THURSDAY 6/8

SPANK ROCK, LOW BUDGET, PASE, FOURCOLORZACK
(Chop Suey) See preview.

NOISE FOR THE NEEDY
(Multiple venues) Noise for the Needy, as their mission statement explains, is a local organization that raises money for "charitable causes through the production of live music events." In other words, to raise cash to help those in need, NFTN puts on rock shows, and they've worked with a huge list of local and national acts (Black Eyed Peas, Rancid, and Ozomatli to name a few) to raise over $100,000 for charities. For one week, Noise for the Needy invades Seattle's music community with a weeklong showcase featuring some of the city's best. They've got everything from pop to punk—Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter, Mon Frere, Tourist, the Valley, Ruston Mire, Pleasurecraft... the list goes on! The shows take place at venues throughout Seattle (Comet, Neumo's, Funhouse, Crocodile, and more), and the schedule also includes a Fourthcity Showcase with Plan B, Foscil, Vincent Parker, and DJs Hideki, Kamui, and Bumblebee. Tickets are available at Noise for the Needy's website (www.noisefortheneedy.org), where you can also make donations to support their efforts or volunteer for upcoming events. MEGAN SELING

NOISE FOR THE NEEDY: JESSE SYKES & THE SWEET HEREAFTER, MARK PICKEREL & HIS PRAYING HANDS, SLENDER MEANS, DJ EL TORO
(Neumo's) See Rocka Rolla.

DJ QUIK, MITCHY SLICK, CANCER RISING
(Showbox) David "DJ Quik" Blake is one of the very few, and arguably the only, rapper from the West Coast's halcyon days of the early '90s to make it to the present day with skills and integrity fully intact. The hair is still permed, the khakis still creased, and the music still Way 2 Fonky, if not better than ever, homie—the musicianship he's brought into his sound since '98's Rhythm-Al-Ism has given G-Funk a lush new dimension. Quik's mic game has only improved over the years, too, as evidenced by last year's slept-on Trauma. Expect classics, and older heads noddin heads to them. Because, in the words of Rhythm-Al-Ism's "We Still Party," "Sometimes we don't feel grownup/and that's no lie..." LARRY MIZELL JR.

NOISE FOR THE NEEDY: THE TURN-ONS, HYPATIA LAKE, LILLYDALE, ARKADE, DJ UP ABOVE
(Sunset) See Rocka Rolla.

FRIDAY 6/9

HALOU, GRAM RABBIT, GOLDSPOT
(Chop Suey) Electronic music doesn't have to be cold, and Halou concoct the kind of deliciously beautiful electro/organic hybrid that dreams are made of—evocative, atmospheric, sensual pop that's destined to be a staple whenever lights are dimmed and candles are lit. Singer Rebecca Coseboom's voice is a stunner, providing a focal point as well as an emotional core and placing her in league with the Cocteau Twins' Elizabeth Fraser and Portishead's Beth Gibbons. The band's new album is spellbinding, but Halou are even more impressive and mesmerizing live. BARBARA MITCHELL

NOISE FOR THE NEEDY: LADY KRISHNA'S PEPPERMINT LOUNGE, LEVITATIONS, APE CITY R&B, THE HANDS
(Comet) See Thursday's preview.

HARVEY DANGER, TIM SEELY, RACETRACK
(Crocodile) Seattle's Tim Seely delivers some damn clean, catchy stuff from the singer-songwriter medium. Songs that most people would probably record acoustic, he goes electric; to compositions that most might leave strictly traditional, he adds a disparate array of electronic augmentation. Where some employ cringe-inducing earnestness, he chooses a subtle dose of irony. Seely's full-length debut, Funeral Music, is a solid effort, completely devoid of a weak track. Despite all this, years ago at a house party, the man spitefully ridiculed my decidedly well-behaved dog, which in my book makes him sort of a prick. I think that's relevant. GRANT BRISSEY

THE FALL OF TROY, HE IS LEGEND, SHOWBREAD, CLASSIC CASE
(El CorazĂłn, early) The road has been an unreliable mistress for the Fall of Troy, but the trio of young men have pulled themselves together to take yet another jaunt across the country. Yeah, singer Thomas Erak was reported to have walked offstage midshow during a performance in April, causing rumors to fly that the band had broken up. And even more recently, Mr. Erak also had to get four stitches in his face after hitting himself with his own guitar during a show in Florida. Ouch. With recent battle scars, the boys are more than ready to play to a hometown crowd tonight, and the show should be incredible. But bring some Band-Aids just in case. MEGAN SELING

