WED JAN 2

Sun Ra Arkestra
Read our story on the Sun Ra Arkestra. (Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy, 8:30 pm, sold out)


THU JAN 3

Bryson Cone, Dan Dan, Seance Crasher
Read our review of Seance Crasher’s new album. (Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 9 pm, $5)


FRI JAN 4

Barrett Martin Group
If you don’t recognize the name Barrett Martin, that’s probably because the Grammy-winning producer/composer/percussionist largely operates behind the scenes. He’s collaborated with luminaries like Peter Buck and Screaming Trees and was the drummer for short-lived supergroup Mad Season. Martin’s new solo album Transcendence showcases his worldly love affair with music; “Swingin’ on a Moonbeam” revels in swingy jazz flourishes and lots of brass, followed by “Miss Galactic Fantastic,” a future-funk banger that’s ripe for sampling. Special guests such as Buck, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist David Catching, and legendary jazz keyboardist Wayne Horvitz optimize Martin’s wide visionary scope and make Transcendence a formidable instrumental work. (Jack London Revue, 529 SW 4th, 9 pm, $12) RYAN J. PRADO

Calpurnia
In the proud tradition of Macaulay Culkin’s Pizza Underground, Jason Schwartzman’s Phantom Planet, Keanu Reeves’ Dogstar, Kevin Costner’s Modern West, Russell Crowe’s 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, Ryan Gosling’s Dead Man’s Bones, and Kevin Bacon’s Bacon Brothers comes Calpurnia, an indie band that proclaims itself “a four-piece from Vancouver, Canada, led by Finn Wolfhard.” Finn Wolfhard, is, of course, both an excellent name for your Dungeons & Dragons character and the 15-year-old who plays Mike on Stranger Things. Calpurnia has one 23-minute EP, Scout, and its lo-fi songs are about what you’d expect—a little mopey, a little goofy, and sounding like a particularly accomplished performance at a junior high talent show. But if you’re expecting me to be mean about Calpurnia, IT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. While most 15-year-old boys are doing nothing but memorizing every single video on PornHub and griefing people in Destiny, here’s Finn Wolfhard, seeing if fronting a band is as viable of a life choice as fighting demogorgons. Maybe it will be! Or maybe Finn Wolfhard will join the ranks of beloved R&B singer Bruce Willis, noted dad rocker David Duchovny, and DJ Elijah Wood. Hey, did you know Shaquille O’Neal once recorded a track with Biggie? And Eddie Murphy did a song with Michael Jackson? I mention these facts for no reason. (Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside, 8:30 pm, $25-27, all ages) ERIK HENRIKSEN


SAT JAN 5

BowieVision, SOS
Tribute bands are like chain restaurants. You’re not going to have a transcendent experience by any means, but you won’t be in for any nasty surprises, either. So you could do worse than plan your evening around tonight’s two musical bloomin’ onions: BowieVision and SOS, simulating David Bowie (and his many ch-ch-changes) and the Police, respectively. BowieVision probably aren’t gonna dig out any jams from side two of “Heroes” but there’s something to be said for any band that can tackle both the fuzzed-out glam of the Ziggy era and the big-beat pop of Let’s Dance. SOS, meanwhile, will provide ersatz Sting yelps and Stewart Copeland drum fills. If this all sounds a little too Red Robin for ya, let’s be fair: It’s the first week of January, and it’s pretty slim pickings here on the ol’ live music calendar. (Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside, 9 pm, $20) NED LANNAMANN


SUN JAN 6

The Space Lady, Barry Walker Jr.
From a strange planet a zillion lightyears away comes the Space Lady, who’s been covering classic rock hits like “Born to Be Wild” on her Casio keyboard for decades. Instantly recognizable by her winged Viking helmet, the Space Lady busked in the ’70s to support her kids and draft-dodging husband, but soon became beloved for her hauntingly beautiful synthesizer songs. This show has sold out of advance tickets—because she rules—but there will be a limited number available at the door. (Turn! Turn! Turn!, 8 NE Killingsworth, 8 pm, $12) CIARA DOLAN


