Capitol Hill Block Party is over and we have all emerged on the other side, ready for more music around town. Our critics have hand-picked their favorite shows this week, and we've got everything from the "Jewish Elvis" (Neil Diamond), to the man solely responsible for keeping Versace in business (Bruno Mars), to Angel Olsen for dramatic weirdos (Aldous Harding). Click through the links below for complete details and music clips, and find even more shows this week and into the future on our music calendar.
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MONDAY
Bruno Mars
A good chunk of Seattleites, or at least those of the sports-enjoying variety, might associate Bruno Mars with Super Bowl XLVIII, where he played at halftime as OUR HAWKS cruised to victory. Itâs only worth bringing up a 2014 halftime show because Mars is something like the Platonic ideal of such mass-appeal entertainmentâa gifted singer, songwriter, and dancer with a squeaky-clean image who imitates yesteryearâs feel-good radio gold. Mars sang on Mark Ronsonâs inescapable âUptown Funk,â and Marsâs latest album, 24K Magic, channels that same sort of gaudy, shamelessly retro sound. Itâs pop music for people who think pop music has passed them by. Dude has some slick dance moves, though. ANDREW GOSPE
SOB X RBE, Young Pinch, OMB Peezy, Lil Sheik
If new rapper names these days just sound like a mess of acronyms and âLilâ and âYoungâ to you, it might help you to consider that they represent both where theyâre from and where theyâre at. Whether shouting-out their crew/block/gang (be it Strictly Our Brothers or Only My Brothers) or letting you know that theyâre just getting started. The breakout on this young-life bill is no doubt the Alabama-bred, Cali-living OMB Peezy, whom the FADER called âthe future of rapââthe latest stylistic torchbearer of Lil Boosieâs wizened street scripture, with a splash of Bay Area flourish that makes him a perfect match for the Sick Wid It label. His tourmatesâVallejoâs bubbling SOB X RBE, Richmondâs Lil Sheik, and Yung Pinch from Huntington Beach, of all placesâare no slouches, either. LARRY MIZELL JR.
Waxahatchee, Cayetana, Snail Mail
Waxahatchee is the project of Alabama singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield, whose indie-rock style has a vaguely Liz Phair Exile in Guyville feel, while her lo-fi experimental-folk leanings are entirely of her own appeal. She and her band (which includes twin sister Allison on keys and percussion) are leaning harder into the former on their second Merge release and fourth overall, Out in the Storm, which has a more full-bodied sound than past efforts and added gritty-melodic 1990s guitar textures, and was produced by John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth). The current tour follows a short run of dates put together by Lena Dunham (whom Crutchfield calls a âlightning-rod humanâ) and Girls producer Jenni Konner to support their Lenny newsletter and raise funds for LGBTQ charities. LEILANI POLK
TUESDAY
The Sword with Big Jesus
For the second time in one week, I worried that cryptic Christians could swarm up and eat whatâs left of simple common-sense decency here, but no, Austin group the Sword rock hard, rock heavy, rock with a touch of Tex-Mex Spanish, and rock out to please the jammed-in crowd. Big Jesus seem to have no especial love for Jesus (âLeave your thoughts at the doorâ runs one lyric with a touch of the wry), but the drum-heavy, guitar-ethereal, fuzz-springs-eternal stuff should interest My Bloody Valentine aficionados, granting healthy balance to the Swordâs stoniness. The Sword and Big Jesus might seem mismatched, but I guess weâll find out tonight if thatâs the case. ANDREW HAMLIN
WEDNESDAY
Blonde Redhead with Porcelain Raft
Last fall, the tastemakers at Numero Group released Masculin FĂ©minin, a box set filled with NYC trio Blonde Redheadâs early work. If it recalls a specific time in alt-music historyâwhen Kim and Thurston were still a couple, when Touch & Go was still a functioning labelâtheir 1990s material holds up wonderfully today. It probably helps that the core members (Kazu Makino and twins Amedeo and Simone Pace) never signed to a major label, worked with a big-name producer, or sought commercial-radio airplay. Then and now, they came on like a stripped-down cross between Sonic Youth and Damo Suzukiâera Can. No less a Lower East Side luminary than Arto Lindsay (DNA, Ambitious Lovers) has praised their âemotional grandeur and eye scratching immediacy.â KATHY FENNESSY
Neil Diamond
The Jewish Elvis! Allowing that, unlike Elvis, Neil Diamond (mostly) writes his own songs and lived to be an old man. Heâs been subtleâI had to be told that âCracklinâ Rosieâ was really rosĂ©, a hobo singing love to his paper-bagged bottled of ripple. Heâs been audaciously oddâTap Root Manuscript, with its sidelong suite of Africa-centric pop muddled somewhat by a declaration of how it might be better to be a black man, and you decide whether to write that off as overenthusiasm, dismiss it as ignorant, or both. I give Diamond the benefit of the doubt, for the pleasure heâs given the world and all-around evidence of a warm heart. ANDREW HAMLIN
