Jimmy Cliff / Wednesday, July 21 See the Q&A.
Courtesy of Sub Pop Records
Bassekou Kouyate: Ngonis are the new banjos.
Sarah Cass
Lake getting lazy.
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Mary Gauthier / Wednesday, July 21
I'm shocked there hasn't been a movie made about Mary Gauthier. Maybe I'll write the screenplay. All the compelling, dramatic elements are there: Given up for adoption as a baby, she's raised by alcoholics in Louisiana. She steals their car and runs away as a teen, becomes a heavy drug user, goes to jail, goes to rehab, goes to college and studies philosophy, moves to Boston and opens a successful Cajun restaurant, writes her first song at age 35, and launches an acclaimed folk/country career crafting dark, gritty, autobiographical songs. She tours with Willie Nelson, and Tim McGraw and Jimmy Buffett cover her tunes. Until my movie comes out, you can catch her performing songs from her gripping new record, The Foundling, about being abandoned and searching for her birth mother. With Peter Bradley Adams. Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave. N.W., 789-3599. 8 p.m. $20. MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG
The Spinto Band / Wednesday, July 21
Do you know anyone from Delaware? I've met a lot of people in my life, and none of them are from there. However, if the Spinto Band's otherworldly pop is any indication (and if Delaware actually exists), it must be a pretty awesome place to live. The Spinto Band are one of those "too smart for their own good" pop bands; their take on the pop genre carries a brilliant sheen, jubilantly crashing and nearly careening off the rails into chaos while somehow being held together by a few well-placed threads. It only makes sense that such a band would be from a totally (seriously, they don't even have a baseball team!) fictitious place. With Miniature Tigers, Blunt Mechanic. High Dive, 513 N. 36th St., 632-0212. 9 p.m. $8 adv./$10 DOS. GREGORY FRANKLIN
Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba / Thursday, July 22
Sub Pop built its reputation on grunge and sustained it on indie rock. Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba are absolutely neither of those. The first signees to Sub Pop subsidiary Next Ambiance, Ngoni Ba is a four-person family act from Mali; they all play the ngoni, a West African string instrument related to the banjo but unique with its long drum-skin body. The sound is rolling, soulful, and nimbly picked. Four of these nuanced instruments play like the wittiest and liveliest of conversations sung by clever plucks and strums. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9442. 8 p.m. $17. MARY PAULINE DIAZ
Origami Ghosts / Thursday, July 22
Like their respective namesakes, Seattle's Origami Ghosts make music that is delicate and haunting. The band's hushed, intimate songs glide along in slow motion like a hand out a car window on a golden summer day, floating and diving with the wind. They sound as if they were recorded in a dark, quiet bedroom, but they especially shine when fleshed out into full-band arrangements. Whether building on some of the oceanic sway of Three Mile Pilot or Black Heart Procession ("Endless Corridors") or presenting a janglier version of Polvo ("East Station"), Origami Ghosts have struck a near-perfect balance of still-of-the-night melancholy and the dreamy introspection of a midsummer afternoon. With Hello the Mind Control, Waytansea Point, Teeth of Turquoise. Jewelbox/Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave., 441-5823. 10 p.m. $5.GREGORY FRANKLIN
Capitol Hill Block Party / Friday, July 23—Sunday, July 25
CHBP organizers really outdid themselves this year. The three-day lineup (increased from two) is current, big-name, and ultra-hipster-friendly—exactly the spirit of Seattle's most holier-than-thou neighborhood. MGMT, Yeasayer, Blonde Redhead, and Atmosphere have all made favorable waves in the music scene this year, as have hometown heroes like Shabazz Palaces, Unnatural Helpers, the Physics, and many others. The festival's biggest coup, though, is snagging The Dead Weather to headline on Sunday (see page 41). Jack White is a god among mortal rockers, and that he's deigned to set foot on the humble, dirty Pike and Pine streets is truly an honor. South Capitol Hill. $25 adv./$30 DOS/$60 three-day pass. All ages. ERIN K. THOMPSON
Red Heart Alarm / Friday, July 23
Last Saturday, the Dusty 45s headlined an impressive local lineup at the PBRBQ (a barbecue sponsored by Pabst) at Slim's Last Chance. If Seattle had its own search engine, and you typed in "reliably crowd-pleasing, highly competent, traditional rockabilly band," the Dustys would be the very first return. But to some, their refusal to deviate much from the rockabilly purist's canon can be a bit boring. The same cannot be said of Red Heart Alarm, who play Slim's this Friday, a gig that serves as a release party for the band's debut LP, White Elephants. They describe themselves as "gruntry"—grunge meets country, as if that weren't instantly obvious. And as awful as that label sounds, their music is anything but. Creatively, they're the type of band the Dusty 45s should aspire to be. With Scrubjays, The Boxcar Rebellion. Slim's Last Chance, 5606 First Ave. S., 762-7900. 9 p.m. Free. MIKE SEELY
Bobby Valentino / Friday, July 23
Apparently in R&B, the fall from the top is a long one. One minute you could be singing the hook on Lil' Wayne's platinum hit "Mrs. Officer" and have your own gold-selling record on Def Jam. The next you could be penning sexist commentary for Vibe and posting groupie-sex cell-phone snapshots on the Internet. At least that's what happened to Bobby Valentino. The Atlanta-based singer has a knack for highly sexual tracks, including "Beep," "Butterfly Tattoo," and most recently "Phone #," the Jazze Pha–produced single from his upcoming fourth studio album Fly on the Wall, about—you guessed it—phone sex. Bobby just can't get his mind out of the gutter. With JugaHill. King Cat Theater, 2130 Sixth Ave., 448-2829. 8 p.m. $27 adv./$37 DOS. All ages. NICK FELDMAN
