According to local weather sources, there's a possibility it could snow in Seattle this week. Combat this change in the season by holing up at your favorite local venue in a warm crowd full of people who just want to hear some tunes and get out of the cold. This week, we've got everything from the Doggfather of rap, to a television-friendly spinner of Celtic yarns, to the ultimate white witch queen of scarves. Escape the environment with these critics' picks, and find even more on our music calendar.
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MONDAY
Justin Townes Earle with Jason Dodson
The son of country-rock singer/force-of-nature Steve Earle, Justin Townes Earle named his last album Absent Fathers to make us laugh, but itâs not (only) a laughing matter. He sounds slippery-syllabled, and more than anything else, tired. Heâs mournful; pondering the delicious failures of his past seems the only way to fashion any kind of present. But his songs are all beautifully depressing, at least. That brand of depressing itâs tempting to hide within. Jason Dodson from the Maldives sounds more conventionally rueful. Not lugubrious sad, not slippery-sad, just matter-of-fact sad. With wit. With a keen eye to telling details. This should make for some subtle but fascinating contrasts. ANDREW HAMLIN
Petra Haden and Jesse Harris
For those tuning in late, Petra Hadenâone of the famous Haden tripletsâtransmogrified âDonât Stop Believinââ into a multitracked a cappella affirmation of everything right with the world, and threw in a video for same depicting a love story between a pocket calculator and a fried egg. Sheâs recorded an a cappella cover of the entire The Who Sell Out LP and a similar album of classic movie themes. Here sheâll gig with singer-songwriter Jesse Harris (himself a twin). YouTube samples seem to promise haunted-space excursions into eerie psyches, summoned by Hadenâs violin. Hie thee thither! But donât expect to rub shoulders with the pocket calculator or even a fried egg. ANDREW HAMLIN
TUESDAY
Bell Witch, Aerial Ruin, Eos, Serpentent
Itâs strange to think that metal has spent much of its tenure in pop culture enduring attacks by critics for being ephemeral, sophomoric, or formulaic. In 2017, metal seems to be the last bastion of rock music that isnât afraid to take potentially alienating chances. Metalheads are eager to be challenged. This could explain the overwhelming international praise heaped upon Seattleâs funeral-doom duo Bell Witch. Last yearâs Four Phantoms was an exercise in tension, austerity, and patience, with each of the albumâs four tracks blooming into fetid splendor at the torporific pace of a corpse flower. With an arsenal limited to drums and an adroitly manipulated six-string bass, Bell Witch weave mournful catharsis and animalistic malice into masterfully protracted elegies. BRIAN COOK
Jim James with Twin Limb
Louisville, Kentucky, mountain man Jim James (aka Yim Yames) has an unassailable transcendentalism about him. He's rootsy and Zen, and he has a resonant, yodel-throated mine shaft of a singing voice. With James's first solo full-length, Regions of Light and Sound of God, the My Morning Jacket frontman has become a bit of a Southern mystic. His songs swim through expansively altered folk and gospel, each possessing its own calm, rich, tidal sensation. TRENT MOORMAN
Lee Fields & The Expressions with Lady Wray
I donât think you could do much better on any given Tuesday night than getting down with Mr. Lee Fields, one of the last soul singers from way back still dialed in and still pushing. And heâs currently touring the world in support of his new LP, Special Night. Uh, the album is fucking GREAT, full of deep soul groovers in the Dan Penn/Muscle Shoals vein, some of his mid-tempo funk action, and the anthem âMake the World.â Every song on here only reassures me that Fieldsâs lamp is lit with lightning. Also on board tonight is Leeâs labelmate, Lady Wray (aka Nicole Wray), whoâll be singing some of the sweet soul tunes off her killer late summer LP, Queen Alone. MIKE NIPPER
Rare Air & Elevator Present: Laraaji, Bardo:Basho, DJ Explorateur
Light in the Atticâs superb 2013 compilation I Am the Center significantly raised new age musicâs profile, which had been gaining renewed interest since the mid â00s through a number of blogs dedicated to the genreâs obscure classics. One such beneficiary of that revival has been electric zither player Laraaji, who first gained notoriety when Brian Eno tapped him to helm the seminal Ambient 3: Day of Radiance. Promoters from Rare Air and Elevator bring this new age veteranâs celestial sounds to town for a special night with Bardo:Basho providing support in the way of her mesmerizing, loop-based compositions that pair field recordings with her keen ear for sound design to create slow and meditative music ideal for zoning out. NICK ZURKO
WEDNESDAY
Damian McGinty: This Christmas Time
Glee star and touring Celtic Thunder singer Damian McGinty brings his Irish charm to Shoreline for a night of holiday classics and new originals from his latest album, This Christmas Time.
