THURSDAY 12/1

AU, APPETITE, STAY CALM, LIKE A VILLAIN
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) See My, What a Busy Week!

MIDDAY VEIL, SWAHILI, DATURA BLUES, OS OVNI
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) Whether by design or by circumstance, Datura Blues have been steadily lurking, undercover style, below the Portland music scene for a number of years now. But it's time you fixed your gaze—or, I suppose, your ears—on their perception-expanding prog-psych, because they've just released a great new 7-inch, Damn These Shackles of Gravity! The new record concisely sums up their wild and woolly weirdness via shifting rhythms, groaning bass, spaced-out synths, and gas-pipe saxophone, plus too many other weird elements to catalog. I listened to this record—at the wrong speed, it turns out—after a night of watching American Horror Story, and I don't think I'll ever be quite the same. Fans of bands like Van der Graaf Generator and Amon Düül II will find much to savor in Datura Blues, while those whose record collections don't predate 1982 will probably have their minds blown. NED LANNAMANN

IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE, CHINO XL, DA CIRCLE, DJ GI JOE
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) Since Peru-born, Harlem-raised Immortal Technique's 2001 debut Revolutionary, Vol. 1, he has tried to make plenty of points about institutional racism, classism, government corruption, and other heavy issues in his spit-flecked, polysyllabic rhyme patterns. But this kind of frustrated, paranoid yelling is rarely heard out, and the rapper has instead become punchline fodder for the likes of Das Racist's Victor Vazquez: "I'm Immortal Technique, I'm obnoxious/hella people tellin' me to stop it." Maybe Tech could take a cue from Vazquez, another NY-based Latino rapper who uses slick humor and satire to tackle the same social issues in a milder but more thought-provoking manner. There's more than one way to get your point across, after all. MIKE RAMOS

FRIDAY 12/2

TYPHOON, MIMICKING BIRDS
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) See My, What a Busy Week!

AFRICA HITECH, !!! (DJ set), JONWAYNE, DIBIA$E, LINCOLNUP, BEN TACTIC
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) Africa Hitech (Brits Mark Pritchard and Steve Spacek) embark on their first American tour, and expectations for them run high. In the mid '00s, Spacek put a dazzling, Jamie Lidell-like spin on future soul music over several records. Pritchard has a mile-long résumé that includes releases with Global Communication, Reload, Link, Harmonic 313, Jedi Knights, and others. He's known for his chameleonic ability to excel at myriad styles—ambient, IDM, electro, library music—with keen funkiness and enigmatic melodiousness usually to the fore. With Africa Hitech, the duo appears in more aggressive form than previous work hinted at. Their debut album, 93 Million Miles, conjures future-bass melees that encompass everything from Chicago juke to Shangaan electro, with a few refreshing excursions into 21st-century astral jazz. Africa Hitech should have no trouble keeping the dance floor molten. DAVE SEGAL

POISON IDEA, SS KAILERT, EMBRACE THE KILL, RENDERED USELESS, MDC
(Plan B, 1305 SE 8th) Sometimes retirement just isn't in the books for punk legends. Whether they're disgusted by the current wave of mall-punk poseurs or just not ready to call it a day, we're increasingly seeing these bands pop up, ready to rage as they age. Influenced by the almighty Black Flag, Portland's Poison Idea developed a fierce reputation for their unrelenting hardcore fury in 1983 with their debut EP Pick Your King. And while the band contains only one original member these days—Jerry A.—Poison Idea continues to speed through blasting sets of anxiety-ridden ferocity with that same old spirit. KEVIN DIERS

LATYRX, VURSATYL, JOSH MARTINEZ, DESTRO, DJ SPARK
(Ted's, 231 SW Ankeny) Latyrx, emcees Lyrics Born and Lateef the Truth Speaker, busted out with their eponymous single in 1996. The track featured the pair spitting their unique styles simultaneously over a DJ Shadow beat, creating a dissonance that toed the line of incongruity without actually crossing it. The debut full-length followed a year later, and created a game-changing tributary that trickled down into some of the best experimental hiphop of that era. Their Quannum Projects imprint has continued to release solo efforts, as well as projects from Blackalicious and Portland's own Lifesavas, but this current tour is the first time they're headlining as Latyrx in over a decade. This is not just a nostalgia cash-in, though, as the duo have a new mixtape out entitled Latyrical Madness Volume 1 that, while not as groundbreaking as their debut, is still remarkably inspired. RYAN FEIGH

SATURDAY 12/3

TYPHOON, FOREST PARK (early show); TYPHOON, AAN (late show)
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) See My, What a Busy Week!

THE SEA AND CAKE, LIA ICES, 1939 ENSEMBLE
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Read our article on Lia Ices.

