It was a special, sunny weekend in Seattle if you had free time and could get outside. With free, live music at University of Washington for the school's 150th Anniversary celebration HuskyFest, and in select stores for Record Store Day, I checked up on bands from the Cairo arts movement.

En route to UW; photos by me

Witch Gardens brought a handmade banner and UW-themed projection to its show Friday afternoon.

One cool new Witch Gardens song had an exaggerated slide beat, like slow-jam R&B by a twee pop band. New EP "R-I-P" is good; upcoming album "I'd Rather Be Alone" is anticipated.

Saturday morning at HuskyFest, Secret Colors (Matt Lawson) pushed his drone-poems into Kraftwerk-y, borderline hip-hop territory...

...then a few hours later played New Order-ish songs with his band Stephanie. Debut Stephanie album "One Glove" comes out soon, produced by Erik Blood of Shabazz Palaces/THEESatisfaction fame.

An hour later at Everyday Music on Capitol Hill, heavy rock trio Naomi Punk powered through "The Feeling," the highly emotional title track from its new album released the same day...

...which I bought.