THURSDAY 3/15

HARSH
(Re-Bar) See Data Breaker, page 53.

PAUL RUCKER
(Seattle City Hall) See The Score, page 55.

MUSIC FOR LUNCH
(Sherman-Clay Piano & Organ) See The Score, page 55.

2MEX, DISJOINTED ISOTOPES, AVENUE ROCKERS, DJ WD-4D
(Nectar) While corpulent L.A.-based rapper 2mex is a seemingly overwhelmingly down-to-earth dude, (his website has hosted invitations to his house for "Monday Movie Nights") he also has a ravenous work ethic that lends itself to the oft-thankless grind of underground hiphop. Extended family of the Shapeshifters and Project Blowed crews, 2mex has, since the late '90s, had a stunningly prolific recorded output and touring schedule. He has produced successful solo albums (both under his own name and as SonGodSuns), been a primary force in groups the Visionaries and OMD (Of Mexican Descent), and most recently, has formed the avant hiphop band Look Daggers with Mars Volta keyboardist Ikey Owens. This latest artistic endeavor may prove to be one of 2mex's most fruitful yet, as Look Daggers combine his trademark blunted gonzo lyricism (one of their songs threatens to drag a girl to the harp store) with heroically uncheesy jazz-rock-infused backdrops. SAM MICKENS

FRIDAY 3/16

RUDY RAY MOORE
(Funhouse) See preview, page 36.

NIGHT CANOPY, THE FLEET FOXES, GHOST STORIES
(Crocodile) See CD review, page 43.

ANTIDOTE: MISCHA, MILKPLANT, BRIAN S
(ToST) See Data Breaker, page 53.

JOSHUA ROMAN
(Town Hall) See The Score, page 55.

CRACK SABBATH
(High Dive) As if saxophonics colossus "Scary" Eric Walton didn't blow enough crunk with his myriad other projects, he returns home to take on Mingus and Motörhead both. Crack Sabbath is Skerik's longtime local outfit, too combustible to exist outside Seattle, incorporating organist Ron Weinstein, Mike Stone on some snazzy red drums, and any willing guests. The band recorded a limited edition CD called Bar Slut a few years back, but theirs is mainly a live experiment with the intention of decimating any remaining elitist regard for the old-guard jazz canon. Standards like "Fables of Faubus" and "Jelly Roll" get a stomping, sweaty treatment alongside roaring covers of Nirvana and James Brown and delicately titled originals such as "Makin' Out with My Dad" and "Bukkake Ducati." Yuck/awesome. JONATHAN ZWICKEL

PLAIN WHITE T'S, BOYS NIGHT OUT, DAPHNE LOVES DERBY, MAY DAY PARADE
(El Corazón) Plain White T's scored the first charting single of their nearly decade-long career last fall with "Hate," a power-pop number buoyed by a goofily clever chorus ("hate is a strong word/but I really, really, really don't like you.") However, the Chicago-based band's signature song is the underground phenomenon "Hey There Delilah," which earned little radio attention upon its inclusion on 2005's All That We Needed but has now generated more than six million MySpace plays. Female fans wear "I Am Delilah" shirts to shows and sing along loudly with this endearing acoustic ode to long-distance love. The group's emotional regression on 2006's catchy yet unflatteringly bratty breakup-rant collection Every Second Counts suggests they fare best when celebrating romance rather than stomping on its ruins. ANDREW MILLER

THE SWORD
(Neumo's) All your 12-sided-die-throwing pubescent friends grew up, dropped acid, and formed bands. Part of the recent upswell of fantasy metal (see "Greeking Out," page 38), the Sword hail from Austin, Texas, but would make the perfect house band at Club Mordor down Middle Earth way. Strangely, they look like your typical Urban Outfitted indie band, but they shred with the passion of drunken bikers, delving loudly and unironically into a D&D landscape haunted by Norse gods, smoking battlefields, and starving wolves. Age of Winters, their 2006 debut on fantasy-metal mongers Kemado Records, is melodic and menacing at the same time, giving new meaning to the term "hit points." JONATHAN ZWICKEL

SATURDAY 3/17

DR. DOG, BOBBY BARE JR.
(Crocodile) See CD review, page 43.

LUNAR MODULE
(Bites) See Data Breaker, page 53.

KEITH EISENBREY
(University Temple Methodist Church) See The Score, page 55.

SUNSHIP
(Egan's Ballard Jam House) See The Score, page 55.

THE MICROSCORE PROJECT
(Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center) See The Score, page 55.

