Wednesday 4/18

Opening Night Party: My Goodness

(Barboza) See Thursday.

Pontiak, Midday Veil, Scriptures, the Midget, DJ Explorateur

(Comet) The Virginia-based Carney brothers in Pontiak—Van, Lain, and Jennings—are deep cats. At their deepest, they like their rock sprawling and majestic, patiently unspooling vast swaths of space-dusted rock like an Appalachian Pink Floyd. But they can also hit with more aggression, as on the new Thrill Jockey full-length, Echo Ono, which menacingly throbs and stings somewhere between Spacemen 3's Sound of Confusion and Screaming Trees' Even If and Especially When. Also tonight, Seattle's Scriptures celebrate the release of their self-titled EP on the Translinguistic Other label, three tracks of melancholy spaghetti-westernisms and heroic, fly-into-the-sun rock. DAVE SEGAL

Screaming Females, Neighbors, So Pitted, Silicon Girls

(Rendezvous) Say what you will about Twitter ("It's narcissistic," "It's only used by idiots who didn't know the Titanic was real," etc.), but Twitter's actually taught me a lot. For one, I didn't know what kind of shit dads and girls said until Twitter told me. Also, I didn't know about New Jersey's Screaming Females until I saw a bunch of people tweet about how great they are. And they've been a band for seven years! Screaming Females are like the best parts of Sleater-Kinney, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and Tilt all swirled together into a punky, poppy, and fuzzy rock-and-roll whirlpool. Screaming Females' latest record, Ugly, was produced by Steve Albini, only upping the fantastic factor. Get to tonight's show with enough time to see Neighbors, too, as they'll perfectly fill that "power pop circa 1994"–shaped hole in your heart. MEGAN SELING

Thursday 4/19

Update: This show has been rescheduled for June 16th. All April 19th tickets will be honored.

My Goodness, Young Evils, Dude York

(Barboza) Pop open the champagne! It's time to officially welcome Barboza to Seattle's music scene. The brand-new 200-capacity venue sits underneath Neumos, and tonight we toast its official opening with a fantastic showcase of local talent that will most certainly get the first layer of sweat dripping down the walls. There's the hard and steadfast rock and roll of My Goodness, the sweet and smart pop of the Young Evils, and the captivatingly reckless pop rock of Dude York. And, if you can believe it, things will only get better from here. Eli Anderson (formerly of the Crocodile) is manning booking duties, and the upcoming calendar already includes Dog Shredder, Xiu Xiu, Unnatural Helpers, Feral Children, and so many more. See for yourself at www.thebarboza.com. MEGAN SELING

Lalah Hathaway

(Jazz Alley) In the 33 years since his death, the musical products of soul legend Donny Hathaway have only grown in stature. Daughter Lalah Hathaway is perhaps Donny's ultimate musical product, having forged a musical career spanning the worlds of R&B and jazz without raiding her father's songbook or stooping to Grammy-baiting corpse duets (I'm looking at you, Natalie Cole). After a stint opening for Prince on his "Welcome to America" tour, tonight Lalah Hathaway arrives at Jazz Alley for a night of luxurious soul with a full band. DAVID SCHMADER

DJ Quik, Dyme Def, Fatal Lucciauno, DJ 100Proof

(Neumos) Fatal Lucciauno is the most complicated figure in Seattle's rap world. He is a product of his early, unrelentingly harsh environment who managed to rise above that environment. As a consequence, his raps celebrate the life of an underworld thug (guns, gangs, hustling, doing time, dealing drugs) and celebrate the love that's needed to transform a thug into a productive member of society (caring for others, raising children, building the community). Lucciauno, however, does not condemn street life. It is, it seems, just too real for him. To condemn the streets would be to condemn himself. Such are the complications you find on his latest album Respect, which features production work by the great Jake One. CHARLES MUDEDE

Perfume Genius, Parenthetical Girls

(Crocodile) The first album by Perfume Genius, 2010's Learning, is a sonic narcotic—a straight shot of gorgeous calm concealing unexpectedly fucked-up lyrics. One song goes, "He let me smoke weed in his truck" and "He made me a tape of Joy Division," and you think, Ah, gay love! And then you realize the song's about a sexual relationship with a high school teacher who ended up killing himself. This year's Put Your Back N 2 It continues the tone of the first—lots of whispering, lots of piano—but the confessional edge of Learning is replaced with subtlety and optimism. Another captivating fey guy with wavy hair is on tonight's bill: the big-mouthed, Morrissey-damaged, androgynous beast called Zac Pennington, frontperson of Parenthetical Girls. CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE See also Sound Check.

