Thursday 6/3
Simon, Mood Organ, Matt Shoemaker, Dave Abramson, Wally Shoup
(Josephine) Mood Organ is the pseudonymous solo project of Midday Veil/Eldridge Gravy & the Court Supreme guitarist Timm Mason. Away from group situations, Mason geeks out on myriad keyboards, guitar, bass, and sax, forging Ă©tudes that recall the sublime tranquility of Terry Riley, the penetrating, disorienting exactitude of Morton Subotnick, and the lonely, stark blues of Loren Mazzacane Connors. Mood Organ's Visiting a Burning Museum (Debacle Records) achieves the impressive feat of creating pieces that induce both meditation and a profound existential dread. This is music for peering inward into your mind and soul and pondering life's big questions. The rest of this excellent bill contains some of Seattle's most talented avant-gardists working in the margins of ambient, underground rock, and out jazz. DAVE SEGAL
Bane, Strike Anywhere, Touché Amoré, Lowtalker
(Chop Suey) Back in 1996, Boston straight-edgers Bane put out a powerhouse 7-inch that combined youth crew choruses with massive chugging breakdowns. It blew my 19-year-old mind. Little has changed in the band's sound in the 14 years since their debut, and, depending on your frame of reference, that consistency may be commendable or a bit stale. This much is certain: Bane are full-blooded hardcore and their adherence to that tradition makes them one of the biggest names in the scene. With that said, your personal take on the band most likely depends on whether using "traditional" and "hardcore" in the same sentence makes you wince, or whether you think sticking to your roots is preferable to merely keeping them in mind. BRIAN COOK
JFK, Sonny Bonoho, Neema, Syreeta, Dev from Above
(Nectar) JFK is a rapper who holds my respect. He is a veteran of the Oldominion clan, and with Onry Ozzborn and Rob Castro (the secret genius of Seattle's amazing pool of producers), he released one of the five albums that reinvigorated the underground in the important year of 2005, Deadlivers. However, his new solo album, Building Wings on the Way Down, has on my ears very mixed results—some of it is outstanding, and other parts of it do nothing for me. Out of this confusion rises one track that has the potential to be the biggest hit of the year: "High School Sweet Heart." That jam, which is produced by the indefatigable Jake One, has a catchy chorus, bubbly bass, and a sweet snap that punctuates the loops. Seriously, this track is tight and has every right to pack a dance floor. CHARLES MUDEDE See also My Philosophy.
Hockey, Kids and Animals, Exohxo
(Neumos) Take a break from watching the Stanley Cup finals (go Flyers!) and celebrate a different form of Hockey—a band from Portland that plays snappy dance music that sounds like if the Strokes took a lot of uppers and then listened to equal parts '80s new wave and Tom Petty. On their debut album, Mind Chaos, there are some annoying moments where Hockey give off a bit of a Jason Mraz/funk-band vibe (see "Curse This City"), but other tunes are hook-filled, feel-good jams perfect for impending summer barbecues ("Learn to Lose," "Too Fake," and "Song Away"). Modest Mouse–loving act Kids and Animals and mini-pop orchestra Exohxo open. MEGAN SELING
The Brown Sound Fest: Poop Attack, Shit Gets Smashed, Turd Helmet
(Funhouse) The "brown sound" is a certain theoretical infrasound frequency that could cause humans to lose control of their bowels. These frequencies, supposedly, are between 5 and 9 Hz (anything below 20 Hz cannot be heard by the human ear). Never proven, it's one of the urban myths I really wish I could somehow make true. Poop Attack, Shit Gets Smashed, and Turd Helmet, will you at least TRY to make someone crap their pants at this show? I mean, Poop and Shit, you both play pretty bouncy, poppy punk, and, Turd, you sound like retardo butt-rock—neither genre really known for wildly intense sound frequencies—but if you could just please at least TRY, I'd be your fan forever. KELLY O
Friday 6/4
Themselves, Talkdemonic, Foscil
(Nectar) Themselves are the OG anticon duo of Doseone (raps) and Jel (beats). Jel is a maniac on the MPC sampler, favoring buzzy light-industrial productions and performing them live with a frenetic, finger-tapping flair that takes the term "hunt and peck" out of the computer lab and back to its predator-fowl roots. Doseone is a battle rapper ranged so far afield from anything resembling conventional hiphop that he's wholly bereft of worthy opponents. Instead, he's left to the balletic shadowboxing of tracks like the calmly snarling, fast-talking "Oversleeping" (off of latest album Crownsdown). Beyond his dizzying way with dense wordplay, Dose also displays damn near Shakespearean levels of voice-acting ability, ranging from growls to pinched ranting to sotto-voce soliloquy to loopy falsettos. Talkdemonic are a long-running Portland electro- acoustic duo whose dark, viola-spiked instrumentals are finally starting to get the level of Seattle love they deserve. ERIC GRANDY
Eprom, WD4D
(Contour) San Francisco producer Eprom (aka Alexander Dennis) is one of the foremost American names in the global dubstep juggernaut that is enthralling almost all in its wake (expect a Paul McCartney/Burial collab on Hyperdub by November). Eprom's approach is the fairly common one of laying down a foundation-trembling bass foundation (yep) and then embroidering it with all manner of high-end video-game-FX tomfoolery. There's a severely unhinged quality to Eprom's tracks; they flirt with sounds that could be considered gimmicky, but they're never inherently dull and they change quickly enough to never wear out their welcome. Local DJ/producer WD4D lately has been dipping toes into dubsteppy waters with bracing results. He should set the scene well for the headliner. DAVE SEGAL
Saturday 6/5
The Glitch Mob, Free the Robots, Deru
(Showbox at the Market) See Data Breaker.
