Epik High ~ Saturday, May 23
Since their 2003 debut Map of the Human Soul, South Korean hip-hop trio Epik High has maintained a strict focus on socially conscious, but highly danceable, music. Comprising lyricists Tablo and Mithra Jin and DJ Tukutz, the group is reminiscent of stateside acts such as Digable Planets, who have a similar awareness not only of hip-hop culture but of those aspects of the larger culture which influence it. Look no further than songs like "Believe" and "Cipher," both of which revel in hard-nosed funkadelic atmospherics, for proof. Epik High's latest release, the anime-influenced book/album Map the Soul—apparently available only via their Web site (mapthesoul.com)—gave them the excuse they needed to tour beyond the Pacific Rim. We're lucky one of those stops is here. With Far East Movement. King Cat Theater, 2130 Sixth Ave., 448-2829. 7 p.m. $25 adv./$30 DOS. All ages. KEVIN CAPP
Derek Santini
Lady Sovereign’s pop grime comes to the Crocodile.
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Blank Its ~ Saturday, May 23
What passes for punk rock on commercial radio these days is the musical equivalent of Trader Joe's sushi. Sure, it's made of seaweed, rice, and "fish," so technically you can call it sushi, but anyone who's ever set foot in so much as a Blue C franchise could spot that shit's bland inferiority 10 miles away. Tonight's show features four equally awesome Northwest variations on, shall we say, the "Iggy Roll"—an über-fresh feast beginning with Vancouver's Modern Creatures (an appetizer worth getting to the show early for), then some electro-tinged post-punk from Twin Crystals, succulently paired with our own superb up-and-comers Blank Its and the best noisy catch of the day in Seattle right now (in my opinion, anyway), Le Shat Noir. Bon appetit, rockers, bon appetit. Bit Saloon, 4818 17th Ave. N.W., 782-1680. 9 p.m. $5. MA'CHELL DUMA LAVASSAR
Windy and Carl ~ Saturday, May 23
Windy and Carl's sleepy, sustained drone stretches all the way back to 1993, when spouses and record-store owners Windy Weber and Carl Hultgren began recording gorgeous, molasses-paced soundscapes. With just bass, guitar, the odd synth, Weber's occasional singing, and a pile of disorienting pedals, Windy and Carl's records were the quietest, most serene entries in Michigan's so-called "space rock" scene of the '90s, and they remain influential. Following a five-year hiatus at the start of this decade, the duo re-emerged with a string of polished but no-less-syrupy releases on the venerable Kranky Records label and their own Blue Flea imprint, initiating a new generation. Even when summoning dense rainfall and vast tundra, there's always been something undeniably romantic about their seemingly endless work. With White Rainbow, This Blinding Light. Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave. N.W., 784-4880. 10 p.m. $10. DOUG WALLEN
The Them ~ Tuesday, May 27
The concept of cliché is so rife with meta-irony that it makes poster children such as the Them seem downright erudite in their application of hackneyed punk-rock swagger—aside from the fact that they mean every word of it, of course.There's no posturing to be found here, only (as the band puts it) "four maniacs making music." As for the music, it's a high-octane blend of punk and its trailer-park cousins. Lead singer Joseph Christ's voice is the sonic embodiment of straight whiskey and filterless cigarettes, a guttural, throat-scraping rumble to wake the dead and kill the living. The rhythm section keeps things tight and propulsive, with surprisingly nimble bass lines underscoring the rock-steady drumming and straight-ahead guitar onslaught. The Them's lyrics are just what you'd expect from a band "coagulated from a puddle of vomit, beer, and semen." Sex, death, and getting fucked up, alone or in various alloys, gild the wilted lily. Live, the pulse and swagger coalesce into a firestorm of hedonistic punk-rock mayhem. To those in the front row: You will get wet. And you might get set on fire. With Bastard Child. Funhouse, 206 Fifth Ave N., 374-8400. 9:30 p.m. $5. NICHOLAS HALL
Zony Mash ~ Tuesday, May 26
Putting Briggan Krauss and Skerik on the same stage sounds less like a meeting of peanut butter and chocolate and more like a collision of Pop Rocks and Hot Tamales. Definitely a mouthful, but will these two great tastes taste great together? If anyone can make it work, it's Zony Mash, one of Wayne Horvitz's longest-running Seattle units, which was born under the viaduct at the old OK Hotel and has reared its head on an unpredictable schedule in the years since. Combining swamp funk, Fillmore jams, and country ballads, Zony Mash is a quartet at heart, with the always-brilliant Tim Young on guitar. But Horvitz fills out the front line with horns on festive occasions. As the band heads out this week for a few European shows, it's got a full lineup, with trombonist Steve Moore and a pair of tenor saxophones: Krauss, a fierce animatronic improviser, and Skerik, an equally powerful but more soul-grounded player. Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave. N.W., 789-3599. 9 p.m. $15. MARK D. FEFER
