From the Sep 2 – Sep 8, 2004 issue

Music

Up & Coming

THURSDAY 9/2


ARSONISTS ARE PUNKS: A BENEFIT FOR THE GIAMPINO FAMILY FEATURING THE LONG WINTERS, BEN GIBBARD, THE GIRLS, THE LIGHTS, PRESTON SCHOOL OF INDUSTRY, DAMIEN JURADO, AND MANY MORE
(Neumo's) See Stranger Suggests, page 23.

BUSHWICK BILL, YOUNG KRIME, AWALL (AKA KAISER SOZE), SKIRT DIGLA
(Contour) Bushwick Bill was to Geto Boys' Scarface as Flavor Flav was to Public Enemy's Chuck D: serious comic relief. The pint-sized Jamaican-born rapper joined Houston's Geto Boys in 1987, relating shockingly tall tales over compelling horror/ gangsta rap that triggered much un-PC laughter. In 1991, Bill lost his eye when he got stinkin' drunk and asked his girlfriend to shoot him (see him getting wheeled to the ER on Geto Boys' We Can't Be Stopped, which boasted the poignant reality rap hit "Mind Playing Tricks on Me"). Bill's supporting Geto Boys' new album, War and Peace, and also helping to get hiphop fans to register to vote. How PC of him. DAVE SEGAL

WORM IS GREEN, viva voce, ovian
(Crocodile) Worm Is Green are the latest Icelandic group to frost up your windshield with delicately beautiful melodic patterns and laid-back beats, following in the dainty footsteps of Mm, Emiliana Torrini, and Björk. WIG also wander in the same chilled IDM pastures as Boards of Canada, but sans that Scottish duo's psychedelic undercurrents. With its winsomely charming, soothing tunes, WIG's debut disc, Automagic (Arena Rock), makes for a gentle gateway drug to ease indie rockers into bedroom electronica's naive new world. Even their spacious, triphop rendition of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" works surprisingly well, against mighty odds. DAVE SEGAL

FRIDAY 9/3


BUMBERSHOOT FEATURING THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, UNITED STATE OF ELECTRONICA
(Seattle Center) See pullout guide, preview page 31, and Data Breaker, page 41.

BALLY SAGOO, RDB, DJs MANPREET SINGH, PETER
(Showbox) A wit once cracked that world music is merely other countries' bland chart fodder. Sadly, he was all too accurate with regard to most artists yoked under that nebulous genre/marketing term. New Dehli-born Brit Bally Sagoo has fared better than most furriners. His 1996 album, Rising from the East, bridged the archetypal East-West sonic gap with more rhythmic toughness and melodic beauty than most non-Western artists hell-bent on acceptance in America. Infusing filmi music (Bollywood's staple scores) with ragga, bhangra, triphop, dub, and house elements, Sagoo moves with cosmopolitan ease among these club-oriented styles with little cheese to clog his gliding stride. See Data Breaker, page 41, and Stranger Suggests, page 23. DAVE SEGAL

IQU (CD RELEASE PARTY), THE HELIO SEQUENCE, SLOASIONS
(Chop Suey) Portland duo the Helio Sequence's danceable stoner-pop masterpiece, Love and Distance, simply refuses to stop ruling the planet. If you've seen them play, you know that the drone textures and jumpy rhythms seem too big and exciting to issue from only two people, but that's the scoop, yo. Now that they've made a record that's as good as this new one (Love and Distance is their third LP)--to say nothing of the Modest Mouse connection (drummer/keyboardist Benjamin Weikel was the interim drummer for MM, and played on their new hit record)--there's no reason to think their shows won't be packed out, so come early and come often. See also Data Breaker, page 41. RANDY OCTOGENARIAN

THE KINISON, A WILHELM SCREAM, KILL RADIO, TRUCE, THE ROCK 'N' ROLL SOLDIERS
(Graceland) They've been prodded lots, but the Rock 'n' Roll Soldiers aren't going to change their name. So get over it and get with the boss sounds of this Eugene, OR combo. Drummed up by five teens three years ago, they're too young to know there's not supposed to be any gas left in the Rolling Stones influence tank. So they take the slink and stab of '71 Stones and wring it through some dead-end American dynasty fright, then drown it with the usual case or two, bought for them by some creep hanging outside the 7-Eleven. He must've slipped in some Cramps and Prince records, too. The singer's some half-Navajo/half-smooch-a-ho dandy fop. And despite his scarves and their silly moniker, their amazing demos are attracting the major-label weasels. ERIC DAVIDSON

SATURDAY 9/4


BUMBERSHOOT
(Seattle Center) See pullout guide.

