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Passion. That's the word that's always trotted out to describe tango, as if sensual abandon is all the music has to offer. But ask the Philly-based Oscuro Quintet: Where there's passion there's all too often the risk of obsession and its attendant ills. The multinational ensemble can trace its roots to Belgium, France, Korea and even Lancaster, and its local ties to the jazz and classical scenes. Together, they can capture all the lavish romance of Piazzolla, but they're just as inclined to the jagged darkness of Messiaen, a tension that hints at the razor blade poised at the lover's throat.

—Shaun Brady

Sat., Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m., $10, First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., oscuroquintet.com.

Bowie-Prince hybrid Kevin Barnes preserves his reputation as an androgynous and mystifying troubadour on Of Montreal's latest, Skeletal Lamping, 15 tracks of sometimes sexy but mostly whimsical existential indie pop. Known for being able to transform the stage into a performance art space, Athens, Ga.'s psychedelic glam sextet promise tricks and treats.

—Dianca Potts

Fri., Oct. 31, 8:30 p.m., $20-$22, with Gang Gang Dance, Electric Factory, 421 N. Seventh St., 215-627-1332, livenation.com.

Trying to distill Deerhunter's career into a paragraph is akin to transcribing War and Peace on a postage stamp. From death to disease to lineup changes to shocking album titles to solo pursuits, Deerhunter has touched upon pretty much every rock 'n' roll stereotype during their short life. Fortunately, this hasn't overshadowed the music — a mesmerizing mix of woozy guitars and hazy psychedelia, ghostly apparitions and ambient pop. Live, the Atlanta five-piece ups the ante even further, increasing the volume and covering their songs in a wall of sound. They've already taken one hiatus — catch them now before they do it again.

—Kevin Pearson

Wed., Nov. 5, 8 p.m., $12, all ages, with Times New Viking and Knyfe Hyts, First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., 866-468-7619, r5productions.com.

Multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee has long been something of an improviser without a country: an American whose major champion is Swiss, an unknown in his home country for decades while working steadily in Europe, a New Yorker in the lineup of Peter Brötzmann's Chicago Tentet. But he has remained a ceaseless musical philosopher on sax and pocket trumpet since the late '60s, his spontaneous musings cerebral and challenging. He's been leading Trio X, with bassist Dominic Duval and drummer Jay Rosen, for about a decade, and they'll be joined here by saxophonist Mikolaj Trzaska, one of the founders of the "yass" avant-jazz movement in Poland.

—Shaun Brady

Sun., Nov. 2, 8 p.m., $12, International House, 3701 Chestnut St., 215-387-5125, arsnovaworkshop.com.

Dynamite Club goes through bassists like Spinal Tap goes through drummers. Though none of Dynamite's bassists have died (the closest call being a fall off a cliff in Taiwan), Evan Lipson is the eighth in the trio's seven-year history. He splits duties with Jesse Krakow (Number 7) on Fusion Era (Caminante). Founded by drummer Mike Pride and guitarist Kentaro Saito, who split vocal duties, the group is a hardcore madcap, veering recklessly between punk bashing, lounge-jazz pastiche, thrash-metal riffing and simple insanity.

—Shaun Brady

Sat., Nov. 1, 8 p.m., $10 ($8 w/ costume), with DMBQ, AIDS Wolf, Us Girls, Birds of Maya and Satanized, Danger Danger Gallery, 5013 Baltimore Ave., myspace.com/dangerdangergallery.