This week, our music critics have picked everything from a smooth bluesman for the ages, to a relentless California punk legacy, to what could possibly be the future of local indie rock.

NOVEMBER 21

Seu Jorge Presents: The Life Aquatic, A Tribute to David Bowie
Even if he didn’t also act, the late David Bowie’s genre-spanning music would still have found its way into countless motion pictures, few more inventively than The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, a poignant father-son drama disguised as loopy underwater adventure. A less ingenious filmmaker might have shelled out for an original recording or two, but Wes Anderson instead tapped singer-actor Seu Jorge, fresh off a run as Knockout Ned in the Oscar-nominated City of God, to play a guitar-wielding deckhand who entertains the crew with Portuguese versions of RCA-era Bowie numbers, like “Life on Mars?” Jorge’s resistance to imitation allows his own warm, expressive voice to shine through, leading Bowie himself to praise “the new level of beauty” the Brazilian brought to his material. KATHY FENNESSY

Temple of the Dog with Fantastic Negrito
Temple of the Dog are Chris Cornell—honoring the late Andrew Wood—out in front of most of Pearl Jam, including Matt Cameron from Soundgarden (and Pearl Jam), and (let’s hope) Eddie Vedder, who sang on some of the most amazing shit from the band’s album, now 25 years old (sigh) and well worth (re)discovering. Let’s not leave out the opening act, though: Fantastic Negrito is a man who waded through a failed record deal and then climbed out of a hospital bed after a near-fatal car crash, saying “fuck you” to the permanent physical damage and going to work growing weed. Then he started playing music again. He’s just a little bit angry. Who wouldn’t be? ANDREW HAMLIN

NOVEMBER 22-27

Taj Mahal Trio
So. The Apocalypse. I didn’t get much sleep, either. The Walking Dead’s squish crunch munch still stung mean if no longer fun, but didn’t quite finger the zeitgeist. The Leftovers hit harder with nothing to grab onto—everything looks the same, including the cops, but nobody knows exactly what the rules, or if the rules, might be. So anyone anytime can throw a punch. Anyone might fall bloodied. Listen to Taj Mahal sing “Celebrated Walkin’ Blues,” which he lifted from Robert Johnson. He starts out with nothing but shoes and proceeds to survey the landscape in those lyrics and a great deal about the universe with that mandolin. Macrocosm in microcosm. Joy from deep in a rut. We’ll need those. ANDREW HAMLIN
(No show on Thanksgiving)

NOVEMBER 23

Helms Alee, He Whose Ox Is Gored, Wild Powwers
Seattle trio Helms Alee are out this time in support of their fourth album, Stillicide (Sargent House). Recorded over 10 days in Salem, Oregon, their latest has more of Ben Verellen’s trademark Viking roars and Hozoji Matheson-Margullis’s ornate percussion tossed into the ceiling fan with crunchy riffs off of Verellen’s guitar and Dana James’s bass. The album’s 11 songs of headphone metal—acoustically flawless heaviness charged with wonder rather than anger. Maybe it’s their swelling harmonies, but as hard as they rock, Helms Alee’s music really does feel sprung from a place of hopeful energy, the kind that urges you to rise above challenges together rather than to rot separately in the valley with all of society’s pollution. TODD HAMM

Industrial Revelation, D’Vonne Lewis’ Limited Edition, Nick Drummond Band
The group has four members—D'Vonne Lewis (drums), Evan Flory-Barnes (bass), Josh Rawlings (keyboards), and Ahamefule J. Oluo (trumpet). All are trained primarily as jazz musicians and play in a number of jazz bands and venues around town. However, IR's 2013 album Oak Head makes it clear that when these four men make music together, they cannot be classified as a jazz band. IR have a sound that is not determined by one genre, but instead is overdetermined by multiple genres—hiphop, indie rock, punk, soul, and so on. But here is what makes IR truly unique and worthy of the status of Genius: Their mission as musicians is not to save jazz or to be relevant to younger audiences. Absent from their live shows and two albums is exactly that kind of desperation and scheming. What we hear instead are tunes composed and performed by four very talented musicians who are naturally, effortlessly, constantly inventive. CHARLES MUDEDE

Romaro Franceswa with Guests
When BeanOne, one of the few heads in town I always trusted, first started hyping the work Romaro Franceswa was doing with a young Federal Waylien with a funny name, I admit, I was a tad dubious. His eponymous debut was cool and rap-forward—but I couldn’t have envisioned him becoming the firebrand he is today, surely one of Seattle’s leaders of the new school. Following last year’s superb Balance, Romaro is back at it with the just-released Mirror, his first output since finding new management, a new label (Black Umbrella), and a new focus. It’s his first release sans the nimble OG Bean, but a quick pass-through confirms the goods. I ain’t gotta tell you to watch the kid, you’re already looking—just appreciate the growth. LARRY MIZELL JR.

