The Schnebly: It doesn't sound like a promising title for a work of electronic music. Your initial impression may be that the sounds therein will possess much dorkiness. But immerse yourself in this disc's hour of rampantly dynamic electronic music (call it IDM, if it makes you happy), and you will come away with a renewed appreciation for the aural diversions a lone white guy behind a PowerBook—in this case Seattle producer the Naturebot—can generate.

Besides making music you need eight limbs to dance to, the Naturebot (aka Ian Price) cothrows the monthly Bonkers! soiree at Re-bar. His new album, The Schne- bly (Pleasure Boat Records), embodies the playful spirit of that event with its sparkling timbres, surprising tempo shifts, happy-go-plucky melodies, and boundless energy.

Much like the roster of England's Rephlex Records during its late-'90s/ early-'00s heyday, the Naturebot micro- manages his hyper, busy tracks, but instead of producing sterile, dry studies in laptoptronica, he churns out cuts that dazzle from a technical standpoint while not skimping on the unhinged fun factor. At his best, which is on damn near all 14 tracks of The Schnebly, the Naturebot recalls the joyriding rhythmic convolutions and manically gleeful tunesmithery of Squarepusher, AFX, and Bogdan Raczynski. That's heady company, but the Naturebot is more than qualified to join that perplexing lineage of OCD/IDM complexity.

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The weekly beat-diggers' paradise known as Stop Biting gets an infusion of new blood in January. Ubiquity Records hiphop recording artist Ohmega Watts (Portland DJ/MC Milton Campbell) will become a resident at the Fourthcity-affiliated event that happens every Tuesday at Lo_Fi Performance Gallery. Watts—whom I saw DJ an excellent set in Orange County last year—is as adept at waxing lyrical as he is at spinning wax. The man knows his funk/soul/jazz/hiphop history, so he should fit in well with the rest of Stop Biting's crew, including Zac Hendrix, Introcut, Absolute Madman, WD4D, and Sean C.

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Also at Lo_Fi, the semimonthly event known as Ruff Gemz gears up for another round of hellraising electro, blog house, indie-rock rerubs, and, if you ask nicely, maybe some le disco cosmique from the bulging hard drives and exquisite vinyls of Sam Rousso Soundsystem, DJ FITS, and DJ Spirit Fingaz, plus live funky drumming from Head Like a Kite's Trent Moorman (two of these characters have ties to The Stranger; we recommend the night anyway). recommended

Ruff Gemz is Fri Jan 23, Lo_Fi Performance Gallery, free before 11 pm/$5 after, 21+. Stop Biting is Tues Jan 27, Lo_Fi Performance Gallery, 9 pm, $4, 21+.