THE MINDS, DIGITAL KNIFE, AM
(Berbati's Pan, 231 SW Ankeny)
Portland's Digital Knife plays muscley music that calls to mind early '80s LA punk, strangling in vein-popping basslines, with trumpet! Add a touch of Jello Biafra vocal abrasion, plus a little classic rock guitar "licking," and it's an interesting mix. JULIANNE SHEPHERD

MUSICIANS AGAINST WAR: BELLA FAYES, KING OF SPAIN, TREEROOT, DAVE ALLEN, MORE
(Dante's)
So we have here an industrial dance band in Consolidated, a hiphop connoisseur in Michael Crenshaw of Hungry Mob, an old-school indie lo-fi punker in Sean Croghan, and a Southwestern-themed rock n' roll crooner in Fred Trujillo. These guys have gathered to make music against the war, though they may start a new war on Dante's stage, as their conflicting sounds struggle to cohabitate. JUSTIN WESCOAT SANDERS

THE NEINS, NATRON & HIS RHYTHM ROBOTS
(Twilight,1420 SE Powell)
Hurrah for hardcore, down-and-out, butt-ass-wooping, don't-give-a-flying-fiddely-floo-about-you-and-little-boo-boo garage ROCK! RRAAWWRR! JWS

MIKE WATT, CAUSTIN RESIN, MIKE JOHNSON
(Blackbird, 3728 NE Sandy)
As if Mike Watt could get any more legendary, the heart-burstingly good bassist will soon join The Stooges for their reunion show at the Coachella Valley Arts Festival. JS See MWBW pg 15

FRIDAY 4/4

ROOM 101, BASTINADO, GARMONBOZIA, ELENI MANDELL
(Ash, 225 SW Ash)
For several years, Eleni Mandell's cover of Tammy Wynette's "Don't Touch Me" has ended her whirlwind shows on a wary, wistful note. The L.A.-based pitch-black-pop princess finally commits this tune to record on Country for True Lovers, her tribute to twang. Given her knack for writing about ruined relationships, dangerously delusional damsels, and violent crimes, Mandell seems suited for a Johnny Cash-style spookifying of latently scary standards. Instead, she plays it straight, stripping the menace from her emotive voice and leaving herself vulnerable to a numbing series of steel-guitar-scored heartbreaks. Live, though, when these tracks become interspersed with her noir fare, she might have trouble keeping the moods separated. Look for her country laments to become laced with bitter regret, and for her temptress tales to get a bit more tender. ANDREW MILLER

SMEGMA, NICE NICE, POINT LINE PLANE, E*ROCK
(Satyricon, 125 NW 6th, $1)
To help celebrate Satyricon's 19th year in the biz, I'd like to submit a quote from Skeleton Coast's Steve Gevurtz: "Sometimes I really wanna be like, 'Let's be in a band forever!' I just saw Smegma play, and it was really cool to see this woman who's like, 60, in this crazy noise band. I wanna be that, you know?" May Satyricon and Smegma inspire many more generations to come. JS

ILLUSION OF SAFETY
(SoundVision Gallery, 625 NW Everett #108)
Dan Burke has been known to make media collages as Illusion of Safety (his moniker since the early '80s); he's certainly got plenty to work with these days. However, he's never really worked in one vein, as his compositions span all over the map, from droning tonal highways to disorienting, almost nauseating chaos. Essentially, Burke wrecks things to find the truth. JS

SATURDAY 4/5

BASS SKATE
(Hillsboro SkateWorld)
See Destination Fun pg 17

ELECTRIC EEL SHOCK, FIREBALLS OF FREEDOM
(DV8, 5021 SE Powell)
Electric Eel Shock is from Japan, which instantly makes them super-cool and excuses them from any visual or aural faux pas they may commit on this night--their silly brand of syntactically awesome noise punk ain't my cuppa, but at least it's shiningly abrasive enough to be a fun time live. JOAN HILLER

THE FASCINATION, ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW, JASMINE
(Tonic, 3100 NE Sandy)
While The Fascination doesn't make me bop my head around and bite my lip in contemplation or kneel down on the floor gripping the CD case in awe, they're not bad. The vocals combine Juliana Hatfield with the Monkees and the music is cute pop with keyboards that occasionally throws in some riskier rock guitars. I could easily seeing these guys doing a song for an Alicia Silverstone movie, but hell, worse things could happen. KATIE SHIMER

