WEDNESDAY 10/15

PUP, PHANTOM FAMILY, NO MORE PARACHUTES, AGENTS OF ECCO
(Slabtown, 1033 NW 16th) See My, What a Busy Week!, and All-Ages Action!

BADBADNOTGOOD, 1939 ENSEMBLE
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Read our article on BadBadNotGood.

THURSDAY 10/16

TACOCAT, THOMAS MUDRICK, THE HANDLES
(Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) See My, What a Busy Week!

EX HEX, SPEEDY ORTIZ, BLESST CHEST
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) I don't think I could be more excited about tonight's double-headlining bill: Not only do we get to witness the Portland debut of Mary Timony's fantastic new power trio, Ex Hex, we also get a perfect pairing in the form of the Northampton, Massachusetts, alt-rock quartet Speedy Ortiz. They bring to mind a wide range of indie-rock legends, including the heavy pop sensibilities of fellow Massachusetts natives Dinosaur Jr., the tangled guitar-fueled brooding of Archers of Loaf, and the playful song and lyrical arrangements of Timony's own '90s outfit, Helium. Even with all of the familiar touchstones, Speedy Ortiz were able to harness their own unique style on 2013's Major Arcana. "American Horror," the lead track off their recent follow-up EP, Real Hair, saw the band firing on all cylinders, and new live material hints at the group only growing stronger. CHIPP TERWILLIGER Also read our article on Ex Hex.

TOGETHER PANGEA, MOZES AND THE FIRSTBORN, THE MEMORIES, AJ DAVILA, TERROR AMOR
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Together Pangea come from the the same smog of LA garage rock that spawned the likes of Wavves, the Growlers (who play Portland on Saturday), and Burger Records in general. And that's a good thing. There's something about this land of sun and bikinis that breeds sweaty, blazed, catchy music. Badillac is an homage to '90s rock—fuzzed-out guitar chords give way to nasal lyrics about the battle wounds of love: wanting to be understood, and finding your way through the daily grime. They're on tour with LA-by-way-of-Portland band the Memories and other Burger buds for a guaranteed stone-y time. RACHEL MILBAUER

BANKS, MOVEMENT, LIL SILVA
(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) Plenty of music-journo shortcuts could describe the work of LA-based artist Audrey Banks: a female Weeknd, or perhaps Lana Del Rey coming down from her comedown. Truthfully, though, Banks' voice doesn't possess the gravity of those divisive singers; rather, it's a fragile and frail thing propped up by a monochromatic set of mid-tempo nu-triphop produced by a reliable stable of slow-burn beatsmiths (Shlohmo, SOHN, etc.) The brightest spot in Banks' brief career thus far has been a disco edit of "Warm Water" by remix maestros Snakehips—unfortunately, her debut album, Goddess, failed to follow the club direction, instead serving up a record of ennui-laden electronica and absentee emotions. KYLE FLECK

ALCHEMY: THIRD ANGLE NEW MUSIC STRING QUARTET
(Zoomtopia, 810 SE Belmont) Ron Blessinger and his rad band of Third Angle musicians have certainly done their part to keep Portland weird, celebrating the outer limits of classical music for almost 30 years. The current incarnation brings together a supergroup of epic proportions, with Greg Ewer joining Blessinger on violin, Charles Noble on viola, and Marilyn de Oliveira on cello. The consciousness-expanding program—which repeats on Friday—kicks off with a world premiere of Kerrith Livengood's Online Communion, which juxtaposes strings and electronic recordings. On deck to blow more minds is John Zorn's The Alchemist. The amazingly prolific, utterly unclassifiable Zorn has birthed a work that takes four centuries of string-quartet tradition and sets it ablaze with cochlea-piercing tones and maniacal shredding. Like a welcome balm, String Quartet No. 3 by Philip Glass rounds out the night in expectedly meditative fashion. BRIAN HORAY

JUNGLE, EMPRESS OF
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) When the London-based Jungle released their first singles in early 2013, they were a mysterious pair, releasing flashy videos that didn't feature their mugs. By now, the secret is out—they're two white dudes, Joshua Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland, who make nightclub funk that will make you shake your hips and wiggle your butt. Their electronic '80s beats are reminiscent of TV on the Radio, and while Jungle's music might not be as inspired or intricate, you'll probably find it hard to resist—at least when it comes to the "I just wanna dance" department. RM

FRIDAY 10/17

BLITZEN TRAPPER, HAND OF THE HILLS
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) See My, What a Busy Week!

