Wednesday 8/1
Nipsey Hussle, Jay Key, DBoi, Clemm Rishad, Infiniti, D.Worthy
(Nectar) See My Philosophy.
Scorched-Earth, Teratism, Hellgoat, Old Skin
(2 Bit Saloon) Scorched-Earth are metal of the black, death, and thrash variety (think heavy, blast-beaty and fronted by a rabid goblin). The music itself is not particularly groundbreaking, but their latest album, Mars, tells a tale of two planets! And apparently it was only the worst of times, since every song is about war and blood and more war and the killing of everything in sight, on Mars (I think). Teratism are even more black (rich black? Ha!) metal sounding, and the rabid goblin fronting this band is about to explode into slimy green and red goblin chunks. Who doesn't want to see that? Hellgoat and Old Skin get points for disturbing band names. EMILY NOKES
Maceo Parker
(Triple Door) Few saxophonists have played a more integral role in furthering the funk (and the soul) than Maceo Parker. The man has exhaled metric tons of vital air into songs by James Brown, the J.B.'s, Funkadelic, Prince, Material, Living Colour, Deee-Lite, and De La Soul, among many others. He may not be the rhythmic powerhouse he was back in the '60s and '70s, but even at 69, Parker still exudes vibrancy and possesses torrid chops. He's still "Doing It to Death." DAVE SEGAL
Thursday 8/2
Pizza Fest 2012: Sonny and the Sunsets, Orca Team, the Wimps, Fuckaroos, Brandon Daniel & the Chics
(Funhouse) See preview.
Maceo Parker
(Triple Door) See Wednesday.
Ozomatli, the Torn ACLs
(Showbox at the Market) LA ensemble Ozomatli have been around for 17 years and gotten plenty familiar with Seattle over that span, playing multiple venues, Bumbershoots, and last year's City Arts Fest. It's likely many locals are equally familiar with the band's Latin/funk/hiphop/jazz fusion, so here's some things you might not know about them: Their name comes from the Nahuatl word for the Aztec astrological symbol of the monkey, also a god of music and dance. April 23 is officially recognized as "Ozomatli Day" in their hometown of Los Angeles. The US Department of State also invited them to serve as "cultural ambassadors" on a series of global tour dates. People in Tunisia have seen them perform; you probably should, too. MIKE RAMOS
Friday 8/3
Pizza Fest 2012: Shannon and the Clams, the Yolks, White Wires, Golden Pelicans, King Lollipop, the Biz, Grave Babies, Wrong Words
(Funhouse) See preview.
oOoOO, Magic Fades, Nightmare Fortress, Rxch Wxtch, Ozma Otacava
(Chop Suey) See Stranger Suggests.
Substrata 2.1
(Chapel Performance Space) See Data Breaker.
Hounds of the Wild Hunt, Hobosexual, Strong Killings, Lonesome Shack
(Columbia City Theater) Why should places like New Jersey have the market cornered on proletariat rock? Springsteen and Titus Andronicus both strike out from the Garden State with a workingman's viewpoint and brawny guitar noise that's not afraid to admit that life isn't always a cakewalk (only they don't get all whiny about it cough Social Distortion cough). Thankfully, we've got Hounds of the Wild Hunt, whose latest, El Mago, is another slab of gloriously anthemic, sing-along gnash-and-yowl. Tonight's the record-release show, in their homeland venue, and the Hounds are absolutely enthralling live. After all the shit that's gone on between this album and the last, I expect the proceedings to be spectacular. GRANT BRISSEY See also Sound Check.
