Wednesday 5/24

Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV

(FILM) The father of video art, Nam June Paik, said many great things during his career, which first received recognition in New York City. One is this: "[Video] imitates not nature but time.” But my favorite is this: "Someday everybody will have his own TV channel." How right he was. Even I have several TV channels on the web devoted to just me. But long before social media, Nam June Paik was making art with a new technology developed primarily in Japan, the portable video recorder. The documentary Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV provides an excellent introduction to a Korean American artist whose work entered the future in the late 1960s. (Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, multiple screenings through May 31, $7-$14) CHARLES MUDEDE


Thursday 5/25

Mad Professor w/DJ Kid Hops

(MUSIC) Mad Professor's masterpiece during the '80s is African Connection, and what distinguished it (and much of what Mad Professor completed at the time) from Jamaican forms of dub was its frank futurism. Though science fiction played a role in Jamaican recordings like Scientist's Scientist Encounters Pac-Man (the greatest dub album), African Connection was considerably spacier, tripper, and more technological. Jamaican dub masters used the genre as a time machine, a way to return to the lost African kingdoms; Mad Professor's UK versions always looked forward to an Afro-techno utopia. Mad Professor is also known for transforming, in 1995, Massive Attack's mediocre Protection into a dub classic, No Protection. He also had several collaborations with the late dubmaster Lee "Scratch" Perry. In short, he is a walking, breathing, dubbing legend. (Nectar, 412 N 36th St, 8 pm, $18) CHARLES MUDEDE


Friday 5/26

Pride Pregame: Love the Sinner, Love the Sin

 
 
 
 
 
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(MUSIC) Peer Pressure, the folks behind Frog Rave, want you to join them for a devilish pre-pride bash at Orient Express this Saturday: Love the Sinner, Love the Sin. I profiled the queer-friendly rave collective earlier this month and they're a group of friends who want to make the nightlife scene safer and more inclusive and fun for everyone with monthly sexual harassment trainings and coloring book chill-out corners for neuro-divergent partiers. This time around, move your feet dressed as your favorite deadly sin (there's a costume contest). The all-queer and trans bill features Justice Manslayer, Orion, Kween Kaysh, and Kimere. They've also got Twister. Find more information on their Instagram, @peerpressure.sea. (Orient Express, 2963 Fourth Ave S, 9 pm, $10-$20) VIVIAN MCCALL


Saturday 5/27

Karl Blau w/the Transmissionary Six

(MUSIC) Karl Blau's 2022 release Love & Harm is the perfect record for these not-quite-summer days. It's warm, nostalgic, and beaming with Jon Hyde's pedal steel, which sounds simultaneously bittersweet and hopeful, like a setting sun. Songs are layered with bells, horns, harmonica, a harpsichord—it's all so lush and orchestral, like summer itself, but Blau's candid vocal delivery still feels intimate, like he's telling you and only you a secret he's been keeping for years. Opening the early all-ages show is the Transmissionary Six, aka Terri Moeller and Paul Austin of the Walkabouts. Like Blau, Transmissionary Six were a mainstay in Seattle's '00s indie rock scene. But this isn't just a one-off performance with an old friend—last month they released Often Sometimes Rarely Never, their first album in nearly 10 years. It's a sparkling and star-studded return, featuring contributions from former Walkabouts bandmates Michael Wells and Chris Eckman, as well as Deni Bonet (who's performed with R.E.M. and Robyn Hitchcock) and Chris Cacavas (the Dream Syndicate). Get there early—the all-ages show starts at 6 pm. (The Rabbit Box Theatre, 94 Pike St #11, 6 pm, $12, all ages) MEGAN SELING


Sunday 5/28

Flora Bakehouse's Soft Serve-Stuffed Croissant

 
 
 
 
 
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(FOOD) You read that right. At the Flora Bakehouse—Cafe Flora's perfect little bakery in Beacon Hill—you can get a golden, flaky croissant FILLED WITH SOFT SERVE. What more do you need to know? Go! Add sprinkles! (Related: Do you think if I ask really nice they'd put a little dollop of soft serve on one of their hand pies?) (The Flora Bakehouse, 1511 S Lucile St, open daily 7 am-5 pm) MEGAN SELING


Monday 5/29

My Mic Sounds Nice: Hip-Hop Feminism in History

The Super Def Latifah, Super Jam 1989 flyer, Paterson, NJ, February 4, 1989. MoPOP Permanent Collection.  COURTESY OF MOPOP

(MUSIC/HISTORY) Queen Latifah, Lil' Kim, Salt-N-Pepa, MC Lyte—even casual hip-hop fans can agree that women have played an integral role in hip-hop's history. My Mic Sounds Nice: Hip-Hop Feminism in History, curated by Adeerya Johnson, is a new and small but mighty collection of photos, fliers, costumes, and music that shines a light on the Black women who are too often forgotten or overlooked when considering hip-hop's deep roots. Angie B, Symbolic Three, Sha Rock, and Nikki D, the first woman to sign with Def Jam. They've been shaking shit up since at least the early '80s, rapping about their sexuality and misogyny in the scene, and taking down their male counterparts with diss tracks before Drake and Meek Mill were born. (Check out Symbolic Three's "No Show," a response to Doug E. Fresh's hit "The Show"—"Sorry, Doug E., but your shoes are through!") Your ticket gets you into other MoPop exhibits including Contact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop, which was recently extended through the end of the year. (Museum of Pop Culture, 325 Fifth Ave N, open Thurs-Tues 10 am-5 pm, $28-$32) MEGAN SELING


Tuesday 5/30

Jacqueline Novak: Get on Your Knees

(COMEDY) Jacqueline Novak's comedy show Get on Your Knees is about blowjobs. But if dozens of critics, and Novak's comedy peers are to be believed, that's just the tip... of the, uh, iceberg. The New York Times called Novak's one-woman performance "brilliant"; the New Yorker said, it's "a reminder that a woman’s humor can cut as deeply as her rage." Since 2019 Novak has performed the show for months on end at New York's off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre, she's toured it across the US multiple times, and she's even crossed the pond for runs in London and an appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. As beloved as GoYK has become—Amy Sedaris, Miranda July, Natasha Lyonne, and Ilana Glazer are fans—the time has come for Novak to hang up the dick jokes. This US tour is her last before she records a performance of Get on Your Knees at the Town Hall in New York in June for a special to be released on Netflix next year. This is your last chance to see it live, Seattle. Don't miss out. (The Crocodile, 2505 First Ave, 7 pm, $27.50) MEGAN SELING