THU JAN 10

Girl Fest 2019: Dirty Princess, Whateveryn, KayelaJ, Scooty, Cry Babe, Kween Kay$h
The annual all-ages concert hell-bent on showcasing the Pacific Northwest’s most promising young women in music is back on its bullshit, giving you something to be excited about in January. In years past, the event has featured artists like the Last Artful, Dodgr, Parisalexa, Blossom, and Haley Heynderickx. This year’s festival will highlight three-piece rock outfit Dirty Princess, DJ/producer Whateveryn, Portland MC KayelaJ, R&B singer Scooty, indie-rock band Cry Babe, and DJ Kween Kay$h. (Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, 8 pm, $10-12, all ages) JENNI MOORE


FRI JAN 11

Secret Drum Band, IE, Sunbathe
Lovers of rhythmic noise and sonic daring, take note: This three-band bill is for you. First up is Sunbathe, the downcast surf-pop project of Maggie Morris of Genders. Next comes IE, a five-piece from Minneapolis whose celestial electronic music is melodic, effervescent, hypnotic, and droning. Last but not least is Secret Drum Band, the local experimental percussion combo that features members of Explode into Colors, !!!, and Unwound, among others. Their sound is sometimes meditative, sometimes ecstatic, and always interesting. The group’s most recent album, Dynamics, was one of the best to come out of Portland in 2017, and founder Lisa Schonberg’s most recent release is based around her recordings of ants and their habitats in the Brazilian Amazon. (Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 9 pm, $10-12) BEN SALMON


SAT JAN 12

Howlin’ Rain, Garcia Peoples, Pushy
Ethan Miller is a modern guitar hero. From his way-out-there work with Bay Area noise freaks Comets on Fire to his primitive punk thunder in Feral Ohms to his expansive psych with Heron Oblivion, the guy has been a leading light of the West Coast underground for many years. Howlin’ Rain is Miller’s outlet for swaggering classic rock jams, and the band’s new album The Alligator Bride is an absolute blast, packed front to back with swampy blues, ’70s vibes, eternal guitar solos, and head-to-toe denim. If you’ve got a friend who says they like “real rock ’n’ roll” (not that weak stuff from today’s bands), bring ’em to see Howlin’ Rain. And be sure to get there in time to see East Coast jam-band revivalists Garcia Peoples. (Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside, 9 pm, $12-15) BEN SALMON

Elton John
Read our story on Elton John. (Moda Center, 1 N Center Ct, 8 pm)


SAT JAN 12-MON JAN 14

The Oregon Symphony: Johannes Moser
These three concerts find two pleasing, flavorful overtures bookending two more strident, confrontational pieces, indicating the Oregon Symphony’s dedication to showcasing modern composers while also keeping patrons happy with the established classics. Rossini’s intoxicating overture for Tancredi—one of his loveliest operas—is an example of a pop smash circa 200 years ago, taking dead aim at your brain’s pleasure zone. Next, Zimmermann’s raucous ballet score for Music for the Suppers of King Ubu “samples” famous classical works like Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony, Bach’s Brandenberg Concerto No. 1, Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries,” and others, to disturbing and disorienting effect. Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 is petulant, morose, and beautiful, requiring utmost concentration and physicality from its soloist—in this case, guest cellist Johannes Moser. But you’ll be sent into the night with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Festival Overture ringing in your ears, a gorgeously orchestrated piece that goes from doleful to exuberant over the course of 15 crackerjack minutes. (Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 7:30 pm, $24-125, all ages) NED LANNAMANN


SUN JAN 13

Benjamin Appl, James Baillieu
Internationally renowned baritone Benjamin Appl teams up with keyboardist James Baillieu for an intimate, unplugged concert framed around songs about homeland and belonging. This multilingual program features more than a dozen composers, anchored by the always enchanting Franz Schubert and concluding with an exquisite collection of tunes from Norwegian marvel Edvard Grieg. If one of your resolutions for the new year happens to involve getting your heart melted and your mind blown by a pair of brilliant musicians of the highest caliber, this is undoubtedly the show for you. (PSU’s Lincoln Performance Hall, 1620 SW Park, 3 pm, $30-55, all ages) BRIAN HORAY