JACKSTRAW, MARTHA SCANLAN
(Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta) For nearly 15 years, Jackstraw has been a sturdy foundation of Portland's thriving roots music scene. With a sound firmly planted in stringband traditions, the group's music is still somehow resiliently pliant, shrugging off museum-piece austerity for a personable, daisy-fresh sound. Their sixth album, Sunday Never Comes, is an easygoing affair that features the band's newest member, banjoist Cory Goldman from Water Tower Bucket Boys, and songwriting contributions from the group members as well as likeminded local songwriters like W.C. Beck and Caleb Klauder. With precise, nimble picking and a continually forward-thinking outlook, Jackstraw breathe young life into old-time bluegrass via their tightly strung, hollow-bodied wooden instruments, and imprint a fresh Pacific Northwest stamp on a well-worn, pleasingly familiar sound. NL

UNDERBELLY BENDER: HOLLYWOOD TANS, HOUNDSTOOTH, AND AND AND
(The Spare Room, 4830 NE 42nd) Houndstooth is a fledgling of a group—they only recently began playing shows out and have yet to record anything more than a 7-inch—but their levels of potentiality are high. Including members of Parson Red Heads, Denver, Swim Swam Swum, and more, the band conveys a particularly fetching blend of surf and grunge rock—music that is at once laidback and teetering on a desolate edge that keeps their sound sharp and alert—and does so with the hand of a steady craftsman. The Portland natives will head out on a West Coast sojourn this month, so do yourself a favor and catch their live show (tonight as part of the ongoing Underbelly Bender) before they take off for a while. RAQUEL NASSER

METROPOLITAN FARMS, MAGNETIC HEALTH FACTORY, THE SWINDON LOT, DJ NOAH FENCE
(Kenton Club, 2025 N Kilpatrick) The debut album from Portland band Metropolitan Farms, Our Hero Pleads His Flimsy Case, is a charming reminder of the era of classic '60s albums, when assorted Beatles and Kinks and Beach Boys and Stones would, two or three times a year, cram seven or so songs onto each side of a double-sided piece of vinyl, and then immediately get to work writing and recording the next one. Like those early classics, some songs on the 15-track Our Hero are decidedly better than others, but there's plenty of gems scattered throughout, particularly the excellent opening track "Stars All Fall." There is also a song about living in a beer commercial, and one that says, "We're all porn stars just below the clothes"—oh, how not true this statement is, Metropolitan Farms—so it's certainly not intended to be an academic throwback to classic pop or anything. Rather, Metropolitan Farms—made up of Josh Mayer (of Guided By Voices cover band Giant Bug Village), Joe Kobjerowski (the Honus Huffhines) and L.W. McGrath (Sauvie Island Moon Rocket Factory)—have fun making quick bursts of guitar pop that, more likely than not, will get lodged in your head. NL

DAN DEACON, PURPLE & GREEN, JASON URICK
(Branx, 320 SE 2nd) Baltimore's Dan Deacon is both serious electronic-music composer and goofy subverter of concert conventions, all contained in an über-nerdy, roly-poly persona. Typically playing on the floor surrounded by his fans and conducting loony summer-camp games for them, Deacon also creates exciting tracks that alternately tickle synth-pop funnybones and swell into serious hypno-drone jams in the vein of sonic cosmonauts like Boredoms and minimalist masters like Philip Glass. Deacon's shows are like some giddy, chaotic, alternate-world Olympics. DS

PINK FLOYD'S THE WALL ACOUSTIC
(Dante's, 1 SW 3rd) When things are really going to shit—when the environment, the economy, and the state of foreign affairs seem so totally fucked that even middle-aged adults have taken to the streets in the United States of America—well, it's only natural that we should cling to music that's as familiar and comforting as a flannel blanky. The pinnacle of the track-by-track cover album was arguably achieved by the Flaming Lips' doing Dark Side of the Moon two years ago. Now, a group of Portland all-stars are unplugging The Wall, Pink Floyd's other masterpiece of personal isolation. Don't expect an aural facsimile; rumor has it that bluegrass may be involved. Regardless of the interpretation, The Wall wouldn't be the same without a squadron of angry children, which is where the School of Rock Kids Chorus comes in. REBECCA WILSON

THAT INSTRUMENT, STEPKID, THE NEW PIONEERS, MICHAEL BRUCE
(Langano Lounge, 1435 SE Hawthorne) The 10 tracks on Stepkid's new tape, Cosmonaut, are short blasts of sound, sometimes less than a minute long, composed of blunt shards of synthesizer, flurries of white noise, and cascading cymbals. It's the latest in a string of releases from Stepkid—which is the work of one Benjamin Tyler, a drummer who's sat in with a number of bands around town. With Cosmonaut, Tyler has made what sounds like the freaky soundtrack to those scenes from old science-fiction shows, in which the hero somehow gets himself drugged, and it's visualized by all kinds of primitive camera tricks—double vision! Blurriness! Jittery camera movement! Color washes! Stepkid celebrates the release of the cassette at tonight's show. NL

