by Stranger Things To Do Staff
The election has come and gone and now we all have to learn how to live in this new era of violent uncertainty, so let's go see some live music, shall we? We've got everything from a local rapper raising money for his family's home, to the whale-whisperer of our childhood, to ambient Nordic menstruation for your eager ears. Check out our music calendar for every option, and our resistance & rallies calendar to see where you can be most helpful in our city.
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NOVEMBER 14
Grim Reaper, Substratum, Skelator, DJ Roaringblood
If you’ve kept up with these pages, you’ve seen this story before: underappreciated European heavy-metal band on the road to success breaks up in its prime, lies dormant for years, and then returns, bolstered by a new internet-generated fan base. So it goes with Grim Reaper. Well, Steve Grimmett’s Grim Reaper. The lead singer remains the sole original member for this personification of death. And while that earns some legacy acts a hard no from metal prudes (yes, they exist, and they are legion), this Reaper’s scythe remains sharp. Grimmett and his three hired hands just released Walking in the Shadows, the band’s first record since the 1980s, and it’s worthy of their legacy. JOSEPH SCHAFER
Monarchy + HER
London duo Monarchy tout themselves as "glacial pop with a throbbing undercurrent of humanity," which they'll be taking on tour with HER.
NOVEMBER 15
Cherry Poppin' Daddies
Swing revivalists and zoot suit lifers Cherry Poppin' Daddies roll through Jazz Alley in support of their latest release, The Boop-A-Doo!. (Through November 17)
Denzel Curry, Boogie, Yoshi Thompkins
Carol City, Florida, rapper Denzel Curry has been touring like a maniac as of late (this is his second trip through town this year), but it’d be misguided to say he’s flooding the market. Curry’s amped style makes tracks from this year’s Imperial beg to be heard live, and going ham in a room full of revelers might be the most authentic DC experience you can get. In addition, he’s a profound societal reporter on the mic, and a couple of his recent deep cuts actually play with a slightly West Coast stoner sound, both of which should make a room full of blunt-chugging West Coasters even happier. TODD HAMM
Elevator: Jenny Hval
With albums like 2011’s Viscera, 2013’s Innocence Is Kinky, and 2014’s Apocalypse, girl, Norway’s Jenny Hval proved herself a provocative singer/songwriter/producer unafraid to examine gender roles and erotic impulses with idiosyncratic iconoclasm. Their artful songs flit from Young Marble Giants–like fragile beauty to Robert Wyatt–like poignancy to Björk-ian electronic eccentricity. Hval even taps into a sublimely mournful ambient realm that recalls the exalted new-age excursions of Laraaji and Ariel Kalma on Apocalypse’s “Holy Land.” Her newest album, Blood Bitch, is a concept album revolving around menstruation, Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando, and 1970s horror and exploitation films. Produced by Hval and renowned noise musician Lasse Marhaug, it’s her most streamlined, electronic full-length, featuring production techniques that accentuate her dulcet, icy vocal tones, but it also contains her most harrowing track, “The Plague.” There will be blood. DAVE SEGAL
The Gotobeds, Private Room, Listen Lady
Put your trust in a band whose name was inspired by Wire’s drummer. Pittsburgh quartet the Gotobeds ladle nonironic passion, smart songwriting, and motivational dynamics into ye olde clangular™ post-punk template, and come out winning. Their lean, sinewy songs nestle in your memory with nettlesome catchiness, as evidenced by their 2014 debut LP on Gerard Cosloy’s 12XU label, Poor People Are Revolting, and their 2016 Sub Pop debut full-length, Blood//Sugar//Secs//Traffic. Biting cynicism and an inspirational truculence mark the Gotobeds’ tight, blue-collar songs, which sound like amalgams of the best elements from Wire’s Pink Flag and Pavement’s Slanted and Enchanted. Also, respect to the Gotobeds for coining the phrase “gluten free jam rock.” DAVE SEGAL
