FIRST ANNUAL HOLIDAY SPECIAL: LAURA GIBSON, MUSEE MECANIQUE, ALELA DIANE, & MORE
(The Woods, 6637 SE Milwaukie) It's the Woods' first annual Holiday Special, a night of local musicians playing holiday music just for you. There'll be cozy performances from Laura Gibson, Alela Diane, Duover (who just released their own full-length Christmas album), Musee Mecanique, and tons more, including some special surprise guests. Wear your favorite/worst Christmas sweater. NED LANNAMANN
BUZZOV*EN, RABBITS, WITCH MOUNTAIN, STONE BURNER
(Dante's, 1 SW 3rd) Mastodon, Baroness, Kylesa, and every other scummy punk-infused Southern metal band making waves of late owes a debt of gratitude to North Carolina's sludge forefathers Buzzov*en. Appropriate adjectives to describe the blunt force of the band's feedback-stained power chords and drugged-down lurch have been exhausted on the recent tide of unwashed beardos slinging guitars tuned to drop C, but it's crucial to remember that back in 1992 Buzzov*en was unlike anything else. They were violent, reckless, and absolutely terrifying. The band suffered from drug problems, lineup changes, and bad record deals, eventually leading to their breakup in '01. With recent compilations from underground mainstays Alternative Tentacles and Relapse, the band is back on the radar and ready to deliver a history lesson to the mangy hordes. BRIAN COOK
HELLO ELECTRIC, BRAINSTORM, HOLY CHILDREN
(Rotture, 315 SE 3rd) Skychief, the new album from hometown band Hello Electric, was recorded with Portugal. The Man's John Gourley behind the boards, and it shares some of that band's envelope-pushing approach to pop. But Hello Electric—the one-time solo project of Kirk Ohnstad, which has since expanded to a trio to include Zach Bendt and Henry Gibson—is also not afraid to strip things back to their bare essentials, resulting in nakedly harrowing moments like the screamed chorus of "Cosine," which subverts the rest of the song's carefully layered vocals. Skychief is the kind of statement that's impossible to ignore; it's the sound of a band finding a wealth of terrific material by being clearly attuned to all the possibilities of their sound, including mathy progressions, crust-punk rumble, art-rock non sequiturs, and post-psych languor. "Bear King II" is a ferocious highlight, a grumbling, stuttering electric number whose refrain, "This is the fucking woodland!/I am the king!" is bound to tap into something elemental and wild underneath your skin. NED LANNAMANN
Killing Joke, Water and Bodies, and Vellarest, as well as a link to the complete show listings, after the jump!