Wednesday 11/27
Sol, Sam Lachow, Dave B.
(Showbox at the Market) See My Philosophy.
Nightmares on Wax, Theoretics, Introcut
(Neumos) See Data Breaker.
Waxahatchee, Swearin', Dead Bars
(Chop Suey) See Stranger Suggests and Underage.
Polyrhythmics, Funky 2 Death, Secret Sound Society
(Nectar) Seattle octet Polyrhythmics do this big-band Afrobeat/funk thing with proper zest and adventurousness. On their new album, Libra Stripes, the group's 32 limbs work in intricate harmony to generate a sophisticated slinkiness and expressive brassiness; theirs is a bold, complex chiaroscuro of wind, keyboard, guitar, bass, and percussion instruments. Polyrhythmics set out to move you, of course, but not without also ensuring that your mind expands out of its usual dimensions. Right about now, they sound like one of the most impressive sonic pleasures this city has to offer. Hit up polyrhythmics.bandcamp.com and go straight to "Bobo" for instant Fela Kutiâesque gratification and to "Skin the Fat" for sublimely greasy, Meters-like funk. DAVE SEGAL
Thursday 11/28
Cat Power, Nico Turner
(Showbox at the Market) Just like the last time Cat Power, the fragile/wonderful Chan Marshall, was in town (she played Showbox Sodo last November), the internet is tsk-tsking with accounts of her hit-or-miss shows. (The Chicago Tribune called her recent Old Town School of Folk Music performance a "self-indulgent mess of a show," and claimed that the only saving grave of the evening was hitting the McDonald's afterward.) Yes, she's emotionally jagged and apparently still a bit off-balance after all these years, but it's part of who she is. And probably why she's able to weave jagged emotions into ever-evolving music your heart will break and heal to over and over again. (Plus, Market>Sodo, though I'm not sure where the nearest McDonald's is from there.) EMILY NOKES
Sophisticated Mama: DJ Sad Bastard, DJ Nitty Gritty
(Havana) If you're looking to warm up and shimmy those November blues away, may I recommend the hallowed "Sophisticated Mama" night at Havana? DJs Sad Bastard and Nitty Gritty have been throwing down the funkiest, grooviest soul and R&B from the '60s and '70s every Thursday for the last few years and seem constitutionally incapable of disappointing. They throw cut after amazing, obscure cut at you, then right around midnight, when the room's bursting to capacity with ecstatic booties and hips, they'll drop a "Sex Machine" or "I Want You Back" and truly set it off. Go grind the autumn chill away with a bunch of inordinately attractive people wearing stylish and impractical outfits to truly phenomenal music. Many an inaugural PDA has played out on this dance floor. KYLE FLECK
Friday 11/29
Nadastrom, Salva, Sinden, Jameson Just
(Neumos) See Data Breaker.
Worthy
(See Sound Lounge) See Data Breaker.
Zulu Jam: Hip Hop History Month Edition
(Washington Hall) See My Philosophy.
Nacho Picasso, Avatar Darko
(Crocodile) High & Mighty, Nacho Picasso's latest sleaze-rap opus, is the sound of an artist at the height of his powers throwing down the proverbial gauntlet: Step up, or get the fuck out. Everything from his raspy flow to the fantastically black-lit production oozes through your speakers loud, clear, and impeccably unrefined. The music is down-beat and minor-key, yet it's impossible to miss the infectious joy Picasso gets from spitting his gutter-nerd wordplay: In the first track alone, there are references ranging from Full House to Genghis Khan. There are a few clear influences (Mac Dre's nonchalant thuggery, Cam'ron's deluded boasting), but Nacho's operating on his own plane now. As our own Charles Mudede recently put it, he's "currently the future of local hiphop." Listen, learn. KYLE FLECK See also My Philosophy.