The Dandy Warhols with Telegram
The Dandy Warhols feel like a relic from another era (the early 2000s), in a music scene where detached coolness was valued over vulnerability and "hipster" was a socially acceptable insult to throw around. They're kind of difficult for me to listen to now, the way it's hard to look at someone you had a brief, ill-advised crush on before you got to know them and realized that they were, in fact, all wrong for you. The garage-y, sometimes psychedelic rock band has that off-putting excess-celebrating rock-star swagger (chronicled in the 2004 documentary Dig! that pits them against the Brian Jonestown Massacre), as frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor purses his lips and croons about such deep matters as horse pills and getting off. But still. The band's hits are undeniably catchy, and while I'll cringe a little at the lyrics, I can't help feeling the sing-along power of "Bohemian Like You" and that Veronica Mars theme song whenever they come on. ROBIN EDWARDS
Helmet with Local H
As Lubricated Goat singer Stu Spasm says in Amphetamine Reptile doc The Color of Noise, âI donât really like clean cut rock machines, a bunch of guys in big fucking shorts⌠huge shorts. No one in my band is allowed to wear big shorts.â Nineties noise-rock behemoths Helmet were unlike many of their AmRep contemporaries, with their pristinely rehearsed and tightly wound riffs, eventually reaching mainstream appeal and a signing with Interscope. Watching their 1990s live videos reveals a sea of angry white dudes in oversize white T-shirts, but the angst is well-articulated and fairly groovy. Songs like âRepetition,â âIn the Meantime,â and âUnsungâ solidified the bandâs reputation as seismic riff monoliths in rockâs last commercial stand. On Helmetâs deftly titled eighth record, Dead to the World, the riffs are as menacing as ever, and they strike a particularly relevant note on âBad Newsâ: âAll news is bad news.â BRITTNIE FULLER
Sandrider, Constant Lovers, DJ Marco Collins
While it might not always get hyped, the Northwest has always had a strong contingent of bands blasting out high-quality heaviness. One of the more recent bands that churned out said heaviness was thinking manâs hardcore project Akimbo. It wasnât easy for Seattle to say good-bye to this long-lasting band, but if it werenât for their split three years back, drummer Nat Damm and guitarist/vocalist Jon Weisnewski wouldnât have the time to focus on the awesomeness that is Sandrider. If youâre a fan of big riffs played out of loud amps atop ear-piercing screams and a punishing rhythm section, do yourself a favor and indulge in one of the cityâs heaviest. KEVIN DIERS
Young Thug with 21 Savage
Young Thugâs HIHORSEâd tour brings his brand of Auto-Tune-mangling rap to Seattle alongside fast-rising Atlanta upstart 21 Savage. Since catching the ears of the rap cognoscenti with his 1017 Thug mixtape in 2013, Thugger has carved out his own path in popular rap through repetition and oddball yelps, scoring a steady string of singles like smashes âStonerâ and âDanny Gloverâ to his recent Jeffery mixtape, all recorded alongside a cadre of scene-defining producers, including London On Da Trak and Metro Boomin. The latter has struck up a productive relationship with young gun 21 Savage, recently releasing the Savage Mode EP together. While featuring beats similar to Futureâs muddled yet airy trap anthems, his flow is far more animated and dexterous, making him a logical opening act for Thugger. NICK ZURKO
THURSDAY
Haley Bonar, Night Moves, Guests
Calling attention to the âtextureâ of a given musicianâs work is often a tricksy way of suggesting their music sounds deeper than it is. Hereâs an excellent double bill of Midwestern artists whose songwriting is as rewarding as their recordings are intriguing. Haley Bonarâs latest, Impossible Dream, is her richest album to date, continuing the progression from the haunting, desolated tone of her early work to a more engaged and engaging versatility of sound and vision. The tempos may accelerate as years and albums go by, but the emotional context of her songs has only become more complex. Night Moves arrived more fully formed on the 2012 LP Colored Emotions, but Pennied Days, from earlier this year, effectively mines the same seam of psychedelic garage pop. SEAN NELSON
