(Sunset) See preview, page 49.

CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA
(Chop Suey) See Speaker Freak, page 63.

marc olsen, steve turner, mark pickerel, the capillaries, lucky lawrence, andrew mckeag
(The Brick) See preview, page 47.

BANCO DE GAIA, DJ PETER MADRIL
(Baltic Room) Now that all the excitement about blending different musical forms from around the world (hiphop, classical, traditional Indian songs and forms, techno, so on and so forth) has cooled, we can enjoy bands like Banco de Gaia at the level of artistry rather than gimmickry. Gaia makes the kind of global music that Moby made famous in the '90s. Moby's music, however, was a bit more accessible--which is why it often accompanied TV commercials that advertised things like cellular phones and Internet services--whereas Gaia's music is a bit too heavy and messy to promote elegant electronic consumer products and color-bright WWW gimmicks. CHARLES MUDEDE

SUBARACHNOID SPACE, TRANSATLANTIC ICEFLOE, NERVEWHEEL
(Consolidated Works) SubArachnoid Space have been carving out their own densely saturated, spaced, and thoroughly zonked rock since 1996. Their instrumental forays into the unknown are marked by thick, dense, droning leads, elastic bass lines, and stuttering drums that lead you off into the abyss and leave you there. Despite the group's murky psychedelic overtones and their occasional reverberating austerity on record, there is very little room to drift off into when they play live. Instead, SubArachnoid Space pummel you into a more relaxed state. The latest release, Also Rising, fulfills every promise of Hawkwind-esque space mining. Bring a helmet. JON PRUETT

GEMMA HAYES, JOSH RITTER, SARAh SHANNON
(Crocodile) At first listen, the striking singer with the dulcet pipes could be any one of a hundred fair to middling singer-songwriters. But after a few go-throughs of Gemma Hayes' debut album, Night on My Side, it's clear that she has the chops to deliver heartbroken tunes in a voice that draws on the edges of folk and rock without succumbing to the shortcut temptations or phrasing of either. The quieter numbers show off the elegance of her voice to better effect, but the restlessness of the songs played with a full band display her brilliance at tilting between abandon and restraint. Hayes' lyrics of love, devotion, and betrayal vie with nagging existential concerns in a way that hints at Beth Orton territory but with more grit. NATE LIPPENS

THE PATTERN, BROADCAST OBLIVION, THE LASHES, LE FORCE
(Graceland) The Pattern play rock 'n' roll with an R&B kick that swaggers, struts, squeals, and slaps itself crazy. But while other garage rockers often pull the sleazy, greasy, latter-day Jim Morrison theatrics, the Oakland band's frontman, Chris Appelgren, is more like a downed live wire, flipping all over the stage and shooting sparks in his wake--and the less seriously he seems to take his outbursts, the more fun they become. JENNIFER MAERZ FRIDAY 6/20


BLUR, Living Things
(Showbox) See Stranger Suggests, page 25.

SUNSET ANNIVERSARY/BALLARD AVE BALL: THE NIGHTCAPS, DJ MICHAEL ANTONIA
(Sunset) See Stranger Suggests, page 25.

TEEN CTHULHU, IN MEMORIUM, BLACKGOAT, VS THE WORLD
(Catwalk) In the year that I've personally heard them play around Seattle, Teen Cthulhu have tightened up so much as a band. While it was easy at one time to label them as simply one of the top speed metal/hardcore players around, the chemistry between the members, mixed with a ton of shows over the last 12 months, have created a tightly complicated band whose sound reverberates deeper than its roots. With the keyboards coursing an eerie sci-fi blood through a rapidly pumping vessel of guitar, drums, and vocals, Teen Cthulhu rightly deserve every bit of international attention thrust upon them. JENNIFER MAERZ

