracks like "Fetal Horses" (not to be confused with John Vanderslice's song of the same title, both of which draw from Oliver Sacks's Musicophilia), "Leisure Time," and "Underneath the Bank" exude a vital tension. Welch's guitar slashes at unexpected angles and clangs and ripples with a fluid intensity like some combination of Television's Tom Verlaine and Gang of Four's Andy Gill, though he declares Sonic Youth and the Slits' Viv Albertine to be a bigger inspiration. ("I like people who are amateurish but doing really creative things within their skill level.")

Flexions play the Comet tonight, 8pm, $6, 21+, with the Present & Queens and Sockai Stilhed.

Dave Segal previews Sixto Rodriguez:

Rodriguez, Arthur & Yu

(Triple Door) Sixto Rodriguez should've been at least as big as Leonard Cohen and Phil Ochs, if not quite in the same stratosphere of pop-culture prominence as Bob Dylan—or even Donovan. Coming up in late-'60s Detroit when that city was at its zenith of dominance in soul, rock, and funk, this Mexican-American street poet should've been swept up in the record industry's Motor City mania. He even had Motown rhythm-section ringers and session guitarist Dennis Coffey playing on and producing his debut LP, the 1970 cult classic Cold Fact.

In Up & Coming:

The Present & Queens, Flexions, Sokai Stilhed

(Comet) Brooklyn-based producer/musician Rusty Santos has earned low-key kudos as a behind-the-boards savant for Animal Collective, Panda Bear, and White Magic. As excellent as those artists are, they don't quite delve into the real weirdness like Santos does in his current trio, the Present. The group's debut full-length, World I See, explodes traditional song form into a miasmic mosaic of tones and textures, resulting in a bizarre new form of ambient unrock that makes Black Dice's beatless passages sound new agey (and I'm the Dice's number-one fan). On first listen, the new The Way We Are is another surreptitious reality-eraser on the lofty level of Biota, Vas Deferens Organization, and early Deuter. This record will fuck your mind so it stays fucked for a long time. Mental contraceptives are powerless. DAVE SEGAL

Cursive, Mt. St Helens Vietnam Band

(Neumos) Cursive's latest album, Mama, I'm Swollen, is not their greatest work—most would say that's the bitter breakup opus Domestica, though I'm partial to the reflexive brooding (bordering on dark comedy) of the Burst and Bloom EP and The Ugly Organ. Still, Swollen contains some classic Cursive moments, with Tim Kasher shredding his throat and his soul in equal measure, and his band backing him with perfectly bombastic arrangements of distortion, rhythm, and brass. Best of these is "I Couldn't Love You," whose subtle double entendre—I couldn't love you enough; I couldn't keep on loving you—Kasher belts out over a rousing chorus of brightly harmonious organ, brass, guitars, and big, volatile drum rolls. Live, Cursive swerve from uncomfortably quiet to painfully loud with aplomb, their already dramatic songs delivered with such exaggerated force that it seems like the band might just tear themselves apart. ERIC GRANDY

In Up & Coming tonight:

White Rabbits, the Subjects

(Crocodile) New York's White Rabbits are a six-piece rock band that combine worn, whiskey-scented singing (which has earned them some not entirely unfair comparisons to the Walkmen) with disorientingly busy percussion that, on their latest album, It's Frightening (produced by Spoon's Britt Daniel), wanders all over the stereo field. White Rabbits have two singers and two drummers, so it makes sense that they impress on those fronts, but that's not all that's going on; there's also looming, low-octave piano tones, rumbling bass, and loose, electrified guitars. Gripping enough in the moment, the songs seem like they should be catchier after the fact, but instead it's like trying to recall details from a blurry but pleasant night out. Their highly charged live show, on the other hand, looks totally memorable. ERIC GRANDY

Deastro

(Vera) Deastro (22-year-old Randolph Chabot) is Ghostly International's entrant in the Animal Collective emulation sweepstakes. It's probably not as calculated as all that, but there's no denying that Deastro's ebullient, slightly quirky pop—it's not so much left field as it is shallow center—resembles bits of Merriweather Post Pavilion. Tastefully bathed in reverb, his voice assumes an angelic cleanliness amid equally pristine textures that recall Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's subtly glowing productions. A cover of Steve Reich's Different Trains speaks of Deastro's good taste and ability to bolster minimalist composition with thick dollops of electronic sweetness. And "Vermillion Plaza" thrillingly takes urgent Giorgio Moroder dance tropes to the underage concert circuit. Deastro's Moondagger album is PG stuff, but undeniably engaging. DAVE SEGAL

In Underage:

Cut Off Your Hands, Thee Emergency

(Vera) It's great for a band to be hometown heroes, but a loyal local fan base can only take you so far. Skuzzy New Zealand indie poppers Cut Off Your Hands are wildly popular in their hometown of Auckland, and they're looking to bring their chilling, haunted house pop to new shores. The band, along with acts like the Ruby Suns and the Brunettes, is only the most recent product of a scene that has been exporting a surprisingly high yield of awesome bands since the 1980s (most notably, recently revived punk unit the Clean). COYH's debut album, You and I, released last year, is an epic batch of dark, tender pop in the vein of labelmates Les SavyFav, only less wacky. The band's show at the Vera Project on June 21 should be a moody good time, the perfect kind of low-key brooding for a muggy Sunday summer night.