The Sadies, Kurt Vile
(High Dive) The Sadies are skilled old pros at navigating the psych/garage/roots-rock continuum. Supremely versatile, these Canadians have spent the last dozen or so years bringing fire-and-brimstone passion to venerable rock forms without embalming them. Rather, the Sadies enliven these genres with a sincerity and dexterity that draw appreciative nods from fellow musicians and hardcore aficionados of these styles. Kurt Vile is the relative young buck whose style is diametrically opposed to the Sadies' hell-bent drive; he's a lackadaisical seducer, a lo-fi Lee Hazlewood. Vile's music shrugs its way into your heart with an aw-shucks brilliance. The cumulative effect of all his nonchalant, summer-on-the-porch strumathons and chimefests adds up to a powerful good feeling that sneaks up on you. He can title an album Constant Hitmaker and not make it seem annoying. That's charm. DAVE SEGAL
Truckasauras, THEESatisfaction, THEESatisfaction
(Sunset) Announcing this year's first-ever Stranger Genius Award for Music a couple weeks ago, I tipped both Truckasauras (plus Foscil) and THEESatisfaction as potential nominees. They're both deserving candidates (and both could probably use the no-strings-attached $5,000 prize money) and for very different reasons. THEESatisfaction make breezy and brainy R&B-laced hiphop that pulls in the personal/political (they're young, black, female, and queer) and taps into the current Seattle craze for all things extraterrestrial yet manages to not get mired in the mere novelty factor of either. The party dudes of Truckasauras (along with their mild-mannered jazz-nerd alter egos in Foscil), on the other hand, attack techno, electro, and hiphop instrumentals (and occasionally collaborations) equipped with an unfair armament of analog synthesizers and drum machines, operated with a musical skill that belies their whiskey-chugging image. ERIC GRANDY
Sleepy Eyes of Death, School of Rock Seattle plays Radiohead, Haunted Horses
(Crocodile) The members of Sleepy Eyes of Death are extremely excited to play with the preternaturally talented youth in School of Rock. The members of Sleepy Eyes are also jealous School of Rock wasn't around when they were growing up. Sleepy Eyes' Keith Negley says, "I can't wait. I've been a huge Radiohead fan since Pablo Honey. I'm more excited to see SOR than I am about playing our own set. I hope they span their entire catalog. I have no idea how they'll tackle their newer, more electronic-based material, so many variables—it's going to be awesome." Sleepy Eyes will be holding back on the profanity in front of the youngsters, but they won't be holding back on the fog or the lights. Also, the SOR drummer is a must-see: a mini-monster getting completely monstrous on the kit. TRENT MOORMAN
Trashy Trash DJs 4 Year Anniversary Party: James Pants, Same DNA, Mad Max, Claude Balzac, Introcut
(Chop Suey) L.A.'s Stones Throw has always been a nominally hiphop label with wildly omnivorous tastes (see most recently their championing of "dark wave"), but James Pants might just be the most unlikely act on its roster. A one-man-band weirdo from literally the middle of nowhere (okay, Spokane), Mr. Pants boasts musical interests that range from making hiphop and electro instrumentals out of new age cassettes scavenged from thrift stores to playing crackling lo-fi punk and no-wave goofs that reek with the funk of his basement hermitage. His new album, Seven Seals, has more than a touch of YACHT's new-wave occultism (in both the album cover art and on tracks like "The Eyes of the Lord," with its latter-half punk-preacher chant of "Come to us!"). In sonics and aesthetics, then, a perfect match for Trashy Trash's dirty, kitchen-sink dance party. ERIC GRANDY
Misfits, Stone Axe
(Neumos) Punk purists claim that the only "real" Misfits is Danzig-era Misfits, but honestly, their 1997 Michale Graves–fronted album American Psycho has some solid jams on it. That was 13 years ago, and though they've tried, longtime Misfits bass player Jerry Only (the sole original member) and company haven't released a single good thing since. These days, the horror-punk crew's lineup is a who's who of aging punk legends—Dez Cadena from Black Flag and Marky Ramone round out the trio and maybe add a bit of legitimacy to an act that "real"-Misfits fans think died 27 years ago. Who can hate, though? It's not like punk rock has some grand retirement plan. KEVIN DIERS
Sunday 6/6
Delorean, Teen Girl Fantasy, Big Spider's Back
(Chop Suey) See preview and Stranger Suggests.
