The Stranger Suggests: '2001: A Space Odyssey'

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SAT
APR 21, 2012

You say you saw 2001: A Space Odyssey before? Bullshit. You haven’t really seen Kubrick’s sci-fi mindfuck until you’ve gawked at a new 70 millimeter print on the Cinerama’s gigantic screen. 2001’s scope—from the dawn of man to the, er, far-flung (and CGI-free) future to something beyond all that—is an experience you can’t take in on a shitty dorm TV through a cloud of smoke. You have to soak your eyes in Cinerama’s mammoth wall of color and light to begin to understand why it’s one of the five best movies of all time. (Cinerama, 2100 Fourth Ave, 448-6680, 5:30 and 9:30 pm, $20) by Paul Constant

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State law compels you to join the Seattle Gin Society to attend the first annual Ginvitational, but it could be worse: Membership includes more gin events, gin tastings, and gin, gin, GIN. The Ginvitational itself includes 15 kinds of gin, with local distillers Batch 206, Captive Spirits, Oola, Sound Spirits, and Sun Liquor represented. Start with the top five, as selected by judges such as Murray Stenson of Canon and Anu Apte of Rob Roy; continue until your taste buds give out. The Society’s favorite will be crowned the best gin in all the land, and you will stroll ginnily through the park. (Shelter House at Cal Anderson Park, 1635 11th Ave, www.gin-society.com, 2–7 pm, $25 adv/$35 door, 21+) by Bethany Jean Clement

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Also Suggested Today: ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’First Annual Ginvitational

SUN
APR 22, 2012

Langston Hughes African American Film Festival

Back at home at a thoroughly refurbished Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, the 2012 African American Film Festival offers nine days of features, shorts, and documentaries, chronicling everything from queer blues divas of the 1920s to fantastical female polygamists in contemporary West Africa to the impact of lesbian feminist poet Audre Lorde on the Afro-German Movement. The 2012 fest wraps up this evening with the closing-night feature Restless City, Andrew Dosunmu’s stylish drama about Nigerian immigrants chasing the American dream in 21st-century NYC. (Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, 104 17th Ave S, for full schedule and ticket prices go to www.langstonblackfilmfest.org) by David Schmader

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MON
APR 23, 2012

Brooklyn’s School of Seven Bells create some of the slickest gothtronic, shoegazey pop this side of Zola Jesus. Now down to the duo of guitarist/producer Benjamin Curtis and silken-toned vocalist Alejandra Deheza following the departure of the latter’s sister, Claudia, in 2010, SVIIB have released three albums for the renowned Ghostly International label that are as beautiful as their members are photogenic (damn their aristocratic genes). The latest, Ghostory, swirls and surges into a ravishing, Cocteau Twins–esque ether. (Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave, www.thecrocodile.com, 8 pm, $13, 21+) by Dave Segal

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TUE
APR 24, 2012

I’m no percussionologist, but if Dave King of the Bad Plus (and many other bands) isn’t the greatest drummer alive, I wanna know who is. King is an esoteric jazz-head who appreciates pop, understands that improv is work (not just noodling), and knows that any great enterprise depends on people caring more about it than themselves. (Plus, he’s a charmingly happy guy.) King for Two Days hovers around a two-day concert at the Walker Art Center. The music is genius, the personalities are winning, and one attempt to play Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” in 4/4 time is a truly comical/magical moment. (Grand Illusion, 1403 NE 50th St, www.grandillusioncinema.org, 9 pm, $8) by Brendan Kiley

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WED
APR 25, 2012

The short stories of Israeli author Etgar Keret are delicious little cartoonish seizures that take over your whole brain for 10 minutes at a time and then leave you feeling blissfully exhausted. They always start and end in unexpected places. His new collection, Suddenly, a Knock on the Door, is a good-hearted parade of problematic children, talking fish, occasional violence, some love, and quantum physics. It’s also packed with great, intriguing sentences like this one, which kicks off the story “One Step Beyond”: “Killers for hire, they’re like wildflowers.” Tell me more, Mr. Keret. (Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, www.townhallseattle.org, 7:30 pm, $15) by Paul Constant

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In a Silent Way: The Music of Electric Miles Davis

Two critics shaped the way I think about music: Stanley Crouch (jazz) and Greg Tate (hiphop). Crouch hates jazz fusion and late Miles Davis; Tate’s hiphop criticism is built on a foundation of Davis’s “early electric repertoire.” Had Tate not loved this period so profoundly, I would have dismissed jazz fusion with Crouchian contempt. But thanks to Tate, I have a warm spot for In a Silent Way, an album that, along with Bitches Brew, will be performed tonight by New York–based composer Bobby Previte and a large ensemble of Seattle-based musicians (Wayne Horvitz will handle the keyboards). (The Royal Room, 5000 Rainier Ave S, www.theroyalroomseattle.com, 9 pm, $12 adv/$15 DOS, all ages) by Charles Mudede

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Also Suggested Today: Etgar Keret In a Silent Way: The Music of Electric Miles Davis

THU
APR 26, 2012

Seattle Asian Art Museum’s Colors of the Oasis: Central Asian Ikats is a cross between the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition that swept the Metropolitan Museum last year and the Indian painting show that mesmerized thousands at SAAM in 2009. Ikats are vividly dyed and woven fabrics from Central Asia, and the 19th-century robes in this exhibition are a riot of mixed influences from India, China, Russia, the Arabic world, and Europe. (Seattle Asian Art Museum, Volunteer Park, www.seattleartmuseum.org, 10 am–5 pm, $7 suggested) by Jen Graves

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FRI
APR 27, 2012

Powerhouse chanteuse Storm Large has got a singing voice so huge and dexterous and lovable, she could be devoid of all other positive traits and still be a star. As it is, she’s also hilarious (see her eternal classic “[My Vagina Is] Eight Miles Wide),” a successful writer (her hit solo show Crazy Enough is now a memoir published by Simon & Schuster), and totally hot shit to look at. Tonight, Ms. Large storms the Neptune for a night of songs and words and real-time diva worship. (Neptune Theatre, 1303 NE 45th St, www.stgpresents.org, 8 pm, $20 adv/$22 DOS, all ages) by David Schmader

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