Friday 4/20

Lalah Hathaway

(Jazz Alley) See Thursday.

Lee Coombs, Adlib, Eddie Lee, Rhines, Kadeejah Streets, J-Sun, Night Train, Manos

(Lo-Fi Performance Gallery) See Data Breaker.

Stenskogen, Noise-a-Tron, Particle Beam Ensemble, Panabrite, DJ Mamma Casserole, DJ Explorateur

(Comet) At the end of Gary Hill's current exhibit at the Henry, Glossodelic Attractors, there's an installation (about which much will be written in this paper in the near future) that has a droning and tense sound. This sound is inenarrable; it has no end or beginning. It is the sound of eternity or of something (solar wind, Oort-like clouds) that's deep in the wilderness of space. "I spent much of my life listening to records that sound like this," said Dave Segal, one of the top music critics of this town. With all of this in mind, it should not surprise you to learn that Noise-a-Tron is one of the acts performing at his birthday bash at the Comet. As one blogger wrote: "These Seattle dudes walk the thin line between the apocalyptic, plodding drone doom... and unrelenting sludge metal and distorted and skin-peeling noise rock." I could not say it better. Happy birthday, Segal. CHARLES MUDEDE

Wanda Jackson and the Dusty 45s, Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside, Larry and His Flask

(Neumos) Locals the Dusty 45s are touring with Wanda Jackson, the proclaimed "Queen of Rockabilly." GO! Go now! Jackson's in her 70s. Look up video of her performing recently—what a badass. Sallie Ford's voice does a weird fishhook-in-my-heart thing, where I can't help being held in its sway, mesmerized but slightly in pain, coming closer if she asks, residing in a sort of trance. Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside, as a whole, occasionally come too close to cheesiness, but mostly they make a solid backdrop for Ford's old-school scratchy awesomeness. ANNA MINARD

Saturday 4/21

Absolute Monarchs, Constant Lovers, Deadkill, Murmurs

(Comet) See preview.

Derek Plaslaiko, Jonny Romero & Ctrl_Alt_Dlt, Sh6rl6s6, Roddimus & Eugene Fauntleroy

(Electric Tea Garden) See Data Breaker.

Lalah Hathaway

(Jazz Alley) See Thursday.

Enter Shikari, Letlive, At the Skylines

(El Corazón) See Data Breaker.

Japanther, the Pharmacy, Nü Sensae, Naomi Punk

(Black Lodge) See Underage.

Star Anna

(Sonic Boom Records) Star Anna is someone for the Northwest to be proud of. That the Ellensburg native with the drop-dead voice will be at a local indie record store for free, on Record Store Day (at 4 p.m., don't sleep!), so you can support two local wonderful things at once, makes this a can't-miss event. She'll have her Record Store Day 7-inch on offer, one side of which is a collaboration with Mike McCready from Pearl Jam and the other an acoustic version of Robyn's "Call Your Girlfriend." Are you psyched yet? ANNA MINARD

Sunday 4/22

Lalah Hathaway

(Jazz Alley) See Thursday.

Main Attrakionz, Keyboard Kid

(Barboza) Main Attrakionz are near the tip of the spearhead that's been prodding hiphop to ooze into sonic oddity in recent years. The blogosphere's mostly settled on "cloud rap" as an umbrella term for this movement—and the incipient murkiness and ethereality of the Oakland duo's productions definitely tilts toward the dream-pop/chillwave/verging-on-Windham-Hill ambience of some of the newish subgenre's best-known proponents (Lil B, Clams Casino, Friendzone, etc.). If the music's askew, the lyrics reflect pretty standard obsessions with pot, hos, sucka MCs, cheddar, and the things the latter can buy (a "riches/bitches" rhyme sums it up). Seattle's Keyboard Kid, who's laced tracks for Main Attrakionz and Lil B, fits right in with the headliner's glazed-blazed steez. KK will be topping his own bill, soon enough. DAVE SEGAL See also My Philosophy.

