Navigate NXNW Intro ABOUT LAST NIGHT Schedule by Club Reviews of the Acts: Thursday Friday Saturday A-to-Z List of Acts Club Descriptions Conference Info Critics' Picks The Winners! Preview: Seattle's Sweet Mother record label zaps electronic music with an organic touch. Preview: Dave Bazan keeps Pedro the Lion running after his bandmates split. Preview: L.A. DJ the Angel spins her way out of the conception that women can't bring the beats.

NORTH BY NORTHWEST PREVIEW Electronic Ladyland The Angel spins her way out of the conception that women can't bring the beats and soundscapes. BY DAVID KIHARA 243-2122 The Angel (of 60 Channels and Jaz Klash) Zoot Suite, 13 NW 13th Ave., 827-4148 1 am Friday, Aug. 21

Asked what she thought of Lilith Fair, rock goddess Pat Benatar replied, "I have been waiting for this day for 20 years." Let's hope it doesn't take another 20 years for the electronic music scene to follow suit. It might not. Even though the music genre that's become so broad as to include everything from jungle to drum 'n' bass to ambient is still dominated by men, women are slowly being recognized for their agile turntable skills, thoughtful compositions and creative remixing. No one represents the accomplishments of female remixers/producers as well as L.A.'s the Angel. So far in her five-year career, she has remixed songs for Spearhead, Brand New Heavies and jazz legend Donald Byrd; recorded tracks for Hollywood films such as Gridlock'd and Playing God; and released countless singles. Most important, two forthcoming albums on World Domination will highlight the Angel's prodigious talents: Her moody, Tricky-inspired vocal work and furious hip-hop beats color Thru the Haze, a jungle album she recorded with the Bristol duo More Rockers under the name Jaz Klash; and she programmed and produced tuned in...turned on for her project 60 Channels, whose multicultural cast including Frente's Angie Hart and House of Pain's Cokni O'Dire. "I still read reviews of my music that only say 'breathy vocal work by the Angel,' when in fact I remixed and produced the song as well," she says. "Even today, the perception is that the woman is the singer or the sidekick," she says. Gender's always been an issue for the Angel. "In the past, I've worked with men who are really into what I do and ask me to remix one of their songs," she says. "Then, after we finish the project, they get worried. They think people will like my work more than theirs." The relegation of women to the sidekick role is changing, albeit slowly. With technology evolving almost as quickly as the dance-music scene, a more diverse group of both women and men are experimenting with electronic music. "Before, no one could really afford all that studio time. But now that the technology is much more affordable, a lot more people are doing it," the Angel says. "Not only is the music more diverse, but the people who are making it are, too." She adds that advances in technology have boosted her ability to create music: "I'm not a good musician. I am really not a great keyboard player--I am kind of lazy and never really learned to play well--but I am a visionary. I know how I want the music to come out even before it's finished."