Monday 6/7
Woods, the Art Museums, the Mantles
(Tractor) On their new, fifth album, At Echo Lake, New York's Woods peddle cuddly, shaggy folk rock that occasionally edges, ever so tentatively, into psychedelic territory. Woods work on a modest scope, favoring understatement and production values that privilege intimacy over expansiveness. The vocals border on choirboy preciousness, which becomes cloying even over a concise album's duration—unless you really dig choirboy-precious vocals, of course. Overall, At Echo Lake sounds like something Siltbreeze would've issued in 1991. The Art Museums (Bay Area duo Josh Alper and Glenn Donaldson) make faux-naif, underachiever pop that's enshrouded in the chintzy aura that comes courtesy of a Tascam 388 tape machine. The nine tunes on their new album, Rough Frame, are rudimentary and catchy, all minimum-wage guitar strum, muffled drum taps, and muzzily reverbed, slack-jawed vocals. Sounds like something K would've issued in 1987. DAVE SEGAL
Born Ruffians, Young Rival, Kids and Animals
(Vera) Born Ruffians, with their noodling guitar and rumbling bass drums, excel at making tempo their bitch. Their new album, Say It, has a couple of laid-back groovers—"What to Say" doesn't particularly have a hook or a discernable beginning, middle, or end. But several of the new numbers are the most propulsive songs Born Ruffians have ever done. "The Ballad of Moose Bruce" is a smorgasbord of sounds—twinkling acoustic guitar, soaring vocals that could have come from a drunken sea chantey—dragging behind a galloping drumbeat that forces the song forward with no regard to what has come before. The most important instrument they have at their disposal is time, and time is absolutely on their side. PAUL CONSTANT
Born Anchors, Campfire OK, the Royal Bear
(Crocodile) Seattle trio Born Anchors have an album due in the shops this summer titled Colorize the Grey. This the band does, if not in the most flamboyant of hues. Rather, the CD—the follow-up to 2009 debut full-length Sprezzatura—is a competent collection of smartly composed rock that rarely strays from primary-colored, neo-new-wave maneuvers that you've probably heard before. Which isn't to say that Born Anchors are bad; far from it. Just don't expect jaw-dropping developments sonically or lyrically. Born Anchors are traditionalists with a slight Anglophiliac bent (the Psychedelic Furs, Echo & the Bunnymen, using "grey" in the album title, etc.) who possess deft touches with melody and entirely pleasant guitar tones, especially on the title track. Tonight, fans will surely get a generous preview of Colorize the Grey's merits. DAVE SEGAL
Tuesday 6/8
Tortoise, Das Boton
(Neumos) See preview.
Blessure Grave, Spencer Moody, Pollens, John Atkins, King Dude
(Chop Suey) Spencer Moody's new seven-song EP is a release from Kaz Nomura's (aka PWRFL Power) Half Yogurt record label. "It's called I Am the Pedwin Drag King," says the former Murder City Devils frontman. "It's named after an old shoe advertisement. Half Yogurt is putting out some cool stuff—Cap Lori, Shenandoah Davis, Dennis Driscoll... When Kaz asked me, I jumped at the chance." Everyone should jump at the chance to see this show—Blessure Grave are a newish, gothish, art-punk band from San Diego; Pollens are a new project featuring members of the Blood Brothers; John Atkins is formerly of 764-Hero, Magic Magicians, and the Can't See; and King Dude is the new acoustic project from TJ Cowgill of Seattle death metallers Book of Black Earth. It's all new and all for you. KELLY O
Wednesday 6/9
Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields performs 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
(Paramount) See Stranger Suggests.