THE HUNCHES, IOMMI STUBBS, THE PUNK GROUP, THE TRIGGERS
(Satyricon)
Yay. The Satyricon is 19. Reason enough to party in my book. So go see the Hunches, they tear up quick punk and their singer sounds oh so charmingly wasted on cheap ass whiskey. There is something to be said for a band who embraces the slop (the squeal of the amp, the tinny harried sound of the guitar, and oh, the feedback) and makes it their own. The one problem with the Hunches is that they make me want to stick my face into huge pile of drugs. KS

PRINCESS SUPERSTAR + ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE, DJP, DJ MAGNETO, DJ KYLE T
(Ohm, 31 NW 1st)
Princess Superstar and Alexander Technique host a night at NYC's Centrofly, called "DJs are Not Rockstars." Felix Da Housecat and Junior Sanchez, ironically two of the most rock-starriest of DJs, figure in regularly. PS and AT will kick it on four turntables; their forthcoming mix CD includes such tracks as "Paint My Neck, My Back, My Pussy, and My Crack Black (Damn, Vitals Supersonic!)" (which presumably combines The Rolling Stones and JJ Fad with Khia) and "Danger! Sex Shooter! (But You Can Relax)" (which is hopefully not a mix of the reprehensible Electric Six with the wonderful Apollonia Six and Frankie Goes to Hollywood). Either way, it sounds like a total blast. JS

THE BLACK KEYS, THE FORMLESS
(Blackbird, Jackpot)
Guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney--gloriously known as The Black Keys--aren't done justice on record. While the Akron duo's forthcoming Fat Possum release, thickfreakness, is a stellar offering of saucy Delta grind gussied up with punk attitude and excellent musicianship, you don't get the full effect until you see 'em live, when they channel the dirtiest, downest wailing blues through the gritty passion of two boys who have witnessed the genuine truth. Honestly, I thought they were just another gimmicky revival band, albeit with a higher level of talent. Then I saw them live and was blown to pieces. It's clear they don't simply pay homage to the past; The Black Keys friggin' bring it. JS

DUB NARCOTIC SOUND SYSTEM, DABNEY COLEMAN KNIFEFIGHT, OPERATION MAKEOUT
(Meow Meow)
Dub Narcotic Sound System are my ultimate conflict. They're something of a difficult subject for me, as my blind faith in the creed of K Records is firmly rooted in my universal esteem (read: obnoxious adulation) for the output of the label's figurehead, the inscrutable Calvin Johnson. And thus I am torn. You see, in spite of the fact that I attend (and enjoy) nearly all of their local performances, I simply can't bring myself to actually like Dub Narcotic Sound System; and for that, I feel like a traitor. I mean, the math is all right: Chris Sutton and Heather Dunn are a more than apt rhythm section, and with Calvin presiding in stately form, all of the ingredients seem ripe for consumption. But instead, it always just comes across like the Calvin show to me--a spectacle that is in itself engaging enough for the cover charge. ZAC PENNINGTON

MARK GARDENER, THE JUNIOR PANTHERS, AND/ORS, CHARMPARTICLES
(Dante's)
Like most revolutionary forms of music, shoegazer produced a handful of amazing bands--and thousands more unremarkable ones. It takes more than a Guitar Center gift certificate blown on effects pedals to emulate a band like Ride. Fronted by Mark Gardener, who is performing solo tonight, Ride took shelter in the ear-bleeding palace of noise that My Bloody Valentine made famous, but unlike MBV, Ride focused more on pop song structure and melody. Be sure to get there early to ask Gardener questions about what Kevin Shields is really like. CM

NORTHWEST KICKED IN THE NUTS CD RELEASE
(Twilight)
It fills me with pride to say the Northwest is simply bursting with the absolute tuffest ladies anywhere. If you had any doubt about this, Last Chance Records has just released a comp entitled Northwest Kicked in the Nuts, featuring 25 lady-fronted straight-up punk bands, mostly from Oregon and Washington. Celebrate its release tonight with some of the super-sassy bands featured on the comp--Sado-Nation, the Apocalypsticks, Del Toros, Macho Borracho, Pink Chihuahua, Cookie Platoon and Die Jobs. In the immortal words of the punk-lady film Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains: they're perfect, but nobody in this shithole understands 'em, cause they don't put out. Yeaaah. JS

