HOLY MINIMALIST DRONE, IT'S SUBSTRATA FEST!
Substrata 1.2 is one of the region's most unusual music festivals. Its lineup consists of obscure figures who have no interest in mainstream acceptance or regard for conventional songwriting as your radio programmer knows it. Organized by Seattle musician Rafael Anton Irisarri (aka the Sight Below, who records ambient-techno with Ghostly International Records), Substrata is a showcase for some of the world's most exacting scientists of ambient tone impressionism, droney driftscapes, and subliminal rhythms. Irisarri has curated a stellar lineup for Substrata's second year: Lawrence English, Scanner, and Daniel Menche on Friday and Loscil (with pianist Kelly Wyse), Pan•American, Tim Hecker, and Widesky on Saturday. If you favor the more abrasive and unpredictable end of the experimental-music spectrum, check out Menche. English and Scanner masterly weave sounds from nature and cities, respectively, into their finely calibrated electronic productions. Loscil and Pan•American have made some of the greatest dub-inflected music to get deep-tissue massages to (an important niche!). Widesky offers similarly hued serenity through guitar and keyboard. Hecker is probably the artist who best embodies all of Substrata's traits; his compositions imbue minimalism with warped melodiousness and atmospheric poignancy. Set in Chapel Performance Space's acoustically sublime theater in the relative calm of Wallingford, Substrata offers microscopic sonic events that envelop you in a stimulating and polychromatic miasma. Take a respite from the grid and float into a much more beatific headspace. Chapel Performance Space, Fri 7 pm/Sat 6 pm (sold out), $35, all ages.
PARALLELS HARK BACK TO OPUS III'S TECHNO LITE
Toronto trio Parallels create airy, mildly danceable techno lite that's geared for a young demographic with a high tolerance for high-fructose-corn-syrupy melodies. Featuring the creamy, jail-baity vocals of Holly Dodson (who also composes and produces), her brother Nick on drums, and keyboardist Artem Galperine, Parallels sound much more robust live than on their new album, XII, where they come off as Opus III disciples (google the latter's "It's a Fine Day" for proof). With Terabyte and the Battery Eaters and Vox Maquinista. Lo-Fi Performance Gallery, 9 pm, $10, 21+.
DBRIDGE OVER JUNGLE WATERS
Self-proclaimed as the country's longest-running drum 'n' bass night, Drum & Bass Tuesdays imports London producer/ex–Bad Company (not the old blues rockers) member dBridge tonight. His productions combine Detroit techno's sophisticated synth chord progressions with his home base's renowned junglistic malevolence. Settle in for a stormy session of cerebral bangers. With Homemade Weapons, Matt Tremor, and Iris. Baltic Room, 9 pm, $8, 21+.