THE DEAD SCIENCE, OHSEES, SNOW FOXES, KATHERINE HEPBURN'S VOICE
(Gallery 1412) Ohsees, which previously operated under the name OCS, represent a serious chilling-out for John Dwyer, frontman of the late, absolutely relentless garage punk trio Coachwhips. With the new outfit's latest, The Cool Death of Island Raiders, Dwyer has again distilled his roots-basic approach—one-two punch drums, gloriously primitive hooks and riffs, disarming vocal delivery—and applied it all to a folk-music platform, one that's also replete with delirious, experimental ventures. The collective result lessens the sting of the recent Coachwhips split, but said division still leaves a pair of pretty sizable shoes that someone should be strapping on for the next leg of the baton race. GRANT BRISSEY

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS, BARBARA MORGeNSTERN
(Neumo's) See preview.

HALL & OATES
(Paramount) See Stranger Suggests.

THE WALKMEN, MAZARIN, SYBRIS
(Showbox) Dear Walkmen: I've defended you staunchly since your (full-length) debut back in 2002. Naysayers dismissed you as another soundtrack for a Volkswagen ad and I dared them to find a more enchanting use of piano than the twisted music-box sounds that wove through "We've Been Had." Then you jumped to Warner Bros. and put out Bows + Arrows in 2004, and every critic with a keyboard declared you a "single-song" band, citing the lone infectiousness of "The Rat". That was one hell of a great song, but they may have had a point, given the picture of diminishing returns you're painting with this year's A Hundred Miles Off. Hamilton Leithauser's vocals have been reduced to a one-trick whine and the songwriting is about as directionless as the title implies. Perhaps you need a sabbatical? HANNAH LEVIN

NOISE FOR THE NEEDY: PLEASURECRAFT, ROMANCE, SPOOK THE HORSE, PARIS SPLEEN, DJ JIMI C
(Sunset) See Thursday's preview.

Music Up & Coming

LITTLE LOUIE VEGA, GREENSKEEPERS
(Trinity) See Data Breaker.

SATURDAY 6/10

NOISE FOR THE NEEDY: THE EARACHES, THE VALLEY, INVENTION, MS. LED
(Comet) See Thursday's preview.

LIARS, THE APES, RABBITS
(El CorazĂłn) Garage rock has become a genre that's essentially conservative. Surely, rocking out is the end goal of most garage groups, but too often a band comes off sounding like a more drunk, Republican version of the Stooges. Washington, D.C.'s the Apes have avoided such a fate. Their garage rock is the kind where the band lock themselves in the basement until they develop a weird, wild permutation of rock ecstasy. With the rhythm section and shrill organ licks taking the forefront for an absent guitar, the result is less MC5 and more Sabbath, but with a howling, half-mad frontman instead of a catatonic Ozzy. SCOTT GOODWIN See also preview.

NOISE FOR THE NEEDY: MON FRERE, TOURIST, EXIT STORIES, POST HARBOR
(Funhouse) See Thursday's preview.

NOISE FOR THE NEEDY: RUSTON MIRE, THE PURRS, THE ELEPHANTS, STUART VALENTINE
(Sunset) See Thursday's preview.

SUNDAY 6/11

KOOL KEITH, TASH, PIRATE SYGNL, DJ SWERVEWON
(Chop Suey) After his amazing and venerated tenure in the seminal Ultramagnetic MCs, wackadoo MC Kool Keith began what would be an obscenely prolific and often profoundly obscene solo career with 1996's Dr. Octagonecologyst. The record, featuring the greatest and weirdest beats of Dan the Automator's career and the most bug-eyed savant lyrics Keith has ever concocted, was incredibly fresh, dark, and did more than perhaps any contemporary work—save that of the RZA—to reinvest underground hiphop with a truly experimental spirit. His penchant thereafter to swap characters and thematic focuses from record to record inarguably provided a frazzled blueprint for similar artists today, like the chameleonic MF Doom, Danger Mouse, and Madlib. This tour is in support of the forthcoming and much-ballyhooed The Return of Dr. Octagon, which many hope could be a return to the days before Keith's penchant for endless, unedited output and dead-end porn fixations left his vibe a little stale. SAM MICKENS

NOISE FOR THE NEEDY: ROCK 'N' ROLL SOLDIERS, THE BLAKES, THE BOSS MARTIANS, THE PHARMACY
(Crocodile) See Thursday's preview.

