RECENT ARTICLES

For any fan of National Public Radio, the names “Fresh Air,” “This American Life” and “Prairie Home Companion” are quite familiar. But there’s another program quickly rising up the NPR listener ranks: the Pacific Northwest-based variety hour “Live Wire!,” which will host a live show Saturday (Sept. 10) at the Neptune Theatre.

In the male-dominated world of hip-hop, it’s not easy to be a woman. It’s even harder if you’re a woman of color who identifies as queer.

But that’s exactly the position Christy Karefa-Johnson — aka Seattle-based hip-hop artist DoNormaal — finds herself in.

For the psychedelic soul singer and producer SassyBlack, who will release her first solo record, “No More Weak Dates,” on Tuesday (May 17) at Barboza, much of what shapes her aesthetic has roots in things odd and uneven.

Bands are often described as creating “driving” songs — as if their melodies and rhythms propelled the listener forward. But with Seattle hip-hop duo Sleep Steady — at the Central Saloon on Wednesday (May 11) for the next BAD DAD Collective showcase — that descriptor is especially apt. These guys make music they want to listen to in the car.

It still brings tears to Erik Blood’s eyes. 

“It” being the final track on his new record, “Lost in Slow Motion,” which the Seattle producer will celebrate with a release show Saturday (April 30) at the High Dive. 

Sinking into a small, orange-cushioned chair in his dark studio near the old Rainier Brewery, Blood seems lost in thought. He’s staring into space as “Out This Way” — that final track — plays on his monitors. He sips a cup of coffee, tears percolating in the corners of his eyes.

Rapper Vince Staples — playing the Neptune Theatre on Wednesday (March 2) — understands that a great deal of life is contradiction.

That idea is succinctly summed up in his song “Lift Me Up,” the second track from his 2015 double-album release, “Summertime ’06,” in which he raps, “I need to fight the power, but I need that new Ferrari.”

Time travelers live among us.

Take, for example, Ishmael Butler, frontman for the classic ’90s rap group Digable Planets and the current avant-garde duo Shabazz Places. Both are playing Seattle this week — the former at the Moore Theatre on Wednesday (Dec. 30), marking the first reunion for Digable Planets since 2011.