Tobin Sprout with Elf Power
These veteran 1990s artists both spent their formative years being overshadowed by immediate contemporariesâTobin Sprout by his erstwhile imperial phase Guided by Voices bandmate Robert Pollard (to whom he served as a kind of George Harrison/Chris Bell figure), and Elf Power by their fellow Elephant Six Recording Collective luminaries Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, Of Montreal, et al. But they have both stuck around and proved their mettle as killer exponents of the not-quite-dying-but-man-I-miss-when-it-was-way-more-prevalent art of lo-to-mid-fi psych-pop rock ânâ roll. And unlike a lot of bands that may have once burned a little brighter, both Sprout and Elf Power have really excellent new records (The Universe and Me and Twitching in Time, respectively) that belie the old rock truisms and argue for longevity as a font of inspiration. SEAN NELSON
Undergang, Necrot, Hissing, Fetid
Thereâs nothing pretty about the style of music that Denmark death-metal crew Undergang play. Itâs ugly, raw, and stripped downâno fancy arpeggio sweeps or metalcore breakdowns, no eight-string guitars or electronic interludes. This is true old-school-sounding shit. Their new album, Misantropologi, offers 10 more slabs of guttural filth. If you prefer Deathâs Scream Bloody Gore years as opposed to their more progressive material, this is your jam. Bay Area trio Necrot are equally as brutal, with a straightforward, powerful approach toâyou guessed itâdeath metal. Show up early to catch two of Seattleâs gnarliest and loudest bands, Fetid and Hissing. KEVIN DIERS
THURSDAY
Black Merlin, Aos, Guest
In the summer of 2014, producer Black Merlin (aka George Thompson) traveled to Bali to record a gamelan ensemble, a traditional percussion group. In his native London, Thompson turned those sessions and numerous field recordings from the trip into Hipnotik Tradisi, a captivating collection of electronic music that sits somewhere among techno, ambient, and musique concrĂšte. To the credit of Thompson and the Indonesian musicians he worked with, the album avoids hackneyed âtropicalâ signifiers entirelyâitâs stifling, dense, uneasy music that nevertheless evokes a sense of place. Fans of Andy Stott or Demdike Stare should take note. Setting an appropriate mood will be the heady selections of secondnature member Aos, who is fast becoming one of the Pacific Northwest undergroundâs most respected techno DJs. ANDREW GOSPE
Taiwan Housing Project, Deep Tissue, Jo Passed
Kill Rock Stars comes correct with new signing Taiwan Housing Project, a group so auspicious their label enlisted some dude named Ian Svenonius to write their press bio. Led by exâLittle Claw vocalist Kilynn Lunsford and former Harry Pussy guitarist Mark Feehan, THP scrabble and squawk far outside the lines of indie-rock decorum. Listening to their debut album, Veblen Death Mask, you sense that THP have no interest in trying to score a placement in a bougie TV ad, unlike so many thirsty indie rockers these days. Instead, THP shriek in a no-wave-roasted frequency thatâll frazzle you into fight-or-fuck lividness. Their live show is described by Mr. Svenonius as an âecstatic orgy of sound.â Why would he lie? DAVE SEGAL
THURSDAY-SATURDAY
Jazz Port Townsend Festival
Here is what you have to do. Drive down to the ferry dock, drive onto a ferry, cross the bay on this ferry, exit the ferry, drive across the island, cross some bridges, stop at a gas station for something thatâs fried, salty, and not good for you, eventually enter the Port Townsend and, before heading to Fort Worden State Park, admire a number of the townâs Victorian-style homes. When you finally park your car in the pretty park, roll down your window and listen to the music in the sun-brightened air. That music is jazz and itâs a part of the Jazz Port Townsend Festival. Cars were not made for the city but for short trips like this. CHARLES MUDEDE
FRIDAY
10,000 Maniacs with Cindy Lee Berryhill
Describe a landscape, or a lake, or a building, wrote John Gardner as a series of prompts to fledging writers, and donât mention something crucial about the perceiver: the death of a loved one, the death of a despised one, the fact that the perceiver is a bird. Cindy Lee Berryhill made an album (mostly) like that, her new one, The Adventurist; itâs about, but rarely mentions, the slow death of her husband, music journalist Paul S. Williams. Knowing that, of course, allows us to color in the perceiverâs part, but the album works either way. Meanwhile, 10,000 Maniacs took up adapting songs from the British Isles on their latest album, Twice Told Tales. I sure like that one called âDo You Love an Apple?â as it stumbles from the title question to eternal faithfulness and other urgent biz. ANDREW HAMLIN
Blackalicious, Zion I, Ayo Dot & The Uppercuts
Blackaliciousâthe MC Gift of Gab and the producer/DJ Chief Excel, one of the West Coast's most beloved indie crews since the '90sâreturn to Seattle to rock it mightily. Hit up Nectar and bear witness to the legendary lung capacity of Gab's powerful, ingenious flow. LARRY MIZELL JR.
