It's been six years since British trip-hop duo Massive Attack released "100th Window," the band's last proper studio album. (Let's forget about that tepid, instrumental soundtrack for "Danny the Dog" from 2004.) And increasingly it's been looking as if the duo, Daddy G and Robert "3D" del Naja, were going the way of their Bristol, England homies Portishead, who took 11 years to release last year's phenomenal "Third."

The good news today is that fans won't have to wait quite that long. Today, EMI Music announced that a four-song Massive Attack EP called "Splitting the Atom" will be released on Oct. 6 followed by a full-length album next February.

The EP title track features long-time Massive collaborator Horace Andy. The disc will also include "Pray for Rain," with vocals from TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe, and remixes of two tracks called "Psyche" and "Bulletproof Love," according to today's announcement.

Listen to what appears to be a leaked version of lead single "Splitting the Atom" here.

Details remain foggy regarding the follow-up album. But When I interviewed Daddy G before Massive's 2006 tour stop in Seattle, he told me that he and del Naja had approached punk icon Patti Smith, David Bowie, Faith No More's Mike Patton and others about appearing on the album.

Patton later told me he had cut four songs with Massive Attack, not including a collaboration called "Kill the DJ" for his Peeping Tom project.

USC Events' birthday bash is always a prime spot for catching some of the biggest names in electronic music. And the Crystal Method is among the big deals coming to USC 12, which is set for Saturday (May 30) at Seattle’s WaMu Theatre.

Recently, I caught up with Scott Kirkland, half of the electronic duo, which is best known for '90s hits "Keep Hope Alive" and "Name of the Game." Click the links to hear what he had to say about …

… early tour experiences in Seattle …

… collaborating with Peter Hook, Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle and others on the new “Divided by Night” album …

… and the increasingly blurred lines between electronic music and other styles.

Bart Leland of Big Media Inc. tells me that the Prodigy, the Crystal Method and Kaskade have been tapped for USC 12, which is set for May 30 at the WaMu Theatre. There's more info on the big, annual electronic dance over on the USC Events site.

The block rockin’ beats are comin’ to Tacoma's Robert Daniel Gallery.

On Jan. 31, the art spot will host Fresh Air, a showcase of regional DJs and visual artists organized by South Sound Collective and Pacific Fusion Productions.

Tacoma and Seattle DJs Jimmy Hoffa, Jeromy Nail, Mr. Clean, Big Chuck and D:Fi will give you something to listen and groove to as they man the wheels of steel (or laptops and Kaos Pads, and whatever DJs lug around these days.) Meanwhile, artists Jeremy Gregory, L. L. Eklund, HERA, PFP, Jeff Olson, GRYM and Alice Engelhardt will give you something to tantalize your eyes. The event kicks off at 10 p.m. and is open to 18 and older. There's a flier posted on the NW Tekno site with more details.

But my fault. I'm actually kind of burying the lead. The potentially big news, is that organizers are hoping to put on some sort of monthly event along these lines. “My partner and I are currently working with the owners on doing a monthly event there,” Matt Eklund of Pacific Fusion wrote me the other day. Click the links for more info, and stay tuned.

I checked out Pollstar the other day and noticed a bunch of electronic musicians and DJs listed for Halloween at Seattle's WaMu Theater: Moby, DJ Icey, Paul Van Dyk, etc. Hey! Must be USC Events' annual Freak Night rave!

The event is also part of the Crystal Method's just announced national tour, too. Here's a snippet from a related press release that just arrived in my inbox:

THE CRYSTAL METHOD--the electronic duo of Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland--have been hard at work crafting their fourth studio album. Details of the still-untitled release (due out in early 2009) will be revealed at a later date, but fans around North America will be able to experience the new recordings on a buzz DJ tour bringing the duo to WAMU THEATRE in Seattle, WA on October 31.

The tour launches in Newport Beach, CA and consists of over 30 weekend DJ appearances that will carry on to the end of December. Every weekend the duo will appear at the hottest clubs in America such as Ruby Skye in San Francisco, Ampersand in New Orleans and Vision in Chicago, testing out their new material along with their favorite tracks. They’ll also dip into secondary and tertiary tour markets like El Paso, Knoxville and Columbus.

“Band in a box.” That’s the general concept behind Saturday night’s electronic music showcase at Bob’s Java Jive, according to Tacoma singer-songwriter Deborah Page, one of the acts scheduled to perform.

