JEREMY WILSON, BRIAN BERG
(Liquid Lounge) Yonder back in the early days of the Northwest college music scene, Portland's Dharma Bums quietly made a name for themselves after signing to Frontier Records. By 1994 it was all over, but the group's members can be heard in bands such as the Jicks and No. 2 (the Dharma Bums were managed by none other than Rebecca Gates). After the breakup, frontman Jeremy Wilson moved to Seattle and his new band Pilot signed to a major, but label layoffs would kill that dream almost before it began. Wilson again resides in Portland, where he produces bands, as well as plays solo dates showcasing his introspective lyrics and elastic vocal abilities. And tonight he joins Brian Berg, another highly talented singer-songwriter out of the 503 area code. KATHLEEN WILSON
CHRIS WHITLEY, CHOCOLATE GENIUS, LORI CARSON
(Tractor Tavern) While many distinguished vocalists (including Syd Straw, Nicole Blackman, and Michael Stipe) passed through the lineup of downtown New York percussionist Anton Fier's amorphous supergroup the Golden Palominos, Lori Carson is perhaps the one who made the most captivating music with her string presence and songwriting skills on the Palominos' 1993 release, This Is How It Feels, and 1994's Pure. After Pure, Carson released 1995's Where It Goes and 1997's Everything I Touch Runs Wild. Both were sparse, haunting albums that displayed her silvery voice and melancholic craft but didn't quite set her apart from the many moody singer-songwriters populating the musical landscape. On 1999's Stars, however, the sound was spacious, with horns and cello adding a subtle lushness, and loops creating an additional dynamic. The songs were catchy and hypnotic, sacrificing neither intelligence nor passion for a cycle that parsed love's words and deeds. Live, Carson is known for her charismatic and anchored presence. It's what has made her an adaptable singer who maintains her core identity no matter what the musical setting. NATE LIPPENS
BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB
(Crocodile) See Stranger Suggests.
BLONDE REDHEAD, UNWOUND
(Showbox) See Stranger Suggests.
DENISON WITMER, VICTORY AT SEA, JEN WOOD, AMY BLANSHKE
(Paradox) I can't think of a more articulate way of describing Denison Witmer's singer-songwriter craft than "simple and sweet." His voice is tender, his acoustic-guitar-playing is functional, and his tender lyrics are always earnest. His new CD, Of Joy & Sorrow, floats gently along on Witmer's easy preoccupations. With Witmer, clichés work, and lyrics like, "I could barely reach you when I tried/And I have tried to reach you many times/I just want to be someone you need..." are charming. The record's highlight is "The '80s," the gorgeous title track to Witmer's EP from earlier this year. This should be a solid, no-frills evening for those seeking a genuinely nice time. JEFF DeROCHE
THE FLYS, ALIEN CRIME SYNDICATE, NEW DIGS
(Graceland) The Flys? Feh. Alien Crime Syndicate... now there's a ROCK band. A lead singer with charisma by the bucketloads, cute boys behind him, and a drummer who looks like he came out of his mother's womb laughing. And power pop? Only Cheap Trick does it better. KATHLEEN WILSON
THE BUTCHIES, ERASE ERRATA, FAIRGROVE, JAPANIC
(Crocodile) Of all the bands playing the abrasive, anti-melodic guitar lines and head-bopping dance beats of no-wave in punk basements and community spaces across the West Coast, Erase Errata is the absolute best. Far too exciting to be dismissed as mere players in a trend, the Bay Area quartet plays confrontational, cut-to-pieces guitar riffs backed by a trash-bumping rhythm section that makes "shaking your ass" seem like a tangible political act. Vocalist Jenny Hoysten is a brow-furrowed genius; she sings in a masterfully frightening, scratchy vibrato, and only stops to bleat a mad melody into a trumpet. The band's new record, Other Animals (Troubleman), sure moves butts at parties, but Erase Errata's live energy will cinch your devotion forever. ESG and Lydia Lunch should be proud that their progenies kick so much ass. JULIANNE SHEPHERD
KRISTIN HERSH, DAMIEN JURADO
