Music

Up & Coming

ELENI MANDELL, SARA DOUGHER, GERALD COLLIER
(Crocodile) L.A. chanteuse Eleni Mandell is back, and, as anyone who caught her last show can attest, that's cause for rejoicing. Mandell's songs are cabaret-tinged celebrations of love gone wrong, seen from all sides of the equation with a gleam in her eye. Think an earthier, less self-conscious, guilt-free but still sophisticated PJ Harvey circa To Bring You My Love, and you're starting to get the picture. BARBARA MITCHELL

ROBB BENSON
(Gordon Biersch) See Saturday listing.

SUN CITY GIRLS, CLIMAX GOLDEN TWINS
(I-Spy) The Sun City Girls have been doing their special Indian-garage, spoken-word, noise-centered jams for about 18 years now and show no sign of stopping. The second set of their last show is now available on CD, adding a fifth volume to the Carnival Folklore Resurrection series: Severed Finger with a Wedding Ring. Climax Golden Twins, live-sound manipulators, will get this evening started right. KREG HASEGAWA

DELTA SONIC, THE NOW, STUMBLEBUM
(Central Saloon) In many respects, the Now are a lot like the Presidents of the United States of America. Catchy, upbeat, even "wacky" little pop numbers made more palatable by the palpable sense of glee with which they're delivered and meant to be enjoyed. So how come they haven't taken off the way they seemed destined to a year ago? Come on folks, loosen up! BARBARA MITCHELL

DAVID HOLMES
(Baltic Room) Oddly underrated Belfast native Holmes really only blipped on America's radar with 1997's Let's Get Killed, a Lower Manhattan mash note that bubbled and pulsed with gritty NYC immediacy--sampled street conversations, car horns, and other found sounds artfully threaded through dubby, dissonant dance beats. More people might actually know his work, though, through his smart soundtracking of the Lopez/Clooney heist flick Out of Sight, which included clever dialogue snippets, loopy instrumentals, and '60s soul in the Pulp Fiction vein. His new record came out on October 24, so buy that too and make it a David Holmes week, why don't you? LEAH GREENBLATT

JOULES GRAVES, RAFE PEARLMAN
(Century Ballroom) If Jewel and Kathleen Hanna had a love child, the result would be Joules Graves. Take Jewel's raised-by-wolves, sleepin'-in-the-car biography. Mix in a few drops of Hanna's spit, and top it off with a voice that can bring down the moon. Hand the progeny a djembe drum and step back. Watch her as she leaves college to thumb around the country, flees Seattle for a log cabin in the San Juans, falls in with some activist types, and creates her own style of music (what we can call tribal-folk) along the way. She has come a long way from beating on the kitchen sink, and from teachers who said that her voice was just a bit too unusual. NATE LEVIN

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, THE REAL KIDS
(Breakroom) The Real Kids are one of those bands that obsessive East Coast music-fan friends of mine always whispered about in hushed and reverent tones: "Back in the day, the Real Kids changed my life." Thanks to a resurgence in interest, partially due to members of the Offspring, now's your chance to actually see this legendary Boston band for yourself. The great news is that the band's turbocharged punk-pop has more than stood the test of time, and songs like "All Kindsa Girls" sound just as fresh and dangerous today as they must have "back in the day." BARBARA MITCHELL

7 SECONDS, GROOVIE GHOULIES, UNION 13, DEATH BY STEREO
(Graceland, early) You gotta love Kevin Seconds. No, seriously, you GOTTA love him because if he doesn't steal your soul with rabid singing and stage-diving in his pop-punk band 7 Seconds, then he'll coax a tear or two out of even a dried-up turd with his other outfit, Go National, in which he harmonizes with his lovely wife. Tonight it's strictly a pummeling the Sacramento native is dishing out, so all you timid Elliott Smith types--stay home. It's not your Kevin. KATHLEEN WILSON

THE MAKERS, TRULY, THE VUE
(Graceland, late) Feeling a little bit blue? Tonight's show could be the cure for what ails you, with several flavors of rock and roll well represented on the bill. The Makers are always a treat to behold in their natural (live) setting, and they should be in fine form after a brief tour among the Spaniards--a group of folks who appreciate rock-n-roll like few others. The Vue are working up material for a second album, so expect some new songs tonight. Relaxing? No. Rejuvenating? You bet. BARBARA MITCHELL

