Picks From Our Music Critics, From PWR BTTM to Lauryn Hill
by Stranger Things To Do Staff
Starting with Halloween concerts on Monday, there are plenty of opportunities all week long to go out and enjoy the live music happening all across this fine city. We've got everything from a Latina legend of the '70s LA punk scene to dance music brought down from the heavens to the forever queen of '90s hiphop. See all of our critics' picks below, and check out our music calendar for everything else going on, and our Halloween calendar if you're not yet ready to give up on your seasonal dreams.
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OCTOBER 31
CL
CL is the team leader of South Korean girl-group 2NE1, and has moved on to be her own triple-threat as a rapper, vocalist, and dancer. Show up for her catchy tracks; stay for her wild, neon, and unattainably cool style.
Halloween Party with Substratum, Weaponlord, Truth Decay, and Anthrocene
For decades, the Northwest has had a healthy underground-metal scene. With months and months of rain keeping them inside, young bands have nothing else to do but shred. Released this past May, Weaponlord’s debut self-titled album fits right alongside Northwest metal royalty like Forced Entry, Nevermore, and Himsa. It’s six songs of fist-pumping, thrash-influenced power metal—blistering, badass solos, galloping guitar riffs, and all. When listening to a band with a name like Weaponlord, it’s hard not to picture yourself riding on a dragon, speeding through the sky with your flaming sword as Freedom Wars blasts in the background. KEVIN DIERS
Nicolas Jaar
It’s been five years since NYC-based Chilean producer Nicolas Jaar’s Space Is Only Noise set the bar very high for joyously downcast bedroom techno. In the meantime, the New York producer issued the blues-rock/spy-jazz/electronic opus Psychic in 2013 as a member of the duo Darkside for Matador Records. With the new full-length Sirens, Jaar continues to explore the broodier side of dance music that can conceivably cross over to rock lovers, as well as Lynchian atmospheric soundscapes and odd balladry. The record’s peak occurs on “Three Sides of Nazareth,” which chugs motoric-style with irrepressible, sinister intent, sounding like Primal Scream in peak Vanishing Point form. Jaar brings it with more audiovisual flair live than most in his field. DAVE SEGAL
NOVEMBER 1
Tony Bennett with Antonia Bennett
For the last million years, Tony Bennett has maintained the songbook standard of the Great American Story, with nine decades of life under his belt as a preeminent nightlife entertainer and jazzy lounge legend. Enjoy an evening with him and his daughter Antonia.
NOVEMBER 2
Help Haiti Benefit Show: Sebastian and the Deep Blue, Northern Thorns, Tenderfoot
Send financial aid to Haiti by attending this benefit show aimed at allaying the relief efforts undergone since Hurricane Matthew. Supporting the cause in live performance will be chamber-pop neuftet Sebastian & The Deep Blue, Northern Thorns, and Tenderfoot.
Preoccupations with Methyl Ethyl
Calgary quartet Preoccupations triggered outrage and protests while they were trafficking under their Viet Cong moniker, which tended to overshadow the incisive power of their self-titled 2015 debut album. They may have been tone-deaf in naming themselves, but these Canadians excelled at tunefully cranky post punk that evokes Siouxsie and the Banshees at their atmospherically darkest while deploying guitar tunings that clang and resonate with Glenn Branca–esque and Harry Partch–like unconventionality. Rechristened as Preoccupations, they’ve returned this year with another eponymous LP, and, sadly, it’s not as exhilarating or challenging as their first full-length. Nothing on Preoccupations attains the heights of “Bunker Buster” or “March of Progress.” Rather, the overall mood here resembles Psychedelic Furs in medium-agitation mode. It’s good, but a bit of a letdown after Viet Cong’s vigor and rigor. DAVE SEGAL
NOVEMBER 3
An Evening with Peter Hook & The Light
Since his rancorous departure from New Order in 2007, original Joy Division/New Order bassist Peter Hook has toured the band’s material with his own project. Last year, the New Order family feud escalated when Hook initiated a lawsuit with the band for “millions of pounds” after the remaining members signed a new contract, stipulating Hook could earn only 1.25 percent of the band’s royalties. Whether you’re on Team Hooky or Team New Order (or you don’t care and just want to hear “Love Will Tear Us Apart”), the hits will certainly be delivered tonight, as this tour focuses on material from both bands’ hit/rarity-compiling Substance releases. While the unapologetic post-punk bleakness for which the Joy Division sound is now internationally revered (and copied) will likely be absent from these renditions, look at it this way: There may never be another chance to see these songs performed by an original member. BRITTNIE FULLER
Joyce Yang
In a triumphant return to Meany Hall, South Korean pianist Joyce Yang utilizes her unique gift of synesthesia to lay out a colorful and lyrically energetic program bolstered by her countless solo recitals and notable collaborations with the world’s top orchestras.
