WaMu Theatre. November 24th. (Sorry, the cheap-o $14.99 tickets are no longer available—I called and begged asked.) Get yer tickets through Ticketmaster (ugh, sorry) or the Qwest Feild Box Office, only.

KELLY EFFING CLARKSON! OMFG!

Many of you have probably heard that Benny Hills, one of my dearest friends and comet door person lost his life tragically in a house fire early wed morning. His death has been a shock to many of us in the Seattle music community, he was such a joyous soul. He also played drums in the power pop bands The Knast & The Shy Ones. Everyone who came into contact with benny was touched by his kindness. He was such a loving and beautiful man, and he made everyone coming to shows @ the comet feel special and welcome. His smile illuminated the planet! I can still hear him saying "maammmma" to me. In addition to this horrible passing, Benny's roomate, Raymond- our beloved comet bartender is now homeless and virtually penniless. He also needs our support and help after having to endure this first hand.

We are holding a celebration of Benny's life @ the comet this sunday 11/22 starting at 2pm -so many bands are volunteering to play and I am a bit overwhelmed-but I am trying to cancel the night show so we can do music from 2pm -1am -

The show is a benefit for the Hills' family and for lovely precious Raymond.

so far these bands have confirmed, but there are still many that will show up I am sure, just wanted to get the word out now.............love to all of you
Really hope you can all make it
Trying to set up a fund also for people who can't make it

CHAMPAGNE CHAMPAGNE
THE ABSOLUTE MONARCHS
SHINY BEAST
TINY LIGHT
WILDILDLIFE
HOTELS
THE GREATEST HITS
BROKEN NOBLES
DJ Darryl

$10 (GIVE MORE IF YOU CAN)

Unable are the loved to die. For love is immortality. ~Emily Dickinson

For much of this decade, Brooklyn-via-Olympia duo Kevin Doria (guitar, bass) and Joe Denardo (guitar) have vibrated our increasingly toxic atmosphere with their string-driven drone dirigibles, creating an oeuvre of both academic rigor and palliative rock power. Their music is vast and evokes nature (mostly air and water), but not in a platitudinous or corny way. Rather, Growing seem to channel these elements and then subtly manipulate them, forming stimulating sound waves on which lofty thoughts can surf.

See you at the show.

• Canary Sing jumps.

College girls Madeleine Clifford and Hollis Wong-Wear are smart chicks. Even the name of their group— Canary Sing— is smart; referencing the canary in the coal mine, referencing a book called Caucasia that left elemeno imprints on my mind.

The first time I saw Canary Sing was an accident; I was technically at the Rendezvous to check out THEESatisfaction, whom everybody was telling me I would love. Everybody was right for a change, but nobody seemed to know yet that Canary Sing could inspire equal passion. Rapping straight-forwardly over beats both obvious and left field (was that a sample from the musical Hair?), Madeleine and Hollis have distinct voices, conscious lyrics and hip hop skills that divulge their spoken word backgrounds. (Hollis speaks of the "space needle scratching at the vinyl of the sky.")

So what does all this have to do with cheap dates? Canary Sing are playing a free, all ages show at Throwbacks tomorrow, November 14th at 4pm. Get your broke ass there.

In other news, Sonic Boom's new Capitol Hill location at 1525 Melrose Ave. (between Pike and Pine) is projected to open Dec. 11.

The full 60 sq ft map will be on display at Cairo Gallery on Nov 20th as part of that weekend's Expo '87 festival. The story behind the whole thing is here. Remember to always use pick guards and purell your hands, people.

Schedule after the jump:

This Friday the Stranger is hosting its annual Genius Awards Party at the historic Moore Theatre. There's no award for musical genius, but every year we get some outstanding acts to entertain the official brainiacs, runners-up, and hangers-on. This year the line-up includes indie-pop smarty-pantses Throw Me the Statue, hiphop cut-ups They Live!, chillwave up&comers USF, and soulful collectors/selectors Emerald City Soul Club.