Soft Metals, Ononos, New Weather, DJ Dr. Troy
(Highline) If you like classic, traditional synth pop, Portland's Soft Metalsâvocalist/keyboardist Patricia Hall and synthesist/programmer/drum-machine operator Ian Hicksâshould hit your sweet spot right in the bull's-eye. Hall coos with dulcet placidity over mid-tempo beats and swirling, expansive synths that make you want to get in romantic entanglements in European cities whose names you mispronounce. Their latest album, the sleekly beautiful Lenses, whisks you away to a glamorous rendezvous or five. The rest of this bill consists of some of Seattle's finest purveyors of agitational (Ononos) and interstellar (New Weather) keyboard-centric music. DJ Dr. Troy will school you hard and deep with his rare, excellent records featuring beaucoup synthesizers. DAVE SEGAL
Eldridge Gravy and the Court Supreme, Chaotic Noise Marching Corps
(Tractor) Long-running Seattle funk ensemble Eldridge Gravy and the Court Supreme celebrate the release of their third album, Gravy's in Your Area, with two shows at the Tractor. (Tonight is circus-themed; Saturday is masquerade-themed, and a spectacular light show is promised for both dates.) With their huge, sprawling lineup and flamboyant stage demeanor, Eldridge Gravy have become one of the most reliable party units in the city. If you're looking to burn off the excessive calories you shoveled into your piehole over Thanksgiving, these folks' high-energy jams can help you. Gravy's in Your Areaâwhich features Stranger Genius Eyvind Kang adding strings on two tracksâis another batch of over-the-top, maximalist soul and showboating funk. Subtlety flies out the window, along with your inhibitions, when Eldridge Gravy hit their glittery-bell-bottomed strideâespecially on their blown-out cover of the Parliaments' "(I Wanna) Testify." DAVE SEGAL
Saturday 11/30
Soul Poet: Lou Reed Tribute
(Northwest Film Forum) See Stranger Suggests.
Roro, Ti Femme, Sue Ann Harkey, Stalebirth
(Hollow Earth Radio) See Underage.
Eldridge Gravy and the Court Supreme, Banda Vagos
(Tractor) See Friday.
Sandrider, Constant Lovers, Dust Moth
(Neumos) Sandrider's 2011 self-titled debut was a beast of a recordâsludgy, with a heavy dose of driving rock, it was what you'd expect from a band featuring former members of Akimbo. But holy shit, they have unleashed something even wilder with their new album, Godhead. The band's as epic as everâbuzzing riffs that'll make the insides of your ears tingle and beats that'll weaken your kneesâbut Godhead also has a bite of attitude that, at times, recalls the cockiness of Mclusky/Future of the Left. Check out the song "Scalpel" for evidence. The band rightfully, loudly celebrates the release of Godhead tonight with a hell of a party also featuring Constant Lovers (yeow!) and Dust Moth. MEGAN SELING
The Cave Singers, Pollens
(Neptune) Northwestern no-witches the Cave Singers have gone the extra mile on their fourth album, Naomi. It's a distinctive and varied offering of abstract/percussive-harmonic folk-pop songs about addiction, Northwest fireworks, cars, and God that come on as dark, emotional, and near-magical impressionist poems. The core trio of Peter Quirk, Derek Fudesco, and Marty Lund recently added Morgan Henderson (of Sharks Keep Moving/Blood Brothers/Fleet Foxes) to the Cave Singers family. With Henderson's addition, the arrangements have grown in complexity and depth while maintaining their signature, a sound that is both comforting and frightening. They continue to explore new aural crevices and expand their unique dialect with each subsequent release. The Cave Singers' beautiful, earthy, and haunting music is something special. BREE MCKENNA See also preview.
Dream On, Jealous Dogs, the Dee Dees
(High Dive) The High Dive brings you a night of three tribute bands, paying homage to three different breeds of what's now known as "classic rock." Dream On, you may have inferred, honor Aerosmith (of whom nothing more under the sun needs to be written), while the Jealous Dogs tackle the hits and relative obscurities/B-sides of the immortal Pretenders. The Dee Dees, billing themselves hilariously and (as far as I know) accurately as "Seattle's only all-female Ramones tribute band," may be the odds-on favorite of the evening, because who can resist a quartet of leather-clad, sunglasses-at-night ladies belting out "Blitzkrieg Bop"? KYLE FLECK
The Dickies, Dreadful Children, Go Like Hell
(El CorazĂłn) My favorite kind of punk bands are those that don't take themselves too seriously. You know, bands that rage all the same, but don't buy into the whole gimmick of being pissed off at everything at all times. Since rising from the San Fernando Valley in the early '80s, the Dickies haven't had a serious bone in their collective body, writing songs about Howdy Doody going down on Buffalo Bob, being forced to hang out with Marlon Brando, and even doing the official Killer Klowns from Outer Space theme. Let's hope they haven't changed. Show up early for Go Like Hell and witness some pure throwback rock 'n' roll fury. KEVIN DIERS