Prom Queen, Chris King & The Gutterballs, Soft Lions
Prom Queen (aka Leeni Ramadan) shows grand ambition on every release, including 2014’s Midnight Veil, in which she corrals some of the city’s top players to forge alternate-world John Barry and Ennio Morricone soundtracks, rife with Ramadan’s Nancy Sinatra–esque vocal flourishes and noir-rock suspense and glinting guitar coloration from Ben Von Wildenhaus and Jason Goessl. DAVE SEGAL
Queensryche, Armored Saint, Midnight Eternal
People have been slow to forgive natives Queensrÿche. their influential Operation: Mindcrime album is a classic, but the band's nasty split with ex-singer Geoff Tate left many cold. Their ambitious latest LP, Condition Human, could smooth all that over, thanks to more ambitious arrangements and singer Todd LaTorre, formerly of Crimson Glory. JOSEPH SCHAFER
The Suffering Fuckheads
Some bands, you just gotta love them for their name. See above. Some bands, you just gotta love because they call their album Obnoxious Jazz for Sensitive Assholes. I was ready to not-gotta love them if they were just another hardcore band—hey, man, you gotta earn the word “fuck” in yer band name! To my pleasant surprise and the relief of my damaged ears, they’re not hardcore. No, this is organ jazz with distortion. Or maybe distortion with jazz organ. Impolite but serious-minded organ/drum duels. So you just gotta love bands that pick rude names that make folks think they’re hardcore. But in the end, I’m intellectually persuaded. Spank my ass and call me Charlie. ANDREW HAMLIN
NOVEMBER 16
Markeith Wiley: It's Not Too Late
A talk show starring choreographer / dancer Markeith Wiley! I like it. Wiley's funny, light on his feet, and he's not afraid to bring it down for a moment or to go there or to say that. Press materials claim the show will include a live band, a bunch of local guests, stand-up comedy, theater, and dance. Organizers dropped Paul Mooney's name in the press release, so there should be a lot of searing and hilarious commentary on matters of race, politics, and art. Maybe this will be like Brett Hamil's Seattle Process but for the arts? That'd be cool. Or maybe it will be like something we've never seen before? That would also be cool. RICH SMITH (Through November 20)
Suzanne Vega with Teddy Thompson
If you’re a Generation Xer or older, you know Suzanne Vega is famous for “Luka” and “Tom’s Diner,” which is fine. Frankly, I think a whole book could be written about “Tom’s Diner,” just like Gordon Theisen got a whole book out of Edward Hopper’s famous Nighthawks painting: the small scene at hand and how existence radiates outward from it. If you’re not already converted to Vega, though, try “Wooden Horse,” the spooky story of Kaspar Hauser. That’ll sell you. This time of year, especially. Teddy Thompson is the son of Richard Thompson, the mighty Fairport Convention singer/guitarist, and Linda Thompson, the mighty singer. He got all the good genes. Plus, as his mother said, he really was the best thing in the school play. ANDREW HAMLIN
NOVEMBER 17
A Benefit Concert for Standing Rock
Show your support for the water protectors at Standing Rock by attending this benefit concert with performances by Sarah Gerritsen & the Shadow Catchers, Zach Fleury, Chebon Tiger, and Kevin Sur. Tickets are an eight dollar minimum donation, or free if you bring your tribal ID card.