USF (formerly Universal Studios Florida) are opening the Genius Awards Party this year, and you can read all about them, their unexpected buzz, and the already much-maligned micro-genre "chillwave" in this week's music lead, Triumph of the Chill:

U.S.F. began in earnest only after the two moved apart and began collaborating by sending tracks back and forth to each other. In December of last year, while snowed in at their parents' houses in Edmonds and Magnolia, they recorded many of the tracks for their debut full-length, Ocean Sunbirds, in this manner. U.S.F. released their debut EP and played their first show in January of this year, and released Sunbirds in late June. By October 26, they had been featured on Pitchfork four separate times, twice for tracks from Sunbird, once for a remix of like-minded Florida act Blind Man's Colour, and once for an interview in the site's "Rising" column.

"Pitchfork approaching us was really cool," says Hargus. "I think it started with getting friended on MySpace by Ryan—what's his name?—Schreiber, the site's founder, then he Twittered about us, and they asked us for the record. It was definitely really cool and very unexpected."

The Stranger Genius Awards Party happens Friday, November 13th at the Moore Theatre, w/ Throw Me the Statue, They Live!, USF (Universal Studios Florida), and Emerald City Soul Club, $5, 8pm, 21+. Win free VIP tickets here.

Who do you suppose is more preppy/"privileged," anyway:

Vampire Weekend?

Or Phoenix?

(Before you answer, consider: Phoenix are from fucking Versailles; Vampire Weekend merely know how to pronounce Versailles correctly.)

• Suffocation
• Suffocation's Derek Boyer likes to headbang.

So it turns out East Coast death metal bands Vital Remains and Suffocation are headlining Studio Seven this Friday, the same night sludge metal Southerners Eyehategod are set to play El Corazon.

I’m torn. Should I keep it heavy and slow or fast and obnoxious?

UPDATE: So it turns out Eyehategod isn't playing until December 4th (blasted Nwhardcore.com front page!*) but this weekend still provides a pretty solid predicament.
The Emerald City Death Fest is being held this Saturday and Sunday at Studio Seven. I can only go one of the days.

Should I high-tail it to Studio Seven on Saturday to catch Vital Remains and Suffocation play alongside a dayful of cookie-monster voiced locals or show up Sunday for a day filled with solid locals such as Owen Hart, but headlined by faux-hardcore bands Throwdown and Bury Your Dead?

Decisions, decisions...

*Should've checked the Stranger's music calendar listings, which have both shows correctly listed.

This Friday the Stranger is hosting its annual Genius Awards Party at the historic Moore Theatre. There's no award for musical genius, but every year we get some outstanding acts to entertain the official brainiacs, runners-up, and hangers-on. This year the line-up includes indie-pop smarty-pantses Throw Me the Statue, hiphop cut-ups They Live!, chillwave up&comers USF, and soulful collectors/selectors Emerald City Soul Club.

About ECSC, if you haven't been to their long-running, critically-acclaimed monthly soul night at Lo_Fi or its wandering sister night, Talcum—well, just what the hell have you been doing? ECSC consistently brings crates and crates of rad and rare soul 45s to their nights, making for that rarest of situation in which every song sounds warmly familiar (the soul sound is just in our musical DNA at this point in history) even if you've never heard many of the records before. Their nights fill up fast, their crowd is ever expanding, so the Genius Awards party, where they'll be DJing in the spacious Moore Theatre lobby (and maybe in the basement bar?), might be a nice chance to see them with a little more breathing room. Or, more than likely, it'll just as packed with swanky revelers as anything. (This weekend is also their annual Rare Soul Weekender, as per the flyer above.)

