It's been a tough go for the tour put together by [redacted] (a figure so loathesome I'm not going to mention his name here, although last time I did, I wrote approvingly of violence against him): it's been plagued by low ticket sales and one of the headliners, the insanely talented Norwegian pop star Ida Maria, dropped off the tour after a meltdown on-stage last week in Boston. There are two silver linings here: the first is that the lineup for this tour, which includes a stop next Monday (September 28) at the Showbox at the Market, still has a great lineup with Ladyhawke and glam rockers Semi Precious Weapons; the second is that Ida Maria is being replaced by Natalie Portman's Shaved Head for the remainder of the tour, which began for them last Friday in Chicago.

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If you are looking to dance on Fischer Green during Bumbershoot, Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head will deliver the beat to get you moving your feet. Their electro thrash has been garnering them attention since their debut show at the opening of 826 Seattle in 2004. Last year they released their first full-length album, Glistening Pleasure, and they have recently wrapped up a tour with Lily Allen. They mix together MGMT dance hooks with Le Tigre tongue-in-check lyrics and melodies that make them widely appealing.

These kids are not messing around and you should return the favor by checking them out because they don’t fail to deliver a good time singing songs about facial hair to a bunch of kids with facial hair. Heck, even if their flair for combining sing-along harmonies with hand claps and Technicolor keyboards layered over each other till you go cross-eyed, doesn’t appeal to you, it will still be a spectacle worth watching. See them Saturday at 2:30 on Fischer Green during Bumbershoot or see below, if you don't believe me.

(Photo by Stefan Moore from myspace.com/natalieportmansshavedhead)

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Lily Allen plays at the Showbox Sodo with Natalie Portman's Shaved Head tonight.

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I doubt this is an April Fool's joke so I'll put it out there, Bumbershoot announced the first list of acts to play this year. There are certainly some that I'm really excited to see (some again) and others I'll pass on.

I know there'll be a lot of people bitching about Katy Perry but remember that booking her sells tickets that pay for other acts and you can choose to do something else while she plays.

Here's the roster so far:

Sheryl Crow / Modest Mouse / Katy Perry / Michael Franti & Spearhead / De La Soul / Raphael Saadiq / Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan / The Long Winters / Sly & Robbie & the Taxi Gang / World Party / MSTRKRFT / Roy Ayers / Common Market / UH HUH HER / Dave Alvin and The Guilty Women / Eric Hutchinson / No Age / Matt & Kim / Dead Confederate / The Cave Singers / Swollen Members / Vieux Farka Touré / Lenka / Gang Gang Dance / Todd Snider / Holy F**k / DJ Spooky / Iglu & Hartly / Low vs Diamond / Sera Cahoone / Eleni Mandell / Carrie Rodriguez / The Honey Brothers / Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head / Extra Golden / Cordero / Forgive Durden / Hey Marseilles / Adrian Xavier, and much, much more to be announced.

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Tonight Natalie Portman's Shaved Head plays a benefit for The Vera Project at The Vera Project.

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Upset. The word of the our 2008 Best Northwest Releases of 2008 Readers' Poll is upset.

With the Fleet Foxes winning readers and critical polls alike, who would've thought they wouldn't get top honors in our humble little Northwest poll? But they didn't -- they placed a distant second to New Faces, another debut record from some very talented, very young Northwest fellas.

We had other surprises as well, with unsigned newcomers such as Hey Marseilles, the Kindness Kind, and Kaylee Cole cracking the top ten, beating out Northwest heavyweights such as Death Cab for Cutie. We did not expect that. And we love it when you surprise us, dear readers.

We imaginaries like to champion the up-and-comers from the Northwest, and our results indicate that you do as well. We think you all also have fabulous taste, as always. Thanks to everyone who participated in our poll. We couldn't be more proud or thrilled to present the top 50 winners on your behalf...

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I'm a chronic procrastinator, so here it is, January 5th, and I'm finally ready to make sense of the musical chaos and wonderment that was 2008 and compile a list of favorites.

Don't even try to make me rank these releases in order, or I'll never, ever finish my list. Let's just say these were some of the very best local bands in my iTunes list this year, presented alphabetically.

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Seattle-based post-teenage electro-pop sensations Natalie Portman's Shaved Head have just announced a mini-tour with none other than Saddle Creek Records' band the Faint.

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We're still reeling from the rock and roll madness that was the Capitoll Hill Block Party this weekend. We have so many great words and photos from all the great shows, which you can read here.

We've pulled out a few of our favorite photos for a quick view of the amazing weekend.

Here are the best of the best, so far, after the jump. Which are your favorites?

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This shot of Natalie Portman's Shaved Head by Kyle Johnson gives me shivers, it's so good.

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