THE MICROPHONES/MOUNT EERIE, NORFOLK & WESTERN, THE DECEMBERISTS, TRACKER
(Department of Safety, Anacortes) The Microphones are no longer the Microphones. The Microphones broke up--which is sort of a mathematical anomaly, but, well, sometimes these things happen. Phil Elvrum--once the leader of the aforementioned band (of which Elvrum was more or less the sole member)--now performs with a new "band" named Mount Eerie, which is the name of the last record by the band whose name is no longer the Microphones. Or rather, the "band" that never really existed. Yeah, I don't know either. What I do know is, the last time I saw Elvrum perform (in what was unequivocally the greatest show I have ever attended), he spent half of his set suspended upside down by a rope tied around his ankles, as an audience of a few hundred people held hands and sang along to songs they'd never heard before. Have faith. ZAC PENNINGTON

BECK, DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL, THE BLACK KEYS
(White River Amphitheatre) I don't know who set this show up, but what the heck is Beck doing on the same bill as Dashboard Confessional? Beck is one of those dudes who can get crazy. He's all about fun, gettin' funky--a musical badass, right? Dashboard, on the other hand, well he's a weenie if I've ever seen one. He's all about yelling and crying and sadness and being brokenhearted and wallowing in self-pity. I ask you, what's so cool about that? NOTHING, that's what! So who put this show together? It makes no sense! That's all I have to say. MEGAN SELING

THE TRIGGERS, CRIMSON SWEET, THE STUCK-UPS, THE JAILBIRDS (FROM JAPAN)
(Zak's) Some women are blessed with Joan Jett's greatest asset--the kind of deep, throaty delivery that can make calling the bank sound like the most sexually charged transaction between strangers since the invention of the 1-900 number. Polly Watson, frontwoman for New York's Crimson Sweet, is one such female, using a slightly husky voice to give her band's raw, pop-sugared punk an emotional range that moves from sweet to scathing. The other two members of this trio help rough up great melodies with post-punk edges, balancing a singsong accessibility with swatches of darker atmospherics. If their live show is half as good as their 2002 release, Livin' in Strut, this will be one hell of a night. JENNIFER MAERZ SATURDAY 6/21


abstract tribe unique feat: abstract rube, chillin villian empire, hiphop kclan, cypher seven, rumble pack, onry ozzborn, sleep
(Chop Suey) See preview, page 49.

THE SPITS, HEAD, THE WANNA-BES
(Zak's) See Live Wire, page 52.

THE APES, LA ONDA, KISS KISS KISS, THE MU
(Vera Project) Fittingly, the Apes place themselves within a dense sonic jungle, a Moog and an organ making the thick instrumental overgrowth that frontman Paul Weil swings through like a modern-day Tarzan. With bass and drums keeping his rhythm, Weil is an unselfconscious thespian with a mic--the last time they came through, he was outfitted in a cape like a pirate--and the muddied post-punk songs he carries through get banged out like Pleasure Forever without their Prozac, or Hint Hint on sedatives. The Apes are primal synth punk, oozing a murky sound from the depths of their blackened minds and giving a great performance in the process. JENNIFER MAERZ

SUNDAY 6/22


THE GOSSIP, PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES, ANNA OXYGEN, GROWING
(Crocodile) See CD Review Revue, page 55.

TRAINWRECK
(Tractor) Little is known about Trainwreck, other than it's the new project from Kyle Gass of Tenacious D and it wrestles country under the lasso of his warped humor like a feisty bull in a rodeo. No album-oriented rock track is safe from Glass (and sidekick Lee--AKA J. R. Reed) turning it all country-like, and they have a couple of originals too, I guess. JENNIFER MAERZ

MONDAY 6/23


FOURTHCITY WEEKLY: YOKO PHONO, DJN, Nth808
(Deep Down Lounge) See preview, page 51.

MAHJONGG, touchdown, dj self-administered beatdown
(Showbox) A capsule like this should comfortably write itself at this point: Start with a shopping list of casually tossed post-punk torch-bearers like Gang of Four, Joy Division, and PiL, and then name a slightly more obscure band--let's say, um, A Certain Ratio; mix with some Kraut-type names like Kraftwerk, Faust, and Can, and add the name of a slightly more obscure band--let's say Neu!; finish off with an indifferent (and repeated) misuse of the term "dub," and BOOM! You've got yourself some fine rock journalism. Also: a fairly obtuse understanding of Chicago's Mahjongg. Problem is, the hasty description above neglects to mention that Mahjongg are actually very good--and are appreciably more than just a junk drawer of influences. But I guess it's too late for that now. Ah well. ZAC PENNINGTON

