Wednesday 11/13

Rittz, Snow tha Product, Jarren Benton

(Nectar) See My Philosophy.

Crypts, Pop. 1280, Haunted Horses, Clayface

(Chop Suey) "Two dogs fucking," begins "Burn the Worm" off The Horror, the 2012 album from degenerate Brooklyn "cyberpunks" Pop. 1280. Named after the Jim Thompson crime novel, these synth-punk miscreants released one of last year's most frightening albums. With deadpan vocal antagonism, slanderous Birthday Party–esque bass, and violent synths, their latest LP, Imps of Perversion (on Sacred Bones), is still grosser than whatever feeds your nightmares (e.g., unlabeled GMOs, post–nuclear apocalypse dog sex), but with added tribal-electronic/industrial vibes and less apocalyptic grime than The Horror. Opening tonight's dread-filled post-filth-fest is Clayface from Olympia, whose set I enjoyed at one of the last Healthy Times Fun Club shows two years/forever ago; expect a deeply sprawled, Chameleons UK–inspired goth haze dramaturgically lurching into a sax-spaced dirge. Local support also comes from blown-out industrial weirdos Crypts and noise-rock trio/casual exorcists Haunted Horses. BRITTNIE FULLER

Earshot Jazz Festival: The Music of Bud Powell

(Royal Room) Tonight local jazz pianists Marc Seales, Sumi Tonooka, Gus Carns, and Tim Kennedy celebrate the music of the jazz god Bud Powell. From Powell, we get Bill Evans, and from Evans, we get Herbie Hancock. That line of jazz piano, jazz thinking, jazz feeling, is inexhaustible. If you have never heard of Powell, I recommend beginning with The Genius of Bud Powell, which contains three brilliant takes of "Tea for Two," and his somber but lyrical "Parisian Thoroughfare." When you listen to these and other pieces, be aware of the sad fact that Powell spent much of his career in and out of mental institutions (some believe we have police brutality to thank for that). Those recordings capture the moments, the days when he was sane and able to function. CHARLES MUDEDE

Thursday 11/14

Kenny Dope, DJ Supreme La Rock, Wesley Holmes, Blueyedsoul

(Q Nightclub) See Data Breaker.

Ra Scion, Rodney Hazard, Blake Lewis, the Tempers, Romaro Franceswa

(Neumos) On his new record, The Sickle and the Sword (his second LP of the year—the first is Adding to the Extra), local rapper and former Common Market member RA Scion joined forces with New York City–based Rodney Hazard to create a very large, very wide, and very bold work of 21st-century hiphop. RA's raps are on the philosophical tip, as Hazard generates what feels like an endless stream of dreamy beats. Listening to this mostly excellent record—it has a couple of failures, but brilliant failures are the best failures of all—is like getting a glimpse of that eternal Buddhist web of jewels. I will have more to say about The Sickle and the Sword in the near future. CHARLES MUDEDE See also My Philosophy.

Turquoise Jeep, NighTraiN

(Crocodile) Whoa, the Turquoise Jeep guys have been busy! Last I checked in with goofball rappers Flynt Flossy, Yung Humma, and crew, way back in 2010, they were still talking about wanting to "smang" it. That's "smash it and bang," the chorus to their first hit, "Lemme Smang It." I figured they were a solid novelty act and wrote them off. However, a quick YouTube search reveals they've followed that internet smash (11-million-plus views!) with a new clutch of bangers like "Naughty Farmer" and "Treat Me Like a Pirate" (which features the most absurdly obvious puns about "walking the plank" and "show[ing] me your treasure" I've ever heard). Your enjoyment of these guys hinges on your tolerance for over-the-top surrealist rap parody, and, to be honest, on the right day I'm a sucker for it. KYLE FLECK See also My Philosophy.

Gabriel Mindel Saloman, Mamiffer, Dull Knife, LA Lungs

(Highline) You may remember Gabriel Mindel Saloman from his richly rewarding tenure in Portland noise/drone sojourners Yellow Swans. After that group split following the release of 2010's majestic Going Places, with its steel-wool clouds of static and whirring, Saloman moved to Vancouver, BC, and concentrated on his solo career. He's a prolific musician, and I've not heard all of his output, but tracks that I have caught, like "Riots Just Don't Happen," brood and soar with a stately melancholy that sounds downright liturgical. 2012's Adhere showcases Saloman's command of chilling atmospheres that patiently unspool and swell with stoic grandeur. Our man's music has become refined, and it suits him well. Makers of subtle horror films should seek out Saloman's talents. DAVE SEGAL

