WEDNESDAY 4/15

SOUL'D OUT MUSIC FESTIVAL: ROBERT GLASPER EXPERIMENT, ERRICK LEWIS
(Dante's, 350 W Burnside) See My, What a Busy Week!

ELECTRIC WIZARD, SATAN'S SATYRS
(Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE César E. Chávez) If you asked me in the early 2000s to name the heaviest album I'd ever heard, I probably would've said Dopesthrone by Electric Wizard. Thinking about it 15 years later, I'm having a hard time thinking of a different answer. Between that album and 1997's Come My Fanatics..., the Wiz is responsible for two of the all-time must-hears in the doom metal canon, melding Sabbath-ian riffs and stoner-metal sludge with a B-movie aesthetic. On the heels of their eighth long-player—last year's Time to Die—the British band is embarking on its first American tour in about a dozen years. The Portland date sold out immediately, so if you weren't one of the early birds, better get yourself to Craigslist. MATTHEW W. SULLIVAN Also see All-Ages Action!

THURSDAY 4/16

LORD HURON, LEON BRIDGES
(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) Read our article on Leon Bridges.

SOUL'D OUT MUSIC FESTIVAL: LYRICS BORN, BLACK MILK, NEKA AND KAHLO, DJ WICKED
(Alhambra Theatre, 4811 SE Hawthorne) Lyrics Born is a Bay Area rapper who initially came out of the underground rap world as one half of the hiphop duo Latyrx. For his upcoming solo release, Real People, he decamped to New Orleans to collaborate with local musicians, creating a soulful, funky sound to spit over. Black Milk is a producer/rapper from Detroit who is touring with his band, Nat Turner, comprised of a bassist, drummer, and keyboardist/vocalist. Neka and Kahlo are an immensely talented Portland duo featuring singer/musician Neka and rapper Kahlo. Tonight finds them introducing material from their debut full-length, Outside the L.I.N.E. RYAN FEIGH Also see My, What a Busy Week!

THIRD ANGLE, JACOB COOPER, MELLISSA HUGHES
(Studio 2 at Zoomtopia, 810 SE Belmont) To close out the group's inaugural season of small showcases for modern classical, the Third Angle Ensemble is flying out composer Jacob Cooper and singer Melissa Hughes, both from New York, who will perform the song cycle Silver Threads. The work began with Hughes singing the words of a haiku by Matsuo Bashö over Cooper's skipping, glitchy electronic backdrop, but was expanded into a full song cycle after five poets were commissioned to write new work based on the original Japanese text. The whole package is an abstract masterpiece, anchored by Hughes' breathtaking soprano that curls around each line like a soft grip. ROBERT HAM

TWO GALLANTS, WILL SPROUT
(Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie) On their fifth studio album, San Francisco's Two Gallants called upon the fuzzier garage-rock wellsprings of their homebase. We Are Undone still matches the complex, rich-sounding blues guitar flurries of Adam Stephens with the fiery, unhinged drumming of Tyson Vogel; the difference here is that the band's ambitious palette now emerges blustery and more daringly rock 'n' roll. The single "Incidental" is a blistering punk number teeming with California double-snare beats and pop-centric melodies. If for some reason you'd forgotten how good this band is, this song will make you come back and apologize to someone about it real quick. Tonight's show is the first on their month-long US jaunt, so get to the Aladdin and don't listen to that person behind you asking you to sit down. RYAN J. PRADO

THE DELINES, SCOTT McCAUGHEY
(Kelly's Olympian, 426 SW Washington) The Damnations were one of the great near-misses of the '90s alt-country bubble, a band of twangy Texans that always seemed on the verge of something big, but never quite got there. And you probably already know Portland's Richmond Fontaine as a slow-burning Americana success fronted by celebrated novelist Willy Vlautin. Last year, Vlautin wrote some songs for a new band called the Delines, and the Damnations' Amy Boone sang 'em, and the result was Colfax, a gorgeous collection of tunes that unfold slowly, allowing vintage country and low-key soul to tease and tangle in time. The Delines make music for late nights at the coolest bar in your neighborhood, which is to say they make songs that you never want to end. BEN SALMON

FRIDAY 4/17

SILVER THREADS: THIRD ANGLE, JACOB COOPER, MELLISSA HUGHES
(Studio 2 at Zoomtopia, 810 SE Belmont) See Thursday's listing.

