SOPPING WET OPERA: Byron Au Yong has composed 64 mini-operas meant to be performed in water--fountains, pools, and streams--throughout the Pacific Northwest. In this weekend's installments of Kidnapping Water: Bottled Operas, musicians and vocalists will perform unique mini-operas at parks and beaches in Des Moines/Burien (Saturday) and South Seattle (Sunday). "Who publishes the sheet-music of the winds or the music of water written in river-lines?" wrote 19th century poet John Muir; maybe that someone......

Philly rapper Freeway at Chop Suey on Saturday: gruff, powerful, in control. Prodigious beard. His set was a pleasure to behold, with thick, thumping, meaty beats over which his growl sounded just right. Such sparkly bling, too! Our only complaints are that he cut off "It's Over" way too early and there were a couple too many a capellas, but the man can keep filthily perfect time and impresses regardless of the beat behind him.......

"King Cobra's hiphop hymen has been broken!" declared Gatsby of Cancer Rising last night. It's true: The Physics were the first hiphop group ever to grace the newish stage in the rock-n'-roll-ified nightclub, and Cancer Rising made it extra official in a mixed line-up featuring the metal-rock, electric guitar-wielding Emeralds as well as Portland's indie rockers Caves. The night was "magical," as Caves singer Jacob Carey deemed it. Welcome, King Cobra, to Seattlest's short list......

HUGE AMOUNTS OF CHEESE: The Cheese Festival is upon us! This is one of our top three favorite events of the year (#2: our birthday, #3: Christmas). Several reasons: a city block full of cheese, friendly vendors, wholesale prices on bottles in the wine garden (don't buy the red wine that says "bacon" three times in its description, we made that mistake last year), and (it bears repeating) a city block full of cheese. 10......

Tonight: Style Out in SoDo or Neema/Cool Nutz/Cancer Rising in Fremont? The choice is difficult for local hiphop fans. On the one hand, we've got Alpha P (classic and skilled pros), The Physics (hilarious and enthused), and a host of talented performers working the social movement angle of hiphop. On the other hand, we've got Neema (he's promised a bunch of new material tonight), Cool Nutz (from NE Portland, repping the deliciously dope King......

Friday's show at Nectar Lounge was a great showcase for both classic and fresh, emerging talents in local hiphop. Alpha P, a gratifyingly professional, unflaggingly high-spirited crew of twelve headlining the show, were working NW underground hiphop in the 90s; the other acts on the bill included Tacoma-based Jay Barz (a raucus party act, himself), pissed-off Neema of Unexpected Arrival, fast-talking Premonition and the bulging vein on his neck, and charismatic story-teller Kublakai--interviewed by......

Saigon descended upon Neumos Wednesday night in true East Coast style, backed by three hype-men, two photographers, one DJ, and for awhile two dancing "homegirls". (Yes, his shirt did come off for a brief moment, and we did get to see those famous bulging arm muscles.) A sparse but expectant crowd watched as the New York rapper and his posse blew through an aggressive set that included the extra-tight club favorite "C'mon Baby" dropped......

If you're not planning on hitting up the Garden Show tonight, you should definitely be at Neumos getting your mind blown by the hardcore hiphop of New York's Saigon, Dyme Def, and Cancer Rising. Helloooo, Saigon: 8pm // Neumos // 925 E. Pike // $20 adv // All-Ages......

U-N-I, the L.A. headliners at last night's show at Chop Suey, is the profoundly West Coast hiphop equivalent of human superficial fascia: loosely, intricately webbed, sticky, and pliable. Tricky, surprising beats backed Thurzday and Y-O's tight rap in a dizzying but relaxed kind of way. The night was solid for such an unsung show, with performances from some of 2008's most promising local acts: J. Pinder (his ballsy, impeccable timing meshing perfectly with high-power......

D.Black, co-owner of Seattle's Sportn' Life Records and full-time, big-time hiphop MC and producer, took a few minutes out of his increasingly busy life to talk to Seattlest about what he's been up to the past few months. Where you've seen him recently: hosting Grynch's album release on January 27th, or rocking the fog machine and The Life medallion on Day Two of The Program back in December. Catch him this Friday night: 8pm doors,......

Okay, fine. We admit it: actually being at an event rocks at least ten times harder than watching it streamed online, no matter how good the audio/video feed is and no matter how much you love the internet. Day Three of The Program involved Seattlest physically putting our hands in the air and side to side (Grynch said to!), and even doing some headbanging to The Saturday Knights. Yes, we did spend physical, non-internet money......