Barenaked Ladies, Blues Traveler, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Cracker
(Marymoor Park) What I want to discuss is not the Barenaked Ladies (a Canadian pop band that had a moment in the sun in the late '90s), nor the tune that made the band famous and rich, "One Week," but one line in the tune "One Week": "I'm the kind of guy who laughs at a funeral." Let's think about this for a moment: What kind of guy laughs at a funeral? How is this guy different from one who, say, cries at a funeral? And exactly how does this guy laugh at a funeral? Is his a mocking laugh ("ha, ha, you lose")? Or is it a phony laugh, a laugh with no mirth or meanness—a laugh that laughs. Or is it a laugh that booms from the belly ("HA! HA! HA! HA!")? Indeed, what kind of guy laughs at a funeral? CHARLES MUDEDE
Whitney Ballen, Winnebago, Timothy Robert Graham
(Rat and Raven) I can't stop, won't stop listening to Winnebago's recently released EP, Early Morning. The local band's guitar-heavy pop songs are uncomplicated and breezy, just like the perfect summer day. Guitar flutters around as delicately as butterfly wings and harmonies drift in and out like the clouds that break up the blue sky. I know that sounds a bit flowery, but it's true. Early Morning is lovely. It's available for free at www.winnebagomusic.bandcamp.com, so now you can listen to it over and over again, too. MEGAN SELING
No Depression Night: Shovels & Rope, Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside, Legendary Oaks, Fly Moon Royalty, DJ El Toro
(Mural Amphitheatre) No Depression and KEXP have joined up to present some great folky talent. Shovels & Rope hailing from Charleston, Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside from Portland, and locals Legendary Oaks all take a creative approach to playing in the American roots tradition. For a different kind of Americana, we have Seattle hiphop duo Fly Moon Royalty, who I hear absolutely killed it on "Baby Got Back" at the CHBP. The show is free, all ages, with a beer garden for the over-21 folks, all starting at 5:30 p.m. A perfect outdoor summer evening awaits. GILLIAN ANDERSON
Mynabirds, Deep Time
(Barboza) Deep Time are one of my new favorite bands! I can't believe I waited so long to listen to them. Their self-titled album is the official summer soundtrack for me dancing around my house with a guinea pig in each hand. Mixing just the right amount of pop melody with weird, succinct rhythms, this Austin duo (Jennifer Moore and Adam Jones) makes extremely catchy music that seems familiar, yet doesn't really sound like anything else. This whole album got lodged in my head on repeat after one listen—a welcome exchange for the Justin Bieber song that has been stuck in there, against my will, for what has seemed like an eternity. EMILY NOKES
Gaza, Eagle Twin
(El Corazón) "My least favorite thing about heavy bands is that they tend to get more mellow as they go," said Gaza vocalist Jon Parkin in a recent interview. "We try to set a standard for ourselves... to be more aggressive, darker, more focused." Sure enough, the Salt Lake City doomcore group sounds more and more like a wounded beast howling over buildings collapsing in slow motion. Fellow Beehiver and guitar virtuoso Gentry Densley of Eagle Twin followed a similarly grim trajectory. He spent the '90s leading Iceburn—a music collective composed of hardcore kids experimenting with free jazz—before applying his knack for twisted chord arrangements and improvisation to the molten sludge of Eagle Twin. Now if only Baroness had followed suit and gotten darker and meaner with their latest record... BRIAN COOK
Saturday 8/4
Pizza Fest 2012: Kepi Ghoulie, Dog Party, Head, the Rags, the Pets, Personal and the Pizzas, Fancy Lads, Ketamines, Tacocat, Maxines, Vomettes, Teenage Burritos, the Pharmacy, Girl Dracula, Mattress
(Funhouse) See preview.
Mattachine Dance Party: John Cameron Mitchell, PJ DeBoy, Paul Dawson
(Chop Suey) See preview and The Homosexual Agenda.
Parallels, Terabyte and the Battery Eaters, Vox Maquinista
(Lo-Fi Performance Gallery) See Data Breaker.
The Flavr Blue, DJs Swervewon and WD4D
(Barboza) See My Philosophy.