SOUL'D OUT MUSIC FESTIVAL: YASIIN BEY AND BAD BRAINS
(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) I'll be honest. I really don't know what to expect from this performance. The folks at Soul'd Out haven't elaborated much on the particulars, other than the fact that Yasiin Bey—the artist formerly (and still popularly) known as Mos Def—will be sharing the stage with legendary hardcore punk band Bad Brains. Will they be playing songs from Bey/Def's shortlived rap-rock project, Black Jack Johnson? Where is HR, Bad Brains' famously unpredictable and controversial lead singer? What happens when you put a devout Muslim rapper on stage in front of three devout Rasta punks? Ultimately, the particulars don't matter. This is a rare opportunity to see four groundbreaking and immensely talented musicians trying out something new. Alert the squad. SANTI ELIJAH HOLLEY Also see My, What a Busy Week!

LOSCIL, ETHERNET, BENOÎT PIOULARD
(Beacon Sound, 3636 N Mississippi) Tim Gray's work under his Ethernet nom de plume has typically leaned toward the meditative end of the synth-music spectrum with occasional nods to techno, though the rhythms are often more implied than explicitly expressed. Lately, the pulsating movements have been replaced by long washes of sound, as evidenced by his Polyhedrons tape from earlier this year. That was the first in a planned series of small-run drone-music cassettes, and Gray recently unveiled a new track from his forthcoming album, Outside of Time, which mines some of that same washed-out territory. He's playing a Kranky Records showcase as part of Beacon Sound's weekend-long Record Store Day festivities, along with the equally blissed-out Loscil and Benoît Pioulard. MWS Also read our article on Loscil.

FRED AND TOODY, JENNY DON'T AND THE SPURS, FLASH FLOOD AND THE DIKES
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) As the yuppies infiltrate Division Street and the music scene in Portland continues to shape-shift, Fred and Toody Cole keep living rock 'n' roll, whether it's with Dead Moon, Pierced Arrows, or knocking out some songs on acoustic guitars. There's really not much else that can be said—playing music is sort of like breathing to them. Just know when you see Fred and Toody perform in any formation (this time as a duo) that you're witnessing something legendary and special. Rounding out the bill are a couple of noteworthy bands who each play their own mutant form of country music: Jenny Don't and the Spurs ramp it up with a gallop, while Flash Flood and the Dikes—with a newly bolstered lineup—will break hearts and scramble brain cells. MARK LORE

NEKO CASE, THE ALIALUJAH CHOIR
(Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark, #110) Neko Case returns to the scene of the crime of her last album, The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You, which she recorded largely in Portland. This two-night stand at the brand-spankin'-new Revolution Hall includes a brace of openers, one per show: the Alialujah Choir (on Friday), who hosted Rev Hall's opening night, and Rodrigo Amarante (on Saturday), who played with the Strokes' Fabrizio Moretti in Little Joy and released a fine solo album, Cavalo, last year. It's a laidback mosaic of globe-straddling pop, with Brazilian bossa nova and tropicalía references, stiff-upper-lip British psychedelic whimsy, and sunburned California folk. If you can't get into either of this weekend's sold-out shows, Amarante will be at this year's Pickathon, but you should head out tonight anyway: Revolution Hall's bars, strategically situated throughout the Washington High School building, will be open to the public. And yes, that includes the rooftop deck. NED LANNAMANN