Chastity Belt, Malidont, Versing
I LERVE Chastity Belt so much, I haven’t stopped listening to Time to Go Home since its release. See, though they’re not of MY generation, they somehow captured the not-yet-codified-underground-sounds of the late ’80s/very early ’90s, like, when almost every record released was relevant. BUT, my lerve ain’t just nostalgia—Chastity Belt DO have it where it counts. They’re melodic and catchy, their arrangements are considered, the lyrics are smart as a mofo, AND they don’t overdo it with the reverb. Of course, y’all prolly all know this, ’cause everyone I know is already a CB fan. Along for tonight’s ride are Versing, who play thick, melodic ’90s-inspired indie rock, and Malidont, an “electronic project.” MIKE NIPPER
PLU Opera: Fiery Jade - Cai Yan
Original contemporary operas are rare, so this new production out of Tacoma is worth some attention. PLU Opera presents the world premiere of Fiery Jade - Cai Yan, with music by Gregory Youtz and a libretto by Zhang Er. Fiery Jade tells the story of Cai Yan, the legendary Chinese woman poet, born in 177 AD during the violent, dwindling end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The production portrays dramatic scenes of a woman's life in peacetime and wartime, exploring multiple identities as daughter, wife, mother, poet, and musician. Fiery Jade is performed in English with a full orchestra. (Through November 20)
Hound Dog Taylor's Hand, Bad Luck, Ko Solo
It’s finally time to celebrate the release of Seattle trio Hound Dog Taylor’s Hand’s self-titled debut studio LP on Alan Bishop’s always-crucial Abduction Records. Long one of the city’s most incendiary and interesting bands, HDTH—guitarist Jeffery Taylor, bassist John Seman, and drummer Mark Ostrowski—have found myriad ways to integrate Hendrixian pyrotechnics and tenderness (Jimi was a softy at heart) with Sonny Sharrock–ian and James Blood Ulmer–esque jazz brut. It’s highbrow, high-intensity music that doesn’t neglect the body, and it thrives in the divey atmosphere of places like the Blue Moon and the old Comet. Support comes from two of Seattle’s boldest boundary-eroders with tangential connections to jazz: KO Solo (aka Kate Olson) and Bad Luck. DAVE SEGAL
Medina/Walsh, Mára, Darto
Tonight experimental-music haven Debacle Records celebrates the release of Vault of Angels, the debut album by Seattle duo Medina/Walsh. Mainstays of the titular Debacle Fest, guitarist Joshua Medina and electronics master Paurl Walsh take John Fahey’s fingerpicking and his late-career experiments with industrial noise and collage to their next logical level on their excellent LP, which came out November 11. Walsh both manipulates Medina’s gorgeous pastoral passages and augments them with his subtle computer treatments. The result is a near-seamless merger of soothing and ominous drone tapestries and contemplative folk guitar melodies that shimmer with a solemn grandeur. Vault of Angels rebukes those who think that folk is naturally resistant to innovation. DAVE SEGAL
Plus One & Pizza Fest Present: Plus Crust
Good news there'a another festival to get medium-excited about, and this time it's all at the Central Saloon, with three straight days filled with local punk, rock, and indie-folkers to keep you busy. You can either shell out for eight bones a day, or spend ten on a three-day pass.
Sol's Haiti Relief Show with Special Guests
God bless the heart of Seattle rapper Sol—with your help, you can aid people hurting in Haiti right now. When the country was rocked by a catastrophic earthquake in 2010, Sol organized a local-star-studded benefit show at Neumos. Sol’s mother is Haitian-born, and he still has lots of family around Haiti, including the village of Abricots—which he described as “the poorest part of the poorest country in the world”—and last month, that village was hit hard by Hurricane Matthew. So he’s returning to Neumos with the Physics, Gifted Gab, and Ariana DeBoo to raise funds to help rebuild homes and schools damaged and destroyed—and if you can’t make the show, you can give to his online fundraising efforts here. “Let’s practice our empathy as a global community,” Sol says on the show’s promo video, “and do something greater than us.” LARRY MIZELL JR.
Studio 4/4: Richie Hawtin
In the early 1990s, Richie Hawtin and his many aliases (Plastikman, F.U.S.E., UP!, Concept 1, etc.) launched a mystique-laden, utopian brand of minimalist, lysergic techno that fired the imaginations and moved the asses of people who wanted more cerebral substance(s) in their rave experiences. He’s since gone on to tweak that formula in the studio via myriad iterations of technological advances and micro-edits, making music that’s both more layered and more severe. As a DJ, Hawtin has maneuvered into the outdoor festival circuit without losing all of his underground cred, though his dodgy haircuts have resulted in mockery. But even as recently as his 2014 Decibel appearance at EMP, Hawtin sounded almost as vital and interesting as during his ’90s peak phases. On the decks, he’s always manipulating tracks with state-of-the-art gear, and his selections are usually stellar, so his sets sound like nobody else’s. DAVE SEGAL
NOVEMBER 18
Ayron Jones & Friends with McTuff
Local heavy-hitting singer-songwriter Ayron Jones brings his blend of soul, blues, hiphop, pop, rock, and just about everything else into a live set at Highway 99 with McTuff.
