Last week had a good number of quality shows scattered throughout it, this week has a lot more quality shows concentrated on specific nights. Just take a look at what's available tonight

It's about to go down at the classy Comet Tavern for Sportn’ Life's Basement Party. D. Black, Spaceman, Fatal Lucciano, and SK will bring their expert flows, fiery stage presences and Central District swag to Capitol Hill for what will undoubtedly be a beer-soaked, hands-in-the-air kind of affair. These rappers should put on a clinic in how to rock the house in this crowded dive bar setting for only $5.

When was the last time you heard the Ear Candy theme song?

What's that? You've never heard the Ear Candy theme song? Well, that's about to change. Click the play button below and, as the song goes, stick it in your ear.

WE WROTE THE BOOK ON CONNECTORS: "EAR CANDY"

Now that you're listening, allow me to give you a little bit of backstory involving the song. "Ear Candy" was written and performed by We Wrote the Book on Connectors, or WE for short. If you aren't familiar with WE check out this review of their most recent Seattle show which was an opening set for Discs of Fury at the Crocodile. In short, WE is a band of five fun, goofy and dorky guys who sing silly and catchy songs (case and point "Ear Candy," which hopefully you're listening to right now). They also end a lot of their songs by shouting "Hooray," a word that isn't used nearly enough in everyday life. They also invented something they call "moustache rock."

Record Store Day, the annual event where indie record shops offer tons of exclusive goodies to music fans in celebration of independent record stores, will be here on April 17.

 Last year Seattle's own Sub Pop Records celebrated Record Store Day with the release of some limited-edition vinyl offerings from Bllitzen Trapper, Flight of the Conchords and more. This year Sub Pop stepped up its game a bit with some pretty cool releases including a benefit CD of live performances from 2008's two-day SP 20 celebration (that's the cover of the album over there on the left) and a limited-edition 7" reissue of Soundgarden's first Sub Pop single "Hunted Down" with "Nothing to Say" as the B-side. If you weren't at SP 20 check out the review of Day 1 here and the review of Day 2 here.

 Here are the details of the Soundgarden and SP 20 releases as well as  the rest of Sub Pop's Record Store Day offerings straight from the peeps at Sub Pop

Minus the Bear is gearing up to release its new album, Omni, on May 4. "My Time," the lead single from the album, was released as a free download yesterday. You can listen to the track, which features heavy use of a Japanese Omnichord synthesizer, below and get your free download of the song by clicking here. Minus the Bear's local tour stop supporting the album will be at this year's Sasquatch! Music Festival, however, you can see the band prior to Memorial Day Weekend during an in-store performance at Sonic Boom Records on Record Store Day (April17). I'll post more details (such as which Sonic Boom and the set time) as they are made available.

MINUS THE BEAR: "MY TIME"

No-Fi Soul Rebellion is the husband-wife dance-rock duo of Mark and Andrea Heimer. Currently based out of Bellingham, the pair are known for putting on fun, energetic live shows that typically include the band setting up their gear in the crowd with Mark running all over the place with a 50-foot microphone cord as he sings, screams and dances. More on the No-Fi Soul Rebellion live experience later this week, but needless to say No-Fi show isn't a spectator sport, which is why Ear Candy likes Mark and Andrea so much and is thrilled to have No-Fi headline Ear Candy's Birthday Bash 2010 Sunday at Nectar Lounge ($6, 8 p.m.). The above video is the failed attempt to film a video for "!" off the group's 2008 album Terrible Muscles. Mark calls it the worst music video ever, but I've seen worse.

This just in from the awesome news department: Sunny Day Real Estate is entering the recording studio in May to record a new album

 That's what Marco Collins, former KNDD and current KEXP jock, reported on his Twitter account late Monday night. Collins wrote that he received an e-mail from SDRE/Foo Fighter member Nate Mendel stating the band would be recording in May.

The band, Jeremy Enigk, William Goldsmith, Dan Hoerner and Mendel, reunited last year and during the reunion tour SDRE performed a new song which was one of a few signs that the reunion was going well. You can read my review of the band's homecoming stop on the tour here. Another sign things were working out during the reunion were the constant smiles on the faces of Enigk and the rest of the band during the show. Peep the photo proof of the smiles here.

The kids are alright.

Those words of Pete Townshend rang true during the finals of Experience Music Project’s Sound Off! competition, which showcased some of the brightest rising stars in Northwest music Saturday night (March 6).

The final round of the four-week, underage battle of the bands featured four groups that showed remarkable talent, musicianship, and poise, all delivered with the passion and vigor of youth.

Sound Off! is more than your typical battle of the bands. The contest focuses on young musicians who are 21 and younger, and at stake is more than just getting to be the cool kids in the cafeteria. The winner of Sound Off! gets a slot at Bumbershoot 2010 (although I suppose that might earn you popularity points in the lunchroom, too).

I can't wait for somebody to create a routine to "Big Dumb Sex."

As detailed in this week's Ramos Recs, Snoop Dogg is coming to town for two shows in Seattle. The first show happens Friday. It is sold out and features openers Grynch and Helladope. The second show, which hasn't sold out yet, is Saturday night and sees Macklemore and Heladope opening again. Ear Candy won't be attending either of those shows, but since Snoop is a legend, here is my review of the last time Snoop came to the Evergreen state. The show happened at the Gorge Amphitheatre last summer. The review was originally posted on July 19, 2009.

To call Queerbait!, a new project involving Gina Young (she of Team Gina fame), different would be an understatement.

The group is difficult to describe and they are not like any other acts gracing stages in Seattle, which is one of the many reasons I am thrilled to have them as part of Ear Candy's Birthday Bash 2010 at Nectar Lounge

Queerbait! is really more of a performance art multimedia project than it is a band and its live shows look to be equally visually intriguing and musically entertaining (see videos below). The core lineup consists of two modern dancers (Meredith Meiko and Tova Eisner), a visual artist (Johanna Breiding) and a musician (Gina Young). Not much is more is known about Queerbait! because they have a limited web presence, no recorded material and the group has only performed one live show. But from the videos you get a glimpse of lots of interesting costumes, makeup and some rapping in German. While the project is in its infancy,  I've been told the group intends future collaborations with musicians like Kamikavi and Radio Sloan, and queer theorists/academics like E.L. Hunter and Marisa Ragonese.

See, I told you they are unlike anything happening in Seattle.