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Get Out!

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Published: Apr 2, 2008

Imagine if, a half-century ago, someone had stormed into the Brill Building with a chloroform-soaked rag and gone to town. American music might have wound up sounding a lot more like Beach House: chiming innocence lost in a menacing opiate haze. But since when is pop music ever truly innocent? The purity of the '50s was merely surface, with trouble and tragedy beneath. It's an insight the Baltimore duo shares with Daniel Johnston, whose song "Some Things Last a Long Time" they render hauntingly.

—John Vettese

Thu., April 3, 6:30 p.m., $10, with Papercuts, The Barbary, 951 Frankford Ave., r5productions.com.

Legend has it that the Hindustani slide guitar evolved from the Hawaiian steel guitar. Both are played lap-style with slide in one hand, finger and thumb picks on the other. But masters like Debashish Bhattacharya have adapted the guitar, adding as many as 15 more strings and the sympathetic drones familiar to many Indian classical instruments. Debashish's brother Subhasis adds tabla and sister Sutapa shimmering vocal runs. The trio's sound is clearly based in tradition with subtle innovations.

—Mary Armstrong

Sat., April 5, 7:30 p.m., $15, Calvary Center, 801 S. 48th St., 800-838-3006, crossroadsconcerts.org.

From the tundra of Alaska come John Gourley, Zach Carothers and Jason Sechrist with their abstract visions and sounds ranging from "funky soul progressive" to "psychedelic groove." With a falsetto that could make Cedric Bixler-Zavala blush, tambourines and interpretive dance, Portugal. The Man's live shows are as visceral an experience as the Northern Lights.

—Briana Regan

Tue., April 8, 8 p.m., $18, Fillmore at the TLA, 334 South St., 215-336-2000, livenation.com.

It's not every noise band that gets Anthony Braxton to cheerfully opt to name their Victo CD collaboration Black Vomit (then again, his other choice was Leper War). But it's obvious why Ann Arbor-based trio Wolf Eyes would appeal to Prof. Braxton, its compositional density burying menacing drones under piercing and grinding surface attacks, as if the hideous thing gnashing its teeth in your face was only protecting something far more disturbing lurking in the shadows.

—Shaun Brady

Mon., April 7, 8 p.m., $10, with Tweeter, Angel of Decay and Mincemeat or Tenspeed, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 866-468-7619, r5productions.com, bowerbird.org.

Bassist Ben Allison's latest couldn't have been inspired by two more opposed personalities: His knockout quintet, Man Size Safe, is named for a curious facet of Dick Cheney's office, while their CD, Little Things Run the World, borrows its title from biodiversity expert E.O. Wilson. But Allison is well-versed in merging disparate ideas, burying expansive jazz concepts within pop structures and melodies.

—Shaun Brady

Sat., April 5, 8 p.m., $20, and 10 p.m., $15, Chris' Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom St., 215-568-3131, chrisjazzcafe.com.

It's nice to see there's still room in this scene for boisterous, unpretentious, Nuggets-style rock 'n' roll. Shagginess and shades notwithstanding, Philly newcomers Dark Horse and the Carousels do a fair job resisting the lure toward showboaty shtick and claptrap concepts like "mod," "authenticity" or "revival." Pretty much, they just like screaming over top of suspended sevenths and 12-bar riffs. Listen to "Bottle of Truth" and tell me you don't want to scream along.

—John Vettese

Sat., April 5, 9 p.m., $8, with Prowler and Papertrigger, Khyber, 56 S. Second St., 215-238-5888, thekhyber.com.

 

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