Super Unison, Slow Mass, U Sco, Hair Puller
As the singer for Bay Area hardcore greats Punch, Meghan O’Neil shredded her throat over minute-long blasts that devoured breathing room. Super Unison gives O’Neil more time and texture with which to work. Her voice is still all sorts of torn and devastating, but on this year’s Steve Albini-recorded Stella, it’s accompanied by a thorny post-hardcore sound that brings Heroin and Universal Order of Armageddon up to speed on the punk scene’s love affair with shoegaze. The cumulative effect is beautiful and brutal, like a storm of fiery arrows falling from the sky. (High Water Mark, 6800 NE MLK, 8:30 pm, $13) CHRIS STAMM

Sumac, Divide and Dissolve, Tashi Dorji
Sumac is the type of post-metal juggernaut that sets the heavy bar so ear-piercingly high, it’s a wonder they’ve even got ears left to work with. Forged from the lingering heaviness of Aaron Turner’s post-Isis output, the band’s third record, Love in Shadow, is a dynamic slice of noise-meets-sludge, replete with Turner’s guttural yowls and contemplative guitar eruptions. Rounded out by drummer Nick Yacyshyn (Baptists) and bassist Brian Cook (Botch), the album’s progressive onslaught is an impressive pastiche of metal subgenres that has the ability to enrage or enlighten you, depending on your mood. (Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 9 pm, $13-15) RYAN J. PRADO


SUN JAN 13 & MON JAN 14

Thursday, Vein
Over its initial 15-year run, the New Jersey band Thursday evolved from screamo upstarts into sparkling post-hardcore adventurers who forever altered the DNA of emo. Thursday split up in 2011, but now they’re back and playing some old favorites—Sunday’s Portland show will feature songs from the band’s influential 2001 album Full Collapse, and Monday will focus on their big breakthrough, 2003’s War All the Time. If that sounds like a lot of looking backward to you, don’t worry: Opening band Vein, a mathy metalcore band from Boston, put out one of the most brutal (and best) punk albums of 2018, Errorzone. (Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside, 8:30 pm, sold out) BEN SALMON


MON JAN 14

Nao
Nao’s newest studio album, Saturn—a follow-up to her 2016 debut For All We Know—solidifies the British soul singer’s brand of funk-infused, space-themed neo-soul. And although I’m not wetting my pants over it as much as her last record, Saturn is still exceedingly groovy and highly enjoyable. There are only two other musicians featured on the project: fellow British soul singer Kwabs (“Saturn”) and Top Dawg R&B artist SiR (“Make It Out Alive”). A major standout is the title track, which uses the planet Saturn as a metaphor for a tumultuous and intense romance, with Nao singing, “I love the way you open my heart/I feel you around me like Venus and Mars/So baby, baby, baby, baby/Please stay and navigate to me.” On “Orbit,” Nao’s vocals are given the high-pitched Chipmunk treatment, which only intensifies the naturally occurring helium qualities of her voice. “Gabriel,” “Yellow of the Sun,” and lead single “Another Lifetime” are also super solid, and the chorus to “Don’t Change” is giving me subtle Motown vibes. No matter what kind of song she’s singing, Nao’s unusual voice is her secret weapon. The last time she came to Portland’s Wonder Ballroom she sounded just as effervescent as she does on record, and nailed renditions of “Girlfriend,” “Happy,” and the hit single “Bad Blood.” If that last bubbly, joyful performance was any indicator, her upcoming show will be another to savor. (Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell, 8 pm, $30-35, all ages) JENNI MOORE


TUES JAN 15

Remember Sports, Pllush
The jittery pop-punk of Remember Sports is alive with the feeling of being young and terrified, of pinwheeling through the few fleeting years during which the world’s joy and sadness are refracted by the forcefields of raw friendship and new love, all that feeling merging into a mystifying swirl. On their third LP, Slow Buzz, the quartet formerly known as Sports explore the dark edges of that post-collegiate realm and find a whole lot of hurt. It is sharp hurt, fresh hurt that hasn’t faded into regret or nostalgia yet. It is hurt that is very much alive. (Polaris Hall, 635 N Killingsworth Ct, 8 pm, $10-12, all ages) CHRIS STAMM