XVIII Eyes, Ships, Blue Light Curtain

(Chop Suey) Because there hasn't been enough great new music released this fall (seriously, you guys, SLOW DOWN), tonight Seattle's own XVIII Eyes (formerly known as Eighteen Individual Eyes) are also celebrating the release of their new album, I'll Keep You. If you're trying to prioritize the overwhelming list of records awaiting your attention, it'd be wise to bump XVIII Eyes up the list a few spots. The band's fluid, chilly rock is as cool and smooth as a just-Zambonied sheet of ice, perfect to enjoy on these cold November nights. Ships and Blue Light Curtain are playing, too, so don't be the jerk who shows up just for the headliner. MEGAN SELING

Fruit Bats, the Donkeys

(Neptune) It's been 10 years since Fruit Bats' Eric Johnson released Mouthfuls, the electronics-laced folk masterpiece that many believe to be the group's peak. At the time, Fruit Bats included Johnson's then-girlfriend Gillian Lisée. The songwriting was as good as their gilded vocal harmonies, and what ensued was one of the more consistent, fully realized folk records of the early '00s. Tonight, Johnson et al. will play Mouthfuls start to finish, and while Lisée has long since left the band, if Johnson can recreate just some of the alchemy found on that album, we're in for a solid night of nostalgia. GRANT BRISSEY

Friday 11/15

Screaming Females, Upset, Darto, Big Crux

(Black Lodge) See Stranger Suggests and Underage.

Kung Foo Grip, Keyboard Kid

(Vera) See My Philosophy.

DJ Vadim, DJ Abilities, Jel

(Nectar) See Data Breaker.

Obits, Survival Knife, Dreamsalon

(Neumos) Survival Knife have one of the more apropos band names I've seen in a while: Their angsty post-hardcore has some seriously sharp edges and an appealing air of desperation. Featuring former members of '90s feedback fiends Unwound, this Olympia-based quartet has been making waves around town for the better part of a year, releasing singles on Sub Pop and Kill Rock Stars and reportedly slaying at live shows. The only question now is: Where's the album? Also be sure to catch openers Dreamsalon, who bash out a particularly potent strain of nerve-jangling garage rock, with guitars soaked in reverb and drumming like a coked-up heartbeat. Headliner Obits make perfectly serviceable tough-dude rock and roll, if you're into that. KYLE FLECK

Saturday 11/16

Kronos Quartet with Degenerate Art Ensemble

(Neptune) See preview.

Latyrx, Staxx Brothers, Tope

(Crocodile) See My Philosophy.

Dreamsalon, TJ Max, Underworld Scum, DJ Explorateur, DJ Veins

(Radar Hair and Records) A night filled with music AND art! (And conflicts of interest, so hold on tight!) Make it to Radar tonight for Super Kaleid: a group show including screen prints, paintings, and photography, self-described as "a modern look at psychedelia and general creepiness." Speaking of creepy, if you missed Underworld Scum, Seattle's most brutal Misfits cover band (featuring local musicians Eric Randall, Pete Capponi, Dan Paulus, and Stranger contributor Derek Erdman) on their three-day Halloween rampage, then you have another chance to grease up that devil-lock and make it count! With ominous post-punks Dreamsalon, atmospheric duo TJ Max, and the deep cuts (so deep you'll need stitches) of DJ Explorateur (Valerie Calano) and DJ Veins (The Stranger's own Dave "Tintinnabulation Tapestries" Segal). EMILY NOKES See also Data Breaker.

Ravenna Woods, Campfire OK, Vox Mod

(Neumos) Halloween is over, but that doesn't mean you won't be able to enjoy Ravenna Woods' creepy new record, The Jackals. Their guitar-heavy folk rock goes beyond just being dark—it's downright scary. In the song "Live Alone," singer Chris Cunningham warns you to "lock the doors, there's something terrible happening," but he sings it with a taunting smile, as though he's enjoying the promise of someone else's demise. Eek! For an extra fright, visit ravennawoods.net to watch the taxidermy-filled video for the song "Border Animals," which makes the band look like members of the Addams Family. Joining them for tonight's album release show are two more bands we're lucky to call locals—Campfire OK (who released a new record of their own not too far back) and the always wonderfully weird Vox Mod. MEGAN SELING

Earshot Jazz Festival: Peter Brötzmann & Paal Nilssen-Love

(Royal Room) This is a big one—if not the big one for Earshot attendees: Peter Brötzmann and Paal Nilssen-Love. As any reader of The Wire and other highbrow publications knows, Brötzmann is the legendary German saxophonist lauded for his monstrous lung power, ruptured, rapturous timbres, and heavy yet limber free-jazz pyrotechnics. He's been renting asunder prim-and-proper jazzspace for at least 46 years with Last Exit and in numerous permutations as leader and sideman with elite avant-gardists. Brötzmann's Machine Gun LP from 1968—with his world-beating octet—still sounds like the apocalypse in a horn. For this date, Brötzmann—who's a robust 72 years old—will blow out eardrums with Norwegian drummer Nilssen-Love (Scorch Trio, the Thing), whose remarkably kinetic and inventive style complements his partner's high-wire runs. DAVE SEGAL