OUR FIRST BRAINS, ROBOT BOY, LITTLE STAR, FASHION CLUB
(Anarres Infoshop, 7515 N Alma) Picking up right where DIY scene staple Laughing Horse Books left off, Anarres Infoshop has been hosting all-ages shows and events in North Portland since the beginning of the year. It's fitting that two of the bands playing tonight, Our First Brains and Robot Boy, were a part of the final Laughing Horse bill last September, as both outfits completely embody the punk aesthetic championed by the venue. Our First Brains are celebrating the release of their fantastic debut full-length, What You Were. The album brings to mind the strongest elements of recent emo-punk breakthrough albums, with a compacted take on the sprawling lyrical structures of the Hotelier's Home, Like Noplace Is There, neatly packed into an album with the razor-sharp pop sensibility of Joyce Manor's Never Hungover Again. All of it makes for one of the more addicting pop-punk albums to come along this year. CHIPP TERWILLIGER

WHAT'S YOUR PLEASURE
(Jimmy Mak's, 221 NW 10th) While plenty of young white kids in Portland are trying to ape the sounds of vintage disco and R&B, in the '70s we had the real deal here in the form of Pleasure. Created as a merger between two existing acts, this deeply funky Portland group released seven albums during their decade-long run, finding their greatest success with the bass-popping groove of "Glide" in 1979. Tonight's two shows bring together an array of local musicians who, along with Pleasure's original percussionist Bruce Smith, will pay tribute to this groundbreaking and surprisingly lesser-known group from Oregon's musical past. And if it threatens to turn the supper club atmosphere of Jimmy Mak's into a dance party, all the better. RH

HIP HATCHET, JEFFREY MARTIN,ANNA TIVEL
(The Secret Society, 116 NE Russell) Philippe Bronchtein—the man behind the beard of Hip Hatchet—has been performing and recording exclusively as a solo act since 2010, while also serving as the keyboard player for Jersey buddies and fellow troubadours Quiet Life. With his third album under the Hip Hatchet moniker, Bronchtein brought in outside assistance, including violin by Nathan Crockett (Horse Feathers), guitar by Scott Davis (Hayes Carll), and Ty Bailie (Widower) on organ and piano. The 11 songs on Hold You Like a Harness are like a journey through the brokenhearted dreams and bad-luck alleys of old America. The full arrangements and orchestration subtly complement Bronchtein's voice, equal parts tender and gruff, like a mix of Joe Pug and Robert Sarazin Blake. Considering the often desolate nature of the songs, it's fitting the album was officially released on April 14, known in some circles as Ruination Day. SEH

FAITH NO MORE
(Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay) Faith No More hedges their bets by putting out a new record in 2015 (sans the beloved Jim Martin)—their first since 1997's Album of the Year. It surely won't tarnish what they've done in the past, but it could stack them in the long line of bands that have tried and failed to party again like it's 1999. Advance spins of Sol Invictus, due out in May, indicate that Mike Patton and the gang aren't fucking around. "Rise of the Fall" and "Motherfucker" hit all the sweet spots, sounding eternally vicious, weird, and epic. Eighteen years have passed, but no one bothered to tell these guys. I think it's safe to say Faith No More are the ones telling us where things are going. ML

SATURDAY 4/18

LOSCIL, SIMON SCOTT, MARCUS FISCHER, DWEOMER, NO PARADES
(Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock) Read our article on Loscil.

NEKO CASE, RODRIGO AMARANTE
(Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark, #110) See Friday's preview.

RECORD STORE DAY
(Various locations) The controversy continues as to whether boutique fetish items from major-label artists have their place at Record Store Day—seeing as how they dominate the production lines of overburdened record-pressing plants, leaving smaller artists and labels out in the cold—but the retail holiday continues to be a net gain, overall. The ostensible idea behind the whole thing, anyway, is to celebrate not just records but the stores where you can buy them, and while recorded music continues to be the thrust of the endeavor, it seems like live music and DJ appearances dominate the proceedings in Portland. Today's highlight is a rare performance from the re-formed Dead Moon at Music Millennium at 8 pm, but the downtown Everyday Music has a stacked roster throughout the day as well, including sets from the Dandy Warhols, Modern Kin, Edna Vazquez, and lots more. Beacon Sound has a full weekend of programming planned (see Friday's listing), and Jackpot has a roster of DJs including Steve Turner of Mudhoney and Chris Slusarenko of Eyelids. Meanwhile, the Hawthorne Tender Loving Empire store gets in on the action with their "Officially Unofficial" Record Store Day party, with performances from Genders, Ali Muhareb, and Run On Sentence. NL Also see My, What a Busy Week!