CHAMPION, BLUE MONDAY, THE ANSWER, LIGHTS OUT, SINKING SHIPS
(Paradox) See All Ages Action, page 43.

POST STARDOM DEPRESSION, CHINATOWN, BULLET CLUB
(Crocodile) Post Stardom Depression rocked their recent Graceland show with enough crotch-cocking swagger to bring a little Steven Tyler into Seattle (minus all the sparkly scarves). Yeah, they play straight-up butt rock, but it's the perfect soundtrack for parties where the guests come stocked with half-racks of bottom-shelf beer and last call is a makeout session in the bathroom. JENNIFER MAERZ

SPAGHETTI & THE MEATBALLS, THE CINCH, MEXICAN BLACKBIRDS, THE PULSES
(Fun House) Around Labor Day weekend, lineups aren't always what they seem. Take this Dirtnap Records showcase, for example--where the local headliners should look very familiar (in person if not in name). They're supported by two other very talented local acts--the energetic garage rock of the Mexican Blackbirds and the slightly more tempered, angular punk of the Pulses. The Cinch are a female-fronted group taking the razored edge of early acts like the Voidoids and X and giving them a slightly more garage-y feel. The Vancouver band recently released Shake It if You Got It on Dirtnap, and the collision of haunted girl-group harmonies and jangling rhythms makes this record another grand slam for the local label's standout catalog. JENNIFER MAERZ

RAOUL BELMANS/SWIRL PEOPLE, carlos mendoza, jeromy nail.
(Baltic Room) This artist's new to me, but he's worked with Chicago house stalwarts like Derrick Carter, Mark Farina, and DJ Heather, so attention must be paid. Turns out Belmans' Swirl People project (with Dimitri Dewever) is the organic, funky hotness. You want your house Latin? Tight? Loose? Quirky? This Belgian won't waffle. Peep Swirl People's new baby-makingly righteous album, Special Combo (Aroma). DAVE SEGAL

VAUX, HOPESFALL, ARKHAM, GHOST RUNNER ON THIRD
(Hell's Kitchen) I can't tell you why (because I certainly had no sort of evidence prior to coming to this conclusion), but the idea that Vaux is utterly terrible has always existed in my mind. Then I saw them live. And as they blasted through a set packed tight with heavy layers of metal, rock, even a little industrial, I found it hard to think a bad thought. These dudes, whether you like the music or not, are a hell of a lot of fun to watch live. And their upcoming EP on Equal Vision, Plague Music, only reassures me that everything I ever thought about Vaux was, in fact, very wrong. There are no predictable formulas, there isn't a pattern to their songwriting--they're willing to take a risk. I guess that's Vaux, though: Just as you think you've pinned 'em down, they go and switch everything up and change your mind completely. MEGAN SELING

DEAD MOON, THE HUSBANDS, THE CHARMING SNAKES
(Hideaway) The Husbands sprang from the dirty minds of Sadie Shaw and Sarah Reed, two childhood friends who played together in various punk-flavored incarnations before migrating to San Francisco a few years ago. Given the raunchy, gospel-blues swagger of their sound, it seems likely garage mainstay In The Red wishes they had gotten to them first, but The Husbands released their 2003 debut on John Reis' Swami Records (home of Reis' current project the Hot Snakes and Drive Like Jehu's back catalog). They change drummers more often than most touring bands change their socks--but that means great things for us: Their Seattle appearance features the brilliant bashing of former Unwound drummer Sara Lund. HANNAH LEVIN

SUNDAY 9/5


BUMBERSHOOT
(Seattle Center) See pullout guide.

MONSTER MAGNET, BONGZILLA, PLASTER
(Neumo's) "If Satan lived in Heaven he'd be me," bellowed Monster Magnet guru Dave Wyndorf on "Snake Dance" 14 years ago, and for a while, that didn't seem like an idle, drug-addled boast. Spine of God and Tab marked the New Jersey band as a seminal influence on stoner rock and one of the heaviest (and funniest) psychedelic outfits operating in the early '90s. A potent combo of Black Sabbath's evil dirge, Hawkwind's third-eye-poking effects and propulsion, and Spinal Tap's absurdist sensibilities, Monster Magnet should've ruled the universe. But with each successive release, they've lost psychedelic (b)luster. On their seventh album, Monolithic Baby! (SPV), which has but two good songs, Monster Magnet continue their descent into hard-rock mediocrity. Openers Plaster sound like the sort of band that would've supported Tad in 1991. DAVE SEGAL