NOFX, PEARS, Useless ID
After 33 years, it’s safe to say NOFX are an institution in skate punk. They’re the snotty younger brother of Bad Religion, and at times you can’t tell if they’re totally wasted onstage or just playing super sloppy (or both)—something they acknowledged with the title of their 1995 live album, I Heard They Suck Live. The band released their 13th full-length, First Ditch Effort, in early October, and it’s not just another round of potty-mouthed melodic punk from Fat Mike and his crew. It’s self-aware and politically motivated, and there’s a heavy lyrical emphasis on drug abuse in songs like “Six Years on Dope” and “Oxy Moronic.” KEVIN DIERS
Studio 4/4: Tiger & Woods
A fun-loving duo that claim to hail from the Cayman Islands (not believing that for a second), Tiger & Woods reliably jockey the sort of tropical house-music discs and create the sort of buoyant, banging disco edits that will elevate your mood and heart rate. There’s nothing more complicated than that in the Tiger & Woods partysphere. These guys dedicate their professional lives to spurring people to act unprofessionally on the dance floor. It’s good work if you can get it. DAVE SEGAL
NOVEMBER 4
A$AP Ferg, Playboi Carti, Rob Stone
Inexplicably, Bay Area bro G-Eazy continues to book openers far more talented than he. Last time he was in town, it was E-40; this time, it’s A$AP Squad standout A$AP Ferg, whose work, while uneven, is consistently more interesting than that of label mate Rocky. “Shabba” and “Hood Pope” alone proved that Ferg’s got the pop sensibilities to match his trap mentality, to thrilling results. KYLE FLECK
Alice Bag with Guests
If you don’t already know Alice Bag, you oughta, as she was one of the original, iconic 1970s LA punks—she was the matchstick who fronted the Bags. Well, since the ’80s, still lit by punk’s fire, she’s become an author and a heroic activist. As for her live show, she’ll be playing tracks off her debut solo album, Alice Bag. The album’s styles are varied: raw, pointed contemporary SoCal punk jams AND some sweet, almost pop vocal tracks. It’s good, and it sounds like none of her fire has been lost over time—she’s still angry. Along with Ms. Bag there’s also the mighty Wiscon, noisy punks Control Test, and Kook Teflon, who have promised a “ritual performance as Maiden Mother Crone.” MIKE NIPPER
Dudamel & The LA Phil
It’s a one-night only concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic led by the Phil’s charismatic, 35-year-old music and artistic director Gustavo Dudamel, featuring the epic Ninth Symphony by Gustav Mahler—the very last work that Mahler completed, while a Mahler conducting competition was how Dudamel, without any formal training in conducting, exploded onto the international scene back in 2004. What more do you want? JEN GRAVES
Iska Dhaaf, Special Explosion, Tiburones
Seattle sometimes does things that aren’t so smart, but one thing it does exceedingly well, is produce razor-sharp, intelligent bands. Iska Dhaaf (who, despite a recent move to NYC, will always be a Seattle group) make complex, subtle melodies, lusty rhythms, and lyrics sometimes inspired by Sufi poetry. KELLY O
Kinski, Welcome, Tissue
Whoa, it’s doubtful few saw this coming: the return of Welcome, the Seattle rock group that issued a sneakily great album on England’s prestigious FatCat Records in 2006 titled Sirs, and then faded away, leaving a trail of tears in their wake. (Good news: Dragnet and Luxury Products are reissuing Sirs on vinyl.) Featuring bassist/vocalist Jo Claxton of the late, lamented Universe People, drummer/Luxury Products boss Jon Treneff, guitarist/vocalist Pete Brand, and guitarist Mike Wurn, Welcome flaunted smart, angular tunes that seemed to emanate as much from New Zealand’s Flying Nun imprint circa 1987 as from ’00s Seattle. Sirs is one of those cult releases whose corkscrewing hooks really coalesce in your mind on third listen (in the manner of early White Fence, say), after which you become a lifelong proselytizer for the record. Welcome back! DAVE SEGAL
Mac Miller with Guests