AL ONE, KP OF GOOD BIZ, RISKY STAR, STEVEO
(Ted's, 231 SW Ankeny) Older heads may recognize Portland native Kevin Pederson, AKA KP, from Proz and Conz, a pre-millennium supergroup of young local hiphop talent. KP's latest endeavor, Good Biz, is a collaboration with Houston emcee Bobbie Fine that features production talent and musical guests from all over the country. Their debut record, Sound Investment, sets its sights much higher than being just a good local effort, although it makes use of some of Portland's best producers (Trox), DJs (DJ Wicked), engineers (Zebulon Dak), and emcees (Epp). Considering that Pederson was just a kid when Proz and Conz made its mark on the local music scene, it's edifying to witness his musical maturation all these years later. RF

THE POLYPS, TEN SPEED MUSIC
(The Waypost, 3120 N Williams) The Polyps is the alter ego of Raf Spielman, who also runs the local cassette label Eggy Records. But Ants on the Golden Cone, the latest full-length from the Polyps, isn't currently out on tape; rather, it's available on a 12-inch platter of vinyl via Woodsist subsidiary Hello Sunshine. And it's a dizzying head-trip of a record, which can at times seem like it's one long, sustained chord, and at others be full of infinite, ever-changing detail. Drones, pulses, and watery drips create a steady mental headscape and a sense of breath, while drowsily strummed folk songs lurk in and out of the mix. There are squeals and peals, and noises that you've never heard before but sound immediately familiar. And then there are recognizable instruments that have never sounded so weirdly foreign. Spielman has harnessed a compelling, sometimes confounding sound with Ants on the Golden Cone, and what might initially seem like noise reveals itself to be intrinsically, wondrously musical. NL

SUNDAY 12/4

THE CAVE SINGERS, MY GOODNESS
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) See My, What a Busy Week!

LAURA VEIRS (early show)
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Read our article on Laura Veirs.

JEFFREY LEWIS AND THE JUNKYARD, ALMOST NEARLY, AWKWARD ENERGY (late show)
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Read our article on Jeffrey Lewis.

MONDAY 12/5

MORNING TELEPORTATION, GRANDPARENTS, THE WE SHARED MILK
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) A trio of great local bands livens up your Monday night, headlined by the ever-wiggling, sparkly psych of Morning Teleportation, who famously signed to Isaac Brock's label as unknowns but have since proved themselves with ebullient live shows and a record—this year's Expanding Anyway—that remains a fun, tantalizing listen. To make matters better, Grandparents, whose explosive, dense garage rock moves forward at a million miles a minute, are on the bill, as are the We Shared Milk, who've just dropped their second EP, SUH, and remain in firm command of a sound that has elements of hazed-out '70s and slack-jawed '90s, but sounds entirely up to date. If there was a single show for taking the temperature of Portland's rock scene, it's this one. NL

TUESDAY 12/6

COPY, ONUINU
(Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) See My, What a Busy Week!

THE BLACK HEART PROCESSION, CHELSEA WOLFE, DRAMADY
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) With frightening album art and song titles like "Primal/Carnal," it's impossible to not be at least a little bit intrigued by Chelsea Wolfe's new release, Apokalypsis. This album is a gem among all the dark bedroom pop that has found its resurgence in the past year. The perfectly crafted moments of silence on Apokalypsis are almost as dark and effective as Wolfe's dramatic lyrics and instrumentation, and it all comes together to create a beautiful, eerie, and lo-fi result. Few songs follow the same formula, or share the same instrumentation, or are in any way repetitive in theme—yet the album flows together in a near-perfect haze of ambience, folk, and doom. ARIAN JALALI

HA HA TONKA, SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU BORIS YELTSIN, TIGER HOUSE
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Someone still loves you, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. And that someone is me. This is in spite of a name that seemed precisely calculated to grab attention from the blogosphere circa eight years ago and a string of shaggy, easygoing pop recordings that seemed precisely designed to turn up in places like The O.C. (which totally happened). The quartet from Springfield, Missouri—and it's still the same four guys—released three very good LPs along the way: 2005's Broom, 2008's Pershing, and 2010's Let It Sway. Now they're touring on the back of the new 26-track Tape Club album, a collection of demos and outtakes that, incredibly, sounds fantastic all the way through, despite variable instrumentation and recording quality. NL

WEDNESDAY 12/7

GANGLIANS, YOUNG PRISMS, THE MEMORIES, DJ SGT. FORKNER
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) See My, What a Busy Week!

THE ENTRANCE BAND, SONS OF HUNS, HELLO ELECTRIC
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) The Los Angeles-based Entrance Band has set the bar very high for all of those psych-rock bands emerging from the state of California. Their self-titled album, still ringing from back in 2009, explores the boundlessness of 1960s lysergic bliss while maintaining a sense of modernity and forward-looking dynamism in the midst of the cadenza. Not to mention that lead singer/guitarist Guy Blakeslee can drench a guitar with effects and wield it about with alarming facility. This summer saw the release of a new single, which featured the Troggs' "I Want You" backed with Love's "A House Is Not a Motel," and the band is currently seeking fundraising help via Kickstarter for their upcoming studio album, so there is new music on the horizon. For now, enjoy viewing the band in their natural habitat while the psychotropic haze sets in. RN