Yards, Post Paint, Vinca Minor

(Comet) The side project of Southerly's Krist Krueger, Yards essays expansive, elegant post-rock in the vein of genre standard-bearers such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Rachel's. He achieves a panoramic, orchestral grandeur that avoids the sometimes sentimental bombast of some others in this realm, like Explosions in the Sky and Sigur Rós. Vinca Minor (the artistic vehicle for Seattle-via-Detroit musician Matt Menovcik, ex-Saeta and Ms. Led) specializes in an eerie breed of minimalist loner-folk rock somewhere between early Red House Painters and Jandek. DAVE SEGAL

Monday 4/23

School of Seven Bells, Exitmusic

(Crocodile) See Stranger Suggests.

The Schwa

(Royal Room) Local quintet the Schwa feature a member (Robb Davidson) who is credited with "science." They're that kind of band: cerebral, exploratory, adventurous jazzers who are as much about texture and mood as they are about chord progressions, rhythm, and melody. In this way, the Schwa can be viewed as Seattle's answer to Norway's Supersilent—a disciplined yet loose-limbed ensemble who use understatement to both creep you out and expand your mind. Bring your longest attention span and focus, people. The Schwa—who include vibraphonist Justin Sorensen, clarinetist/saxophonist Chris Credit, percussionist Bob Rees, and double bassist Geoff Larson—will plunge you into the headiest of depths. DAVE SEGAL

Tuesday 4/24

King for Two Days

(Grand Illusion) See Stranger Suggests.

Bettye LaVette

(Jazz Alley) Ooooh-weee, that voice! So many rad female singers are playing this week! Close out the week's showcase of voices that give you goose bumps (Wanda Jackson, Sallie Ford, Star Anna) with Bettye LaVette, who was discovered and signed at 16 and is sure to grace Jazz Alley with the kind of performance that leaves you totally speechless and dazed with admiration at the sort of veteran showmanship (showpersonship?) that puts young punks to shame. Let her tell you herself, from her track "Before the Money Came," which she's introduced live by saying, "I am not a writer... but I wrote this": "I was singing R&B back in '62/Before you were born, and your mama, too." Look that song up, it's killer. Sing it! ANNA MINARD

Tanlines, Rewards, USF

(Barboza) Brooklyn duo Tanlines feature guitarist/vocalist Eric Emm (formerly of Storm & Stress and Don Caballero along with Battles' Ian Williams), but Tanlines sound nothing like those hurly-burly math-rock groups. Rather, they're a streamlined, dreamy, dance-pop outfit who should appeal to more than dudes with serious demeanors and pocket protectors. On their 2012 debut album, Mixed Emotions, Tanlines' affinity for interesting percussive textures and oddly alluring melodies makes them one of the more respectable acts coming out of Brooklyn's overhyped scene. DFA Records artist Rewards (aka Aaron Pfenning) deals in slicker, more escapist new-wave/new-romantic dance maneuvers. Check "Equal Dreams," a swanky collab with vocalist Solange Knowles, for proof. DAVE SEGAL

Esperanza Spalding

(Paramount) Esperanza Spalding is a 27-year-old, multiethnic multi-instrumentalist from Portland who specializes in playing the double bass and writing poppy jazz songs that complement her fluttering but fully anchored voice. Last year, she won a Grammy Award in the best new artist category and recently put out an album called Radio Music Society. She is also one of those artists who is so very talented and so very successful but flies above the radar of many music fans because her style and sound are so clean. It might be unfair, but it's a fact—people love a high-wire act with a bit of wobble, not just somebody strolling casually across a tightrope like it's no big deal. Spalding is a highly accomplished musician who lacks that gravel in the guts that some of us crave from our artists. She is awesome but not that exciting. (Yet.) She's a conundrum. BRENDAN KILEY

This article has been updated since its original publication.