TIM SEELY, DAMIEN JURADO, KORBY LENKER, AT THE SPINE
(Chop Suey) I once described Tim Seely's old band Willis as "aggressively mediocre." Thankfully, the gracious and self-deprecating singer/songwriter didn't hold it against me—and even more thankfully, he's gone and produced a solo album that's one of the most charming, beautiful, quaintly quirky, and addictive records to come out of the Northwest in quite some time. Funeral Music is predominantly laced with gentle, wounded indie-pop numbers that float along like the tail end of a lazy summer-afternoon buzz, but songs like the title track and the rollicking "Hell Rules" prove Seely's still got fangs and a wicked sense of humor. More than that, he's got more talent and soul than I once gave him credit for. BARBARA MITCHELL

KAY KAY AND HIS WEATHERED UNDERGROUND, GHOSTS & LIARS, PORTUGAL THE MAN
(Vera Project) Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground are the orchestral army of Kirk Huffman of Gatsby's American Dream. The band dispatch sunny missives from the heart of urban bohemia, singing breezy songs of fulfilled romance and slack living. The band borrows liberally from the past, referencing everything from '70s radio pop to Jazz Age cabaret. They recorded their debut full-length live at Pretty Parlor, a boutique that updates vintage clothes in the same way Kay Kay et al. redress classic pop. Tacoma's Ghosts and Liars make less affected—but equally pretty—acoustic pop accented by violin and piano. ERIC GRANDY

SUNDAY 3/18

ORCHESTRA SEATTLE
(First Free Methodist Church) See The Score, page 55.

MONDAY 3/19

PATTY GRIFFIN
(Moore) Chances are you've already heard the music of Patty Griffin. Her songs have been recorded by Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, Dixie Chicks, even Bette Midler. But you haven't really, truly experienced Griffin until you hear her perform her own stellar originals. And her fifth album, Children Running Through, is a perfect place to start, showcasing a voice as strong and versatile as her compositional chops. Griffin waxes jazzy on the opening "You'll Remember," lets loose with a fiery blues/gospel number on "Up the Mountain (MLK Song)"—which no less a personage, the King of Rock 'n' Soul Solomon Burke, recently cut, too—and whips through the kiss-off ditty "Getting Ready" with hell-raising fervor. She's every bit as gifted as any of her A-list patrons, and deserves just as much public recognition. KURT B. REIGHLEY

TUESDAY 3/20

LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR, BOOK OF BLACK EARTH, OROKU
(Comet) See preview, page 38.

ANTI-FLAG, ALEXISONFIRE, BIG D AND THE KIDS TABLE, SET YOUR GOALS
(Showbox) Since the early '90s, Anti-Flag has played blistering and overtly political punk rock that speaks out against Bush, racism, consumerism, and conservatism. On albums like Die for the Government and Their System Doesn't Work for You, they had songs called "Red White and Brainwashed," "Fuck Police Brutality," and "The Consumer's Song," and they put their money where their mouth is by releasing their albums on independent labels like Go Kart, Fat Wreck Chords, and their own A-F Records. It was, for the most part, all very DIY, anticorporate, and grassroots. Then in 2005, they signed to a major label, RCA, home to Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, and Avril Lavigne. I'm callin' bullshit. MEGAN SELING

SHANE TUTMARC & THE TRAVELING MERCIES, KEVIN BARRANS, LONESOME RHODES & THE GOOD COMPANY, JORDAN O'JORDAN
(Chop Suey) Seattle's free-folk banjo psychedelicist Jordan O'Jordan writes simple, enchanting songs, and plucks and sings them gracefully. His debut record, Not Style, nor Season, nor Hard-Handed Lesson, is full of faded children's fables and introspective trips. His antique instrumentation—he also plays Autoharp, piano, and acoustic guitar—and whimsical lyrics might be at odds with Seattle's deadly serious rock scene, but they're a welcome break. Shane Tutmarc & the Traveling Mercies are another oddity, a straight-shooting revival of pre-rock gospel and blues. They're a family band, all Tutmarcs, and they've been practicing in their grandma's basement in preparation for this, their first live show. ERIC GRANDY

WEDNESDAY 3/21

DOMINIC CASTILLO AND THE ROCK SAVANTS, FROM THE NORTH, DRONEYS
(High Dive) From the North is the name given to a long-awaited reincarnation of Malfunkshun, Seattle's '80s metal lords who disbanded after singer Andrew Wood died in 1990. This past summer, Wood's brother Kevin found a box full of Andrew's lyrics and immediately called drummer Regan Hagar to put the words to music. After much debate, veteran singer-songwriter Shawn Smith was chosen as the voice of the group. The band recently finished recording 12 songs in Stone Gossard's Litho Studios, heavy, scowling tracks that hammer like Black Sabbath. From the North aren't simply redoing Malfunkshun's grunge—they pay homage and simultaneously advance the sound. TRENT MOORMAN

UNDER BYEN
(Chop Suey) If Björk were a blond bombshell fronting an even more experimental crew than her own, you might get something along the lines of Under Byen. Sure, it's an easy comparison for the female-fronted, instrumental-heavy group from Denmark, but you can't deny the similarities. On their 2006 release Samme Stof Som Stof, Under Byen ("under the city") splices European orchestral fragments with panic-inducing trances only to be mellowed back down by the tender voice of singer Henriette Sennenvaldt. At times, it almost seems as if she's softly whispering to the listener—in Danish—right before she connects with a gentle kiss. MACKENZIE McANINCH