For the past several months, Page and band mate Paul Uhl have cut their teeth at the Jive, Sanford & Son Antiques & Auctions and other local venues. Page’s singing reminded me a bit of Natalie Merchant when I spun her CD “Stay.” And the duo produces a breezy style of pop that melds folky guitar melodies with electronic textures and looped drum beats.

That combination makes the outfit a bit of a square peg on Tacoma’s rock scene. Page recalled drawing interest about performing at a local festival, only to have it wane once organizers learned her band was a laptop-enhanced duo.

“They wanted to see a drummer, and they wanted to see a bass player,” recalled Page, who goes by Deborah Ritchie offstage. “And that’s a little bit of the trouble we’re running into. People think one guy and a guitar or two people and guitars. They’re not gonna have the sound we want, even though we sound huge.”

The aim of Saturday’s gig was to bring together like-minded, digital music enthusiasts on one bill. Bandolier, Bumtech, the Story of Light and Dark and DJ Darrren Select will also perform.

“The genre of what we fall into is kind of difficult,” Page said. “So we talked to some of the people at the Java Jive and tried to get a like-sounding group together. Some of it’s more electronica. But it’s all integrating the computers with the live vocals, with the guitars and music that we’ve all written.”

Making music digitally has afforded the group great freedom, she said. “Everything we’ve written ourselves, recorded ourselves and mastered ourselves. That’s why it’s cool with the band in the box thing. You’re just like this one unit that just goes around, and you can present your music, and we sound like a full band.”

Saturday’s show kicks off at 8 p.m., and there is a $5 cover charge; 253-536-5729 for more details.

But Old Town will be the place to be for blues fans on Saturday when the 16th annual Old Town Blues Festival takes over Slavonian Hall, the Spar Tavern, the Mountaineers Club and Old Town Park.

This year’s lineup includes Portland’s JoeMcMurrian Quartet, Billy Roy Danger & the Rectifiers, Becki Sue & the Big Rockin’ Daddies, Loose Gravel, Junkyard Jane, Alex Weed, Jay Mabin, Tim Hall Band, local legends Little Bill & the Blue Notes and more.

Many of Saturday’s performances are free. But cost is $5 each or $20 for an all-day pass to catch Brown & Blues Band, Billy Roy Danger & the Recftifiers, Angel Grace and local legends Little Bill & the Blue Notes at the Mountaineers Club and the Blues Café at Slavonian Hall; 253-759-2518.

The video for this British dubstep track is one my favorite clips of the past few months, and I've been meaning to post it for a while. And be warned. This is what listening to your stereo with the bass up too loud will do to you, kids.

There! I did it. Came up with another Useless Trivia (Wednesday) quiz while waiting for Kate Nash to call.

Anyway, if you read this blog very often, you know I love me some Portishead. My column on Friday is about their first album in 11 years. So let’s see who else is with me. Warning: This is the toughest trivia challenge yet. And if you know more than 70 percent of the answers, congratulations. You really are a pop music geek.

The Portishead quiz

1. The band is named after an English town. But the band is most associated with which British city’s music scene?

A. Liverpool’s
B. Bristol’s
C. Manchester’s
D. London’s

2. Which fellow electronic stars aren’t associated with that scene?

A. Massive Attack
B. Tricky
C. Roni Size
D. Sneaker Pimps

3. “Glory Box,” from the band’s 1994 debut “Dummy,” is constructed around a sample of what well-known soul singer?

A. Isaac Hayes
B. Curtis Mayfield
C. Marvin Gaye
D.Roberta Flack

4. Before the band’s debut album, Portishead’s Geoff Barrow co-wrote a proto-trip-hop number that appears on what ‘90s pop album?

A. Madonna’s “Erotica”
B. Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation 1814”
C. Moby’s self-titled debut
D. Neneh Cherry’s “Homebrew”

5. Beth Gibbons made her kinda, sorta solo album “Out of Season” with Rustin Mann, an alias for …

A. … Talk Talk’s Paul Webb.
B. … Depeche Mode’s David Gahan.
C. … synth-pop trailblazer Gary Numan..
D. … ‘60s psych-pop singer Scott Walker.

6. Portishead collaborated with what Vegas legend on a remake of “Motherless Child?”

A. Wayne Newton
B. Tony Bennett
C. Celine Dione
D. Tom Jones

7. Finish the lyrics. “I’m so tired of playing, playing …”

A. “… at being happy.”
B. “… with this bow and arrow”
C. “… the part of the fool.”
D. “… playing with fate so recklessly.”

