Bat for Lashes ~ Wednesday, August 26
Brian Tamborello
Busdriver: the David Lynch of underground hip-hop.
Ryan Schierling
Harvey Danger are cooking up something special for their last show ever.
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I wonder if David Lynch knows he has an English-Pakistani doppelgänger running around named Natasha Khan, a modern musical mystic who includes Lynch as one of her major influences, goes by the stage name of Bat for Lashes, and counts Thom Yorke and Ringo Starr among her fans. I wonder if he's heard her sing her ghostly songs about loneliness, fervent dreams, and intense love; or if he's seen her creepy, startling music videos featuring dark woods and men with giant bunny heads and realized they could be clips straight from Blue Velvet or Inland Empire. I wonder if he's seen her onstage, in her fur and satin costumes showing off her sparkling vocals, and been reminded of the lounge singer from Twin Peaks (although no Lynch muse has ever been able to jam out on the harpsichord or the autoharp like Khan does). I wonder if he's heard her latest record, this year's Two Suns, a concept album about Khan's alter ego, a blonde femme fatale named Pearl, and decided this girl's just as alluring and mysterious as a certain Laura Palmer once was. With Other Lives. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9467. 8 p.m. $14 adv. E. THOMPSON
The Cult ~ Wednesday, August 26
Along with Jane's Addiction, the Cult was one of the first important gateway bands to inadvertently introduce the concept of so-called alternative music to mainstream rock fans. However, this particular influence didn't really begin to gain momentum until the release of 1987's Rick Rubin–produced Electric, an album that marked a deliberate turn away from their initially gothic and dreamy, post-punk flavors. All the New Romantic girls at my high school were actually quite despondent about this, having invested their black hearts so deeply in the bewitching sounds of their 1985 album Love. I'm much more an Electric kind of gal, but I certainly understand the urge to hear songs like "Rain," "Revolution," and "She Sells Sanctuary" in their fully realized context. Tonight is the opportunity to do just that—albeit a good 24 years after the fact—as the English band will be performing that album in its entirety. With Living Things. Moore Theatre, 1932 Second Ave., 443-1744. 7:30 p.m. $27.50–$37.50. All ages. HANNAH LEVIN
Jay Reatard ~ Wednesday, August 26
Overly serious artists do not employ the surname Reatard. Understanding that should prepare you for Reatard's sneering, infectiously up-tempo, poppy punk with a glorious dose of juvenile exuberance.His latest LP, Watch Me Fall, sets the mood with the Buzzcocks-esque bravado of "Ain't Gonna Save Me," which plays downbeat lyrics against manically upbeat instrumentation, focusing on strummy guitars and breakneck drumming. "All is lost/There is no hope," asserts Reatard, but he somehow leaves you grinning. It's like one big "fuck it" moment of emotional abandon. The album is studded with similarly bipolar shards of candy-coated arsenic. Depressive songwriting is nothing new for Reatard, but it takes on an added level of impact when he channels his ennui through the scat-chorus and Kiwi-pop sensibilities of "Wounded" rather than through his usual screaming and feedback haze, almost charming you as he gleefully admonishes "We are standing still." The album is immediately arresting, eminently enjoyable, and surprisingly cathartic. It'd be hard to find a more mood-affecting record capable of leaving you a manic-depressive bundle of nerves twitching for more. Easy Street Records, 20 W. Mercer St., 691-3279. 7 p.m. Free. All ages. Also at Sonic Boom Records, 2209 N.W. Market St., 297-2666. 7 p.m. Thurs., Aug. 27. Free. All ages.NICHOLAS HALL
The Pretenders ~ Thursday, August 27
Even Chrissie Hynde admits that the Pretenders feels a little like a tribute band, given the number of lineup changes the group's faced over the years. As frontwoman, and the only constant member over the past three decades, Hynde essentially is the Pretenders. But ain't nothing wrong with that. The band's new album, Break Up the Concrete, contains more twang and rockabilly than their '80s material, but songs like "Boots of Chinese Plastic" and "Love's a Mystery" manage to evoke familiarity, thanks to Hynde's trademark baying, and the 57-year-old sounds as ballsy now as she did as a 20-something declaring her sexual prowess on "Brass in Pocket." In rock 'n' roll, where few aging females survive, let alone thrive, that's special. With Cat Power, Juliette Lewis. Marymoor Park, 6046 W. Lake Sammamish Pkwy. N.E., 205-3661. 6 p.m. $45–$65. All ages. ERIKA HOBART
Stanley Jordan Trio ~ Thursday, August 27–Sunday, August 30
Known for his delicate sound as much as for his trademark right-hand tapping technique, guitarist Stanley Jordan has nonetheless pushed hard against being pigeonholed throughout his 25-year career. Jordan will probably always be regarded by the general public as a virtuosic smooth-jazz guitarist, but watching him with his trio helps provide a broader context for his strong exploratory drive. Jordan has in a sense been penalized for pulling off what so few virtuoso-level players do, which is translate prodigious skills into listenable music—while still highlighting those skills. He has applied them to classical, pop, Brazilian, Indian, and other styles, but his latest album, State of Nature, actually uses disharmony as a starting point. A plea for humankind to realign with the natural world, the album also sees Jordan return to his piano roots. But don't worry—he still does the double-fisting, two-guitars-at-once thing during the show. After all these years, it still hasn't gotten old. Dimitriou's Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave., 441-9729. 7:30 & 9:30 p.m. Thurs.; 8 & 10 p.m. Fri–Sat., 7:30 p.m. Sun. $23.50. All ages.SABY REYES-KULKARNI