Nightmares on Wax with Romare
Seattle sure loves Nightmares on Wax. The UK tropical funkateers seem to play here at least once a year, roaming through their 25 years of catalog on Warp Records with the sort of laidback head-nod fodder thatâs instant sonic sunshine for our Vitamin D-deprived souls. DAVE SEGAL
Puff Puff Pass Tour Part 2: Snoop Dogg with Guests
Experience a whole evening of hiphop and pot-related puns with Snoop Dogg at the Neptune, joined by scene veterans Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Warren G, Tha Dogg Pound, and DJ Quik.
Slashed Tires, regularfantasy, PHNK, Cake "Alchemy!"
A linchpin in Seattleâs DIY music underground, Kenneth Piekarski also helms the Slashed Tires project, which has produced a consistent stream of dubbed-out, post-punk-leaning funk rock over the last few years. His 2013 cassette Alarm Clock recalled such bass- and percussion-heavy greats as ESG, Tussle, and Ike Yard, with even a couple of nods to Terry Rileyâs concentrically celestial minimalism. Itâs an undersung gem. More recent works like Spring Funkward find Slashed Tires in a more extroverted mood, singing like Calvin Johnsonâs nerdier younger brother over rubbery synth bass, mildly euphoric keyboard swells, and head-bobbing drum-machine bumps. Itâs a sprightly take on bedroom electro that will appeal to Dub Narcotic Sound System fans. DAVE SEGAL
Studio 4/4: John Digweed
Although heâs nearing 50 and has 27 years of music-biz experience, English DJ/producer/Bedrock Records owner John Digweed is still living high on the club-culture food chain. Such longevity is impressive in the fast-moving milieu of dance music, and this progressive-house/techno/trance tastemakerâs persistence is somehow comforting. Digweed is a reliable selector of B+ house and techno tracks that may not represent the genresâ darkest or trippiest specimens, but they move the masses without stooping to LCD cheesiness. For a middle-aged, superstar jock with as much mainstream success as Digweed, thatâs worthy of respect. DAVE SEGAL
THURSDAY-FRIDAY
The Cave Singers with Ole Tinder and Acapulco Lips
The Cave Singers went back on Banshee, back to the spacey stuff where electronics wave come-and-sit-down to electronics, and a melodica calls across parallel universes. Great stuff for sitting in your room, pitch dark at 4:45 p.m. Ole Tinder (Dec 8) work a country vibe, but they apply it to such subjects as the Aurora Bridge, so you know where they live. And silly me, I wrote before that Maria-Elena Juarez of Acapulco Lips (Dec 9) sang into a pay-phone receiver dangling from its metal cord across the boardwalk from the beach while the sun goes down and the sinister stars wink in. Nuh-uh. Sheâs singing out of that receiver as it swings in the twilight, awaiting one hand, one ear. ANDREW HAMLIN
Freakout Festival 2016
So apparently âfestival seasonâ is no longer a thing, because music festivals now relentlessly occur year-round, and when something trends so much that it happens every other weekend, it is now cemented in our permanent reality. With that being said, Freakout Festival is actually something you should want. Itâs legitimately local, cheap (comparatively speaking), and features sets by musicians of regional acclaim like punk-blooded ginger daddy Spencer Moody of the Murder City Devils, otherworldly string genius Erik Blood, god and goddess of metallic experimentation Zen Mother, and about 20 other cuties who just wanna get you up and moving around. December in this town is tough enough already, the current political climate notwithstanding, so go mix your fluids with friends and strangers alike, and remember why you engage with this music community in the first place. KIM SELLING
THURSDAY-SUNDAY
Average White Band