THE RED ELVISES, LIQUID SOUL
(Fenix) All but one of the Red Elvises really are Russian. Okay, Russian American by way of L.A. and Texas, but they're named Oleg and Igor and Zhenya, for crying out loud. Oleg and Igor will also go down in history as having done their part to assimilate into their new capitalist homeland by recording the candy mantra "Give Me a Break (Break Me off a Piece of That Kit Kat Bar)." Chicago's Liquid Soul will break in the crowd American style with their jazz/funk extravaganza. Nina Simone's daughter is the singer now, backed up by people who used to play in the Psychedelic Furs and the Ohio Players. Red, or Red, White, and Blue, this show's for you. JUAN-CARLOS RODRIGUEZ

ROBB BENSON, JEN WOOD, JOHNNY SANGSTER, GREG MARKEL, MARC OLSEN, GARTH REEVES, PHIL HURLEY, GAVIN GUS, & MORE
(Elysian) Tonight is actually the record-release show for former Nevada Bachelor Robb Benson's new solo EP, Songs About Songs, although it's a tribute to Benson's humble, low-key nature that he's chosen to mark the occasion by sharing the stage with several other gifted Seattle songwriters. Tonight's show is a veritable who's who, with appearances by such notables as Jen Wood, Graig Markel (ex-New Sweet Breath), Garth Reeves (Goodness/Blue Spark), Brian Naubert (Ruston Mire/Tube Top), Phil Hurley (ex-Gigolo Aunts), Marc Olsen, and more. BARBARA MITCHELL

FREAK NIGHT FEATURING THE PHARCYDE, AFRIKA BAMBAATAA, Q-BERT, JOSH WINK, EVIL EDDIE RICHARDS, BASSBIN TWINS, ED RUSH, & OPTICAL
(Southwest Washington Fairgrounds, info: 1-888-221-7491) Last year, evil little spirits were definitely working against USC, as Freak Night lost its venue at the last minute and ended up shuttling confused ticket-holders between ARO.space and Superhighway, splitting the bill awkwardly down the middle. This year, it's all copacetic so far. From the perpetually stoned but always phat Pharcyde to the legendary Bambaataa and U.K. jungle stars Rush and Optical (not to mention a repeat performance from raver pinup Wink), tonight's event has more than covered its bases. LEAH GREENBLATT

BLACK ATMOSPHERE, THE DAWN
(Spirit) Black Atmosphere is undoubtedly one of the most prolific and enduring goth bands in Seattle--an oft-overlooked local treasure. A few years ago, one of our writers gave Black Atmosphere the supreme goth compliment of characterizing the band's spooky sound as more Bauhaus than Bauhaus itself. The lineup has varied over the years, but perennially wan, dark-eyed frontman Christoph still exudes his chilling, nasal-toned vocals in perfect Peter Murphy form. Having so far achieved more fame in Europe than here at home, it's high time for Seattle's homegrown goth daddies to get the credit they've long deserved. MELODY MOSS

SAM MANGWANA, JANE BUNNETT & THE SPIRITS OF HAVANA
(On the Boards) An amazing call and response has occurred over the past 50 years between African-influenced music of the Americas and music of the motherland. This Earshot Jazz Festival event presents two incarnations of that infectious Cuban dance rhythm, the rumba. Jane Bunnett & the Spirits of Havana bring their soulful, jazz-inflected Cuban music. And from the other side of the Atlantic, the legendary Congolese singer Sam Mangwana brings his mixture of Cuban rumba and son rhythms and soukous sounds. Mangwana is bringing with him a nine-piece band of great musicians, including veteran guitarist Papa Noel. This evening's music is sure to move your mind, body, and spirit. PETER LUCAS