Dave Peck Trio
Longtime regional composer and renowned pianist Dave Peck returns to Tula's with his stellar trio, including Peck on piano, Jeff Johnson on bass, and Eric Eagle on drums. There will be two shows each night, with the first show beginning at 7:30pm. (Through November 19)
DIAD, Contact Cult, KillingFrenzy
DIAD is the high-level analog-synth summit meeting between electronic-music luminaries Chloe “Raica” Harris and Timm “Mood Organ” Mason. Whether the Seattle musicians are collaborating in the studio or onstage, the results inevitably slant toward the abstractly astral. Their self-titled debut album, coming next year on Further Records, explores stellar and aquatic realms with scientific rigor. Fans of Klaus Schulze’s most kosmische excursions and the cerebral sound-design intricacies of Warp’s Artificial Intelligence comps will dig what DIAD’s laying down. Portland musician Contact Cult (aka Troy Micheau, guitarist for the shape-shifting rock-disco band formerly known as Swahili, which is now on hiatus) dropped one of the Northwest’s deepest slabs of tranquil, mirage-inducing ambience for Seattle label Translinguistic Other last year, titled Hylozoist. If Jon Hassell/Rapoon vibes float your catamaran, you need to check out Contact Cult. DAVE SEGAL
OM with Guests
If it seems like bassist and vocalist Al Cisneros was just in town playing loud songs over a protracted length of time, that’s because he was. Cisneros recently played as part of doom metal trio Sleep, but OM play in a different sandbox, albeit with the same massive bass rig. Originally a melding of drone rock and Tibetan and Byzantine chant music, OM have been redistributing the focus in “amp worship” from “amp” to “worship” since 2003. Even though they haven’t released a studio album in four years, OM continue to perform, aided by newest member Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, often mixing piano and tabla into their original drum-and-bass template. JOSEPH SCHAFER
Seattle Rock Orchestra: David Bowie
Seattle Rock Orchestra throws down with a full set of rollicking glam and dance rock hits from greats like David Bowie, T. Rex, and ELO. Dress the part and show up to boogie to classics like "Young Americans," "Get It On (Bang A Gong)," and "Don't Bring Me Down," with many more jammers throughout the night by all three artists.
Taj Mahal Trio
Eternal roots and blues cornerstone and national treasure Taj Mahal has been crafting tales for almost fifty years with the musical traditions of the American South. He graces Jazz Alley with his trio for an eight day Thanksgiving stretch, showcasing decades of iconic lyricism, expert guitar work, and warm rust-imbued vocals. (Through November 27)
Terry Malts, Killer Ghost, Versing, Rainy Day
They may hail from California, but buzz-saw-pop trio Terry Malts manage the neat trick of sounding like a UK act steeped in Americana. It’s not that bass player and vocalist Phil Benson sings with a British accent, but rather that he brings a touch of post-punk cool to the proceedings (his vocals recall House of Love’s Guy Chadwick, circa their 1988 hit “Christine”). Terry Malts are like the Buzzcocks filtered through Hüsker Dü, as guitarist and sometime-vocalist Corey Cunningham generates the buzz and chime, while drummer Nathan Sweatt delivers the power and speed (Cunningham’s lilting “It’s Not Me” proves he should sing more). After two self-produced efforts, Terry Malts hired Soft Moon producer Monte Vallier to bring the group’s strengths into sharper focus for this year’s Lost at the Party without dulling their distinctive personality. KATHY FENNESSY
NOVEMBER 19
Amos Lee
Perennial Starbucks-soundtracker Amos Lee champions his latest and sixth full-length album with a night of soulful singer-songwriter vibes.