Few internet-age rap stars have undergone the metamorphoses Pittsburg/Los Angeles rapper Mac Miller has. After a string of cornball YouTube hits and early career mediocrity, Miller announced his presence as a legitimate progressive hiphop artist with 2013’s adventurous Watching Movies with the Sound Off. Although it stumbled occasionally on problematic misogynist tropes and casually used pejoratives, the album captured Miller in a beautiful, raw creative space between dreamy production and blunted tangles of rhyme. Shedding skin again for this year’s The Divine Feminine, Miller has taken the opportunity to illustrate the godly qualities of the fairer sex and the generally positive feelings relations with women inspire. The downside of this new chapter is that it’s muted the variety of his subject matter, leaving less room for stoned, stream-of-consciousness musings—but luckily, love and lust provide more than enough inspiration for Miller to produce some decent slow jams, so plan on getting down in that respect. TODD HAMM
NOVEMBER 5
Bill Frisell with Guests
Winter 1995. My girlfriend dumped me. My publisher ripped me off. One of my best friends fired me from the job I needed to pay the rent. Another best friend was laughing at my anguish. I hurt, physically, constantly. On my way to feed the fishes at Sakuma Viewpoint, I drop into Tower Records and the lonely clerk plays Deep Dead Blue by Elvis Costello and Bill Frisell. And Costello sounds blue, but Frisell sounds haunted. Stuff inside only his bearing as a gentleman allows him to bear. I didn’t know then that Frisell can get to any emotion, bone deep from blue to bliss-ninny blowout. I feed the fishes. I drink Budweiser. Then I go back to my piss-pocked mattress and get on with life. ANDREW HAMLIN
Charlie Puth, Joel Adams, Hailey Knox
Renowned songwriter for the A-list (including Lil Wayne, Jason Derulo, Stevie Wonder, Trainor, Trey Songz, and Fergie) Charlie Puth will come to Seattle on tour for his solo album, Nine Track Mind, with Joel Adams and Hailey Knox.
HINTS, Glaare, Year of Death, Clay Rendering, T (Daisyheroin)
I love it when drummers in rock bands go solo and explore electronics—especially when they do it as well as ex–Haunted Horses sticksman Myke Pelly, aka HINTS. His 2015 debut album, The Way to Function, pummels and broods with a harsh industrial thrust. The drums sound like they have the circumference of redwoods and Pelly pounds ’em with a ruthlessness reminiscent of This Heat’s Charles Hayward and Killing Joke’s Paul Ferguson. This music provides a sinister catharsis a lot of people need in this exceptionally noxious year. To some degree, T—the solo musical project of ex-Stickers guitarist and surrealist video artist Colin Dawson—throbs and gristles in a similar vein to HINTS, forging aggressive, antisocial electronic darkness that gives listeners an unsafe space in which to blow off steam. T also flashes a more abstract, heady sound that evokes the delirious analog-synth convolutions of Mort Garson and Morton Subotnick. DAVE SEGAL
Musica Elettronica Viva
Musica Elettronica Viva established themselves as purveyors of wild acoustic/electronic improv sessions 50 years ago in Italy. Their lineup has always been in flux, but it’s included some of the last half century’s most adventurous composers and musicians: Alvin Curran, Steve Lacy, Carol Plantamura, Ivan Coaquette (of Spacecraft and Delired Cameleon Family), Frederic Rzewski, and Richard Teitelbaum. The collective remain totally open to chance and to using non-musical objects to achieve their singular sound. On works like Leave the City, MEV deploy both solemn chants and kooky vocalizations over a Dream Syndicate–like drone in a paradoxical feat of meditative pandemonium. As Curran keenly put it, “Rehearsals and concerts were begun at the appropriate time by a kind of spontaneous combustion and continued until total exhaustion set in… The music could go anywhere, gliding into self-regenerating unity or lurching into irrevocable chaos—both were valuable goals.” DAVE SEGAL
PWR BTTM, Bellows, Lisa Prank
