In a short-story reading at Bumbershoot this year, local author Ryan Boudinot’s character was a member in a band called Cadmium—“because on the periodic table, it’s the heaviest metal.” Our freelancer Michael Alan Goldberg, who just caught Japan’s Boris on the first leg of their tour over on the East Coast, reports that while the band “leans more epic and psychedelic than super-sludgy or metallic, they still managed at points to generate a wall of noise that was as thrilling and breathtaking as it gets.” Meaning they ain’t no lithium (the lightest metal) either. In fact, they seem insane, but it’s a practiced crazy, since they’ve been playing their stoner drone since 1996. Ghost’s Michio Kurihara plays guitar with them on this outing, and Damon and Naomi (aka dreamy ‘90s indie rockers Galaxie 500) are along for the ride as well. Damon & Naomi with Ghost, from 2000, is one of my all-time favorite Sub Pop releases—a quietly ecstatic acid folk masterpiece that sits on those stockroom shelves relatively untouched.

Thu., Oct. 11, 8 p.m., 2007