Soundadvice

Get Out!

New Pornographer Dan Bejar's epic acid rock might have walked the boundaries between impressive and ostentatious in the past, but his new Trouble in Dreams is more streamlined and composed, a taut collection of psychedelic pop delights.

—John Vettese

Thu., April 24, 9 p.m., $12, with Andre Ethier, North Star Bar, 2639 Poplar St., northstarbar.com.

Lansdowne Folk Club turns 15 this year with a funder celebrating blue-collar culture. High energy Hoots and Hellmouth — the band to beat at last fall's Americana conference, according to my highly unscientific poll — plus singer-songwriter Robin Greenstein (pictured) will round out the evening at the LFC's rather grand home, the Twentieth Century Club.

—Mary Armstrong

Sat., April 26, 7:30 p.m., $25, with Robin Greenstein, 5-3 Woodland, Hoots and Hellmouth, Twentieth Century Club, 84 S. Lansdowne Ave., Lansdowne, 610-622-7250, myspace.com/lansdownefolkclub, lfc.org@rcn.com.

Any opportunity to hear the master pianist Leon Fleisher should be cherished. The soon-to-be octogenarian spent many years with a disability that prevented him from using his right hand. Although he is playing with two hands again these days, he plays a left-hand-only rarity this weekend, a work by the neoclassicist German composer Paul Hindemith.

—Peter Burwasser

Sun., April 27, 8 p.m., $5-$40, Kimmel Center, 300 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999, ticketphiladelphia.org.

Can you think of a Philly musician busier than Carolynne McNeel? Ports of Call, like the 3,746th band she's been involved with over the past five years, picks up where Rarebirds leaves off by exploring how beautiful songwriting fares when treated with dissonance. McNeel's voice is still breathtaking, even when submerged in heady reverb and distortion.

—John Vettese

Wed., April 30, 8 p.m., $8, with Film School and Love City, Johnny Brendas, 1201 N. Frankford Ave, 866-468-7619, johnnybrendas.com.

Joe Ely's new Live Cactus! (Rack 'Em) is tightly focused, featuring just him and sensitive conjunto accordion accompaniment from Joel Guzman, one of the best in the business. Ely is so revered by his peers that the Americana Music Association gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award last fall. As much as he's a rocker and West Texas honky-tonker, Ely's stories get a lot more attention when it's just his emotional voice underscored by the vibrato of the accordion and a bit of simple guitar, a combination you'll rarely see in these parts.

—Mary Armstrong

Sun., April 27, 8 p.m., $23-$40, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com.