TIGERS JAW, LEMURIA, SOMOS
(Alhambra Theatre, 4811 SE Hawthorne) Scranton, Pennsylvania pop-punk band Tigers Jaw took their name from the title of a Microphones song, and while their take on melodic, lyrically-driven pop-punk has little in common with the the lo-fi, experimental recordings of Phil Elverum, the name has stuck through thick and thin. After building a sizable following as a five-piece from 2007 to 2013, the band announced they were going on indefinite hiatus after three of its five members quit for personal reasons. The sudden departure left the future of Tigers Jaw in the hands of guitarist Ben Walsh and keyboardist Brianna Collins. While the split was blindsiding for the pair, the parting members stuck around long enough to record the band's fourth full-length, 2014's Charmer. The album might find Tigers Jaw at a crossroads, but heartfelt indie-pop gems like like "Hum" make it clear they're fully capable of soldiering on. CT Also see All-Ages Action!

THE WOOLEN MEN, ZEBRA HUNT, HONEY BUCKET
(The Foggy Notion, 3416 N Lombard) The Woolen Men's latest release, the Rain Shapes EP, finds the Portland trio on some magical crossroads of punk-infused '60s pop and early '80s new wave. It's a bewitching realm, and I can only imagine the Woolen Men are one of the most fun bands on the West Coast to actually play in. The EP, released by Loglady Records on 7-inch, opens with the punchy, jangling pop of "Rain," which expands the band's somewhat minimalist instrumentation and squeezes every last sonic nutrient from it. The result is a four-song snapshot (none of the album's four tracks exceed two-and-a-half minutes) of one of the city's premiere underground rock 'n' roll forces. Go to this if you're interested in having any fun this week. RJP

SUNDAY 4/19

THE DEAD MILKMEN
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) See My, What a Busy Week!, and read our article on the Dead Milkmen.

ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO DUO
(The Old Church, 1422 SW 11th) See My, What a Busy Week!

KIESZA, BETTY WHO
(Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE César E. Chávez) The video for Kiesza's breakthrough single, "Hideaway," is striking. Released in early 2014, it features the Canadian pop singer (and others) dancing down a city block in Brooklyn, dodging dumpsters and sidewalk-crack weeds for four minutes, and hopping in a cab at the end. It's a one-take monument to contemporary dance, set against a gritty but nondescript urban backdrop, and it's hard to stop watching. That's a good thing. The flip side to that coin, though, is that it might be easy to miss the brilliance of the single itself, a euphoric love song powered by the unmistakeable throbs and bloops of deep house music. The whole thing somehow feels both futuristic and unearthed from the '90s at the same time, and it's glorious. The rest of Kiesza's 2014 album, Sound of a Woman, is a pretty fun listen, too. BS

MOUSAI REMIX
(Clay Pigeon Winery, 815 SE Oak) Like Classical Revolution PDX before them, Mousai Remix aims to take chamber music to the people, keeping ticket costs low, playing in venues not typically used for classical concerts, and providing ample support for arts education in the city. Therefore, this performance is not only free but also seeks funds for the BRAVO Youth Orchestra, the Oregon Symphony-supported ensemble featuring Rosa Parks Elementary students. The program for this event is also worth your while as Mousai continues to work through the even-numbered string quartets of Beethoven and Bela Bartók. On tap tonight is the latter's mournful and expressionistic String Quartet No. 6, a piece informed by the death of the composer's mother; and the former's String Quartet No. 6 in B flat major, Op. 18. RH