NOVEMBER 23 & 25

"Thankful Dead" with Andy Coe Band
Not only are the Grateful Dead their own cottage industry (still!), the venerable San Francisco psychedelic/Americana juggernaut has spun off hordes of tribute bands that form their own lucrative sonic ecosystem. In Seattle, Andy Coe Band reign in that Garcia-fied realm. Coe is the guitar hero/vocalist who captains this trip with astonishing dexterity and soulfulness. The rest of the group also possess deep knowledge of the Dead’s songbook, and their fluid, rootsy, interstellar moves reanimate the mother of all jam band’s music for those who may have missed the originators. And damn if Andy Coe Band’s rendition of “St. Stephen” isn’t pure bliss. DAVE SEGAL

NOVEMBER 24

Studio 4/4: Sonny Fodera, Walker & Royce
Hailed by major tastemakers such as Mixmag, London DJ/producer/remixer Sonny Fodera has impressed house-music icons like Frankie Knuckles, Derrick Carter, and Cajmere, the latter of whom offered Fodera a record deal and a studio collaboration. If you’re a house traditionalist into the soulful, funky side of the genre, Fodera ranks as one of the new generation’s most loyal torchbearers. Trust Studio 4/4’s organizers to keep Seattle’s asses moving with verve on a Thursday night. DAVE SEGAL

NOVEMBER 25

Castle, MOS Generator, Ancient Warlocks, Teepee Creeper
To those who worship at the altar of Black Sabbath, this tour’s for you. Together, San Francisco–based headliner Castle and Bremerton’s Mos Generator—both of which happen to be power trios—channel a healthy dose of Iommi influence through the power of their vintage metal riffs. Just this past July, both bands released killer new albums to critical acclaim. With Abyssinia, Mos Generator pack their well-formulated crushing guitar assault and partner it with soaring, melodic vocals, showing they’ve truly arrived as juggernauts of Northwest rock. Show up early for the bong-rattling heaviness of local heroes Ancient Warlocks. KEVIN DIERS

RÜFÜS DU SOL, Kilo, Yuma X
Dang, I thought the 1970s/’80s funk-soul group that charted with “Tell Me Something Good” and “You Got the Love” and featured a young Chaka Khan on vocals had reunited. But no. This new, umlauted, and all-caps RÜFÜS are an Australian trio that topped the charts Down Under with their 2013 debut LP, Atlas. The RÜFÜS sound wavers somewhere between Hot Chip’s chipper electro-house and James Blake’s woebegone, yearning soul meditations. It’s a very commercial approach, and RÜFÜS do it with poise and skill. They’re certainly better at it than the Chainsmokers, but it’s still rather mild sauce to anyone who’s put in more than a few years of serious electronic-music listening. DAVE SEGAL

Thee Oh Sees, Alex Cameron, Mommy Long Legs
John Dwyer, founder of Thee Oh Sees, is an unstoppable force. Labels, locations, and lineups may change, but at any given time, he’s making music and creating the art that adorns his recordings. This year, he released a live album and two studio full-lengths, and now he’s hitting the road. His most recent offering, A Weird Exits, prioritizes instrumentation over vocals, and it runs the gamut from prog rock to acid folk (with Ryan Moutinho and Dan Rincon, the outfit returns to the two-drummer configuration of the Lars Finberg era). If you’ve never heard Thee Oh Sees, it’s as good a place to start as any, though you can’t go wrong with any of their albums—and the incandescent live show will make anyone a believer. KATHY FENNESSY

NOVEMBER 26

Car Seat Headrest with The Domestics
Already prolific in quantity, Will Toledo of Car Seat Headrest has ascended to the high quality side of things with his band’s latest album, Teens of Denial. Surging ahead of the pack of anxiety-riddled, string-tearing indie rock, Teens of Denial actually accomplishes a goal, building a safe space in which one can be fully surrounded by and commensurate with the cares and desires of a demographic typically accused of never caring enough. Heavy on the Built to Spill–style slow build that crashes into persistent oblivion, Toledo strikes the middle point between career-peak Jonathan Richman and the subtle insecurity of Jeffrey Lewis, with stridently critical and clever vocalizations. You get the feeling he woke up alone in a stranger’s home and is now just making sense of his place in each room. It is simultaneously unsettling and deeply comforting. KIM SELLING

Emancipator, Tor, Edamame, Lapa
Portland producer Emancipator creates middling, orchestral, down-tempo electronic music that seems tailor-made for TV movies (do they still make those?). His tracks skew predominantly melancholy and blandly funky, like a smooth-jazz version of Thievery Corporation. DAVE SEGAL

Encanto Holiday Opera
Featuring award-winning tenor José Iñiguez and pianist Jeremy Neufeld, Encanto pairs the diverse qualities of opera arias, classical piano, and mariachi bolero for an evening of holiday-themed genre-blending. Proceeds from this concert will go to funding scholarships for first-generation students pursuing college/university education.

