Amin Ghaziani @ Elliott Bay Book Company
Literary events don’t get much more topical than this: There Goes the Gayborhood? is a densely reported book about the disappearing gay neighborhood. Sociologist Amin Ghaziani uses census data, polling information, dozens of personal interviews, and historical data to discuss the changing nature of urban gay life and investigate whether gayborhoods are even necessary anymore. With Capitol Hill seemingly becoming more heterosexual—and worse, homophobic—by the minute, this book couldn’t have arrived at a more pivotal moment. What’s going to happen to Seattle’s gay mecca? Can Capitol Hill be saved? Tune in tonight. PAUL CONSTANT

Dream Police, Darto and Guests @ Black Lodge
Not to be confused with the Chicago-based Cheap Trick tribute band, New York’s Dream Police are a garage-rock project including members of the Men. Their first release via Sacred Bones, Hypnotized, is a dazed ’n’ dated garage regurgitation, shuffling from quasi-psychedelic Kurt Vile–esque dad-rockery to unobtrusively krautrock-fueled, ’80s-centric synth lines without much new to offer. While they may not be hypnotizing anyone soon, Darto deserve your attention. The sibling-composed post-rock band’s latest album, Hex, is one of this year’s best local releases. Their Slint-devoted, early Sonic Youth–esque tension fest is not something you’d normally expect of a “family band,” but Darto make a special sort of post-noise-rock dirge that casts a cathartic spell. BRITTNIE FULLER

MMOB and Critters Buggin @ Nectar
As they proved at the recent Hypnotikon Psych Fest, Master Musicians of Bukkake thrive on surprise and change. For that show, the local ensemble of sonic explorers formed a semicircle, and every member—except for vocalist Brad Mowen, who did an interpretative dance and chanted—strapped on an electric guitar and generated an overwhelmingly oppressive drone that bulldozed you into an existential quagmire. It was glorious. Not sure what they have planned for tonight, but experience tells me that it will elevate you out of consensus reality’s current shitshow. Critters Buggin emerge out of a long dormancy—their last album, the wonderfully eclectic Stampede, came out in 2004—to reheat their freaky yet disciplined funk, fusion, twisted exotica, and off-kilter world-beat offerings. These imaginative, deft musicians rarely play out anymore, so step lively. DAVE SEGAL

Matrixxman & Guests @ Kremwerk
For this final version of the Casual Encounters monthly, promoter Cody Morrison and his High & Tight clique have brought in San Francisco’s Matrixxman, a new star on the Spectral Sound imprint. He’s another young producer finding clever ways to commingle elements of techno and house, some 30 years after these genres were birthed. Matrixxman creates tracks that please both those into the science of sound design and the folks who just want to move their bodies with carefree glee. Dig the subtle melodic variations and inventive percussion accents on Matrixxman’s excellent 2014 EP, Amulet, and on cuts like “808 State of Mind.” Casual Encounters is going out with class—just how it came in. DAVE SEGAL

Noisefold @ Cornish Playhouse
A multimedia exploration of noise/vision and their manifold possibilities by Cory Metcalf and David Stout, the artists co-exhibiting with video art pioneers Steina and Woody Vasulka in Cornish's galleries currently. With an opening performance by CLEE (Cornish Live Electronic Ensemble).

Explore the world of possibilities that is Seattle.