THE VON TRAPPS, BIG HAUNT
(Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark, #110) Sure, we have to share them with the rest of the world, but let's just call the von Trapps Portland's First Family right now. The obscenely talented sibling band—three sisters and one brother, all descended from Georg and Maria von Trapp—have an aptitude for vocal harmony that goes beyond mere genetics, as their interwoven voices find inventive and surprising delight in a repertoire that includes ABBA hits, Sound of Music favorites, and now, an EP of original material called Dancing in Gold. Despite the perhaps overhanging distinction of their lineage, their new songs sound entirely fresh, making full use of youngest sibling August's songwriting gifts and beautiful production from Blind Pilot's Israel Nebeker. The foursome has called Portland home for a short while, and if you haven't seen them yet, you're depriving yourself of a seriously charming musical experience. Catch them now before they're headlining Sasquatch! in a few short years. NL

MONDAY 4/20

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE, ST 37
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) See My, What a Busy Week!

FORM THE HEAD: REFRACTED, OBVIATE, GRINDKING, RYAN ORGAN, GENLOCK
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) If heady cerebral techno is your thing, the 4/20 edition of Form the Head will easily appease. Refracted (Alex Moya), a dub techno producer out of Berlin, headlines the evening with driving droney rhythms layered with atmospheric melodies that are at once complex and minimal. His music is deep and elegant, and he cites the universe, space, and the female body as sources of inspiration. His recent release, Along a Ghostly Trail, gives a taste of what's in store. It's out on British Columbia's Silent Season imprint, a label who says their ethereal aesthetic is deeply connected to their natural surroundings and the rainforests of Vancouver Island. CHRISTINA BROUSSARD

DAMIEN RICE
(Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay) Irish hipster dreamboat Damien Rice will tenderly storm his way into your heart after just one song. Though his songs are so precisely crafted they work universally as pop, Rice's folk-rock is still reminiscent of a deeply personal dream you had last night. He's more polished than some of the imitators that sprang in his wake when he disappeared after his breakthrough, 2002's O, and the follow-up, 2006's 9. His third album, last year's My Favourite Faded Fantasy, offers a sweet mélange of nostalgic string parts and Rice's usual husky, honeyed vocals. ROSE FINN

SIOUX FALLS, SNOW ROLLER, HELENS
(Valentine's, 232 SW Ankeny) Somewhere in the middle of Built to Spill's Boise, the Replacements' Minneapolis, and Modest Mouse's Issaquah lies the town of Bozeman, Montana, the original home of Sioux Falls and their take on the scratchy, lo-fi '90s sound. They teeter between devastatingly self-aware and silliness, both of which is brought to life with slightly eerie guitar riffs and frequent tempo changes. Sioux Falls switches from sweet and melodic to dark and uncomfortable all in the span of one song, as if they bought you a drink then went on about their failed start-up. Coming as veterans of the Portland house show circuit, expect a similar high-energy DIY vibe, only this time it's not BYOB. And they're best buds with billmates Snow Roller—together they released a split EP (Fadeaway), toured the West Coast, pioneered the self-described "Yolo-fi" genre, and even shot a mock skate video. CAMERON CROWELL

TUESDAY 4/21

UPSET, COLLEEN GREEN
(Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) Garage pop band Upset is a supergroup of sorts that formed around the venerable triumvirate of ex-Vivian Girl Ali Koehler, ex-Hole drummer Patty Schemel, and ex-La Sera guitarist Jenn Prince (who's since left; the band now includes Lauren Freeman and Rachel Gagliardi). Their debut LP, She's Gone, was one of the more underrated indie-rock records released in 2013; songs like "Back to School" and "Queen Frosteen" are such poignant and perceptive considerations of adolescent melancholy, it's sort of hard to believe these songs were written by adults. (That's a good thing.) The quartet's newest effort, the mini-LP '76, is an equally hooky, terrific follow-up that sheds just the right amount of its predecessor's self-conscious goofiness while never taking itself too seriously, thank god. Also playing is Colleen Green, whose latest LP, I Want to Grow Up, is one of the catchiest, most shameless pop records released within the last, like, decade. MORGAN TROPER