DJS IZ & DIZ
Casa Del Ritmo brings in San Francisco/Chicago DJs Iz & Diz for four hours of house. Recording for esteemed labels like Classics and Music For Freaks, Iz & Diz take house down lushly melodic and eccentrically soulful avenues. Find out why important DJs like Gilles Peterson, Derrick Carter, and Luke Solomon cane Iz & Diz's tracks. Diz has a new mix CD out on Takeout called Decks and the City: Vol. 2 that looks hot, too. With Wesley Holmes & Ken Wallace. Chop Suey, 1325 E Madison St, 324-8000, 9 pm-2 am, 21+, $10 adv, free for drag queens.
I AM SPOONBENDER
San Francisco trio I Am Spoonbender anticipated indie rock's current fixation on analog electronic textures and spazzy post-punk funk by five years. Check out their astounding debut album, Sender/Receiver (GSL, 1998), for Spoonbender's ingenious filtering of Tago Mago-era Can's tribal rhythmic power, This Heat's unconventional dynamics, and Trans Am's post-rock/ electronic/musique concrète interface. Spoonbender's newest release, the Shown Actual Size EP, peddles Liquid Sky-esque electro-pop that could segue nicely on a mix tape with the Normal's "T.V.O.D./Warm Leatherette" single. With the Fitness and Anna Oxygen. Graceland, 109 Eastlake Ave E, 381-3094, 9 pm-2 am, 21+, $8.
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 16
LAPTOP BATTLE
Sixteen of the finest PowerBook wielders from Seattle converge at Chop Suey tonight to see who can turn binary code into the most exciting sounds. Electronic musicians are not usually known for their competitiveness, but in this context, adrenaline--and FX tweaking--will run high. Each contestant gets three minutes to strut his digital stuff, which will be judged by laptop luminary Bobby Karate, an indie rocker (still unannounced at deadline), and show MC Zapan's grandmother. The lineup includes Kris Moon, Aaron Bolton, Choncey Langford, Randy Jones, Cass Corridor, Absolute Madman, DJN, Nordic Soul, and more. Chop Suey, 1325 E Madison St, 324-8000, 9 pm-2 am, 21+, $6.
GOLDIE
In my circles, drum 'n' bass has vanished from the radar. No one talks about it, nobody gushes about amazing new artists. Is jungle dead? The genre's golden age (1992-'97) has long passed, but the most flamboyant d 'n' b ambassador, Goldie, is still carrying the torch. Boss of England's excellent Metalheadz label, he is a jungle true believer who has a canon loaded with classic tracks (and some bloated prog bunk that he calls "inner-city ghetto music," but is actually closer to ELP and anodyne New Age). Supporting Metalheadz.03, the label's first comp in six years, Goldie will attempt to prove d'n'b hasn't totally lost the rhythmic inventiveness it pioneered a decade ago. With MC Armanni and Demo. Baltic Room, 1207 Pine St, 625-4444, 9 pm-2 am, 21+, $10.
