PARTIES
by Dave Segal
FRIDAY JULY 9
TOO $HORT
Given his paucity of lyrical gifts, it's miraculous Atlanta rapper Too $hort's stayed in the game 21 years. If you removed the words "bitch," "dick," and "ass" from his songs, they'd practically be instrumentals. Too $hort's fixation on his johnson and sex verges on pathological. (He says he's just playing a character in his songs; if so, it's still dull.) Now, I dig raunchy lyrics, and some of the best hiphop springs from XXX impulses. But when they're as witless and pedestrian as $hort's, they come off as tediously banal as a Hustler cartoon. Sex, thugs, and rock 'n' blow comprise his entire universe (and his former home base of Oakland, too). MCs like LL Cool J and Kool Keith have waxed much more clever and humorous about booty, coochie, and fellatio. $hort and his producers' rudimentary funk rhythms are as one-dimensional as his words--and they roll way too long. Listening to Too $hort, you actually feel like those corny warnings about rap's depravity were right: This music frays your moral fiber and erodes your IQ. With Knuckleheadbanga, MC Fetish, and others. Area1 (Eagles Hall), 6205 Corson Ave S, 888-531-8060, 9 pm-2 am, 18+.
SUNDAY JULY 11
SPECTRUM
A new regular Sunday night put on by Earthling Industries, Spectrum promises house, breakbeat, downtempo, and IDM, because "life is too short for the ordinary." True dat. Resident DJ Airlok brings in Seattle fixture Eddie tonight for some impeccably selected tech-house. The rest of July features KEXP's Riz Rollins on the 18th and MissKick on the 25th. Baltic Room, 1207 Pine St, 625-4444, 9 pm-2 am, 21+, $5.
VARIOUS, Kompakt 100 (Kompakt; www.kompakt-net.de)
No techno label delivers more chills per minute than Kompakt. The German company that's given us genre-defining comp series like Pop Ambient, Schaffelfieber, and Speicher now celebrates its 100th release by letting 19 of its artists remix their favorite tracks in the back catalog. Even if you don't know the source materials or have never heard any of these producers, you can immerse yourself in the lushly melodic, rhythmically precise quality of it all. Understatement prevails; these artists lace their mesmerizing tracks with only the most interesting, emotionally resonant sounds. Yeah, it's sort of like a knob-twiddler's version of a circle jerk, but when the juices are this sweet, you don't mind getting splashed. Lean, serene, and aquamarine, Kompakt 100 is an ideal entry point for tech-house novices seeking an accelerated course in the genre's top-tier artists.
