MUSICAL GOODNESS IN STORE IN PRINT & ONLINE >>>

Despite most of our staff's insistence that news of the SEALS-style smackdown assassination of Osama bin Laden Sunday night automatically required a national day off Monday for red, white and blue bloat drinks, sparklers and double bacon cheeseburgers - and many of them took this day off even though Obama never issued the Osama is Dead National Holiday declaration - we still managed to produce a Weekly Volcano music section this week. Honestly, it was fairly miraculous.

Here's a look at the goodness in store in print and online ...

THAO AND MIRAH

The joining of Thao and Mirah is so exciting precisely because of how unique their voices and artistic visions are, and how harmoniously they unite. That another strong presence - Merrill Garbus of the brilliant tUnE-yArDs - is felt throughout Thao and Mirah's self-titled record, via co-production and some co-songwriting, makes the success of this balancing act all the more impressive. - Rev. Adam McKinney

THE COMA COLLECTIVE

While it would be unfair to call Tacoma's underage music scene comatose, there seems to be no shortage of locals who think it needs a good shot in the arm.

Among them are Shayne Weeks (Slushy, on-hiatus Makeup Monsters) and Sam Olsen (Red Hex), two young, doggedly creative musicians spearheading the Coma Collective, an arts contingent in the mode of Elephant 6. The Collective is currently enjoying a three-month creative residency at an abandoned Pacific Avenue property, courtesy of Spaceworks, the city-sponsored pro-arts initiative that converts empty storefronts into havens and "points of interest" for Tacoma's creative subculture. - Jason Baxter

JAY BARZ

So what's the big deal about another weed album from another rapper? There have been SO many weed-oriented hip-hop albums that it's almost a cliché. So what could Barz possibly give us that's not played out? How about reality weed-rap - that's what I'd call it. Instead of giving listeners the angles we've heard from dozens of MCs before, Barz takes weed rap to a new, realistic everyday-life-struggle level. - Josh Rizeberg

VACANT FEVER

The aesthetic side of Seattle duo Vacant Fever is just as well-realized as the sun-baked garage rock sounds heard on the band's recent free-to-download album, Heparin & Saline. Their indelible block-lettered logo sears into the mind - have I seen it all over town, or does it just feel like I have? They maintain a tasteful Tumblr blog and website, and even their scanned, hand-drawn lyric sheets have an ineffable beauty to them. - JB

PLUS: Better Living Through Music  - Slushy, Aces Up, Tim Reynolds Trio

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PLUS: Live local music listings

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