Softly Now ~ Wednesday, August 5
Courtesy of Nebula
Nebula stares off into space.
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After McLeod Residence closed, Levi Fuller (the man who brings you Ball of Wax every three months) was forced to search for a new place to host Softly Now, his monthly showcase of quiet music. Well, after a few months' absence, it's nestled quite nicely into a new home at the Jewelbox, and this show features Unbunny, a local band with a folky sensibility that fans of the Weakerthans should enjoy, as its singer's reedy voice smacks of John K. Samson's. It's surprising to me that Unbunny's received so little attention from the local music press, because the band's best songs—"Pink Lemonade" is a good example, one you can stream on MySpace—exude a fragile poignancy that's utterly striking upon first listen. They play with The Crying Shame, a twisted country band with a dirty sense of humor and a singer whose low-slung baritone makes him sound like Johnny Cash's long-lost grandson. Jewelbox/Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave., 441-5823. 6 p.m. $5. SARA BRICKNER
Kimya Dawson ~ Wednesday, August 5
Most people would agree that it's fair to characterize Kimya Dawson, and her entire musical career, as a fairly galvanizing phenomenon. With her (some think charmingly, some annoyingly) amateurish sound, her frequent use of 12-year-old-caliber humor (some find her fart jokes refreshingly anti-serious, others think she's just contributing to a lower level of discourse), and her fairly recent foray into the half-world of children's songs that are frequently too mature for actual children (yet not even remotely aiming for mainstream adult audiences), Dawson has a love-it-or-hate-it style. She's probably fine with that.In fact, that dichotomy has helped Dawson's recent resurgence through the widespread popularity of the quirky teen romance Juno and its soundtrack, for which Dawson provided seven songs (one with her erstwhile anti-folk outfit the Moldy Peaches).In both its narrative arc and its musical backdrop, that movie is, as AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine so aptly puts it, all about "how the world-weary sarcasm of Gen-X rubs against the unapologetic quirkiness of Gen-Y." Clearly, Dawson finds her inspiration further along the alphabutt...er, alphabetical rift of the generation gap. Whether or not you commiserate is likely a sign of your mental age. With Paleface, No One & the Somebodies, Turbosleaze. Vera Project, 305 Harrison St., 374-8372. 7:30 p.m. $10. All ages. NICHOLAS HALL
BOAT ~ Friday, August 7
BOAT's third full-length on Magic Marker Records (its fourth in all), Setting the Paces, comes out at the end of October, and if you're already a BOAT fan, it's time to get excited. Because like everything else BOAT's released so far, Setting the Paces is bright, buoyant, and catchier than a baseball glove. But it's not just the pop melodies that recommend BOAT, whose whimsical lyrics mask a profundity that's easy to miss on the first few spins. "(Do the) Magic Centipede"'s charming refrain ("If you want to be a giant centipede, just clap your hands") comes sandwiched between lyrics about trying to get your childhood back (of course, it's not stated so obviously), but the song's cleverest aspect is its appropriation of the guitar hook from the Clash's "Career Opportunities," a song about dashed dreams that's so appropriate a reference that it proves there's more to BOAT's songs than that gleaming, hard-candy surface. With the Nightgowns, the Special Places, Ron Hexagon. Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave. N.W., 784-4880. 9 p.m. $8. SARA BRICKNER
Amon Tobin ~ Friday, August 7
There's a Brazilian film called House of Sand, about the immutability of the soul, set in a barren and parched desert wasteland where the longing cries of its characters cannot be heard. Amon Tobin should've done the score. Since the late '90s, the Brazilian producer has created compositions that fuse dark, meandering electronic frequencies with walking-dead drums: jungle meets bossa-nova meets jazz meets techno. The rise and fall of the sound corresponds with a listener's arching EKGs, making for a kind of full-immersion experience with only what's heard. Tobin's most recent album, Foley Room (titled after the place where sound recordings for films are made), saw the brooding artist in him in full evil bloom, as he incorporated found sounds from the world into his panoramic orchestrations. This is mood music for people who aren't in the mood. With Pitch Black, Dirty, and Grym. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9467. 8 p.m. $15. KEVIN CAPP
Cosmic Panther Land Band ~ Friday, August 7
Not too much can be said yet about the Cosmic Panther Land Band, except that judging by their name, they don't take themselves too seriously. Essentially a pick-up band of players from the Moondoggies, the Maldives, Pica Beats, Widower, and Shim, CPLB formed in early 2009 and has played exactly one show so far. Jason Dodson (Maldives) and Kevin Murphy (Moondoggies) collaborate to write the band's songs. Sort of like the Maldives, the eight-person band operates on the idea that the more talented musicians included, the better. Judging from their affiliated groups, expect lots of vocal harmonies and that wall of countrified sound the Maldives have cultivated over the years. With Grand Hallway, Picoso, Benjamin Doerr. South Lake Union Discovery Center, 101 Westlake Ave. N. 7:45 p.m. All ages. Free. ERIK NEUMANN