Forty-four years after their formation, the Average White Band remain the finest funk-and-R&B band ever to hail from Dundee, Scotland. After dazzling the world with their honky-funk chops on the 1974 hit âPick Up the Pieces,â AWB kept on plying their singular trade, swapping out members as the decades passed (with Alan Gorrie and Onnie McIntyre the only original members still in the lineup) and becoming the type of music-biz lifers whose Wikipedia entry contains sentences like this: âGorrie also overdosed, but Cher kept him conscious until medical help arrived.â Now itâs the 21st century, and AWB are still at it, but even if theyâd stopped, theyâd still be part of the culture, thanks to the prolific sampling of their work by the Beastie Boys, TLC, Too $hort, Ice Cube, Eric B. & Rakim, Nas, and A Tribe Called Quest. DAVID SCHMADER
FRIDAY
D'Vonne Lewis and Limited Edition
For me, the pianist is the color of a world, and the drummer is the maker of the world. The drummer provides the ground, the pianist the flowers. It is said that 100 million years or so ago, there was a color revolution on earth. Flowers came alive at this time. Before them, the world was basically monochromatic; after them, the world was polychromatic. But the earth (which is roughly 4 billion years old) is much older than flowers in much the same way that the drum is much older than the piano. I thought about all of this one Sunday evening in the middle of August while watching my favorite drummer in Seattle, D'Vonne Lewis, play with the pianist Ron Weinstein at Vito's Restaurant and Lounge. D'Vonne Lewis, who received his initial formal training at Roosevelt High School's prestigious jazz program and is the drummer for Industrial Revelation (a group nominated for a Genius Award in music in 2014), always makes you aware of the ground (or grund) beneath the beat. But he is not simple, raw, or purely emotional. There is a richness in this drumming. Flowers only grow in fertile soil. CHARLES MUDEDE
Matmos with Jeff Carey
Looked at from one angle (the theoretical one), Drew Daniel and MC Schmidt of Matmos are conceptual artists making brainy music that belongs in art galleries and academic institutions. Looked at from another angle (the practical one), their work is surprisingly accessible and consistently enjoyable. On stage, their humor, chemistry, and openness to chance play an even bigger role. In a move that might please Marcel Duchamp, they built this yearâs Ultimate Care II around the cycles of a washing machine (members of Horse Lords and Half Japanese aided in the sonic manipulation). You can think about the role technology plays in our lives, reflect on the ways the West wastes its most precious resource, or just lose yourself in the watery waves and metallic beats. KATHY FENNESSY
Noise Complaint with Sinden & LO'99
LA-based Graeme Sinden is one of those producers whose instant-party-starting tracks appear on high-profile labels like Mad Decent, Foolâs Gold, and Sweat It Out, but he somehow avoids the stench of pandering that most work on those imprints emits. Essentially, he creates bass-heavy house music with rudely boisterous beats and abundant weird, warped textures that make you feel as if youâre tripping in a high-end club full of Diplo fans. Australiaâs LOâ99 records for the Night Bass label, and that imprintâs two words play a huge role in his sound. LOâ99âs menacing, hedonistic, low-end-centric bangers are geared to leave you drenched in a chilling sweat. DAVE SEGAL
Zero-G: Jan Koekepan, Fejj, Steve Fisk, Tempered Steel
