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MONDAY
ROCK/POPSnail Mail
Lindsey Jordanâs Snail Mail sounds like the local indie-rock band that you really wanted to make it big. And now sheâs sold out the Neptune Theatre. Jordan is only 19 years old, and yet her latest record, Lush, exudes a very raw and mature vulnerability. Jordanâs lyricism, which has been compared to singer-songwriters like Fiona Apple and Liz Phair, coupled with her pop sensibility, is what really makes her a compelling artist to listen to. JASMYNE KEIMIG
MONDAY-TUESDAY
ROCK/POPSoft Machine, Moraine
Hands up: Who knew British prog-rock legends Soft Machine were still going? Not I, and Iâm a fan. How embarrassing. First, donât expect original drummer Robert Wyatt to be in the lineup. (Duh.) Second, do expect drummer John Marshall (who joined the band in â72), bassist Roy Babbington (who joined in â73), guitarist John Etheridge (joined in â75), and keyboardist/woodwind specialist Theo Travis (2006) to roam with freewheeling discipline through Soft Machineâs bountiful back catalog of loopy, psychedelic-prog songs, serpentine jazz-rock opuses, and spaced-out experimental forays. Just putting this out there: If they donât do âThe Soft Weed Factor,â Iâm going to sulk hard. DAVE SEGAL
TUESDAY
CLASSICALLeonidas Kavakos & Enrico Pace in Recital
Encounter the sensitive interplay of violin and piano in pieces composed for duos performed by internationally renowned musicians Leonidas Kavakos and Enrico Pace.
Chrome Sparks, Kalbells
Chrome Sparks is the solo dance/electronic project of Brooklyn's Jeremy Malvin. Boogie down to his set as he stops in Seattle on his 2019 tour in support of his latest album, Be On Fire. He'll be joined by indie-pop artist Kalbells (who's also from New York).Â
Sage the Gemini, Raymond McMahon
In 2014, San Francisco hiphop maker Sage the Gemini released his debut, Remember Me, and charted two earwormy cuts, âRed Noseâ and âGas Pedal,â that were played so incessantly on pop radio that just seeing his name is enough to get those semi-interchangeable jams in my head. His high-blasĂ© intones are singsong without a motherfucking care, although more recent releases (2017 mixtape Morse Code, a string of 2018 singles that includes the catchy, actually-ainât-cheating ode âIt Ainât My Faultâ) find both the production and his delivery sounding a bit livelier and a tad more pop-sensible. The quality of this newer output is mixed (one song features Chris Brown, yuck), and so are my feelings about it. LEILANI POLK
Travis Scott
Houston rapper Travis Scott is part of an interesting trend of hiphop artists who are looking to develop their visual aesthetic as much as their sound. Scott and his team, along with other rappers, are responding to the ways in which music consumption has changedâlargely that younger audiences are shifting to Instagram to discover new artists. Reports from stops on his current Astroworld tour say that Scottâs live performances are just as visually arresting as his music videos have beenâhe allegedly has not one but TWO roller coasters onstage. It should be noted, though, that Scott broke what seemed to be an unofficial boycott by black artists of the intolerant and ass-backward NFL in accepting an invitation to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show. JASMYNE KEIMIG
Jazz Lounge: Emma Caroline Baker
Jazz, soul, and R&B vocalist Emma Caroline Baker will be accompanied by guitarist George Bullock for an evening of sultry jazz classics and contemporary hits.Â
Juan Wauters
Thereâs something very sweet about Juan Wautersâs musicâI think itâs the high, croony quality of his voice. But "sweet" isnât necessarily the right word; maybe Wautersâs music is just âearnest.â This earnestness coincides with the Uruguay-born, NYC-dwelling musician returning to his Latin American roots. All the songs on his latest album, La Onda de Juan Pablo, are sung entirely in Spanish, his mother tongue (heâs been singing in English for most of his career). Having spent the past few years traveling in South and Central America, Wauters wrote and recorded these songs along the way. JASMYNE KEIMIG
The Lemon Twigs