White Mystery

(Black Lodge) It takes an intangible something—spirit, fieriness, recklessness, bravado—to thrive as a garage-rock band in the 21st century. The genre's been around for nearly 50 years, so it requires heroic energy and creativity to make it sound interesting at this late date. Chicago's White Mystery—redheaded dynamos Miss Alex White and Francis Scott Key White—harness those intangibles and write catchy, gnarly tunes that don't reek of Nuggets box sets or graying pudding-bowl haircuts. The duo's newest album, Telepathic, actually possesses more Pussy Galore/Blues Explosion–like DNA in its buzz-and-howl attack than it does the Seeds or the Standells. However the hell they're managing to accomplish it, White Mystery have those special ingredients that make their garage rock not sound museum-y. DAVE SEGAL

R. Andrew Lee: November

(Chapel Performance Space) Pay attention, because Nonsequitur and The Box Is Empty are only presenting this experience for one night. It's R. Andrew Lee performing Dennis Johnson's "5-hour, nearly lost proto-minimalist masterpiece, November, for solo piano." Johnson, who lives off-grid in the Bay Area and hasn't been involved in music since around 1962, wrote this piece in 1959, and it only recently resurfaced. Given its stylistic firsts, it may well be the first piece of minimalism, and it was a wellspring of inspiration for La Monte Young's The Well-Tuned Piano of 1964. Lee is responsible for its premiere recording, so he probably knows it better than just about anyone not living in a shack off the grid in the Bay Area these days. JEN GRAVES

Sunday 11/17

Thundercat, Kingdom Crumbs

(Barboza) See Sound Check and Stranger Suggests.

Deltron 3030, Kid Koala

(Showbox at the Market) See My Philosophy.

The Casualties, Negative Approach

(El Corazón) Of all the reunited hardcore bands on the modern touring circuit, Negative Approach are one of the few groups that actually retain the urgency, anger, and desperation of their original incarnation. What makes the Detroit legends' reunion seem far more alive than the standard exhumed band's victory lap? Maybe it's the low-key nature of the comeback. Maybe it's the distinct lack of commercialism attached their tours. Maybe it's singer John Brannon's continued legacy with the vociferous bluesy squall of Laughing Hyenas. Maybe it's simply the fact that Negative Approach created the template of raging discontentment that every hardcore band in their wake has tried to live up to. Thirty years after their initial breakup, they still exude more palpable fury than nearly any group in the genre they helped create. BRIAN COOK

Monday 11/18

Mellowhigh, Gift Uh Gab

(Neumos) See My Philosophy.

Thomas Dolby

(Showbox at the Market) After writing and producing some of the most beautiful pop of the 1980s (his own The Flat Earth, Prefab Sprout's Two Wheels Good) and touring the world as an electronic-music guru, Thomas Dolby returns to the stage with an ambitious new multimedia work. Described as "part film, part concert, part transmedia event," The Invisible Lighthouse features Dolby performing a live narration and musical score in front of the titular film, which was shot and edited by Dolby, and evocatively chronicles an island lighthouse in Britain. Additional drama will be supplied by Foley artist/musician/sound designer Blake Leyh. DAVID SCHMADER

Audacity, the Hunters, Big Eyes, So Pitted

(Black Lodge) If you're slipping into hibernation mode, this is your best bet for a wild Monday! Fullerton fun punks Audacity make solid, joyful garage rock with a level of creativity that seems to stem from the foursome's lifelong friendship and nine-plus years as a band. Hunters put on a frenetic show, they say (I have yet to see them, but the lion's share of reviews I encounter on the duo—Brooklyn's Isabel Almeida and Derek Watson—obsess over their live-show intensity). That doesn't necessarily come through in the alternative-flavored, 1990-era Sonic Youthfulness of their recordings, but there's nothing wrong with a band making the most sense when eyeballs are involved, too. Locals groups Big Eyes and So Pitted can also be counted on to bring the heavy power pop and scuzzy party punk, respectively. EMILY NOKES

Tuesday 11/19

Lupe Fiasco

(Showbox Sodo) See My Philosophy.

Big Freedia

(Neumos) Last time Big Freedia graced the Neumos stage, she pulled a 12-foot work ladder out on the stage, and used it to keep her balance while she twerked, "wiggle-wobbled," and booty-bounced the crowd into a pure frenzy. Since the Seattle ladder incident, Freedia, aka the Queeniest Diva, has been the star of her own reality TV show on FUSE TV called Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce, traveled all over the United States of Her'merica on tour, and set a new Guinness world record in NYC for "Most People Twerking Simultaneously." Freedia is on an unstoppable mission. And she's fast becoming the Pied Piper of New Orleans–style, ass-shaking fun. KELLY O