The Stranger Genius Awards Party happens Friday, November 13th at the Moore Theatre, w/ Throw Me the Statue, They Live!, USF (Universal Studios Florida), and Emerald City Soul Club, $5, 8pm, 21+

Following early sellouts and rave reviews the past several years, and hailed by SPIN as “a pick-your-poison selection for your party at the edge of the earth,” the Sasquatch! Festival returns for its ninth year May 29-31 (Memorial Day Weekend), 2010 at The Gorge in Quincy, WA. For the first time, a special discounted 3-day festival pass will be available in time for the holiday gift season on Saturday, November 7 at 10:00 A.M. (PST) via sasquatchfestival.com. There are a limited number of discount passes, which will be available through December 31, 2009. Recently reunited indie rock legends Pavement will be performing. The festival’s complete lineup will be announced February 16.

Fuck! Yeah!

Again with the press release after the jump...

Just in time for the holidays, Caffe Vita (along with several partnering businesses and organizations) are releasing GIVE, a compilation of exclusive tracks from 36 local artists—from Ben Gibbard to Gabriel Mintz—with all proceeds to benefit Arts Corps, Ballard Food Bank, Rainier Valley Food Bank, University District Food Bank and West Seattle Food Bank. Awwww.

The album is out November 17th at www.giveseattle.org, Caffe Vita, Easy Street Records, Sonic Boom Records, University Book Store, the Crocodile, the Sorrento Hotel (?!), and Neumos. A benefit show—not for the charities directly but to cover expenses not donated to the GIVE projcet—with details TBA, will be held at the Crocodile on December 3rd.

Full press release after the jump.

Audion performs Mon. Nov. 16 at Triple Door with Pezzner (live) and the Knightriders DJ crew supporting. It's going to be an audio-visual spectacle unprecedented in the hallowed confines of that downtown dinner theater. (See video below for a brief taste.)

If I may make a request, I'd like to hear this. Thanks in advance.

Lo-Fi Performance Gallery, 429 Eastlake Ave E, 9 pm-2 am, $5, 21+.

Featuring all three members of Truckasauras plus versatile hornman Anthony Moore, Foscil tend to get overshadowed by Truck, but, as I wrote about a year ago in Data Breaker:

Foscil deserve at least as much attention as their flashier, kitschier counterparts receive. They bring the funk with slightly more nuance and cerebral intensity, emphasizing impressive instrumental prowess over Truck's Game Boy bleepage, WWE footage, and American-flag capes (not that there's anything wrong with those things). Think of Foscil as Truck's more responsible alter ego.

I'm hoping to get a copy of the new release tomorrow and will give my impressions after some quality time with it.

Foscil play the Crocodile Sat. Nov. 21 with Head Like A Kite and Animals At Night.

Press release after the cut.

If you're 21 or under and in a band with people who are 21 or under, submit a demo and get a chance to win gear, recording time, and more!

All genres are welcome—previous Sound Off! bands include Natalie Portman's Shaved Head, New Faces, the Lonely Forest, and Dyme Def. (See a full list of participants here.)

For complete rules and an entry form, visit empsfm.org/soundoff.

Halloween, with all its candy and kiddie costumes, makes light of a pretty serious aspect of the human condition: Ghosts are real. Maybe not in the form of ectoplasmic slimers or furniture-flinging poltergeists, but at least as a metaphorical means of explaining the memories we hold on to long after a person or thing or even a possibility is dead and gone. Who hasn't been haunted by such phantoms? There are plenty of places you can spend your Halloween this year, but if you want to hear some truly haunted music, there's only one show to see: Atlas Sound and Broadcast.

Atlas Sound is the solo recording guise of prolific Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox. Broadcast are the Birmingham, UK, duo of Trish Keenan and James Cargill. Both bands engage in what music critic Simon Reynolds, borrowing from Jacques Derrida, has dubbed "hauntology": music that explores "the paradoxical state of the spectre, which is neither being nor non-being." In general, this means lots of disembodied voices, echoes, blurry samples and hazes of sound, and a kind of sinister nostalgia or longing. But each of these acts takes a slightly different approach to busting out its ghosts.

Read and comment on the whole thing here.

Show details here and below.