Tasogare ("Twilight")
(SITE-SPECIFIC DANCE) Its proper name is Black Sun, but most people refer to it as that big black donut in Volunteer Park. That's the site for a new dance/music work created by Yoko Murao and Amy Denio. At first glance, they seem unlikely collaborators; Murao's work is largely obsessed with death (she's created dances about how elderly Japanese villagers were exiled to the wilderness to ensure enough food for their children to survive, among other morbid topics), while Denio--through all her myriad projects (the Tone Dogs, the Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet, and many, many other bands)--consistently revels in her funky vitality. But both artists have a sophisticated grasp of texture and rhythm, and this gorgeous hillside setting could be the locus for something lush and spectral. BRET FETZER
Volunteer Park, across from the Seattle Asian Art Museum, Thurs-Fri at 8 pm, $10 suggested donation..
Mission:, Boom Bap Project, Circle of Fire
(MUSIC, BREAKDANCING) San Francisco's Mission: and locals Boom Bap Project both make claims to being faithful to hiphop's roots. On the latest CD from Mission:, One, the group reverently lists excellent rappers from back in the day, and Boom Bap Project takes its name from sounds that countless rappers have used to describe onomatopoeically a basic hiphop beat: "The boom, the bap! The boom-bap!" Tonight, stunning breakdancing crew Circle of Fire will see if both groups are good for their words. Rappers of yesteryear talked about dancing as if it tested the quality of the music; as Rakim said in '87, the question is who can keep the dancer "hyper than a heart attack, nobody smiling/cuz you're expressing the rhyme that I'm styling." If Mission: and Boom Bap are as true to the roots of hiphop as they claim, their beats and rhymes will make Circle of Fire go buck wild. BRIAN GOEDDE
I-Spy, 1921 Fifth Ave, 374-9492, 10 pm, $10.
They Shoot Painters, Don't They?
(MASOCHISTIC ACT OF ART) Think you have what it takes to be an artist? Sure, you can tolerate the chilly, minimalist loft space, the absinthe-induced insanity, the constant animalistic sex, but can you paint for 24 hours straight? Stop by and see what artists really do in the wee hours. The marathon and the auction that immediately follows it ("the work is so contemporary, it's still wet!") are benefits for the Center on Contemporary Art, and both, in past years, have been a lot of deranged, drunken, out-of-body fun. If this doesn't save CoCA... (insert ominous music here). EMILY HALL
Consolidated Works, 410 Terry Ave N, call 728-1980 for more information. Painting marathon: Fri-Sat Aug 24-25, 11 am-11 am, $10. Auction: Sat Aug 25, preview and silent auction at 7 pm, live auction at 9 pm, $35.
Spectra Sonic Music Conference
(MUSIC) Dear Paul Allen, other rich people, and the rest of Seattle: The Vera Project needs your help. Though the all-ages shows it has produced have been a total success, Vera is still struggling to find a permanent home. Local 46, the union hall that is the current all-ages venue, is only temporary. Paul, if you're reading this, give Vera that $50,000 grant. Rich people, forget next weekend's shopping spree at Restoration Hardware, and give up some cash for a new building. The rest of Seattle, don't let Vera die. You can either volunteer or send money to the Vera Project, 1122 East Pike Street #848, Seattle, WA 98122. Why should you, you ask? This weekend's music workshop is prime evidence of Vera's goodness. It's a two-day conference dedicated to helping young and emerging musicians, promoters, booking agents, and sound engineers "get a head start on dealing with the hardships, rigors, dedication, and loyalty involved in starting and maintaining a musical act." Workshops and panel discussions also include how to make music on your computer, start a zine, and how to be a turntablist. Check it out, get schooled, and if your pockets are deep, give. PAT KEARNEY
Local 46, 2700 First Ave, Sat-Sun Aug 25-26, noon-5 pm, $6, passes for both days are $10. Call 956-VERA for more information, or visit www.theveraproject.org.
Tour de Fat
(BIKE BALLYHOO) As verified by Baby Boy, the single-speed bicycle is, hands down, the best prop that masquerades as transportation. It outshines the skateboard, rollerblades, and those silly little silver scooters by far, because you can be in more poses with a bike: leaning, cruising, and always laid back, perfect for making your scene. Which is exactly what Tour de Fat, sponsored by Fat Tire Ale, is all about. There are group rides ranging from 15 to 50 miles if you are so inclined. There's also a vintage cruiser show. But for the scenesters--and I mean that in a good way--there are games like the Slow Ride, where the rider who gets to the finish line last wins; and the Ghost Ride (a.k.a. "wreck your bike"), where you send your bike down the street without a rider. The true test of the rider/scenester, however, is the Dual Keg Slalom, where you race with beer in hand. BRIAN GOEDDE
Corner of Canal St and Phinney St, 11 am-6 pm, free. Registration at 8:30 am, $2 donation. Call 888-622-4044 for more information, or visit www.newbelgium.com.
