Though music scenes have shifted and grown, in the Pacific Northwest, Olympia has maintained its status as a hub of musical experimentation. It should come as no surprise that they hold the premier South Sound festival for exploring the farther reaches of musical expression. Friday marks the 20th anniversary of the Olympia Experimental Music Festival and, as much as the music remains an intangible wonder, the festival itself remains comfortably in the same niche that it established for itself two decades ago.

The Experimental Music Festival was formed in 1995 by KAOS DJ Jim McAdams as, fittingly, an experiment to see if Olympia could successfully support a series of shows from outer-edge artists.

Read Rev. Adam McKinney's full feature on the Olympia Experimental Music Festival in the Music & Culture section.

OLYMPIA EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC FESTIVAL, 7-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 27-28, 4-8 p.m. Sunday, June 29, all ages, Northern, 414 1/2 Legion Way, Olympia, $10 per show or $25 for a festival pass, northernolympia.org

SCHEDULE

Friday: Elliott Sharp (solo and with Joe Trump), New York City; Peter Randlette, Olympia; Dead Air Fresheners, Olympia, with spoken-word artist Jennifer Robin, Portland; KnotPineBox, Olympia; J.D. Helwig, Portland; Big Tom the Lithuanian, Olympia

Saturday: Mark Hosler of Negativland (North Carolina); Impulsive Machinations (Portland); Arrington De Dionyso (Olympia); Ton Trio II (Oakland, Calif.); Chaostic Magic (Seattle); Giant Worm (Olympia and Portland)

Sunday: Replikants (Olympia); Malaise (Seattle); Derek M. Johnson (Olympia); L.A. Lungs (Olympia and Tacoma); Four Dimensional Nightmare vs. Infradead (Seattle and Tacoma); Overdose the Katatonic (Seattle)