[HIP-HOP] + FRI, NOV. 21

The 25Z60 (Tacoma/Olympia/Lacey & beyond) chapter of The Universal Zulu Nation is hosting a free party in celebration of Hip-Hop History Month for those who respect and love hip-hop. There will be MCs, DJs, B-Boy/Girls and visual arts/graffiti cyphers all night. The Zulu Nation and Temple of Hip-Hop ask all to bring canned food, non-perishables and clothing to redistribute to those in need within our communities. {JOSE GUTIERREZ}

HIP-HOP HISTORY JAM, 8 p.m., New World VIP, 8722 S. Tacoma Way, Lakewood, no cover, facebook.com/Z53universal

[BLUES] + SAT, NOV. 22

This is a huuuuuge week for live music in T-town, so when our esteemed editor insisted on squeezing in an obscure folk-and-blues band from Santa Cruz, I was intrigued. Then I listened to the album, and all became clear. Marty O'Reilly & the Old Soul Orchestra is one hell of an outfit. I've started calling them the Old School Orchestra, as their music puts me in mind of someone's porch in a gator-bait bayou where people have names like Fingerless Earl, Jimmy Gumbo and Jailhouse Jackson. Yes, you'll hear echoes of Andrew Bird. Yes, Howlin' Wolf and Tom Waits were influences. But really, this is one of those times when the word esoteric comes in handy for critical purposes. It means the trio grabbed everything good from every hallowed genre of American traditional music, then piled on evocative lyrics: "She was my three-legged dog ... It's not the body of the beast that holds its spirit." Man, this stuff goes down finer than crawfish étouffée. {CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL}

MARTY O'REILLY & THE OLD SOUL ORCHESTRA, 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Doyle's Public House, 208 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma, no cover, 253.272.7468

[ART PUNK] + SUN, NOV. 23

Something tells me, despite their name, that Pampers aren't one bit concerned with comforting anyone. Coming from New York, Pampers bring a sonic onslaught that rarely, if ever, lets up. Listening to the art-punk band is something like trying to restrain a maniac on speed - there's just no getting out of there with cuts, bruises and hair getting ripped out of your head. It's all thrashing and wailing, with the occasional sonic oddity thrown into the mix to make everything just a little bit more disorienting. Pampers are signed to In the Red Records, which is currently at the vanguard of no-nonsense garage punk - so take that as a sign that going to a Pampers show is a take-no-prisoners situation. If you don't wake up the next day feeling like you got the shit kicked out of you, you're doing Pampers wrong. {REV. ADAM MCKINNEY}

PAMPERS, w/ OBN III's, Nudity, 8 p.m., Northern, 414 ½ Legion Way, Olympia, cover tba, olympiallages.org

[ALT-COUNTRY] + MON, NOV. 24

Hip Hatchet is the project of alt-country singer-songwriter Philippe Bronchtein, who has a uniquely gifted sense of setting a melancholy mood. His songs are drenched in loneliness, without ever quite dipping too deeply into the well of sadness. On record, accompanied by a small group of supporting musicians, Bronchtein music swells and rises with a winsome energy. Seen solo, Hip Hatchet becomes about one man nimbly exploring his guitar, his oaken tenor guiding the audience through more than just dusty trails and mangy dogs. Hailing from Portland, Oregon, Hip Hatchet's brand of folk has a distinctively Pacific Northwestern feel. Joining Hip Hatchet for a performance in the intimate Le Voyeur is Christopher Paul Stelling, a New Yorker who brings a fiery, frantic strum that should balance out Hip Hatchet's bucolic fingerpicking quite well.

HIP HATCHET, w/ Christopher Paul Stelling, Paul Mauer, 10 p.m., Le Voyeur, 303 E. Fourth Ave., Olympia, $5, 360.943.5710