JLK & Babysitter, Hair and Space Museum, Happy Noose, Witches Titties
(Heartland) Happy Noose are a trio from Olympia whose recent EP, Amagosa, is overcast, galloping pop braced with unaffected vocals and a heavy dose of buzzy/bendy guitar resonance. Their self-titled 2011 debut skewed toward more upbeat, straightforward indie punk. Let's hope tonight's show will be a mix of both, like a goth prom where everyone actually dances. Switching gears from darkness to weightlessness, the expansive, otherworldly multimedia project Hair and Space Museum (Midday Veil's Emily Pothast and David Golightly) will project you into an actual Hair and Space Museum where post-humans learn about what it was like when, trillions of years ago, their ancestors grew something called hair on their heads and did old-timey things like travel through a quaint little concept they called space. EMILY NOKES
Sunday 11/31
IAMSU!, Sage the Gemini
(Showbox at the Market) Richmond, California's IAMSU! has been on the rise for the last couple years, thanks in part to his work ethicâreleasing five solo mixtapes and two joint ones (one with fellow HBK Gang affiliate Jay Ant, one with LA rapper Problem) in the past three yearsâbut also largely thanks to his swagged-out-yet-radio-ready content. While IAMSU! can rap quickly and technically when he wants to, he mostly avoids saying too much to keep his synthed-up, Auto-Tune-assisted takes on traditional Bay Area party rap sounding like hits. The fact that he's headlining Showbox at the Market seems to support the notion that he's an updated (since the internet is making rap time move at an exponentially faster rate now), California version of a 2008 Wiz Khalifa or Wale. HBK Gang's Sage the Gemini, who has an annoying radio single out now about girls shaking it like a red nose pit bull, will open. MIKE RAMOS
Monday 12/1
Damn, we miss Megan already.
Tuesday 12/2
Deck the Hall Ball 2013: Vampire Weekend, Phoenix, the Head and the Heart, and more
(KeyArena) KNDD's first-ever Deck the Hall Ball took place in 1992, and it consisted of Evan Dando and Sarah McLachlan performing solo sets on the steps of the Seattle Art Museum. By '94, the Ball was a humongous show packed with established and up-and-coming stars. In 1994, this meant Sheryl Crow, the Cramps, the Jesus and Mary Chain, and Radiohead at the Mercer Arena. In 2001, this meant Staind, Coldplay, and Travis at the Paramount. And in 2013, it means a fresh batch of hot-poop-right-now stars at KeyArena, including Vampire Weekend (creator of what might be the year's most beautiful album) and Lorde (creator of what might be the year's most beautiful pop hit). Also on the bill: poppy Frenchmen Phoenix, folky locals the Head and the Heart, and Britty rockers Arctic Monkeys. DAVID SCHMADER
Anna Oxygen, S, Childbirth
(Chop Suey) Anna Huff, aka Anna Oxygen, is another welcome blast from the glorious, feminine-rich past, born in the '90s Pacific Northwest (similar same-era bands like the Need, Girl Trouble, Tara Jane O'Neil, and Quasi are suddenly all performing again). Oxygen, though now located in Los Angeles, still identifies as both a musician and a multimedia performer. She's spent the past decade or so with an LA performance art group called Cloud Eye Control and a synth-pop group called the Space Ballerinas. Expect the unexpected with Oxygen's shows, and don't miss the gorgeous acoustic melancholy of Jenn Ghetto's S, or openers ChildbirthâSeattle's newest (and only!) rock band that focuses on the more primal aspects of pregnancy, labor, and delivery of tiny humans. KELLY O
Kid Smpl, Zoolab, Newaxeyes, Algebraic Satellite
(Barboza) You already know about Kid Smpl's fathoms-deep emotronica, right? You've surrendered to his lush, interior world of slow-motion beats and smoldering, drizzle-of-tears atmospheres, yeah? You've already bought a lifetime pass for the night bus, correct? Good. Keep up the good work. The other local acts on tonight's bill are all playing their first club shows, and all are new to me. Zoolab (Terence Ankeny) creates down-tempo, crepuscular electronic music whose beats bang a bit harder than Kid Smpl's, but it's still more about overcast moods than moving butts. Algebraic Satellite (Tacoma's Justin Tung) uses buxom beats and melodramatically florid melodies that evoke popular synth bands from the '80s. Newaxeyes (Aloysius Nitsch) opts for a stranger array of sounds, eking out eerie, disjointed sound experiments that leave you feeling disorientedâa too-rare occurrence nowadays. Welcome my new favorite electronic weirdo to the scene! DAVE SEGAL 
