I usually lose interest in “American Idol” after they chase off all the crazy and/or tone deaf people in the first couple of episodes. Snarky Simon has much better material to work with when they’re around. But it looks like I better do my homework this year since “Idol” appears to be on its way to Tacoma in early September.

“American Idols Live” will drop by the Tacoma Dome on Sept. 2, according to the Web site for concert trade publication Pollstar. The show will feature contestants Ace Young, Bucky Covington, Chris Daughtry, Elliott Yamin, Katharine McPhee, Kellie

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As soon as I heard that Digital Underground’s Shock G, aka Humpty, aka "the one that put the satin on your panties," would be at the Brickyard Project on Friday, a visit to the downtown all ages club shot straight to the top of my Thursday night agenda.

But what I knew little about beforehand was the Northwest Beat Battle, a competition that pitted 16 local beatmeisters against one another for the top prize, 350 bones. I’d seen freestyle and DJ contests before, and this was an interesting twist. Producers would step

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I’m a big fan of Massive Attack, so I was thrilled that they picked Seattle for their first U.S. show in eight years. I was even more thrilled that half of the 14 songs they delivered Wednesday at the Paramount came from "Mezzanine," easily one of my favorite albums of the ’90s.

The Bristol outfit is officially down to two guys – Robert "3D" del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall – who were backed by a tight five-piece band that included two drummers. The Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser, Horace Andy and Debra Miller also rotated in to counter-balance

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I spent more than a half hour on the horn with Massive Attack’s Daddy G. And here’s what he had to say about a few other topics.

On Andrew “Mushroom” Vowles leaving the group:

Mushroom clip

On their peers in Portishead actually finishing that studio album they’ve been working on for the better part of a decade (The Geoff he mentions is Portishead’s Geoff Barrow) and parallels between Seattle and his native Bristol:

Portishead clip

On the evolution of Massive’s live sound:

Live clip

After a couple of tech upgrades, a bit of training and considerable gnashing of teeth, I can finally post sound on this blasted blog. And what better way to start the audible portion of this thing than with one of my favorite groups, Massive Attack?

The edgy British dub outfit will perform Wednesday night at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre, one of only three U.S. stops the Bristol-based duo will make this spring.

Their psychotropic masterpeice “Mezzanine” is one of my favorite albums of the past decade — an essential electronica disc if I’ve ever heard one — so

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I’ll admit it. The Bring the Noise blog was soooo 2005. It needed a serious overhaul so I could post sound clips, video and do all sorts other stuff already showcased on high falutin’ blogs, like Seahawks Insider. Hence my not posting anything for a week or two.

And with a little help from our resident Web gurus (well, a lot of help) mission accomplished. For starters, you’ll be able to surf on over to this blog on a weekly basis to not only read about all the various rockers, rappers and pop stars I interview, but also

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