The Long Islandâbrewed outfit led by multi-instrumentalist, singing-songwriting brothers Brian and Michael DâAddario is so derivative, itâs like listening to a medley of vaguely pin-pointable â60s-era baroque and psychedelic pop (the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Zombies, the Kinks) and â70s-era power-pop, glam and art rock (Supertramp, Big Star, the Ramones, Queen, Todd Rundgren), with a dose of Broadway theatricality and 21st-century prodigious musicality added for good measure. Sometimes I can identify direct emulation in a specific moment of a song (like that segment in âRock Dreamsâ thatâs a direct rip-off of âFlyingâ from Magical Mystery Tour). But they do it so goddamn well, I canât be mad. In fact, Iâm a bit obsessed. Their sophomore album, Go to School, was among my 2018 favorites for its way of simultaneously and alternately surprising me and making me feel waves of nostalgia for vintage times I never actually lived in. LEILANI POLK
MĂ, Mykki Blanco
MĂâs brand of electro-pop is the kind of music thatâs easy to imagine blasting loudly in a very popular after-hours club in Europe. Or blaring out of giant speakers at a music festival in the middle of a field somewhere. Though the Danish singer-songwriter, who has worked with acts like Major Lazer and DJ Snake, headlines this concert, her tourmate, Mykki Blanco, is a genius. A queer activist, performance artist, and rapper, Blanco raises the level of whatever conversation he enters into, eschewing genre (and gender) norms in favor of something more punk, more brilliant. His highly anticipated sophomore album, Stay Close to the Music, Stay Close to God, is expected sometime this year.
JASMYNE KEIMIG
TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY
JAZZPeter Bernstein, Larry Goldings, and Bill Stewart
Peter Bernstein, Larry Goldings, and Bill Stewart make up a jazzy organ trio that has pumped out 11 studio albums both under various members' names and as a unit. Their latest album on the Pirouet label, Ramshackle Serenade, is their first studio session in 12 years, and will be pulled from heavily in this show.
TUESDAY & FRIDAY
FUNK/REGGAETrombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
Immerse yourself in a brassy evening of traditional and contemporary New Orleans jazz, soul, and funk with Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue.
WEDNESDAY
BLUES/COUNTRY/FOLKLyle Lovett & John Hiatt
Remember when Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett were married? That was weird. Anyway, here's prolific country crooner Lyle and singer-songwriter John Hiatt. They'll be playing a full set, with enough charm to please even the most cynical of old school country, jazz, and swing music enthusiasts.
RSVfree Series with Byland and Racoma
The Northwest-focused RSVFree Series is exactly what it sounds like: a show that is free, so long as you RSVP. This first installment will feature sets from Albuquerque indie folk artist BYLAND and Seattle foursome Racoma, plus raffles, drink specials, and meet-and-greets with the bands.Â
Winter Experiments: Low Hums, iji, Señor Fin, Amethyst De Wolfe, OrcAsAcro
Get the most out of winter by skating around a life-sized snow globe (the Southgate Roller Rink) to live sets from Low Hums, iji, Senor Fin, Amethyst de Wolfe, and OrcAsAcro. There will also be ice carving, an "ice bath challenge," and wintery costumes.Â
Anika
British-German singer-songwriter Anika (of Portishead, Beak, and post-punk project Exploded View) will come through Seattle with new music from her debut self-titled album produced by fellow Portishead member Geoff Barrow. Expect a mix of experimental rock, covers of folk songs, and reverb-drenched pop songs alike.Â
THURSDAY
METAL/PUNKSSDD, Pushy, Dommengang
Steal Shit Do Drugs is a great fucking band name. Steal Shit Do Drugs is also a great fucking band. In what Stranger staffer Mike Nipper described as âface down, knuckle-dragginâ, sweaty, early â80s sounding West Coast PUNK,â the Seattle five-pieceâs songs (nay, battle anthems) could incite the most modest among us to riot. The bill is rounded out by a few other West Coasters in Portlandian nostalgic rock ânâ rollers Pushy and guitar-driven Californian rock group Dommengang. JASMYNE KEIMIG
Tracyanne & Danny, Photo Ops
Enter a twee wonderland with Tracyanne Campbell of Camera Obscura and Danny Coughlan of Crybaby as they stop in Seattle for an evening of gentle indie-pop. They'll be joined by Nashville indie rockers Photo Ops.Â
Wild Moccasins, La Fonda
Houston-based traveling pop trio Wild Moccasins will breeze through Seattle with their bright melodies and contemplative lyrics. Seattle indie-soul group La Fonda will provide opening support.Â
The Beat!