ALCHEMY: THIRD ANGLE NEW MUSIC STRING QUARTET
(Zoomtopia, 810 SE Belmont) See Thursday’s listing.

LOSE YR MIND: SUN ANGLE, SUMMER CANNIBALS, AND AND AND, TALKATIVE
(Audiocinema, 226 SE Madison) What's better than one night of excellent Northwest bands ripping it up and pleasing all five of your senses? (That's ears, eyes, booze, feet, and booty, right? I failed biology.) How about two nights? The folks behind the Lose Yr Mind fest have no time to spell out "Your," as they've got their hands full with a very packed docket of mostly local bands—although Saturday night performers Naomi Punk (Olympia) and Clarke and the Himselfs (Boise) are honorary Portlanders-in-spirit. Tonight includes the happily reunited Sun Angle and the final show for Summer Cannibals bassist Lynnae Gryffin, plus And And And playing a special set "with secret extra members," and the very fine Talkative. Saturday includes the aforementioned out-of-towners, plus Wooden Indian Burial Ground and the Ghost Ease, both of which—if you've ever picked up this paper before—you already know are excellent. NED LANNAMANN

THE PIMPS OF JOYTIME, MOON HOOCH
(Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie) You could say that globally inspired funk 'n' soul band the Pimps of Joytime will get the party started tonight at the Aladdin, but that wouldn't be accurate. In fact, the Pimps will simply continue an already-in-progress party begun by Moon Hooch, a three-piece from New York City that plays an eye-popping, unconventional brand of dance music. Two saxophonists anchor the sound with kinetic and labyrinthine riffs, while the drummer provides a robust beat. After a 2013 debut album that established Moon Hooch's sound, the band's sophomore effort, This Is Cave Music, came out in September and added synthesizers, vocals, and other sonic shenanigans to the mix. Moon Hooch started out playing impromptu shows in New York City subway stations. If they could snag the attention of that hurried and distracted crowd, they should have no problem conquering the Aladdin. BEN SALMON

I PUT A SPELL ON YOU: DJ ACTION SLACKS, DJ WILDMAN JAMES
(Kenton Club, 2025 N Kilpatrick) DJ Wildman James leads rhythm-and-blues/soul/garage/psych freakouts of the highest order. More than just a dance party DJ, Wildman is an infectious source of chaos who encourages his audiences to lose control. An Olympia staple for over a decade, we in Portland get a dose of him at tonight's Halloween-themed I Put a Spell on You dance party, DJing alongside Portland (by-way-of-Olympia) early-soul queer dance-night producer DJ Action Slacks. When Wildman's not spinning records, you can find him playing guitar in an impressive list of garage rock outfits that includes Morgan and the Organ Donors, November Witch, and the unstoppable Spider and the Webs. JOSHUA JAMES AMBERSON

SATURDAY 10/18

SINKANE, HELADO NEGRO, GRAPEFRUIT
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) See My, What a Busy Week!

WYRD WAR RECORD RELEASE MASSACRE: MIDNIGHT, VIOLATION WOUND, LEBENDEN TOTEN, THRONES
(Rotture, 315 SE 3rd) Read our article on Wyrd War.

LOSE YR MIND: NAOMI PUNK, WOODEN INDIAN BURIAL GROUND, THE GHOST EASE, CLARKE AND THE HIMSELFS
(Audiocinema, 226 SE Madison) See Friday’s listing.

AB-SOUL, BAS, EARTHGANG
(Alhambra Theatre, 4811 SE Hawthorne) A charter member of the same Black Hippy crew that cultivated fellow rhymers Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul feels cut from a different bolt of fabric. It's partly to do with his willingness to join creative forces with unusual producers like spaced-out synthpop duo Purity Ring and Michigan-based modern-R&B artist JMSN. And the goofy sense of humor he's smeared all over three full-lengths sure helps sell his weirder moves. What makes Ab-Soul one of the greats right now is moments like his recently-released single "W.W.S.D.," which finds Ab-Soul laconically rapping and singing along to Jackson Browne's weepy, regretful "These Days." It's the kind of curveball that's going to send Kanye digging through the discographies of '60s/'70s Laurel Canyon folkies for a retort. ROBERT HAM

