Some picks for an alright time.
By Issac Scott
Saturday April 25
Outer Bass ft. SIXIS While still in school at Evergreen, Ben Wyss, AKA SIXIS, began his ascent into the high echelons of the world of progressive electronic music. In 2012, his self-released EP “Transhuman” topped the charts on the genre’s most popular hub, Addictech.com, and he landed a high-profile spot on a major mixtape from a key tastemaker, Australian producer Kalya Scintilla. Now relocated to his native Berkeley, Wyss has continued his illustrious trajectory, getting signed to Kalya Scintilla’s label, and performing at major electronic music festivals across the country. This show, his first performance in Olympia in over a year, pairs him with a heaping handful of other active producers from around the state. The Olympia Ballroom 7 p.m. $8
Sunday April 26
The Ghost Ease, Hot Rush, Sick Sad World, Skinny the Kid The Ghost Ease have positioned themselves among the latest vanguard of up-and-coming Portland indie bands trafficking in nonchalant grunge jams well suited for a hand-decorated mixtape. Since releasing their self-titled debut album last spring, they have numbered among Portland’s “10 Best New Bands,” according to Willamette Week. Their dreamy basement vibe is consistent with such regional cohorts as Chastity Belt and Sister Palace. Sick Sad World is the earnest slacker pop of Seattle’s Jake Jones, now with a full band, whose forthcoming album “Fear & Lies” celebrates skateboarding, being weird, and keeping it real. Deadbeat Records 8 p.m. $5
Tuesday April 28
Hellships, Crown Larks, Ebb & Flourish Hellships were the first band I ever saw in Olympia, in 2011, at the Track House. Their drawn-out, instrumental doom metal seemed to ooze like fog from the woods, or smoke from an Evergreen dorm. Since then, the trio of former Greeners has played off and on, putting out just two albums, the most recent of which came out in March. Chicago’s Crown Larks, meanwhile, conjure lush, frenetic textures with as many instruments as they can get their hands on. Seemingly emanating from some seedy basement jazz club, the band pushes forward from a rock foundation with flute, trumpet, clarinet, and more. Their latest release “Blood Dancer” shifts hazily between disquieted urban scenes: a hallucinatory downtown encounter, a hurried nocturnal subway ride. Overall, the vibe is jazz-soaked Radiohead, or a chaotic rendition of Can’s “Future Days.” Deadbeat Records 8 p.m $5
Thursday April 30
Muyassar Kurdi, Skrill Meadow, Adam Kassel, LA Lungs Another Chicago luminarity, Muyassar Kurdi walks the line between far-out performance artist and experimental singer-songwriter. Intensely prolific, her musical work is based laregely around a hypnotic voice and inventive approaches to the autoharp. Recently she was named “Best Freak Folker Who Makes Soap and Writes Books of Erotic Poetry” by Chicago Reader. Skrill Meadow is the project of Markly Morrison, best known as bassist of long-standing twee staple LAKE. While frequently appearing as a karaoke performance to homemade cassette backing tracks, rumor has it Skrill Meadow will soon have a full band lineup. His first release online is “Magnopus,” made in 2000, a collage of field recordings from his native Lancaster, California, from such locales as church and Toys R Us, which he sold in the parking lot of the Desert Inn. Also notable is his 2013 release “Spirituals,” a full album of country Christian songs dedicated to his mother. Le Voyeur 6 p.m $5 ALL AGES