DJ SPOOKY with WAYNE HORVITZ, ELLERY ESKELIN with ANDREA PARKINS & JIM BLACK
(On the Boards) Part of the excitement of this show will be that no one knows what's going to happen. Paul Miller (a.k.a. DJ Spooky) and Wayne Horvitz have never been paired off before. Miller, a mean mixer, also plays upright bass through electric effects. Horvitz, though very much interested in musical structure, plays so many different keyboards channeled through effects, it amazes sometimes that he produces notes at all. This is not such a strange pairing. Go ahead, take the chance. KREG HASEGAWA

THE ROOTS, TALIB KWELI, GURU, JAGUAR, BAHAMADIA, DEAD PREZ, RAH DIGGA, JAZZYFATNASTEES
(Showbox) Things that make the Roots a little different: Number one, they are quite possibly the only hiphop artists to ever name an album after a novel (Chinua Achebe's 1958 masterwork Things Fall Apart, also the title of their '99 release); number two, they've actually put out a live record (Roots Come Alive), which in this genre is about as rare as a white elephant. They're not the most hook-filled band in the land, but they make up for it (almost) by being very, very tight. A warning, though: With a bill this large, prepare for some seriously abbreviated, bathroom-break-length sets. LEAH GREENBLATT

ERIC BIBB TRIO
(Tractor Tavern) Guitarist and songwriter Eric Bibb may live in Sweden these days (as he has, almost without interruption, for nearly 20 years), but his music is American through and through. Given that he grew up in New York during the heyday of the Greenwich Village folk scene, it could hardly be anything else; thanks to his father, Leon, he met and played with some of the era's leading musicians. Though he has classical training and explores a wide variety of related genres, one can hear blues, folk, gospel, soul, even a little bit of jazz on his albums. At root, Bibb's sound is the distinctive Piedmont blues style. If it's possible to catch a ray of sunshine as music, this is it; if you too are depressed by autumn's sudden onslaught, let Bibb cheer you up. GENEVIEVE WILLIAMS

EVERYTHING WENT BLACK, BLOOD BROTHERS, CHAMPION, CONTINGENT
(Paradox) The Blood Brothers might draw the best from this holiday occasion, because their bloodcurdlingly intense songs and stage performance summon an intensity wrestled every day from mortality's abyss--a shriek from the middle of the living moment. Their EP This Adultery Is Ripe displays some of the deepest vision to come out of this town since the maturation of Modest Mouse. This will be one of the last chances to see the Brothers before they take several months off to record their debut album. Say you saw them when. GRANT COGSWELL

SUBDWELLERS, THE 100TH MONKEY
(Rain Dancer) One gets the impression, if one picks up trickles of news and music here and there, that the Subdwellers are going somewhere. They've got a following, they've played some pretty high-profile shows, and they do that mix of hiphop, jazz, funk, and whatever else is handy that's so appealing when it's done well. As for the 100th Monkey (who take their name from an obscure metaphysical notion), well, that's not the first time I've heard a hiphop group use an acoustic guitar, but it's unusual enough to be interesting. GENEVIEVE WILLIAMS

THE SEA AND CAKE, TOWN & COUNTRY, FCS NORTH
(Graceland) The Tortoise mafia returns, this time in the shape of Sam Prekop's gentle, restrained Chicago combo (back after a hiatus of three years). Stereolab producer John McEntire contributes jazz-textured beats and vibes, and genius Sof' Boy cartoonist Archer Prewitt adds just the barest smattering of guitar. Don't know why I'm bothering to tell you all this, though. If you like this sort of post-rock noodling, you'll be reserving your stage center-space now, and if you don't, then... well, you won't. EVERETT TRUE

NINJA TUNE 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY with COLDCUT AND DJ DK
(Showbox) Ninja Tune releases the kind of records that sound like they should be piped out the speakers of some futuristic international airport lounge; it all smells so cosmopolitan somehow, and yet playful--from the orchestral, Armageddonish drum 'n' bass of Amon Tobin to the smart, silly, kitchen-sink scratch-gymnastics of Kid Koala. For an anniversary party, then, this looks like a pretty short bill, but since it's actually the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain (Coldcut being not only Ninja Tune artists, but also label founders Matt Black and Jon More), don't be too disappointed. Come give the pair props for keeping such a solid thing going for a whole decade. In the notoriously mercurial world of dance music, they surely deserve it. LEAH GREENBLATT

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