James Vincent McMorrow with Allan Rayman
Irish artist James Vincent McMorrow shows off his James Blake-esque vocal chops in his latest album, We Move. His dreamy electro-haze-pop set will be flanked by a live set from Allan Rayman.

Nipsey Hussle, Choice, Tha landlord, J.D.U.B.
Rolling on the success of perma-relevant track "Fuck Donald Trump" with YG, LA rapper Nipsey Hussle graces us with his energetic presence and live theatrics, with Choice, Tha landlord, and J.D.U.B.

Sky Cries Mary, Jim Basnight & The Moberlys, Crunchbird
Old school goes to school! Crunchbird, masterminded by Jaime Crunchbird since 1984, talks about interpersonal transactions and hidden agendas plus crunch guitar, naturally, with a certain Captain Weasel and fiddler Mary C. Gross along for the ride on this new bloom. Sky Cries Mary have tried celestial/ambient, straighter-ahead rock, trancey bits, and a bass player good enough for Yes (who probably pay him better). I have never met Jim Basnight, but our paths have crossed by proxy over the years. He goes all the way back to the seminal Seattle Syndrome album from 1981—before that, actually. He named his band after the director of the Seattle School District. He’s a stone unworn by water. ANDREW HAMLIN

NOVEMBER 27

Daughter with Alexandra Savior
English indie-folk trio Daughter share their darkly emotional textures with a live set pulling from their 2016 release Not to Disappear, flanked by Alexandra Savior.

Michael Christmas, Warm Brew, Kari Faux
The “Westside Christmas” tour brings three LA-based rap acts on the come-up, all making their Seattle debut: Boston MC Michael Christmas, no seasonal novelty, slid to LA and honed his funny, every-smartass raps a couple years back and has been cooking ever since. (His latest is a project with Prefuse 73 called Fudge, which issued Lady Parts in September.) Kari Faux is a Little Rock–raised rapper whose debut, Lost En Los Angeles, chronicles her own move West via modern-funk tracks laced with her cool, almost mumblecore raps. Also on tour is Westside trio Warm Brew, signed to Dom Kennedy’s OPM. Their unvarnished beer-and-swisher-guts lyricism might fit in somewhere between the vibes of the Likwit Crew, Mystik Journeymen, and Kausion—just for you LA rap completists. LARRY MIZELL JR.

Sloucher, Fauna Shade, Pale Noise
As Sean Nelson astutely observed in a Slog post from July, Seattle’s Sloucher have deftly assimilated the influences of several paradigmatic indie-rock bands from the 1990s and ’00s, including Pavement, Elliott Smith, Yo La Tengo, Bedhead/New Year, and Sebadoh. The songs on Sloucher’s debut EP, Certainty (which you can hear on Bandcamp), tap into a humble yet beautiful melodic wellspring where that certain introspective timbre of guitar jangle and yearning white-guy vocal convey so much pathos. It isn’t easy to make slacker rock sound compelling in 2016, but Sloucher nail all the moves with an easygoing charm that suggests they’ll have a long, fruitful career. If they don’t play Pitchfork Music Festival by 2018, I’ll slowly shake my head in disbelief. DAVE SEGAL

NOVEMBER 27-30

X with Skating Polly, Visqueen, Small Wigs, Tripwires
I’m gettin’ pretty wiggly knowing X have a four-night Seattle residency (!) meant for celebrating the band’s 40th birfday! They were contemporaries of SoCal punk bands like the Germs and Black Flag, but X’s relevance and influence can still be heard draped across the sounds of the rock underground. I reckon you could say, even as their music is deeply rooted in, well, roots rock, at this point they MIGHT be considered roots rock themselves. And don’t forget they were/are universally loved by the nerdy college kids, punks, AND the goths. I bet it’s safe to say 1970s Exene is prolly still an archetype. Uh, now that I think about it, a four-day party might not be enough. MIKE NIPPER