Azure Ray / Wednesday, October 27
Marzuki Stevens
Sufjan wishes you peace.
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In an age where emotional vulnerability is either marketed mercilessly or mocked ironically, it's pretty rare when something pushes through the static as being sincerely confessional. Azure Ray lands in the territory of pristine, heart-on-sleeve-because-that's-where-it's-gotta-be pop without falling into pity-party emo-dreck. After disbanding Azure Ray in 2004, Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink spent a good portion of the late '00s working on other projects, but in September, they released their fourth album, Drawing Down the Moon, on Omaha's Saddle Creek Records. Spanning the gap between simple, swaying acoustic folk and the airtight glide of looping electronica, Azure Ray offers warm, breathy whispers of optimism from a pair of haunted hearts. With Tim Fite, Whispertown. Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave. N.W., 789-3599. 8 p.m. $12. GREGORY FRANKLIN
Deerhunter / Wednesday, October 27
"Whatever goes up, must come down," Deerhunter's Bradford Cox sings on the dream-drenched single "Desire Lines." But you might want to stay aloft as long as possible at a Deerhunter gig. How you get high is up to you. In 2008, the Atlanta-based band went on a questionably short tour with the Smashing Pumpkins before cranking out another album and a ton of side-project work. Cox's solo recordings as Atlas Sound, and increasingly his work with Deerhunter, have that "Beach Boys underwater" feel of touchstones Animal Collective and Panda Bear. Deerhunter outdid themselves on this year's Halcyon Digest, a warmly hypnotic follow-up to 2007's acclaimed Cryptograms. Call it delightfully dazed-and-confused. With Real Estate, Casino vs. Japan. Showbox at the Market, 1426 First Ave., 628-3151. 8 p.m. $16 adv./$19 DOS. All ages. RACHEL SHIMP
Janelle Monáe & of Montreal / Wednesday, October 27 See the music lead and An Incomplete History.
Women / Wednesday, October 27
Canada's Women are totally hot. I mean, Women, the band from Canada, is totally hot. I mean, every band from Canada is totally hot right now, let's be honest. But Women in particular has been using all the tricks that make indie kids weak in the knees these days. Besides the obvious little token irony (they're all men), they strut with the bright beats and heavily harmonized psycho-warbles of a '70s art-pop band, but mostly wrap and rip it all with a thick shroud of filthy noise. And the unpredictable but oh-so-studied guitar art on their second record, Public Strain, shows once again that no matter how much you listen to them, Women will always keep you guessing. With Elf Power, Manchild. Vera Project, 305 Harrison St., 956-8372. 7:30 p.m. $9. All ages. MARY PAULINE DIAZ
Joan Osborne / Thursday, October 28
Chances are you haven't thought about Joan Osborne since 1995, back when she released "One of Us." Slow and steady pop with just a hint of bluesy rock, the song famously raised the possibility that God was just like "a stranger on the bus/Trying to make his way home." While the semi-sacrilegious lyrics and catchy tune made Osborne a one-hit wonder and became part of our pop-culture canon (it appeared on Glee just last month), "One of Us" was a one-off. Most of Osborne's songs are one part Motown, one part blues, and just a tinge of pop—a far cry from her radio hit. Now, 15 years later, she's released seven albums and is still touring, making a modest career for herself. And you probably wouldn't recognize her on the bus, either. With LeRoy Bell. Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave. N.W., 789-3599. 7 p.m. $25 adv./$28 DOS. PAIGE RICHMOND
Northwest Sneaker Expo / Thursday, October 28
The sneakerhead subculture experienced a boom in the '80s, thanks in large part to the status they were given via the hip-hop movement. From full sets of a single shoe to limited editions and one-off customs, a sneaker expo is a multifaceted phenomenon, combining elements of hip-hop, art, and fashion. And in addition to the collector competitions and freestyle rap battles hosted by local legend Vitamin D, this showcase also includes performances from local fashion-forward MCs like State of the Artist, Logics, Eighty4 Fly, Spaceman, and Wizdom—plus a kick-ass headliner, Palmdale, Calif.'s Pac Div. The trio is chock-full of fiery energy, and with lines like "Clothes copper, flow dropper/Kicks like a dojo, peep the low Pradas," it seems they'll fit into the night's mood just fine. Nectar, 412 N. 36th St., 632-2020. 7 p.m. $15. NICK FELDMAN
Mash Hall / Friday, October 29
The goofy sci-fi–spliced rhymes of Mash Hall are one of the best things Seattle hip-hop's got going on right now, but instead of coasting on that momentum, emcees Gatsby and Bruce Illest have decided to put down their mikes for now. Fortunately, like most musical retirements, this one's open-ended: The duo claims that their departure is more along the lines of, say, Jay-Z's, Ted Leo's, or 50 Cent's (read: not a retirement at all). But since nothing's guaranteed in this life, it'll be worth catching this show—and downloading Mash Hall's back catalog—just in case. With Butts, SSP. Columbia City Theater, 4918 Rainier Ave. S. 9 p.m. $7. SARA BRICKNER
Wow & Flutter / Friday, October 29
Portland's Wow & Flutter have been making music for the better part of a decade, yet they remain criminally overlooked by Northwest audiences. On 2008's Golden Touch, they vacillated wildly between artful post-punk rumbles and spaghetti-Western romps, with a dark undercurrent churning beneath all the while that hinted of more menacing moments downstream. Indeed, with follow-up Equilibrio! (released this month on Seattle-based Mt. Fuji Records), they've plunged headfirst into that current, going darker and deeper in tone and timbre, but still with just enough pop savvy to keep things buoyant. With Virgin Islands, the Golden Blondes, the Botherations. Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave. N.W., 784-4880. 9:30 p.m. $8. HANNAH LEVIN
