Oneohtrix Point Never: Again Tour
(MUSIC) Oneohtrix Point Never (aka Daniel Lopatin) is part of that elite club of challenging, electronic musicians who've gone on to score high-profile movies, which includes Mica Levi, Robert A.A. Lowe, and Bobby Krlic. (Even stranger, Lopatin also was the musical director for the Weeknd's 2021 Super Bowl half-time performance.) The Brooklyn-based composer's early work—desolate, alienating, oft-times abrasive—didn't exactly foreshadow a side hustle soundtracking big-budget Hollywood films such as Good Time and Uncut Gems, but here we are. These cinematic assignments revealed OPN's deft grasp of Tangerine Dream-like atmosphere-conjuring. This work has slowed OPN's solo output, but 2020's Magic Oneohtrix Point Never and 2023's Again demonstrate his growing interest in skewed synth-pop and rock, submerging uncanny melodies in disorienting structures, transmuting nostalgic memories of cheesy radio fodder into futuristically warped facsimiles of same. This show will focus on Again's 13 orchestrated oddities. "Modular princess" Arushi Jain, who fuses elements of Indian classical music with beautiful ambience, opens. (Neptune Theatre, 1303 NE 45th St, 7 pm, $35-$41, all ages) DAVE SEGAL
THURSDAY 4/18(MUSIC) Philadelphia-based indie rock band Sheer Mag's goal has always been “sheer magnitude,” which is what led to their formation and name back in 2014. Inspired by ’70s classic rock and punk, the group is fronted by stunning powerhouse vocalist Tina Halladay and has been heralded by critics as one of the most exciting bands of the last decade. They will support their new Third Man Records released album, Playing Favorites, which marks their first new music in five years. (The Vera Project, 305 Harrison St, 7 pm, $18-$20, all ages) AUDREY VANN
FRIDAY 4/19(FILM) The People's Joker stirred up a lot of buzz at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival as most of its screenings were canceled due to rights issues. The reason? It’s a sharply silly satire of certain iconic superheroes that go on a deeply personal journey through life, art, and comedy. Written and directed by Vera Drew, who also stars, The People's Joker follows an aspiring clown who wants to make it in the bizarro world of comedy in Gotham City. However, this is only the initial hook, as Drew goes beyond just riffing on the standard superhero beats and reshapes the narrative into a trans coming-of-age story. It is absurd and chaotic with a visual presentation that feels like it was born out of Adult Swim shows such as Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!. To be fair, it kind of is—Drew has worked for Abso Lutely Productions. However, the film still has its own uniquely weird and wonderful fever dream of a vision that is worth getting lost in. Not only is it damn funny, with each of the lines delivered by a dynamic Drew landing perfectly, but it’s a genuinely incisive work of cinematic reflection that's the exact type of kick in the pants the often empty genre could use. It deserves to be seen. I guess I’m saying is #FREETHEPEOPLESJOKER! (Northwest Film Forum, multiple showtimes through April 28, $7-$14) CHASE HUTCHINSON
SATURDAY 4/20
Happy Record Store Day!
(MUSIC) Whether you're looking for special RSD releases or just want to support your local record store, drag yourself out of bed bright and early this Record Store Day as shops around town fill up with vinyl-hungry shoppers. Participation varies from store to store, but expect sales and exclusive merch, extended hours, in-store performances, and other special events. There are several special releases from PNW-born bands this year, including Death Cab For Cutie's Live at the Showbox, Fleet Foxes's Live on Boston Harbor, Mudhoney's Suck You Dry: The Reprise Years, Pearl Jam's Dark Matter, and Sleater-Kinney's This Time/Here Today. Check out the RSD website for a full list of participating stores. (Various locations, read more about our favorite local records stores and see the the full line-up of events here) AUDREY VANN
SUNDAY 4/21Dancing With the Dead: Red Pine and the Art of Translation
(FILM) Co-presented with SIFF, Elliott Bay Book Company, Asia Society Seattle, and Copper Canyon Press, this documentary explores the life of renowned Chinese poetry translator (and Port Townsend resident) Bill Porter, whose pen name is Red Pine. Achieving near-cult status in China as "a Westerner who has made a significant contribution to Chinese culture," Red Pine encourages seeking enlightenment through poetry and mountain solitude. He'll attend the screening for a Q&A with director Ward Serrill, a conversation moderated by Civic Poet of Seattle Shin Yu Pai, and a book signing. Singer Spring Cheng will set the mood. (SIFF Cinema Egyptian, 805 E Pine St, 2 pm, $18.50, all ages) LINDSAY COSTELLO
MONDAY 4/22(FILM) If you aren't riveted by the prospect of this film, well, we're two very different people. David and Nathan Zellner's Sasquatch Sunset follows a family of Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) over the course of one year, as they wander, grunt, and munch mushrooms in North America's foggy forests. Riley Keough and Jesse Eisenberg star, and they look like this. We owe it to them to go see this film as payment for the zillion hours they spent having prosthetics applied. (SIFF Cinema Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave N, multiple screenings through April 25, $14.50-$15.50) LINDSAY COSTELLO
TUESDAY 4/23Tessa Hulls with Michelle Peñaloza and Jane Wong
See Tessa Hulls at Elliott Bay Book Company Tuesday, April 23. Photo by GRITCHELLE FALLESGON
(BOOKS) "It’s a shame that Tessa Hulls will never write another graphic novel," said Rich Smith in a recent review of Feeding Ghosts. "The 400-page odyssey holds its own in the company of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, Art Spiegelman’s Maus, Thi Bui’s The Best We Could Do, or any of the other major comic works that feature immigrants, the children of immigrants, and refugees processing the generational traumas sparked by the horrors, bloodshed, and diasporas of the 20th century. No shit. It’s just that good." Hulls, the lead artist in the recently closed Wing Luke Museum exhibition Nobody Lives Here, has been developing her genre-bending graphic memoir Feeding Ghosts for the last decade. The tome tells the story of three generations of women in her family—her Chinese grandmother Sun Yi, a bestselling author and journalist in Shanghai during the '49 Communist victory; her mother, who came to the United States and eventually cared for Sun Yi; and herself. At 30, Hulls begins to reflect on her travels to Antarctica and how she might be running from her own history—Feeding Ghosts meets the reader there. Hulls will be joined by writers Michelle Peñaloza and Jane Wong, whose recent memoir, Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City, traces her upbringing in a Chinese takeout restaurant on the Jersey shore. (Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 10th Ave, 7 pm, free, all ages) LINDSAY COSTELLO
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