TUESDAY 6/24


EVAN DANDO
(Chop Suey) Whenever I'm in a mood that's been kick-started by pettiness and then accelerated into a sort of melancholic ennui, I invariably pull out the Lemonheads' It's a Shame About Ray, and suddenly all is fine in the world. Dando's a sweet and sometimes silly songwriter, but goddamn if he wasn't just the cutest thing two years ago as he stood alone on the Crocodile stage, accompanying himself with a guitar and a stomp box that flared up loudly during the choruses. Car Button Cloth's "Outdoor Type" and its wish to avoid rustic getaways speaks to my heart, especially when Dando reasons, "What if something's on TV and it's never shown again?" His new solo disk, Baby I'm Bored, isn't quite as good, but honestly, I couldn't care less. KATHLEEN WILSON

COBRA VERDE, THE LIGHTS
(Crocodile) Since 1994, Cleveland's Cobra Verde have released five excellent albums of expert glam rockery. What started out as a studio-concocted, theremin-fed art-stomp has come around to the Cheap Trick-tinged art-swagger of their latest, Easy Listening (MuscleTone). Endless critical kudos and a stint backing up Bob Pollard in one of Guided by Voices' incarnations haven't translated into enough national attention, perhaps due to the usual indie label non-support and frequent lineup changes that have hindered steady touring. But singer John Petkovic has persevered, and this time 'round he's got J Mascis on lead-guitar duty, a perfect fit for their increasingly catchy but still twisted blast. ERIC DAVIDSON

THE FALL, KRMTX
(Graceland) Despite visa problems, fistfights, bass-player dismissals, international incidents, and the fact that any currently hyped-up group, good or otherwise, ought to pay them their first round of royalties, the Fall continue to exist as a creatively unbloodied, unbowed force. The newest record, Country on the Click, will be their third since 2000, and you can't walk five feet without Sanctuary reissuing some sort of essential collection or a limited-edition repressing of their 17th album plus live cuts taped in the Congo, or so it seems. You can even go rent 24 Hour Party People at Blockbuster and see Mark E. Smith in the privacy of your own home. What this means is that Fall penetration is in full force (as it was, as it will always be), and anyone worth his or her weight in bitter cynicism and/or white belts better be there, front and center. JON PRUETT

WEDNESDAY 6/25


...AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD, KINSKI, THE SWORDS PROJECT, MICO DE NOCHE
(Showbox) See Stranger Suggests, page 25.

JAH WOBBLE AND DEEP SPACE, SYSTEMWIDE, LAMPLIGHTER
(Chop Suey) Jah Wobble is still around! Damn! For those who don't remember, Jah Wobble (John Wardle) was an initial member of Johnny Rotten's Public Image Limited, whose debut, Public Image, is one of the greatest records ever made. Jah Wobble left PiL in 1980, drifted rather aimlessly through the '80s pop world, and arrived in the '90s on the shores of dub and experimental electronica. His exploration of this terrain--which has also been explored and settled by DJs and musicians like Bill Laswell, DJ Spooky, and Alter Echo--has produced a number of dazzling CDs, my favorite of which is The Inspiration of William Blake. Punk anger and dub politics--that is the root of all great British pop music. This show must not be missed. CHARLES MUDEDE

THE JEALOUS SOUND, NEW AMERICAN STANDARD, COMMON HEROES
(Graceland) Ahhh, the Jealous Sound. What a tease. The new record, Kill Them With Kindness, frustrates me. It's clean, it's sparkly, it's very nice, and it's not that I don't like any of those things. It's just that, well, I wanted nothing more than to get buried under an urgent release of rock 'n' roll frustration! The drums build, the vocals get stronger, the harmonies kick in, a raw emotion begins to show, and just when you think the band's gonna go balls-out and unleash some fury... bam! It sits back down like an awkward 15-year-old, never really saying what needs to be said. I can tell right now, though, that this record will be the pretty and perfect makeout music for kids across the nation this summer as they experience their first "love." The great thing is, though, it's just moody enough to help them through their first heartbreak come autumn too. MEGAN SELING