WALTER TV, TONSTARTSSBANDHT, OLD LIGHT, DOGHEART
(High Water Mark, 6800 NE MLK) Everything in Walter TV’s sound-world is tilted slightly off its axis and wobbling with charming insouciance. They write pop songs in the frenzied, funhouse-mirrored tradition of Ariel Pink, Animal Collective, and others of their perverse ilk. That they mislabel their music on Bandcamp as “healing sacred minimalism” is another point in their favor. Even stranger are Tonstartssbandht (pronounced “TAHN-starts-bandit”), two white brothers from the South who should think about touring with Jeff the Brotherhood. As their compound name implies, Tonstartssbandht possess an affinity for krautrock’s love of mesmerizing repetition and splintering of conventional song forms. They also know that not much difference separates Agitation Free and the Grateful Dead (and Pärson Sound, whom they cover) when it comes time to kick out the pastoral and astral jams. DAVE SEGAL

KOOL STUFF KATIE, COUNT KELLAM, CHUMS
(Kelly's Olympian, 426 SW Washington) As long as Portland-based band Kool Stuff Katie consists of a male guitar player and a female drummer, and the two of them play fuzzy rock 'n' roll, they will have to endure comparisons to a certain beloved, candy-striped duo from the not-so-distant past. But whereas that other band drew heavily from the blues and glowered its way to superstardom, Kool Stuff Katie—Shane Blem and Saren Oliver, who came together via Craigslist—play an exuberant brand of classic power-pop that marries Oliver's crash-and-bash beats with Blem's chunky, buzzy guitar riffs. The results are melodic without sacrificing muscle and vice versa, à la bands like Cheap Trick and Sloan (who play Portland on Sunday). Kool Stuff Katie celebrate the release of their self-titled debut album tonight, but if you miss 'em there, they also play an all-ages in-store at Music Millennium on Sunday. BS

PORTLAND STATE OF MIND: RADIATION CITY, HUSTLE AND DRONE, TxE, DJ ANJALI AND THE INCREDIBLE KID
(PSU's Smith Memorial Student Union, 1825 SW Broadway) Portland State University students get in free (they'll need to nab a ticket), but even the less scholarly of us can, for a small price, get a sweet taste of Portland State of Mind, a concert starring a runneth-over cup of local talent. Radiation City just wrapped up a new record with legendary Bay Area producer John Vanderslice, and, judging by the preview demos, it'll be gorgeous—in other words, a typical Rad City joint. Hustle and Drone made a big splash with their debut full-length, Holyland, and they recently set Trail Blazer Damian Lillard's Instagram rhymes to a tight beat. The result, "Again and Again," is a million times better than "Bust a Bucket." And TxE hold it down as one of Portland's most reliable hiphop acts; emcee Tope has a new album on the way called Broke Boy Syndrome, due out later this year. And DJ Anjali and the Incredible Kid are seasoned party veterans, which means you'll be in good hands from sundown to bedtime. NL

SUNDAY 10/19

LVL UP, BIG UPS, SNOW ROLLER, THE CRASH ENGINE, THE HAGUE
(Slabtown, 1033 NW 16th) See All-Ages Action!

THE MELVINS, LE BUTCHERETTES
(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) A lot of musicians have been welcomed into the Melvins fold over the past three decades, some for extended stretches, others for a single show or recording session. The version of the long-running proto metal act hitting the tonight finds core Melvins Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover joined by Jeff Pinkus and Paul Leary, two founding members of San Antonio psych-rock freaks Butthole Surfers. The combination is a vicious one, with the two Texans adding an element of chaos to the often-rigid attack of the gents from Washington. Joining the Melvins on this tour is Le Butcherettes, equally unhinged rockers from Mexico that love adding theatrical touches like fake blood and a pig head to their stage set almost as much as they love grinding out disturbingly sexy garage punk. RH Also see My, What a Busy Week!

HEY LOVER, DARK/LIGHT, PSYCHOMAGIC
(The Foggy Notion, 3416 N Lombard) Husband-and-wife garage-pop duo Hey Lover are bona-fide scene veterans, having formed almost a decade ago and released their self-titled debut LP in 2007 to mass local acclaim. Their follow-up, Tennessee, released on esteemed Portland punk label Hovercraft in 2011, is a scrappy tour de force that toes the line between all-out punk primitiveness and '60s pop sophistication—a dichotomy best exemplified by great, erratic single "Our Heads in a Hole," one of the most quintessential, anti-Pacific Northwest "wet season" anthems ever penned. Tonight, the group—with new bassist Tim Janchar—play their first show in Portland following a 10-day tour throughout Oregon and Washington, and are additionally celebrating the release of a new cassingle. MORGAN TROPER