SUNDAY 4/6

KALMAN BOLOGH & THE GYPSY CIMBALOM BAND, 3 LEG TORSO
(Old Church, 1422 SW 11th)
Seeing as how many of us are feeling about as unpatriotic as a roving gypsy anyhow, it's a fantastic opportunity to get a load of the amazing music that developed out of Eastern Europe's gypsy culture. Falling somewhere between the exotic and hobo, it is a chillingly effective expression of cultural strength, history, and survival. Kàlmàn Balogh & The Gypsy Cimbalom Band have traveled all the way from Budapest, Hungary to show off their version of the style, which updates and transcontinentalizes it a bit, showing influences of American jazz and swing. MARJORIE SKINNER

DEEPTHROATS, SPLITMEWIDEOPEN, SPOOKY DANCE BAND, CREEKBIRD, FUDGIE & FUFU
(Blackbird)
If any band gets the award for Brash Sexual Chocolate, it's Splitmewideopen, with their whooshing, flangy guitar, low-rent electronic beats, and dramatized trashy vocals, which sound heavily influenced by Tim Curry in Rocky Horror Picture Show, and basically any kitschy/mondo bizarro art from the late '70s. If their live show matches their homoerotic, bloody B&D concept rock, this could be a really freaky-good time. Fudgie & Fufu have a record called Hot Karl, and also hump the super-OTT electronic gay rock. Spectacle will most definitely not be in short supply this evening. JS

BRIGHT EYES, ARAB STRAP, PAPERBACK
(Crystal)
See Music pg 19, See MWBW pg 15

THE EXPLOSION, GUESTS(Ash Street) While unquestionably great at what they do--the snotty punk of yesteryear combined with enough modern youthful anthems to make your fauxhawk stand at attention--the real question that remains about The Explosion is their sincerity. The band, newly signed to obscure UK punk label Virgin Records, is like a safer, cleaned-up version of the bands they so liberally borrow from. Plus, touring with mall-goths AFI doesn't exactly do wonders for your credibility. But judging a band's motives are a slippery slope of reading too much into actions of people you don't personally know--so for that reason, an opportunity to see such a rising band at such an intimate venue as the Ash St is definitely worth taking. CM

MONDAY 4/7

PINBACK, TWO GUYS, MENOMENA
(Berbati's)
Must be hella tough being in 40,000 bands at once. Like, how do you remember the lyrics to that cool new song you just wrote when you've written 60 of the suckers since noon? That's just one dilemma faced by Pinback's Rob Crow. The man's been in Physics, Heavy Vegetable, Thingy, Optiganally Yours, and I hear he's doing some kind of hardcore supergroup jive right now. Still, Pinback is verily the hottest. Light-touch vocals, handclapping beats and mid-'90s-style geetar anthemia that feels SO GOOD to folks who were around back then. Go Rob, go. Just take a vacation sometime. Miami's nice this time of year. Just stay away from that J.Lo. Homegirl might force you into a new band with her, and lord knows you ain't got the time. ADAM GNADE

THE AND/ORS, FOOSBALL TOURNAMENT
(Blackbird)
See MWBW pg 15

TUESDAY 4/8

THE BLACK HEART PROCESSION, RADAR BROS, BARTENDER'S BIBLE
(Aladdin)
Like a funeral procession set to a carnival beat, The Blackheart Procession gnawed their way to the top of the indierock food chain over the years by staying relevant. At a time when most bands settle for complacency, BHP's fourth album, Amore Del Tropico, is hands-down their best work to date, taking their trademark downtrodden lyrics and spicing them up with some surprising Caribbean hustle. It's kind of like a murder at Club Med or a great Miami Vice episode, sans that lame-ass theme song. CM

DAME DARCY, NORA KEYES, PANTHER, PUPPET SHOW(Satyricon) Lady Dame Darcy, with whom we at the Mercury are wholeheartedly, unabashedly IN LOVE, is an artist of renaissance proportions. She makes films, animation, books and illustrations; does cabaret, draws the most wonderful dastardly comic ever (Meat cake, which is something like a more overtly macabre Edward Gorey, with an emphasis on otherworldly characters and beautiful peculiar ladies), and makes music. Tonight, her skills on the banjo and singing saw will be explored, as she sings quirky/creepy, Dustbowl-invoking ditties about chickens, fishes, and other tragedies of nature. JS