This Zero-G convocation looks like itâll be interesting and eclectic. Jan Koekepan is steeped in both classical guitar and the klassik kosmische vibrations of Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream. Koekepanâs music gently elevates you to higher consciousness via wispy drones not unlike those on Enoâs Ambient 4: On Land. Ffej is an analog-synth guru and dark electro-pop troubadour who earned my respect in 2005 with a synapse-sizzling, Conrad Schnitzler/Andromeda Strainâesque Patterns in the Storm Vol. 1. Stranger Genius Award winner Steve Fisk is an endlessly inventive producer whose range encompasses Negativland-like aural pranksterism, abstract electronic mutations, velvet-robed funk (see Pigeonhed), and beyond. Tempered Steelâfeaturing Ffej, fiery prog guitarist Dennis Rea, and Frank Junkâdeploy electrified kalimbas (thumb pianos) to generate a bizarre species of alien exotica, or, as I once wrote in these pages, âa metallic-insect symphony of disturbing beauty.â DAVE SEGAL
SATURDAY
Baauer
Itâs been an interesting trip for the Brooklyn-based beatsmith Baauer. Ever since Rustie put his track âHarlem Shakeâ on his paradigm-shifting BBC Essential Mix in 2012, everything started to change for the young producer. One fateful viral YouTube video later (followed by countless others) made âHarlem Shakeâ the first number one Billboard single that reached the top of the charts by the channelâs streams. Since then, however, Baauer has been actively fighting to avoid the one-hit-wonder tag that seems to be in the wings and recently released his debut album, Aa, on LuckyMy, showing an artist coming into his own. Expect a night full of rumbling bass and snapping necks at Q Nightclub. NICK ZURKO
Evil Genius & Hound Dog Taylor's Hand
Itâs finally time to celebrate the release of Seattle trio Hound Dog Taylorâs Handâs self-titled debut studio LP on Alan Bishopâs always-crucial Abduction Records. Long one of the cityâs most incendiary and interesting bands, HDTHâguitarist Jeffery Taylor, bassist John Seman, and drummer Mark Ostrowskiâhave found myriad ways to integrate Hendrixian pyrotechnics and tenderness (Jimi was a softy at heart) with Sonny Sharrockâian and James Blood Ulmerâesque jazz brut. Itâs highbrow, high-intensity music that doesnât neglect the body, and it thrives in the divey atmosphere of places like the Blue Moon and the old Comet. DAVE SEGAL
(Stash) Pot Shop's Second Annual Very Legal Holiday Party
Celebrate two whole years of (Stash) Pot Shop's legal holiday bacchanalia with live music from Seattle's rap scene golden boy Dave B with Porter Ray, EMI, Isabella Du Graf, and Jamie Blake. There will probably also be a shit ton of pot.
The Sylvan Series: Illum
FnS (aka Mollie Bryan, who opened her own gallery/event space Mokedo in October), helms the Sylvan Series of light and sound art celebrations, which helps to lift spirits during Seattleâs dreariest months in the Volunteer Park Conservatory. For this âIllumâ edition (short for âilluminationâ), sheâs enlisted Orqid (veteran Seattle techno producer Tom Butcher), whoâs recorded two albums for Germanyâs revered Force Inc. as Codebase and is also co-owner of the synthesizer/electronic-music gear startup Patchwerks. He just issued an outstanding 7-inch single, Ideology, on his Disco Couture label. âIdeology Iâ proffers a boudoir-bound synth ballad somewhere between Depeche Mode and Phil Collinsâs âIn the Air Tonight,â but the two B-side tracks delve into headier realms. âIdeology IIâ is an eerie, ominous trawl through Zedâs Visions of Dune territory while âIdeology IIIâ musters the purest celestial drone this side of Spiritualizedâs Pure Phase Tones for D.J.s. For âIllum,â Orqid will play a hybrid live/DJ set. DAVE SEGAL
SUNDAY
Stevie Nicks with The Pretenders
So weâve got Lindsey Buckinghamâa genius marred by an ugly thirst to physically attack peopleâchuckling that Stevie Nicks never wrote one of her own songs, not really. He allegedly did all the heavy lifting from her fragments. Iâm snorting at this sniff test! Was Buckingham in the background when Nicks did all that great shit nowhere near Buckingham? I donât even care. I donât care because sheâs given the world moments such as âIf Anyone Falls,â the tension up the precipice and then a roller-coaster plunge into the chorus, and me and J and Jâs bedroom stereo, shaking our shoulders to every word like the white people we were. But for a few minutes, we felt telepathic. Without labels. Whew. ANDREW HAMLIN
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