New York queer punk-pop duo PWR BTTM's 2015 album Ugly Cherries was an intravenous blast of catchy garage rock delivered to your nervous system with neither warning nor apology. On tracks like “C U Around” and “I Wanna Boi,” guitarist/singer Ben Hopkins and drummer Liv Bruce make heartache and requited love sound as fucked up and messy as they really are, with an unflinching honesty and ear for hooks that’s more than welcome in our era of overcooked irony and tendency for eye-rolling. It’s a breath of honest air in a pre-fab world. We’ve been gassed on lo-fi, low-key genius Lisa Prank for a hot minute here at the Stranger, and she makes the perfect opener on this all-ages bill. KYLE FLECK
Ulcerate, Zhrine, Phobocosm
It might not sound like a selling point of a live show to call a band uncomfortable, but there’s no better word to describe the dark, disharmonic songs created by New Zealand death-metal band Ulcerate. Their music is dense and crushing and steers away from the melodic side of death metal made famous by bands like At the Gates and In Flames. Instead, Ulcerate punish us in the best way possible on the eight songs that make up their recently released fifth studio album, Shrines of Paralysis. Get out of your comfort zone and experience the pain that is Ulcerate. KEVIN DIERS
NOVEMBER 6
Boz Scaggs
Guitarist Boz Scaggs started his musical career in the Midwest playing in garage bands like the Marksmen and the Ardells with fellow guitar-picker Steve Miller and, though he split for Europe in 1965, by 1967 Scaggs had reunited with Miller in the Steve Miller Band. A year later, Scaggs went solo and in the mid 1970s and early ’80s he scored a string of FM hits. Since those hit-making days, he has continued working, but he’s fallen into a niche, much like his ’60s and ’70s contemporaries, where he still tours and records sporadically but makes no concessions to contemporary pop charts. Now Scaggs shows up and lays down some easy, deeply shaded urban blues, soulful ’70s rock, in his patented, laid-back style. MIKE NIPPER
Consumer., GOOO, rEEk, Kole Galbraith
Portland producer Consumer. (yes, period, like Adult.) favors the absurdist approach to electronic music. His spazzy, maximalist MO had a brief spurt of notoriety in the mid 1990s to early ’00s with the likes of Squarepusher, Jason Forrest, and Otto Von Schirach. This late in the game, though, few electronic musicians delve into that mad, convoluted steez that pushes excess and unpredictability to their limits. Consumer. releases like Fucket and CON/TRA immerse you in a hyperkinetic, disorienting soundworld that’s a rare, rude treat in this age where polite, pastel electronic music predominates. He merges sonic high jinks with catharsis like few Northwestern musicians working right now. DAVE SEGAL
Ms. Lauryn Hill & Guests
It’s been 18 years since The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Ms. Lauryn Hill’s only solo studio album, dropped. Eighteen years since Hill used her unmistakable honey, suede, and scorched-earth voice to spit rhymes with bravado and soar through soulful, textured melodies that still reverberate through the consciousness of so many people. (Seriously, have you listened to it lately? I dare you to play “Nothing Even Matters,” her duet with D’Angelo, and not get chills.) The songs on Miseducation are by turns equally triumphant and tortured. So maybe it’s not surprising that in the years since Miseducation, Hill has become reclusive and mercurial, and that her sporadic live performances are often erratic. A few months ago, Hill showed up two hours late for a show in Atlanta, offering an explanation that “the challenge is aligning my energy with the time.” If you’re reading this and even considering going to this show, though, you probably already know all of this. You know this show, if it actually happens, has the potential to be transcendent. You know the lyrics to “Ex-Factor” all too well: “It could all be so simple, but you’d rather make it hard/Loving you is like a battle, and we both end up with scars.” ANGELA GARBES