JUNIOR REID, THE REGGAE ANGELS
(Studio Seven) Those who are familiar with reggae know Junior Reid as the man who replaced the great Michael Rose in Black Uhuru. Those who have an academic knowledge of reggae know that at age 14, Junior Reid got his start in the mid-'70s with a single called "Know Myself." Those who know nothing about reggae, and everything about hiphop, know Junior Reid as the singer on a couple of RZA-produced tracks. Those who are familiar with the birth of triphop know him as the singer on Coldcut's groundbreaking "Stop This Crazy Thing" (Coldcut would later establish the most important triphop label, Ninja Tune). On all of these songs, Junior Reid's voice is the same: powerful, dramatic, and sincere. CHARLES MUDEDE

MONDAY 9/6


BUMBERSHOOT
(Seattle Center) See pullout guide.

EMIL BEAULIEAU, PRURIENT, CRANK STURGEON, PCRV, PEDESTRIAN DEPOSIT, 16 BITCH PILE UP, SWORD HEAVEN, WITHDRAWL METHOD
(S.S. Marie Antoinette) This is the sort of show they invented the Internet for. Columbus, OH's Sword Heaven and the all-female noise act 16 Bitch Pile Up are touring together in support of a split cassette--yes, a cassette--on Mike Shiflet's Gameboy label. Gameboy's thrown quite a bit of MP3 action up on his site, as well, such as Sword Heaven's mind-melting 13-minute live track "Gaylord Landlord." Emil Beaulieau is behind the long-running RRR label, and Prurient is a scary shirtless guy, Dominick Fernow, who manipulates feedback with two microphones and a stack of amps. Heavy, scary, awesome times. GEORGE CHEN

TUESDAY 9/7


SIXTOO, DJ SIGNIFY, BLOCKHEAD
(Chop Suey) See preview, page 32.

BRANT BJORK & THE BROS, TWO GALLANTS
(Crocodile) Brant Bjork's former work with seminal stoner-rock act Kyuss and surfer dudes Fu Manchu is no indication of what you can expect from him now. The drummer has gone in the exact opposite direction of his old bandmates--where they kept it loud and heavy, Bjork's music has withered into unassuming coffeehouse rock. He now pumps out the kind of interchangeable confessionals that make open mics such a drag to sit through. JENNIFER MAERZ

MXPX
(Graceland) Being the Christian pop-punk local-heroes-cum-one-hit-wonders that they kind of are, MxPx is a pretty easy target. So you might assume I'll waste this space to give the trio some shit about certain flaws (like their last record, Before Everything and After, perhaps?). That's totally NOT what I'm gonna do. When I was a lot younger, MxPx was totally hot shit, and ya know what? "Punk Rawk Show" is still a good song! The new stuff sorta blows, yeah, but ya gotta admit the band has a handful of classics. And if this were another ho-hum MxPx show, I'd most likely pass on giving it any attention, but it's not. For three consecutive nights, starting tonight, the Bremerton trio invades Graceland with the plan to play its entire catalog of songs while filming a live DVD. Each night is a different set, and sure, that terrible song about painting the house and washing the car is probably gonna get played, but (with any hope) so will "Rock & Roll Girl," "Punk Rawk Show," and "G.S.F." Now that's what I'm talking about. MEGAN SELING

KEANE, THE FRENCH KICKS
(Showbox) You've got to assume that a band like Keane--whose epic swoon of a hit song "Somewhere Only We Know" has passed from essential to interminable listening with a stunning rate of burn--is going to put on a big, moist-eyed display of earnest British pop rock at their debut Seattle appearance. They get chided for being "students" back home (which in Brit-rock press parlance means they can write a song with three verses in which no lyrics repeat), but in truth, they just sound young, passionate, and optimistic. Depending on the day, they might be just what the doctor ordered. RANDY OCTOGENARIAN

WEDNESDAY 9/8


MXPX
(Graceland) See Tuesday's listing.

DATZ COLD, DJ wD4D
(LO_FI) It's tough to make dark hiphop without sounding at least slightly corny, but Seattle's Datz Cold (Jeremy Moss) instills a genuine chill with each of his tar-encrusted electro-funk tracks. Datz Cold's debut disc, 2003's A Green Hell, sounds like a lost gem from WordSound's Crooklyn bunker. "Surreal like Argento," Datz Cold raps on "Jaws of Life," and his own cuts exude the creepily gothic aura animating that Italian horror-film auteur's work. While Moss is retiring his Zero BPM label and Datz Cold moniker after this gig, he plans to continue creating sounds that give even thugs the heebie-jeebies. DAVE SEGAL

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