ROSE WINDOWS, ETERNAL TAPESTRY, SWAHILI
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) The first thing you'll notice about Seattle psych collective Rose Windows is the voice of Rabia Shaheen Qazi. She's got an otherworldly set of pipes cut from the same mold as Grace Slick or Shocking Blue's Mariska Veres. But Rose Windows don't simply lean on Qazi, and last year's excellent debut The Sun Dogs is a musical feast of folk, heavy blues, and Eastern European influences, all with a patchouli scent. Keyboardist David Davila—who provided the notable Ray Manzarek-inspired notes to Rose Windows' sound—recently left the band, but there is plenty to keep ears satiated. It also proves that this truly is a band whose sum is much bigger than its parts. MARK LORE

MONDAY 10/20

J. RODDY WALSTON AND THE BUSINESS, FLY GOLDEN EAGLE
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) See My, What a Busy Week!

BIG FREEDIA
(Star Theater, 13 NW 6th) It seems like Big Freedia, the Queen Diva of Bounce, plays Portland more than most local bands do, but I support her constant hustle—she’s good at it. A New Orleans native, Freedia went home as soon as possible after Katrina and worked hard, playing as many shows as possible (like six to 10 in one week) and doing a regular night at one of the first clubs that opened post-hurricane. A tour with the Postal Service, a GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Media Award, and a reality show later, Freedia still performs sets that are crazy fun (unless you are a Postal Service fan, apparently)—sweaty dance parties focusing on love, acceptance, freedom, twerking, booties of all shapes and sizes, and letting the fuck loose! EMILY NOKES

TUESDAY 10/21

BOB DYLAN
(Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay) See My, What a Busy Week!

HORSE FEATHERS
(Music Millennium, 3158 E Burnside) See My, What a Busy Week!

JIMMY BUFFETT
(Moda Center, 1 Center Ct) Read our article on Jimmy Buffett.

LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III, LUCY WAINWRIGHT ROCHE
(Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta) You get to a point as a singer—say, about 23 albums in about 40 years—where you'll never make another new fan. The wheels spin as the legacy is slowly cemented, but barring a late-career revival at the hands of Rick Rubin, or a critically acclaimed demise, this is it. This notion never seems to slow Loudon Wainwright III, the sad clown of folk music (never one for subtlety, his new album, Haven't Got the Blues (Yet), is literally adorned with a sad clown on the cover). Haven't Got the Blues (Yet) is just as hit-and-miss as 2012's dance with death, Older Than My Old Man Now, but when it comes to striking a nerve—as he does with his ode to ex-wife Kate McGarrigle, "I Knew Your Mother," and the album's Tom Waits-esque closing waltz, "Last Day of the Year"—there isn't a living soul with a guitar that does it better than Wainwright. EZRA ACE CARAEFF

POLIÇA, WEB OF SUNSETS
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Minneapolis synthpop group Poliça grew out of the collaboration between Gayngs founder and producer Ryan Olson and vocalist Channy Leaneagh. While the band's studio material sounds spectacular through headphones, the electro R&B could have easily turned sterile in a live setting. Fortunately, Poliça's live show has evolved into a beast of its own. The touring four-piece sees Leaneagh's impassioned vocals backed by the dueling drum set-up of Drew Christopherson and Ben Ivascu, with bassist Chris Bierden filling out the robust rhythm section. Self-described acid-folk trio Web of Sunsets opens the show. The band also hails from Minneapolis, although you might be familiar with guitarist/singer Sarah Nienaber, who transplanted her psych-rock band Is/Is to Portland earlier this year. Web of Sunsets are rounded out by Sara Bischoff and Chris Rose, with all three members trading off songwriting and vocal duties, and crafting some delightfully sparse and gleaming psych-country arrangements. CT

JESSICA LURIE, BLUE CRANES
(Alberta Street Pub, 1036 NE Alberta) Like all good jazz players, Jessica Lurie is constantly between cities and between projects. While she can most often be found working with her freewheeling eponymous ensemble, this year alone she's performed at protests with the politically minded group Circus Amok back in Brooklyn, done multiple European tours, and stopped by her native Seattle for some writing and improvisation sessions. This coming Tuesday, Lurie stops the whirlwind for one night to perform her multi-faceted modern compositions with a backing band that includes the experimental-leaning guitarist Bill Horist and just-as-adventurous bassist Rene Hart. Opening the show are local lovelies Blue Cranes, taking a break from writing their new album to grace us with their take on post-jazz. RH