The Bad Plus play the NW Court Lounge at 8 p.m. Sun., Sept. 5, and 1:45 p.m. Mon., Sept. 6.
6. Hard 'n' Phirm with Chris Hardwick & Mike Phirman, "Rodeohead" (MP3, 2004) If the Philharmonic can do Radiohead, why can't the Comedy Store? A few banjos, a few fake plastic trees ... pure comedy! Hardwick, veteran of ditzy dating programs Singled Out and Shipmates, draws in the doe-eyed with Jimmy Fallon esque frat-boy charm, and along with buddy Mike Phirman (and hired pickers), they appropriate Thom Yorke's bestial vocals with Queen harmonies on a Ween budget, scoring gold with the Dr. Demento crowd. KATE SILVER
Joe Rocco
Pixies (left), Nas, and Liz Phair headline Bumbershoot 2004.
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Hard 'n' Phirm play the Charlotte Martin Theater at 2:30 p.m. Fri., Sept. 3; 7 p.m. Sat., Sept. 4; 5:30 p.m. Sun., Sept. 5; and 4 p.m. Mon., Sept. 6.
7. Kiki & Herb, "People Die Medley" (Do You Hear What We Hear?, People Die, 2000) In which the cabaret kamikazes pair "Smells Like Teen Spirit" with "Suicide Is Painless," aka the theme from M.A.S.H. But beyond irony, Kiki & Herb give Nirvana's best-known work a shticky spit polish no listener sees coming. At first you think the duo are wrecking the song; then you realize they're merely paying whacked-out homage to lyrics and a melody that could go through a power mower without losing their angry beauty. NEAL SCHINDLER
Kiki & Herb play the Bagley Wright Theatre at 5 p.m. Sat., Sept. 4.
8. Laura Veirs and the Tortured Souls, "Rapture" (Carbon Glacier, Nonesuch, 2004) Local guitarist-songwriter Laura Veirs' latest, released first in the U.K., is warm and comfortable but also peculiar enough to set her apart from the mainstream. In this strange dream of a song, the velvety-voiced singer wonders whom we might blame for the rapture — Monet, Virginia Wolfe, or Kurt Cobain, "junk coursing through his veins" — over a shy whistle, cautionary violin strings, and her own plaintive finger-picking. LAURA CASSIDY
Laura Veirs & the Tortured Souls play the Backyard Stage at noon Sat., Sept. 4.
9. Harvey Danger, "Sad Sweetheart of the Rodeo" (King James Version, London/Sire, 2000) Best known for their 1998 hit "Flagpole Sitta," locals Harvey Danger released a smart, sharp, follow-up album, and nobody cared. "Sad Sweetheart" should have been another winner, with its big, careening guitars, in-your-face bass line, and singer Sean Nelson's snarky lyrics, but by 2000, the post-grunge boom was history and the band dissolved back into the Seattle indie scene — though they're reportedly working on new material, so anything could happen. AMY PHILLIPS
Harvey Danger play the EMP Sky Church at 5 p.m. Mon., Sept. 6.
10. The Presidents of the United States of America, "Peaches" (The Presidents of the United States of America, Columbia, 1996) Did it really happen? Did a trio of goofy nerds from Seattle shouting about animals, candy, and dune buggies sell 2 million copies of an album that cost $8,000 to make? Was a vaguely sexual, hyperactive, three-part mini-opera devoted to harvesting and eating a certain fruit truly an honest- to-goodness Top-40 hit? And they're still at it with a new album and everything? Are you sure it wasn't — isn't — just a dream? AMY PHILLIPS
The Presidents of the United States of America play the Mainstage at 9:30 p.m. Fri., Sept. 3.
11. The Fitness, "Phone Sex" (Call Me for Together, the Control Group, 2003) The Fitness are the grease on the tracks of Berlin's "Metro" or the beat bouncing behind the jukebox of Joan Jett's "I Love Rock N' Roll." On "Phone Sex," Bree Nichols' pissy punk-chick vocals rub the distorted guitar and thin drum machine raw, so maybe it's best that the partner's out of scratching distance. Live, the Less Than Zero style soundtrack turns into a sweaty dance party worthy of all those tracksuits the electro set (wrongly) supposes is part of their shtick. DAPHNE CARR
The Fitness play the What's Next Stage at 2:45 p.m. Mon., Sept. 6.
12. Popular Shapes, "Refrigerators Too Large" (Bikini Style, On/On Switch, 2003) Abrasive guitars, off-angled drumming, asylum vocals, and razor bass are part of a tradition including Big Black, Men's Recovery Project, and now Seattle's Popular Shapes. I keep listening to the crazy stop-go blitzkrieg of "Refrigerators Too Large," but it's too mad, too hot, too frantic to understand. What the hell is Nick Brawley singing about? "Defrost, defrost!" "Then throw it all out"? It's like Eno's "Baby's on Fire," only it actually sounds like it's on fire, and like someone's groceries are getting fucked. What more could you want in 1:26? DAPHNE CARR
The Popular Shapes play the EMP Sky Church at 2 p.m. Sun., Sept. 5.
13. Photek, "The Water Margin" (12-inch, Photek, 1994) With his surgical steel surfaces and his textures as smooth as a flour-dusted glove, Rupert Parkes, aka Photek, as much as anyone, killed jungle. By then the genre was already being called "drum and bass," the name alone draining the life, funk, and rawness from the genre like Tom Cruise in pancake makeup and fake fangs. At his best, though, as on "The Water Margin," Parkes turned his OCD engineers credits (all those hours laboriously tweaking drum fills) into a thrilling paranoia, a music of rigorous control, a puppeteer working a dance floor's responses down to every last twitch. JESS HARVELL
Photek plays the EMP Sky Church at 9 p.m. Mon., Sept. 6.