(Shoreline Community College) Kristin Hersh couldn't play a bad show if she wanted to. The former Throwing Muses frontwoman has mellowed significantly over the many years of her brilliant career, but that's only made her a more controlled performer. At her recent Crocodile appearance, Hersh seemed more confident than I've ever seen her, happy to play Muses songs, happy with her audience (whom she treated like old friends), and most pleased to be sharing her craft, which is, and has always been, singular and significant. Hersh is no doubt an important part of American rock and roll history, even as she continues to invigorate it. JEFF DeROCHE
WILDEBEEST, MASONICS, DIRTY BIRDS
(Breakroom) JEEZ-ush eF'in' Christ... how lucky be WE! MMMMMM-hmmmm, the sexy "hung like" Wildebeest and them infamous "look, we ain't crass're nuthin', we just look a bit 'crusty'" Masonics have finally undertaken their first "official" tour of the States... uh, so if you enjoy the "rock" and/or the "roll," don't be a wuss, don't miss THIS! Seriously, it may be yer only chance! Okay, with that hollered... who are these masked marauders of manicured mayhem? Uh, okay they ain't really "masked," but both bands're Britons, fulla pedigree, both bands got members formerly pullin' time in Thee Milkshakes, Humble Pie, the Kaisers, Bad Company, Uriah's Heap... and SMOKE the "Toe Ragged" garage rock, obviously... fuckin' considering Mister Liam Watson (Masonics) runs Los Toe Rag Studio! Oh, this "Toe Rag" sound, it is ROUGH, trebley... think "sounds like '60s garage" more than '60s garage sounds like itself... it's THAT good. MIKE NIPPER
THE PROCLAIMERS
(Graceland) Whenever I look back over the many live shows I've attended, nothing seems more surreal to me than the night I saw the Proclaimers. It was 1994. They were on a bill with another band that featured identical twins as frontmen--weird in itself, and fuck if I'll ever recall their names. The Proclaimers were Scotsmen with the surname Reid, but these brothers were worlds away from their fellow countrymen, the brothers Reid of the Jesus and Mary Chain. The movie Benny and Joon had revived the duo's goofy 1988 hit "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)," which they played with great enthusiasm, but I'll be damned if I could understand a word of their seemingly hilarious between-song banter. Still, the show was impossible to walk out on, and left me with an indelible impression. Not a good one, mind you. But a lasting one that still makes me chuckle at its absurdity. KATHLEEN WILSON
GROUNDWORK 2001: BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA, EMMYLOU HARRIS, DANIEL LANOIS, DAVE MATTHEWS
(Paramount) Emmylou Harris is an angel--not the clichéd, white-robed kind like on Christmas cards, but like what the prophets saw: otherworldly, equal parts beautiful and terrifying, a messenger from eternity. Her last three records have been the finest of her long career, and there has not been a voice to compare with hers in popular music since the death of Roy Orbison. Seeing her live is like getting the best massage you've ever had, with one hand on an electric fence. I had the opportunity to see Dave Matthews' first public musical performance, before the horns, whistles and bells, and the khaki cult, and I told him afterward that he really could go somewhere with this thing(!). Playing solo, Matthews reveals the songcraft and warmth that was so apparent 10 years ago, and still is, even to those ambivalent to his subsequent work. Now I'm running for city council. Dear Dave: Send money! GRANT COGSWELL
ODETTA
(Century Ballroom) Tonight at the Century Ballroom, a live show by Odetta, the septuagenarian folk hero who inspired the likes of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Janis Joplin, marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, sang in the 1963 March on Washington, performed for President John F. Kennedy, and recorded the amazing "Mule Skinner." Throughout a career in which Odetta's beautiful voice has worked the blues, jazz, spirituals, white Appalachian songs, and Negro work songs with a stupefying warble and a rich, earthy timbre, Odetta has become the kind of legendary American who, as a colleague of mine suggests, "has roots coming out of her feet." JEFF DeROCHE
DJ LOGIC, BULLFROG, DJ INTELLECT