Queerspace Magazine's queer music talk show The Beat! will return with a lineup of excellent local artists (house artist Brandon Lent, local hiphop/pop artist ZELLi, and "negative pop" artist Danny Denial) as they share the stories behind their music. Neo-electro-soul artist CarLarans will host.Â
THURSDAY-SATURDAY
CLASSICALBeethoven Piano Concerto No. 3
This program offers two landmarks of classical music literature and one world premiere that will likely be very good. Shostakovich composed his First Symphony when he was 18 years old, and the piece is full of all the cartoonish humor and aimless ambition you'd expect from a genius teen. Though Beethoven's third Piano Concerto is a common addition to any symphony's season, I could listen to the second and third movements every day for breakfast and feel right with the world. That's why I'm so excited to hear pianist Jonathan Biss play Caroline Shaw's world premiere. According to press materials, Shaw, a founding member of Grammy-winning Roomful of Teeth and the youngest person to ever win a Pulitzer Prize for music, composed the piece "as a response to Beethoven." RICH SMITH
FRIDAY
DJDepth: Regis
Depth continues its reign as one of Seattleâs most reliable arbiters of taste with regard to bleeding-edge club music. England's Regis (aka Karl OâConnor) has been one of the world's foremost DJ/producers of dark, hard techno for more than two decades, as well as being a genius curator of the same as cohead of Downwards Records and Sandwell District. For sheer ruggedness and intensity, few producers and selectors can match this dark magusâs prowess for up-tempo 4/4 rhythms and foreboding atmospheres. Youâll know itâs peak time during a Regis set when it legitimately feels as if the Big One is quaking Cascadia and your paranoia intensifies with each battering-ram beat. DAVE SEGAL
David Watson, John Krausbauer, Bill Horist, Amelia Coulter
New Zealand-born guitarist/bagpiper/composer David Watson moved to New York City in 1987 and has become an integral figure in that cityâs avant-garde music scene, playing with John Zornâs Cobra, Ikue Mori, Christian Marclay, and others. Here, he brings his bagpipe and collaborates with John Krausbauer, a powerful drone violinist in the Tony Conrad vein. Their set should make your skull hum with searing, scintillating vibrations. Bill Horist has spent much of the last quarter century extracting unprecedented sounds out of ye olde electric guitar, and his research and development has yielded a veritable river of fascinating timbres that would gobsmack Leo Fender and Les Paulâamong others. Search YouTube for â20180707 Bill Horistâ for examples. DAVE SEGAL
Clear Soul Forces, Wizdumb, Dom Sicily, SpecsWizard
There are two forms of hiphop that are important: hiphop thatâs moving forward and hiphop thatâs being perfected. Local rapper/producer SpecsWizard, who recently completed an album with Silas Black (Blakwizard), is certainly the latter. This does not mean his work is not innovative, but that it innovates in a context thatâs grounded in a hiphop that has been defined and coded, and yet still has room for new ideas. SpecsWizard is a veteran. His entire life has been devoted to the art. Itâs almost impossible to imagine him doing anything other than rapping, making beats, and painting mystical urban images on walls. CHARLES MUDEDE
Corrosion of Conformity, Crowbar, Weedeater, Mothership
