Music

Data Breaker

Kid Smpl, Pantha Du Prince, the Sight Below, Tony Rohr

by Dave Segal

PANTHA DU PRINCE

HEAR TECHNO TIGER TONY ROHR (WHO'S HUNGRY FOR FROSTED FLAKES?)

The Knightriders crew has been keeping a low profile this year, with only a smashing Kenny Larkin gig at Lo-Fi to show on its ledger—till now. New York DJ/producer Tony Rohr is one of the country's most clever purveyors of wonky, stripped-down techno, with a string of brain-blitzing releases on elite labels like Plus 8, Drumcode, and Clink. Prepare to be disoriented with utmost efficiency. The rest of the bill contains some of the Northwest's most idiosyncratic (and underappreciated!) talent, many of whom release music on Knightriders' excellent label. It's going to be a long, amazing night. With the Naturebot, 214, JAK, Mathew Anderson, and Phaedrus. Lo-Fi Performance Gallery, 9 pm, $10 adv/$15 DOS, 21+.

TOWARD THE SKY: A HUSH HUSH RELEASE PARTY FOR KID SMPL

KEXP DJ Alex Ruder's Hush Hush label celebrates its first full-length release tonight for Kid Smpl's Skylight. The Seattle producer (aka Joey Butler) has gifted us with a collection of smoke-halo'd, slow-floating R&B tracks that are as poignant as watching your life savings swirl down a drain. This is impossibly smoldering and tender music that practically accrues a holy aura, an almost sacred intimacy. Kid Smpl puts an infinite amount of e's in "deep." Skylight comes out November 12, but you can pick up the CD tonight. D33J (LA's Djavan Santos), who just signed to anticon, calls his music "emotional 808" (no Kanye), and his chillaxed, blunted electronic music can out-horizontal most in today's crowded beatscape. Check out D33J's pacific Tide Songs EP for proof. With DJAO, Domokos, and DJ Coupe. Vermillion Art Gallery and Bar, 9 pm, free ($3 suggested donation), 21+.

PANTHA DU PRINCE, THE SIGHT BELOW

Pantha Du Prince is the rare minimal-techno producer who's crossed over with the Pitchfork-reading masses. Wait, come back. PDP (Berlin-based Hendrik Weber) ain't no indie-rock-pandering sellout, even if he has collaborated with !!! and Panda Bear and remixed Animal Collective's "Peacebone." Black Noise, PDP's latest album, is a gorgeous work dominated by tintinnabulating bells and gongs and twinkling melodies over cushiony, cruise-control 4/4 beats. Seattle's the Sight Below (Rafael Anton Irisarri) perfectly complements Pantha's low-key techno thrills with his own brand of subliminally infectious and thrumming dance music that makes you feel as if you're flying over northern Greenland and cruising in a submarine in the Arctic Ocean. With Nordic Soul. Neumos, 8 pm, $16 adv, 21+.