Kultur Shock
((MUSIC) Vocalist Gino Srdjan Yevdjevich has jokingly said his band is "the Gipsy Kings, but evil." That nails the giddily transgressive nose-thumbing that Kultur Shock gives the concept of polite "world music." But it doesn't even touch the raucous pisstake that the unruly band perpetrates with its live shows, which dare audiences not to dance. With this CD-release party for FUCC the I.N.S., its excellent, Billy Gould-produced, dissident joy ride, the band celebrates the completion of its finest achievement. The material is a fusion of the Balkan folk songs of the bandmates' war-torn homelands with a stomping rock that approaches skronk on some songs. Kultur Shock's core quintet of Yevdjevich, guitarists Val Kiossovski and Mario Butkovich, bassist Masa Kobayashi, and drummer Borislav Iochev is joined live by a rotating cast of guest horn players for a high-energy rave-up that makes its political points with emotional ferocity and musical adventurousness. NATE LIPPENS
Crocodile Cafe, 2200 Second Ave, 441-5611, 9 pm, $10.
Downtown 81
(FILM) Not a great, nor hardly even a good movie (it's got some moments), Downtown 81 is nonetheless utterly recommendable as a time capsule from a scene that has been romanticized all out of proportion: NYC in the post-punk era. The late painter Jean Michel Basquiat (really gorgeous, by the way) is the star of this fairy tale about making rebel art, falling in love with (ugly) models, and, above all, the quest for money; he appears alongside a retinue of fashion victims and new/no-wavers, all of whom, like him, are broke, bohemian, and desperately enslaved by styles that now seem silly. If a film like this were made today in Seattle, all of Capitol Hill's Pike-Pine corridor would puke in unison; but 20 years from now, someone would be very happy to see a document of the people who are committed beyond reason to living in the eternal now. SEAN NELSON
Grand Illusion, 1403 NE 50th St, 523-3935, Fri-Thurs Aug 24-30 at 5, 7, & 9 pm.
Ben Lee
(MUSIC) Now 22, Australian native Ben Lee first hit the club circuit at the tender age of 14 with his band Noise Addict, then a product of Grand Royal records. Surviving a public adolescence, he's made a solo career for himself by specializing in hook-laden pop informed by folk as well as Pavement-style indie rock. It's no surprise that Lee recently popped up on a handful of bills with Evan Dando, as the two complement each other stylistically, and Lee worked with Dando on a song for the Blake Babies' recent comeback album, God Bless the Blake Babies. As no full album has been released by the singer since 1999's Breathing Tornados, it's hard to gauge what tonight's show will bring. KATHLEEN WILSON
Crocodile Cafe, 2200 Second Ave, 441-5611, $15.
Project 18
(OUTDOOR SCULPTURE) The "18" refers to Building 18, the former firehouse at Sand Point. It is currently under redevelopment for the arts, with plans for studios, a gallery, and workshop space. As part of this mission, six emerging artists were given an honorarium of $500 each to build new work around Building 18, keeping in mind the site, the site's previous use, and other issues of ecology and development. The installation by Brad Miller jumps over these questions and goes straight to the artist's fee itself, with 50,000 pennies (his entire $500 honorarium) in a pile on the ground. Project 18 also features work by Leslie Clague, Paul Davis, Mark Johnson (an excellent sound artist we don't hear enough from), Perry Wesley Johnson, and Sheri Newbold, and more generous hours than any gallery around. EMILY HALL
Building 18, Magnuson Park, 6500 Sand Point Way NE, 4 am-11:30 pm daily through Labor Day, 4 am-10 pm daily thereafter. For information call 522-9529.
Apocalypse Now Redux
(FILM) There's already one long-ass write-up of this film in this issue, but at the risk of overdoing it, I insist that you not wait for the DVD--go to a theater and let the masterpiece of sound design and editing of Walter Murch blow your goddamn mind. Francis Ford Coppola and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro had other masterpieces; Redux belongs to Murch because, despite the beautiful visuals, the film's most triumphant achievement happens to your ears. You've probably seen Apocalypse Now at least once before, so you might want to try this experiment: Go to the Cinerama, sit in a middle row, as close to the front as you can, and put on a blindfold. I guarantee you'll see something new. SEAN NELSON
Opens Fri Aug 24 at various theaters. See Movie Times for details.
The Lady from the Sea
((THEATER) I doubt anyone outside of the theater world has any idea who Kate Whoriskey is, even though she was profiled last year in Vogue--but man, within the theater world, Whoriskey has some serious buzz. Seattle audiences have only had one chance to see her directorial talents, at last year's production of Eugene Ionesco's The Chairs. This popular production left me cold, but much of that was the numbing stasis of the play itself; Whoriskey's whimsical visuals struck me as window dressing. Given something with a little more narrative drive, Whoriskey may prove revelatory--and who has more drive than Scandinavian dramatic powerhouse Henrik Ibsen? The Lady from the Sea may not be as popular as A Doll's House or Hedda Gabler, but it promises to be a juicy tale of lust and betrayal. BRET FETZER
Intiman Theatre, 201 Mercer St, 269-1900. Tues-Thurs & Sun at 7:30, Fri-Sat at 8, Sat-Sun matinees at 2 (Wed matinee at 2 on Sept 19; Sept 15 matinee is audio-described); $10-$42 (pay-what-you-can on Thurs Aug 30). Through Sept 22.