Turandot
(McCaw Hall) Maybe Turandot, the cruel mythical Chinese princess who has the heads of her suitors cut off when they inevitably fail her riddle test, just doesn't want to get married. Did Puccini ever think of that? Hmm? She could have been the Queen Elizabeth of her day! Okay, that's another story. In this classic opera, based on a story by the Italian playwright Carlo Gozzi and left unfinished by Puccini when he died in 1924, Turandot's cold heart is warmed by the nobility of a slave girl. Though the piece is popular, it hasn't been staged at Seattle Opera since 1996, when Jane Eaglen sang it. This new production is the Seattle debut of Quebecois director/designer team Renaud Doucet and André Barbe. In photographs, their version looks like a spectacular fairy tale. Expect bright colors, gongs, racially questionable mustaches, and bleeding, screaming, freshly decapitated heads. JEN GRAVES
Sunday 8/5
Fang Island, Zechs Marquise, Jenny Invert
(Crocodile) See Underage.
Turandot
(McCaw Hall) See Saturday.
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, the New Law, Justin Timbreline
(Barboza) Oxford, England's Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs combine understated, flat male vocals with mildly euphoric, sweetly melodic dance music not a million kilometers from the work of fellow Brits Hot Chip. TEED's keen aptitude for wonky textures and tension-and-release dynamics elevate their material above many in this crowded field. They also had the brilliant idea on "Tapes & Money" to pitch-shift (or replicate) a sample of Funkadelic's "feet don't fail me now" refrain from "One Nation Under a Groove." A Funkadelic sample or reference will win me over every time. All things considered, TEED are worth your sweat and energy expenditure. DAVE SEGAL
Kasey Chambers
(Triple Door) You know how some music doesn't exactly age well? I saw Kasey Chambers's name on the list of upcoming shows, had a moment of recognition because I certainly had her album Barricades & Brickwalls in the early '00s, and had a fond association. I like her voice, but blergh. Sorry! I would say this is definitely a show to go to if you have a soft spot for Australian country music, if you are me 10 years ago, if you're not pretty enough, if you're heart's too broken, if you cry too much, if you're too outspoken. C'mon, I can see right through you. ANNA MINARD
Monday 8/6
Strong Killings, Android Hero, the Shivas
(Funhouse) Local punk trio Strong Killings have a song called "Too Cool" that instantly recalls Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher." I know Van Halen aren't "cool" anymore—especially the non-gigolo-dorky-Steve-Martin-look-alike that is now David Lee Roth—but back in 1984, Van Halen were the COOLEST. I wonder if guitarist Nate Mooter realizes his vocals sometimes sound like Diamond Dave's? And maybe he channels a bit of his silly swagger, too? Again, I'm talking '84 glory-days Dave, though, when he still ruled everybody's school. KELLY O See also Sound Check.
Tuesday 8/7
Sharon Van Etten, Tennis, Lemolo
(Neptune Theatre) See Underage.
dBridge, Homemade Weapons, Matt Tremor, Iris
(Baltic Room) See Data Breaker.
Elzhi, Thaddeus David, Justis, DJ Swervewon
(Crocodile) See My Philosophy.
Jay Thomas Big Band
(Tula's) Jay Thomas is an experienced and talented trumpeter and saxophonist who often plays with the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, teaches in Garfield High School's nationally recognized jazz program, and has released numerous albums, one of which, Live at Tula's, features the incredible John Hansen on the piano (Hansen and Thomas are of one mind on this recording). If your desire is to hear solid, no-nonsense jazz (not jazz on the rocks, but jazz neat), this desire will be easily satisfied by Jay Thomas. CHARLES MUDEDE
White Denim, Yuni in Taxco, D.evolution.Aires
(Tractor) White Denim's neo-psych rock conflates melody with textural spikiness and rhythmic chaos in ways that give rise to an exquisite tension. These Austin dudes' songs give off sparks of excitement that speak volumes of a restless creativity that puts to shame that of more celebrated bands of their ilk like the Black Angels. The music of Seattle trio D.evolution.Aires thankfully isn't as annoying as it is to type their name. They purvey rock that brandishes bravura riffs and thrilling dynamics, with hooks that are both familiar and slightly strange. Wouldn't be surprising to find a large stash of excellent prog-rock records in the band members' pads. Their music has energy and ambition to burn. DAVE SEGAL