(Graceland) DJ Logic clearly sees Seattle as a hot center for his work. He has been by here three times this year, and there is no reason why he shouldn't make a fourth visit near Christmas. If you are one of the sorry few who haven't been to his shows or don't know anything about his music, this is what you should expect: experimental hiphop. Into the depths of his avant-garde hiphop mix, DJ Logic weaves other avant-garde musical forms (alternative rock, atonal classical, free jazz). If you can't make it to the show, then check out his new CD, The Anomaly. It's not bad. CHARLES MUDEDE
JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION, TIGHT BROS FROM WAY BACK WHEN
(Showbox) "Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant shit to me." JEFF DeROCHE
BUDDY & JULIE MILLER
(Tractor Tavern) Although the eponymous new Hightone release from Buddy & Julie Miller is their first album officially credited as a duo effort, in many ways it is their sixth collaboration since 1995. Buddy has played dynamic guitar on both of Julie's solo albums, Blue Pony and Broken Things, and Julie has contributed vocals or co-written songs on all three of her husband's albums. Both Millers have toured with Emmylou Harris, and Julie wrote "All My Tears" for Harris' Wrecking Ball. On Buddy & Julie Miller, the duo's rustic, hill-country harmonies are poured with crisp yet passionate precision over a sturdy mix of country ballads, soaring, Celtic-shaded folk-rock, and quaking, hip-shaking rockers, with each and every one tastefully appointed by an all-star cast of musicians. Three telling covers are interleaved among the eight new additions to the pair's rich family songbook. Richard Thompson's "Keep Your Distance" and Utah Phillips' "Rock Salt & Nails" show the breadth of the Millers' influences, while Bob Dylan's "Wallflower" reminds the listener how deep his country-soul runs. Their rough-hewn harmonies and country rock sound as if they simultaneously belong to what cultural critic Greil Marcus has dubbed "the old weird America" and to our new, equally surreal moment. NATE LIPPENS
DANNY BARNES, AMY DENIO, ROBIN HOLCOMB, AIKO SHIMADA
(Sunset Tavern) A couple of years ago I asked Danny Barnes why he'd chosen to leave Austin, where his Bad Livers had been so greatly appreciated for so many years, to come live around these parts. When he began by talking about his love for fishing, I figured it to be the bottom line. But I quickly found out that he'd tired a bit of Austin's relatively one-dimensional, albeit excellent, roots-centric music scene, and was thrilled by the diversity he'd encountered in Seattle. "In Austin there's lotsa players who buy the suits before learnin' the tunes," he quipped, in classic down-to-earth fashion. Thank god the post-grunge days of denim ripped by purpose rather than wear are over, I pondered, and sat back as Danny continued by humbly praising the many multifaceted artists he'd met out here. The answer to "Why do you remain?" would certainly still lie partly in our surrounding countryside, but for the nearly complete picture, look to each monthly installment of this mighty impressive "Composers Series" at the Sunset (debuting tonight), wherein Danny will showcase many of his fine musical friends. Attend, and you'll surely walk away with some newfound appreciations of your very own. JAMES KIRCHMER
OZOMATLI, QUETZAL
(Showbox) Ozomatli has something of a Sesame Street appeal. The group is proudly multi-ethnic, with lots of members on stage, like one big happy neighborhood working together, and Ozomatli's hiphop-salsa-jazz-whatever blend of music is upbeat and optimistic. I love Sesame Street: The honest Oscar the Grouch, the temperamental and self-conscious Miss Piggy, the avuncular Count, and the emotionally intelligent, tender-hearted Kermit the Frog are great characters. (Likewise, Ozomatli seems like a fun bunch.) But I also really dislike characters like Big Bird, the Swedish Chef, and especially Elmo: all characters that condescend to "childhood" by acting like kids. (Likewise, I'm not sure if Ozomatli is actually mocking the kinds of music the band experiments with.) I am ambivalent about Ozomatli because I'm not sure what side of Sesame Street the group is coming from. BRIAN GOEDDE