Theyâre back, the original kings of 1980s-era, ânah, maaaaaaaan, it ainât thrash, itâs fuckinâ CROSSOVER!!!â: North Carolinaâspawned Corrosion of Conformity!!! Gah, I know theyâre less crossover and more geriatric now, but whatever, their long-haired heavy heat is legendary. I should also give an advance warning to yâall thrashateria yobsâbe careful not to tire your neck out too fast, as there are more heavies on the bill! Seriously, thereâs gonna be serious pounding from the almost 30-year-old group Crowbar, along with the shredding metal of the Texans Mothership, plus another group of Cackalackians, the sludgy heshers Weedeater. MIKE NIPPER
Celebrus Lupercalia 10
The pre-Roman pastoral festival Lupercalia celebrates love, health, bounty, and fertility, and is apparently the original version of Valentine's Day. Like any harvest-y festival, the best way to celebrate is by releasing your inhibitions on the dance floor. This 10th annual event will feature a live music stage with sets from Seattle's Zen Mother, Static Shore, Patrick Haenelt, Kylmyss, and Shauna and Adam, and a dance music stage with DJs Ramiro, Derrick Deep, Madly in Dub, Buckmode, and Knosjo. You can also look forward to Central American food, live visuals by Bill Ball, and cool costumes.Â
LP, Lauren Ruth Ward, Slugs
New Yorker singer-songwriter and self-styled "rock rebel" LP is all about brash honesty and soulful, stripped-down yet spirited rock. She'll showcase her latest work on this Heart to Mouth Tour of 2019.
Soul Selections ft. Sassyblack, Falon Sierra, Nestra
This soul-centric concert series is curated by local psychedelic soul/funk goddess SassyBlack, so you know it's gonna be good. This installment features electric soul artist Falon Sierra, along with Nestra, who was one of 40 artists who worked with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis for the "Residency,â a collaborative workshop with MoPOP and Arts Corp to help engage the youth in hiphop.Â
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Lilla
Immerse yourself in a brassy evening of traditional and contemporary New Orleans jazz, soul, and funk with Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue.
FRIDAY-SUNDAY
BLUES/COUNTRY/FOLKGarage A Trois
Cheeky avant-garde group Garage A Trois originally manifested in 1998 during a recording session for Stanton Mooreâs solo debut. The Galactic drummer extraordinaire, eight-string guitarist Charlie Hunter, and Seattle sax innovator Skerik laid down a weirdly captivating fusion of post-jazz, funk, and rock experimentation they christened Mysteryfunk, the four-song EP ranging from the wah-wah guitar and vox-box-soaked outer-space dub of the title track, to the drum and bass-meets-On the Corner darkness of âChupa Cadabra.â The OG lineup of Garage A Trois are back together, and this is their first time playing live in nearly two decades. Probably why all three nights of this run are sold out. LEILANI POLK
The Rape of Lucretia
Benjamin Britten's chamber opera The Rape of Lucretia is an impactful piece and considered iconic within the genre. This tale of an ancient Roman noblewoman, whose rape by an Etruscan prince spurred a rebellion that overthrew the Roman monarchy, was first performed in 1946 and will be reimagined here with the cultural context of everything that has happened regarding these themes of hubris and suffering over the last 73 years.
SATURDAY
BLUES/COUNTRY/FOLKAn Evening With Leftover Salmon
Colorado Americana project Leftover Salmon combines rock, folk, bluegrass, Cajun, soul, zydeco, jazz, and blues influences for a lively, homespun sound. The 25-year-old band will come to Seattle for an intimate show.