THE ATARIS, JULIANA THEORY, FURTHER SEEMS FOREVER, YELLOW CARD
(Crystal)
The Ataris make pop punk that's as cliche and bland as it is unimaginative, transparent and immature. Their people are talking to your people, though--the Ataris are all over the damned television and radio, right there amongst 90 million more just like them. Catchy, brainless pablum--but at least the opening bands will get their guarantee. JOAN HILLER

WEDNESDAY 4/9

NOBUKAZU TAKEMURA, JOHN HERNDON, MATT LUX
(Medicine Hat, 1834 NE Alberta)
On the cusp of his third release THIS YEAR--Assembler on Chicago's Thrill Jockey Records--prolific electronic composer Nobukazu Takemura has harvested musicians from the TJ roster to play live instruments for this tour (Isotope 217's Matt Lux, Tortoise's John Herndon--who just released a solo record under the name A Grape Dope). Known the world over as an experimentalist, Takemura in fact transcends his laptop; he doesn't write music so much as create alternate universes--fun ones, at that. Somehow, through the simplest electronic tones (a flick of percussion, the popping of a synth), he manages to access the most base and pleasing elements of human emotion. Confounding, yet transfixing. JS

ANGELS OF LIGHT, DEVENDRA BANHART, REVIVAL TIME (fka LAUREL CANYON)
(Blackbird)
Anyone care to take a guess at how many lilting, black-hearted ladies have fainted in the presence of Angels of Light's M. Gira? How about after the band released its third record this year, the absolutely baptismal Everything is Good Here/Please Come Home? The new songs, while still liberally blackened by Gira's chasm-deep, heart-gripping vocals, and the alternately triumphant angelic/sorrowful mini-orchestra, explore the mountains and valleys of every soul-eating emotion more adeptly than ever. New York's answer to Jandek, the deliciously creepy, tiny singer/songwriter Devendra Banhart, is credited on Everything is Good Here... as the "gnomish mascot"; this is not a misnomer. Finally, Portland's Laurel Canyon, who are changing their name to Revival Time to coincide with their forthcoming Neurot Records release (you know... Neurosis' label... Steve Von Till called 'em up a couple months ago and was all, "Can I release yr record?"). If you haven't seen them, they're a chillingly beautiful instrumental ensemble of guitars, violins, keyboards, and voracious drums. Memo to Blackbird: have stretchers handy. JS

CONFLUENCE: ENTROPIC ADVANCE, DJ WEEGEE
(Goodfoot, 2845 SE Stark)
While it's a bad idea to start your album with squelches that sound like digital farting, Entropic Advance's fifth record, Monkey With a Gun, lays out an interesting landscape that extends beyond the desperate cries of a whoopee cushion. EA packs an entourage of fractured beats, layered guitar, esoteric samples, eerie ambiance... and... colicky babies? Trumpet is also seamlessly embroidered into this patchwork. JS

TEA FOR JULIE, STARS OF TRACK & FIELD, FUTURE PLATINUM AUDIO, THE CAESARS (Crystal Ballroom) Future Platinum Audio's slow gothy electro--with deep moseying vocals to match--is perfect music for your next seance or an evening of being quietly stoned. Follow that up with the sweet pop of Stars of Track and Field and you've got an evening of both depth and spunk... which is far better than a Wednesday of watching the stupid West Wing. KATIE SHIMER

BETTIE SERVEERT, RICHMOND FONTAINE
(Dante's)
Dutch quartet Bettie Serveert left behind the guitar-based jangle and Neil Young solos long ago for a stranger, lusher sound. On their latest album, Log 22, Carol Van Dyk is in top form, with her conversational lyrics taking hairpin turns and her becoming phrasing looser than ever. The arrangements include strings and horns that push the songs into unexpected places with soulful inflections. For some bands this kind of stretching would seem desperate or overwrought, but Bettie Serveert sound fresher and more energized for the chances they are taking. NATE LIPPENS