Friday, Aug. 13: C.L.A.W.S.

Northern

By Jason Baxter on August 11, 2010

C.L.A.W.S. is the project of San Franciscan Brian D. Hock, an unlikely West Coast underground talent (and radio DJ) whose booming beats and wintry digital blips would sound right at home in the famed clubs of Cologne, the world capital for all things komische. Hock, who gleaned inspiration from time spent grooving in Berlin's inimitable electro scene, shares many qualities with the gifted gearheads of German über-label Kompakt (Justus Köhncke, Thomas Fehlmann, Ferenc, and Scsi 9, to name a few), including an appreciation of sub-bass rattle, 4/4 house rhythms and icy textural flourishes. Any low-key electronic aesthete capable of holding their own against Deutschland's microhouse heavyweights is definitely worth catching. The other performers on this bill are also sure to bring the heat-expect a well-rounded evening of narcotic digital sounds. 

[The Northern, with Joey Casio, Finesse, Global Warming, and Prints, 9 p.m., all ages, $6-$10, 321 Fourth Ave., Olympia, northernolympia.org]