An Evening with Diana Krall
Singer-songwriter and pianist Diana Krall shows off her penchant for blues, pop, and jazz standards with an evening at the Chateau.
Smash Mouth and Spin Doctors
Several years before âAll Starâ graced the Shrek soundtrack, I found myself at age 12, standing in a newly renovated KeyArena, watching Smash Mouth open for Sugar Ray. It was Bumbershoot 1997. The Mouthâs big hit at the time was âWalking on the Sun,â which they played, before closing with âWhy Canât We Be Friends,â their whinier pop-punk/ska take on Warâs 1975 feel-good jam. Looking back from a time when the lead singer has threatenedâand attemptedâto assault audience members at his shows, the song choice holds a special comedic irony in my heart. The moral of the story is, if you happen to find yourself at Snoqualmie Casino (which is misspelled on the bandâs website) on this night, it might be wise to keep those embarrassing Smash Mouth memories as just that, and stick to the slots. TODD HAMM
StarRo
Like many Japanese electronic musicians, starRo (aka LA producer Shinya Mizoguchi) creates tracks that seem to be bathed in a halogen glow, tracks that emit an ultra-vivid sheen that slyly keep you enthralled from the get-go. In starRoâs case, heâs working in the crowded field where neo-R&B sentimentality intersects with Brainfeeder/Alpha Pupâstyle rhythmic trickery. Itâs accessible music geared for seduction, but it exists on a higher plane of quality than much of its chart-dwelling sonic kin. If you enjoy feeling like youâre living in a sparkly, futuristic edifice in which everyoneâs drinking turquoise cocktails, starRo may be your jam. DAVE SEGAL
FRIDAY-SATURDAY
George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic
The superhumanly prolific George Clinton, a capital-C Creator who put whole planets in orbit, turned 76 last weekâa distinguished age to reach when touring, creating, and imbibing for as many years as he has. So how do I put this? If you go your whole life not seeing the Godfather, the sworn protector of the Funk realm, itâs possible you will not be permitted passage onto the Mothership when it comes to rescue Godâs children from the terminally unfunky. (Is it you?) Your best bet is to do exactly as Dr. Funkenstein himself prescribed on one of the genreâs greatest dis tracksâand take it to the stage. The funk will never die, and the legacy of the almighty Funk Mob continues, but you gotta appreciate the few greats left while they are still here. Now can you get with that? LARRY MIZELL JR.
FRIDAY-SUNDAY
6th Annual Watershed Festival
Watershed Country Music Festival returns to the Gorge for a wild weekend of twangin' goodness. Put on your "Shedder gear" (trucker hats?) and get ready for three whole days of down-home studs.
SATURDAY
Ed Sheeran
After causing a Twitter storm due to his Game of Thrones appearance, dark horse British pop star Ed Sheeran will bring his red-haired Top40 charm to the Dome, along with blast-from-the-past supporting act James Blunt.
Rootfire in the Emerald City
Over the last 21 years, Washington, DCâs Thievery CorporationâRob Garza and Eric Hiltonâhave assimilated many electronic-music styles into smooth blends that go down easy in lounges and on beaches. Their oft-breezy takes on dub, rap, down-tempo funk, dancehall, and other modes of the clubland diaspora trigger thoughts of aural tourism, but the duoâs production and arrangements undoubtedly exude quality. The 2017 album The Temple of I and I explores reggae, hiphop, and R&B with Thievery Corporationâs trademark suaveness and mellow rhythmic undertow. DAVE SEGAL
SUNDAY
Aldous Harding, Briana Marela, Guests
Aldous Harding is Angel Olsen for dramatic weirdos. Her music has a deeply present sense of self, like a musical long con that wouldnât be out of place in a Kundera-esque âjokeââitâs too dark to be whimsy, but too capricious to be simply meditative. If there were ever a reason to remake AmĂ©lie, I would hope that film would be soundtracked by something like this. Show opener Briana Marela has a new album out this August, fresh off the success of this yearâs emotionally unwieldy singles âGive Me Your Loveâ and âQuit.â Marela is the queen of the slow burn, edging her way into your heart with a secret, brutally feminine power hiding in her breathless vocals and dreamy yet grounded production style. KIM SELLING
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