All your musical happenings, from the return of Built to Spill to the Third Annual Friends of Empyrean show Leah Sottile

Hillyard’s metal marauders have a new record in the works Jon Brown

Lounge music for the Robot Chicken generation Chris Dreyer

Sometimes even seasoned rockers like Doug Martsch get creatively fatigued Alan Sculley

The latest from the Mars Volta's Rodriguez-Lop is still littered with wonderfully characteristic weirdness, but it’s still good — even easy — to crack open. Chris Dreyer

And for that, Swords gives us exactly what we’ve come to expect: agonizingly introspective, histrionic Sturm und Drang. Jeff Echert

Leave it to a kid from the CD generation to make tapes cool again Leah Sottile

Before he was the escaped fair guy, he was Philly Willy. And now his music is getting more attention than ever. Leah Sottile

Made up of four of Spokane’s punk legends, Ze Krau is about the closest thing we’ve got to a super-group Leah Sottile

The Senator from Spokane has the floor on his latest release, The Filibuster Joel Hartse

10cc Love Affair has circled the globe without leaving town (yet) Jeff Echert

Is Henry Nordstrom the saddest man in Spokane? Leah Sottile

Until now, I hadn’t heard of him — and if you haven’t either, I strongly suggest you check him out. Leah Sottile

The Fire Department doesn’t want us to catch on fire. Local venues feel like they don’t want us to have a scene either Nicholas Deshais