The Stranger

(DON'T CALL IT BREAKDANCING) I don't know much about b-boys and b-girls (henceforth "b-persons") except (1) they prefer you not call what they do "breakdancing" and (2) watching b-persons spin, flip, pop, lock, kick, freeze, drop, and glide to everything from vintage hiphop to Paul Simon is like watching a magical hybrid of dance, gymnastics, and martial arts. Tonight, at midnight, the final 11-round battle of an eight-week tournament will decide the city's foremost b-personage. It's gonna be awesome. (The War Room, 722 E Pike St, 328-7666. 10:30-ish pm, $5, 21+.) by Brendan Kiley

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(LAPTOP WIZARDRY) Tekgnosis can now claim two Laptop Battle winners: m.O. won one in 2005 and Ryan "Squid Leader" Bird strutted away with this year's June 10 contest, earning the right to rep Seattle in this year's national championship. Tonight these fun-loving byte manipulators and V-drum specialists play solo and together as Tekgnosis at the ever-stimulating Oscillate night. They'll make you want to rave like it's 2009. (Baltic Room, 1207 E Pine St, 625-4444. 9 pm, $5, 21+.) by Dave Segal

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(THEATER) Lauren Weedman is, quite simply, the funniest woman in the history of ever. She knows how to bring the pathos, then drop kick it for comic effect. She's also a master of self-indictment. Bust is about a women's jail, Hollywood, and an unfortunate Glamour article. (Empty Space Theatre, 901 12th Ave, 547-7500. 7:30 pm, $25–$30, through Aug 5.) by Brendan Kiley

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(PAS DE DEUX) Cloudland Canyon are a German-American kosmische soundclash. Yank Kip Uhlhorn and Kraut Simon Wojan met while the former was touring in Germany in 2002 with his other band, Panthers. The two exchanged tapes and ideas over three years and produced one of this year’s finest brain-massagers, Requiems Der Natur 2002–2004. Inspired by Terry Riley’s cyclical minimalism and Ash Ra Tempel’s solarized guitar haze, Cloudland Canyon open your third ear to new vibrations. (Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave NW, 784-4880. 8 pm, $7, 21+.) by Dave Segal

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(SACRÉ BLEU!) America’s favorite alcohol-soaked songwriting competition returns with an all-star cast. The battling composers: SNL kook and former Blue Man Fred Armisen versus Martin Crandall and Dave Hernandez of the Shins. The celebrity judges: alterna-comics David Cross, Todd Barry, and Jon Benjamin. The winner: the Vera Project, for which the whole shebang—including opening act Pleaseeasaur— is a benefit. (The Showbox, 1426 First Ave, 628-3151. Doors at 8 pm, show at 9 pm, $25.) by David Schmader

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(RECHERCHÉ) For years, the most ferocious and thrilling hard techno came from Sweden. Producers like Cari Lekebusch, Adam Beyer, and Joel Mull laid down girthful grooves at breakneck tempos, embellished them with myriad hand percussion and bells, and made listeners feel as if they were in a war zone—or at some club run by Nietzschean Übermenschen. Mull has been delivering high-impact, uptempo beatdowns since 1996; this rare Seattle date should be a dazzler. (Des Amis, 1013 E Pike St, 322-0703. 9 pm, $10, 21+.) by Dave Segal

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(JOIE DE VIVRE) Back before Delaware at Re-bar and noSIGNAL at On the Boards, “Awesome” used to play straight-ahead concerts—or the closest thing to straight-ahead concerts as the theatrical-minded musicians could manage. Tonight the band returns to its roots, with musical saws, comedy, performance art, a clutch of surprise guests, and, of course, songs about robot ghosts, drowned men, bullhorns, birds, and bees. (Open Circle Theater, 429 Boren Ave N, 382-4250. 8 pm, $10.) by Brendan Kiley

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