Jesu & Sun Kil Moon
Mark Kozelek of Sun Kil Moon has spent his career wrangling his choked acoustic darkness into a marketable shape, and that decades-old practice remains the case with his latest album, titled Jesu / Sun Kil Moon, a project in partnership with perma-weird Brit experiment human Justin Broadrick of the early ’00s band Jesu, known for their coherent drone-gaze. As much as I prefer the imagery of Kozelek’s lone figure bleating into the void (as it is in much of his music), the partnership works. It’s got a very mid-’90s “The Future Is Nigh” vibe, with an innate sense that you’re keeping pace with a guy traversing his neighborhood as he shout-mumbles distinct memories throughout his life of every corner he rounds, set to the slash-and-burn reverb of three-chord guitar riffs and the background noise of someone banging their face against a kick drum. There’s something very therapeutic about Kozelek screaming “SUCK MY HUNDRED MILLION DOLLAR DICK” over a backing track that a bored high-schooler could’ve arranged. Humor and angst, what else do you need? KIM SELLING
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
Grammy-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (LAGQ) have established a gold standard for guitar ensembles, with their fresh interpretations of the music of the past and takes on contemporary and world music tracks.
Research: DJ Qu
DJ Qu is one of those house-music DJs whose sets gracefully straddle the thin line between traditional soulfulness and staunch funkiness and tracks that boast more outré elements like strange tonalities and disruptive rhythms. He’s even been known to take some detours into Basic Channel–like dub techno and golden-age hiphop. Which is a solid reason why the savvy talent-spotters of Research booked Qu. With support by local selectors Carlos R and Miles Mercer, this night’s going to get heady quickly, and then just get progressively deeper as the night goes on. DAVE SEGAL
Sleigh Bells with The Regrettes
Readers in their mid-to-late-20s who at any time owned a wallet attached to a chain may remember Derek Miller as the guitarist in hardcore outfit Poison the Well. Anyone younger probably knows him as the multi-instrumentalist behind New York’s Sleigh Bells. With a hyper-compressed mix of blistering guitar, Big Black–ish drum machines, and saccharine pop vocals courtesy of Alexis Krauss, the duo racked up accolades in 2010 with their debut album, Treats. Critical reception has since cooled, but Sleigh Bells still sneak the abrasive sounds of extreme metal music and shred guitar into the pop lexicon with more gusto than any band since. JOSEPH SCHAFER
NOVEMBER 20
Jeffrey Lewis & the Los Bolts, Kurly Somthing, Vivian
As a singer, Jeffrey Lewis is more of a rough-hewn talker, which suits his wry observations about money and pop culture, while his song structures are simple and forthright, with a few exceptions, like the title track, which veers into a flute-infused psych-folk direction, and "So What If I Couldn't Take It," where he shifts gears from deliberate finger-picking to fast strumming studded with flares of feedback. KATHY FENNESSY
Raffi
Beluga-entrancing, rape-culture-hating, ukulele-ing Raffi upholds his many decades of creating foundational children's music for his 40th Anniversary tour.
Star Anna with Tekla Waterfield
Star Anna brings her years of singer-songwriter experience and rough-around-the-edges pop sensibilities to the Triple Door, with indie Americana songstress Tekla Waterfield.
Temple of the Dog with Fantastic Negrito
Temple of the Dog are Chris Cornell—honoring the late Andrew Wood—out in front of most of Pearl Jam, including Matt Cameron from Soundgarden (and Pearl Jam), and (let’s hope) Eddie Vedder, who sang on some of the most amazing shit from the band’s album, now 25 years old (sigh) and well worth (re)discovering. Let’s not leave out the opening act, though: Fantastic Negrito is a man who waded through a failed record deal and then climbed out of a hospital bed after a near-fatal car crash, saying “fuck you” to the permanent physical damage and going to work growing weed. Then he started playing music again. He’s just a little bit angry. Who wouldn’t be? ANDREW HAMLIN (Through November 21)
YG, RJ, Kamaiyah, Sadboy
Though he boasts he’s “the only one that made it out the West without Dre” (a delightfully bold line from “Twist My Fingaz”), Keenon Daequan Ray Jackson, better known as Compton rapper YG, can be found soaking in the same musical hot tub as the breakthrough 1990s artists from his neck of California. Classically wonky G-funk production and heavily slurred slang directly from the front steps of the Blood side of town have come back around to the mainstream some 25 years later, like acid-wash jeans. And despite some of the misogynist viewpoints that apparently still come with the wah-wah bass lines, YG has proven to be an insightful street-level journalist, weaving racial politics and Donald Trump shots between club anthems on his sophomore LP, Still Brazy. TODD HAMM