Who knew that Edmonds, WA had its very own Kranky-signed, Hovercraft-affiliated space rock band back in the mid-90s? I for one would never have heard of Magnog if it hadnt been for an early iteration of tonights show including Portland noisemaker White Rainbow (hes since dropped off the bill, but Im glad he caught my attention.) Magnog can do the slow-motion take-off, floating weightless stuff: drums keep time distant and soft, guitars echo and pile up and swirl in and out of measured melodies, a voice stretches across the space or occasionally interjects some soft spoken words. They can also go up like the Challenger explosion, guitars burning rocket fuel, drums bursting apart. The band broke up over a decade ago, but has returned to live performance as of this year; should be interesting to see how theyve held up. With Slow Burning Chocolate Carnival, Dull Knife. ERIC GRANDY
Thu., April 14, 9:30 p.m., 2011