T BONE BURNETT, JAKOB DYLAN
(Moore) See Border Radio.

JOHN DIGWEED, CHLOE HARRIS, DJ CHRONUS
(Showbox) See Data Breaker.

MONDAY 6/12

Give it a rest, will ya?

TUESDAY 6/13

LORDS, ED GEIN, SIDETRACKED, LAST PRIEST
(Hell's Kitchen, early) With songs that snarl like a razor-wire cyclone, Louisville, Kentucky's Lords play a caustic hybrid of hardcore, punk, and metal. Their newest album, Swords, thrashes through 13 blistering songs in 20 minutes. Before Lords can shred your eardrums, openers Last Priest will pummel you into the ground with their tense, no-bullshit hardcore. Featuring members of Find Him and Kill Him and the Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower, San Diego's Last Priest tear through a series of tight, brawny breakdowns and punishing choruses that could have the pit erupting into a frenzy of flying fists and bodies. CHRIS HONG

SOLVENT, ECTOMORPH
(Baltic Room) See Data Breaker.

BUILT TO SPILL, BREtT NETSON, HELVETIA
(Showbox) See preview.

WEDNESDAY 6/14

TOM VERLAINE, STEVE TURNER
(Neumo's) See preview.

BUILT TO SPILL, BRETT NETSON, HELVETIA
(Showbox) See http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=37338.

MISSY HIGGINS
(Crocodile) In a world of American Idol instant pseudo-stars, Missy Higgins is a breath of fresh air. The Aussie singer-songwriter is huge at home and it looks like a sure bet she'll make her mark worldwide, but there's absolutely nothing calculated in her music or choices. The 22-year-old stumbled into a career in music when her sister submitted her demo to influential radio station Triple J four years ago, but rather than jump right into a recording contract she took six months off to backpack around Europe. Higgins isn't just a good story, though—she's a genuine talent with a debut album of charming, straightforward songs packed with honesty and depth. BARBARA MITCHELL

AMELIA WHITE, DIRTY MARTINI
(Triple Door) She may hang her hat in Nashville these days, but on her latest album, Black Doves, Amelia White still bears influences from previous hometowns of Boston and Seattle and from a prolific foursome of Liverpudlians. That's not to say her placid, smoky twang, cool comportment, and lyrical flair wouldn't be ripe for CMT. It's just that White, who's on the road nearly half the year, would rather do it her way: with opinion, intellect, and critical examinations of the landscape shifting around her. Better yet, she is most content on an intimate stage—meaning White should find yet another home in the friendly confines of the Triple Door. SCOTT HOLTER

MORE

SNOW PATROL, AUGUSTANA, THE DUKE SPIRIT: Thurs June 15, Paramount

HIMSA, SKARP, HELL PROMISE, WIZARDS OF WOR, GRIEVOUS,: Fri June 16, El CorazĂłn

AQUEDUCT, SLENDER MEANS, SIBERIAN,: Fri June 16, Crocodile

THE FUTUREHEADS, FRENCH KICKS: Fri June 16, Neumo's

THE COPS, THEE EMERGENCY, GUESTS: Sat June 17, Crocodile

THE BRONX, PRIESTESS, RIVERBOAT GAMBLERS, WIRES ON FIRE: Tues June 27, Crocodile

SONIC YOUTH, AWESOME COLOR: Fri June 30, Moore

SOCIAL DISTORTION, SUPERSUCKERS, NINE BLACK ALPS: Fri July 7, Moore

APPLESEED CAST, CRITERIA, RUSSIAN CIRCLES, THE LONELY FOREST: Mon July 10, Crocodile

TILLY & THE WALL, NOW IT'S OVERHEAD, JASON ANDERSON: Tues July 11, Paradox

DIGABLE PLANETS, GUESTS: Thurs July 20, Neumo's

LL COOL J: Wed July 26, Showbox

ENDFEST—RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, MODEST MOUSE, SNOW PATROL, WOLFMOTHER, EAGLES OF DEATH METAL, ROCK KILLS KID, NINE BLACK ALPS, THE SUBWAYS, THE GOSSIP: Sat Aug 12, White River Amphitheatre

DEVO: Sat Sept 9, Paramount