8. Who provide the scratches for Portishead’s most trip-hoppy songs?

A. Andy Smith
B. Tricky
C. Funkmaster Flex
D. Aphex Twin

9. The band’s highest charting album in the U.S., as of the writing of this quiz, is …

A. Third
B. PNYC
C. Portishead
D. Dummy

10. Clips of the band performing the lead track of the new album at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival have circulated on the Internet for months. Fans knew it as “Wicca,” but now it’s …

A. “Silence”
B. “Hunter”
C. “Machine Gun”
D. “Threads”

I've had April 29 marked on my calendar for weeks, with a new Roots disc on the way, not to mention Portishead's first studio album in 11 years. Speaking of which ...

Album opener “Silence” and this, the last track, are the most evocative of Portishead’s sound in the ‘90s. But those two tracks bookend some serious departures. Some work better than others. Of the questionable variety are Beth Gibbons singing over ukulele and distorted doo-wop harmony, and sounding a bit like a wounded Tiny Tim, on “Deep Waters.” Not too crazy about that track, but that’s what the skip button is for. And the album is pretty solid all in all. Think I may have more to say about that in my column on Friday.

The band’s last album, “Game Theory,” was my favorite disc of 2006. Tuesday they return with “Rising Down,” a more traditional rap album with loads of cameos and some fat that could have been cut out. This is one of my favorite cuts so far.

Speaking of innovative rap acts, Minneapolis hip-hop group Atmosphere returned with a new album “When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That S--- Gold” last week. Here’s a clip from the pensive opening track. A recommend picking up the deluxe edition, which comes with a DVD and a cool story booklet.

I think this album was supposed to come out on Tuesday, too. So imagine when I stumbled across it in the bins at the Seattle Center Silver Platters before I checked out the Dalai Lama concert earlier this month. This is a clip from one of the songs they played during their recent opening slot for Ministry in Seattle.

Meshuggah's Jens Kidman: As growly as ever on new "Obzen" CD. He sounds almost, uh, meshuggah.
ERNEST A. JASMIN

On his self-titled sophomore album – due from Barsuk on April 8 – the British artist bridges the gap between ‘60s psych-pop and loungey electronica. His style and quirky sense of humor would make Noir a great opening act for Beck.

This husband and wife duo is one of the most criminally underrated bands of the last decade. For the new album, “L' Autrichienne,” the duo turned to the French Revolution for inspiration. (Don’t worry, headbangers. They haven’t turned into the Decemberists.) And they expand their sludgy aesthetic with a nice mix of doom metal, thrashy punk, indie rock and pretty ballads like this one.

Radiohead guitarist and resident genius Jonny Greenwood is no stranger to scoring films. If you like this, from "There Will Be Blood," check out the soundtrack to 2003 documentary “Bodysong.”

And just to give you something a little heavier … I’ve been listening to Ministry’s final studio album, “The Last Sucker,” in the weeks leading up to this weekend’s show in Seattle. And while they don’t exactly break new ground, Al Jourgensen and company prove they can still kick your @#$%@.

This performance of Portishead performing a new song called "Wicca" was shot at England's All Tomorrow's Parties festival in England in December. Can't wait for their new album "Third" to come out.

“4 Ghosts I” Nine Inch Nails

Did the new Nine Inch Nails album creep up on anyone else or just me? It’s Nails’ first instrumental album since that creepy soundtrack Reznor did for the first Quake game. And with nine tracks available for free, 36 digital tracks for five bones and a full CD, with pretty art and everything, for 10, it’s yet another encouraging reminder of where the industry is headed.

“Oxford Comma” Vampire Weekend

I was resistant to these guys at first. I ‘em pegged as the new Arctic Monkeys or Franz Ferdinand. That is, an overly hyped young band that maybe half as many people will care about in a year. But I must admit, I love this song. Clever lyrics, sunny Calypso vibe that makes you feel like sipping a margaritas while tubin’ down the river. Nice. But good luck getting into their show next week at Neumo’s.

“Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” Leadbelly

Nirvana popularized this song – aka “In the Pines” aka “Black Girl” -- among Gen-Xers. And Leadbelly brought it to the masses half a century earlier. But did you know that it dates back to the 1870s and that it’s actually a combination of two old standards? The guy with his head cut off in the second verse is, apparently, a railroad worker killed by a train in the original version. When put together, Leadbelly’s rendition is one of the most haunting songs of the 20th century.