Jake Shimabukuro
Hawaiiâs prodigious ukulele virtuoso has pushed the boundaries of what seems possible on four strings for a few decades, jumping through genres (jazz, rock, funk, classical music, folk, bluegrass, and even flamenco), and mixing original compositions with covers that have his own personal stamp of uke agility and adventurous originality; 2018âs The Greatest Day finds him backed by a three-piece band, and amid original material, youâll find covers that include a spacy yet spirited, psych-jazz take on Jimi Hendrixâs âIf 6 Was 9â featuring Jerry Douglas on dobro. LEILANI POLK
KISS
Despite Gene Simmons' political fanaticism and the band's many schisms over the years, iconic makeup metal group KISS is still gigging hard and will hit the Pacific Northwest this winter on their End of the Road World Tour, marking the chosen finale of their tenure as a band.
Ozomatli
Los Angeles-based group Ozomatli have expertly traversed and mashed together all sorts of Latin genres in their 20 years of existence. NPR described their 2017 album Non-Stop: Mexico>Jamaica as "classic songs from Mexico re-imagined through Jamaican reggae, rocksteady, and dancehall." Be prepared to dance as they come through Seattle with their latest material.Â
Federale, Eyelids, Zebra Hunt
Very solid rock bill alert. Portlandâs Eyelids contain current and former members of Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Guided by Voices, and Decemberists, and their breezy, introverted yet epiphany-laden indie rock reminds you why you cared about this smoothly melodious stuff so intently in the early â90s. (Those not around then will have to use their imaginations.) Seattleâs Zebra Hunt channel the wondrous chiming and jangling linearity of New Zealand and Australiaâs overachieving, understated, underground-rock groups of the â80s. Portland septet Federale features exâBrian Jonestown Massacre bassist Collin Hegna and evoke the florid, dusty melodrama of spaghetti western soundtracks. Check out âHoly Mountainâ off 2016âs All the Colours of the Dark for the most potent hit. DAVE SEGAL
Interpol
Here is one way of looking at indie rock in the â00s: The lead singer of Vampire Weekend, Ezra Koenig, recalls Paul Simon (of the â80s, that is), the lead singer of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Alec Ounsworth, recalls David Byrne, the lead singer of the Walkmen, Hamilton Leithauser, recalls Bono (particularly his early, good stuff), and, finally, the lead singer of Interpol, Paul Banks, recalls, of course, Ian Curtis (on a chair, legs crossed, cigarette burning between fingers). Interpol do have a masterpiece. Itâs the track âUntitledâ on their debut album, Turn on the Bright Lights. CHARLES MUDEDE
Jupiter Sprites, Darksoft, Don Piano
Jupiter Sprites deliver the best kind of dream popâitâs easy to find yourself lost in the pure fuzz, the angelic vocals, the shimmer of it all. They remind me of the first time I ever listened to My Bloody Valentine, that feeling of warmth that washed over me, like I was hearing what bright magenta sounded like or something. This Olympia band will be heading up to Seattle to celebrate the release of their self-titled EP, out February 1, alongside local acts Darksoft and Don Piano. JASMYNE KEIMIG
Medical Rx Night: Italo Disco, Synthwave, Leftfield Dance
Records/Transfusions boss Dr. Troy, DJ Sh1-tr (Jason Taylor), and their obsessive clique of DJs have been reanimating the debaucherous spirit of Italo disco, minimal wave, and other retro-futurist electronic styles at the gay bar Pony. (All sexual orientations are welcome, however.) The first week of the year is always one of the grimmest on the calendar, but Medical Rx can remedy your winter malaise with its DJsâ deep expertise in the field of off-center dance music thatâs stood the test of time in underground clubs. DAVE SEGAL
SUNDAY
BLUES/COUNTRY/FOLKAn Evening with Phil Lesh and the Terrapin Family Band
Grateful Dead lifer Phil Lesh has spent his years since that band's inception spreading jam band fervor to the far reaches of the earth with all of his spin-off musical projects. He will bring the Terrapin Family Band to Seattle for a night of reinterpreting the Grateful Dead songbook.