On Sunday night, Seattlest and a bunch of other Seattleites showed up at Chop Suey for the "Jive Turkey Extreme" Cancer Rising cd release party. The Valley (a Seattle rock band) opened, but we missed their set due to an emergency Piecora's artichoke-heart and sun-dried tomato pizza slice run. Ah, well. No matter. We were still among the first hundred people to buy our ticket and therefore obtain a free copy of Cancer Rising's hot-off-the-presses......

We would like to take a short minute to let you know what we did on Sunday night instead of hitting up the Rakim/Ghostface/Brother Ali show for $32. Instead, Seattlest trundled over to The Comet, where we got to sit down (albeit in rickety wooden chairs), drink $4 whiskey sodas, and enjoy the hooting and hollering of a crowd of thirty at the Nite Owls show. We had never been to a show at The......

This weekend, Seattlest scored an email interview with Larry Mizell Jr, aka Gatsby of Cancer Rising, aka Man About Town (our term, not his). Readers: read on! Mr. Mizell, you write for The Stranger and keep an active music blog, in addition to being a local hiphop artist. What's it like to be an artist AND an observer of the Seattle hiphop scene? What trends are you seeing in local hiphop? It's been fantastic writing......

Katelyn Hackett attends local hiphop shows. She will write about them for Seattlest. Another gleeful, sharp, and passionate local hiphop show came and went Sunday night at Neumos, and chances are high that you weren't there. Chances are high, actually, that you didn't even know it was happening. Seattlest heard about the show through our perusal of trusty MySpace bulletins; if we weren't already such devoted fans we could have easily spent the evening with......

Comic Book Party: Fantagraphics celebrates the grand opening of their new retail & gallery space with an opening reception. Live music by The Rhaes. There's also an exhibit around the corner at Belle & Wissel, Co. to make the trip a twofer. 5-8pm // 1201 South Vale St. (at Airport Way) // FREE Music: Sure, there's Binary Star at Chop Suey and the Faint/Ratatat at the Showbox, but in case you're looking to get your......

The Big Digits performance in front of an intimate gathering of elite strangers in the basement of somebody's house in the central district last February was one of the weirdest, most intense shows we've seen this year (TD Sidell really puts the "aerobics" in "punk rock aerobics"), and their "rap battle" with arch foes Cancer Rising last year is also impossible to forget, no matter how much KUBE 93 we expose ourselves to. Tonight's......

Now that there's a chill in the air, Seattlest has taken to closing our windows at night before curling up in a warm bed with some hot cocoa and earplugs. That's right, it's officially the fall tour season, and there's live music galore. Behold! Tuesday 19th >>> The Silverback at Fuel in Pioneer Square. No one's ever heard this band, because this show represents the first time The Silverback will bring their downtempo electronic......

Dansk Stil was well worth attending Tuesday night, which many did despite the technical difficulties in getting our post up. The film was engaging, funny, and generally very human, exploring how the Danes have taken in and made aspects of hip-hop culture their own. The fact that there was a demonstration by some of the Danish b-boys and a quick performance by Cancer Rising proved to be the icing on an already satisfying cake. (Here......

KRS-One, the great MC and hip-hop philosopher, often bloviates about a time when people no longer identify themselves as black or white, French or Italian. Rather than identifying with a race or along nationalistic ties, KRS-One envisions a time and place where people can identify simply as hip-hop, where those ideas and concepts represent enough to bring people together as a community. An ambitious idea? Certainly, but KRS-One has never been known for a......

The Boston-area rap duo Big Digits will make their triumphant return to our side of the hood Saturday, nearly one year after their victorious "rap battle in Seattle" (Get it? It rhymes...) whereby their west coast rivals Cancer Rising "got served" a rap-tastic smackdown that shamed Larry Mizell into hiding. But seriously: The show Big Digits put on last May at the Lo_Fi was one of the year's best performances, particularly for the insane,......

The perennial "east coast vs. west coast" divisions that have plagued the rap genre for eons may finally reach a dramatic climax tonight as rival rap bands Big Digits (of Boston) and Cancer Rising (representin' Seattle) converge at the Lo Fi Gallery at 429B Eastlake, a mere gold chain's toss north of beloved hip-hop hang-out REI. Whereas Big Digits founder TD Sidell claims tonight's show "will be a fun dance party...", Seattlest suspects this touchy-feely......