Seattle’s Plan B are throwing a CD-release bash tonight at the War Room with sonic comrades Foscil, M. Evans, and Hidden Habitats (DJs Bumble Bee, Kamui, and Hideki). I’m the Captain, Where We Going? (Fourthcity), Plan B’s first disc since 2003’s Keepsake EP, brings much reason to celebrate. James van Leuven & Co. have expanded their sound palette, embellishing their hiphop foundation with orchestral grandeur, gorgeous female vocals, and various string instruments that evoke old Europa and Gabor Szabo’s fluent ethno-jazzadelia. Recorded in Seattle and in various European cities, I’m the Captain comes freighted with blissful atmospheres, dreamy melodies, unconventional textures, and transporting, head-nodding beats. And on the title track and “Curtains,” Plan B construct their most ambitiously cosmic compositions to date. I thought somebody had slipped in a Miles Davis disc from 1970 for a while there.

Here’s the Plan B lineup for tonight:
James van Leuven: Drums/Laptop/Bass Guitar
Bill Jones: Trumpet
Sarah Standard (Carissa’s Wierd): Violin
Anita Rendall: Violin
Adam Swan (Foscil, Truckasaurus): Keyboards
Pat Kearney (Automaton): Bass
Dann Gallucci (Murder City Devils, Modest Mouse): Guitar
Krista Warden: Vocals
Leigh Gable: Keyboards/Bass