In Up & Coming:

KEXP Father's Day Kids' Dance Party: DJ Riz, DJ Kid Hops, Darek Mazzone

(Showbox Sodo) Today the Showbox Sodo throws open its doors at the ungodly hour of noon for a most wonderful reason: the KEXP Father's Day Kids' Dance Party, featuring family friendly DJ sets from KEXP stars DJ Riz, DJ Kid Hops, and Darek Mazzone—along with cupcakes from Cupcake Royale and breakdancing demonstrations by Massive Monkees. Perfect for dads and families and weird shy adults who haven't danced in public for years but might be up for trying in a room packed with happy dancing kids. DAVID SCHMADER

Toy Soldiers, Man Party, the Horde and the Harem, Pillow Army

(Neumos) Man Party's song "Robot Overlords" really should be featured in the new Transformers movie. It'd be perfect! The local electronic band's synthed-out dance track could play while the Decepticons tear shit up: "We are the robots/We will control you... We will soon destroy you all at the time of our choosing." And just as Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox think they've gotten away after the second verse, the chorus could kick in again: "Robots fucking humans fucking robots fucking humans fucking robots..." It'd be a hell of a lot better than whatever shitty Linkin Park song they're currently using, anyway. MEGAN SELING

Candysound, the Ronz, Reservation Cops

(Skylark) Candysound is Burlington, Washington, vocalist and guitarist Teo Crider. Though he's assisted live with a bassist and drummer, he's one of those virtuosos whom other musicians hate: He plays guitar, sings lead, and harmonizes as the backup singer—and all his songs are perfectly beautiful works of art. Candysound's compositions have the tunefulness and raw-skin emotion of an Elliott Smith track, but he's got some surprises up his sleeve: Listen to his cover of Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," and you'll hear a happiness that even Elvis's great, self-satisfied cover of the song couldn't muster. Like Beirut and other one-musician acts, it's in song arranging where Candysound really shines. Let's hope he'll surprise us with some covers tonight. PAUL CONSTANT

From My Philosophy:

Khingz, the Physics, Yirim Seck, DJ Daps1, Spaceman

(Chop Suey) Now let's chat about Khingz. Since he's been on the scene—and that's been a long time now—he's made his hallmark not just his fierce lyrics and lightning-struck delivery, but his individual vision, his refusal to be boxed in. From utterly decimating MC battles to grassroots activism to decrying colonialism and homophobia on his now eight-year-old debut album, Mi Vida Negra, the cat most know as Khalil has always forgone being hard in favor of being complicated. His last decent chunk of work, Abyssinian Creole's Sexy Beast, was a study in the contrasts between him and his brother Gabriel Teodros, with Khingz providing the brassy, boastful counterpoint to Gabe's righteous affirmations.

Also in Up & Coming:

ISIS, Thrones, Mamiffer

(Neumos) ISIS are stars in the burgeoning metalgaze movement, in which beauty and beastliness jostle for supremacy in your headspace, often resulting in a bloody draw—but, wow, look at the pretty spatters all that plasma makes. On ISIS's latest disc, the aptly titled Wavering Radiant, Aaron Turner and Michael Gallagher's alternately spangly and rumbling guitar tones swell above Turner's tormented and wistful vocals—all of which coalesce into grandiose arrangements that reveal some members may have enrolled in a serious composition course at university. It wouldn't be crazy to note Neurosis's artfully heavy influence here. Oregon's Thrones (Joe Preston) has been trafficking in artfully heavy metal and doomy dirge-ology for 15 years. He's got 'em down to a diabolical science. A local unit led by Faith Coloccia, Mamiffer create a brooding, droning strain of chamber rock that's heavy in a nonobvious manner. DAVE SEGAL

Papercuts, Port O'Brien

(Vera) Papercuts is the quietly commanding indie-pop project of prolific San Francisco—based musician Jason Robert Quever. Quever has recorded with Vetiver, Cass McCombs, and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, and has toured with Grizzly Bear. These associations give some idea of Quever's style—gentle, pacifically paced, often acoustic, and inhabiting intimately small spaces overlooking wide-open fields of echo and reverb. His latest, You Can Have What You Want, is one of those undemanding albums that imperceptibly worm their way from pleasant background music to persistently haunting before you know it. Port O'Brien sing sad, lonely, sometimes satisfied songs about life on the sea, working a fishing boat, which is how singer Van Pierszalowski has spent many a summer. ERIC GRANDY

Naked Hearts, PWRFL Power, Cap Lori

(Healthy Times Fun Club) PWRFL Power's (aka Kaz Nomura) newest release, I Am a Confident Woman, is a mini-CD set in clear plastic with only a picture of Nomura and the words "Half Yogurt" printed on it. Previously an alias for Nomura's instrumental semi-improvisational performances, Half Yogurt is now the name of Nomura's new folk record label (scheduled releases include Cap Lori and Dennis Driscoll) and aspiring pornography concern ("pornography releases will take a bit as it is more complicated process," Nomura explains). The first song on the CD is a typically dexterous acoustic-guitar number about falling in love with a 16-year-old girl and how everything is possible when you're a teenager in love. The CD and the new label came with the announcement that Nomura and Cap Lori (aka Tennessee Rose) are engaged to be married, which by a weird twist will make him Spencer Moody's son-in-law. Congratulations, everyone. ERIC GRANDY

Johnny Vinyl's Half-Century Rock and Roll Circus: the Cripples, Blue Collar, the Missing Link, Aaiiee!!, and others

(Funhouse) This nine-band freak-out is in honor of Johnny Vinyl's 50th birthday. It seems to be a tribute and a celebration of old-skool Seattle garage punks. See, Johnny's been playing since, what, the 1970s? He started in garage band the Innocents and was then linked to the Missing Link, Radios, Cleavage (with Duff McKagan), and the Macs. I remember the Macs from that great '80s comp Seattle Syndrome Volume One (think the Fastbacks, the Fartz, and the Refuzors). Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, there'll be a lot of history in the house. I'm most excited to see synth-punks the Cripples reunite and play. They're a slice of more-recent Seattle history—2002-ish—when Fallout Records was still open and local Dirtnap Records still reigned supreme. KELLY O