Soundadvice

Get Out!

Franz Nicolay isn't just another dude from Brooklyn who plays accordion, wears jeff caps and grooms some unique facial hair: He's the best. An ivories tickler for the corrosive cabaret act The World/Inferno Friendship Society and the poppier-but no-less-vicious The Hold Steady, the handlebarred Nicolay goes solo for 2009's first great CD, Major General.

- A.D. Amorosi

Fri., Jan. 9, 8 p.m., $8, all ages, with Spoonboy, First Unitarian Church Chapel, 2125 Chestnut St., 866-468-7619, r5productions.com.

Electric Tickle Machine

"I don't get girls/ I get stoned," Electric Tickle Machine frontman Tom Olivier explains during a psychedelic romp that utilizes '80s synths and Welsh female vocals. I suspect they get both. Mixing Nuggets-era garage rock with haphazardly hypnotic melodies (at times sounding like early Flaming Lips covering the Beatles in a cave), this New York-based five-piece plays with the kind of wild abandon that would attract drug dealers, dudes and the ladies in equal measure.

- Kevin Pearson

Sat., Jan. 10, 9 p.m., $10, with Dark Horse and the Carousels, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 Frankford Ave., 866-468-7619, johnnybrendas.com.

Ryan Banks & Friends

Philly actor (Let the Game Begin) and rapper (The Blood) Ryan Banks has dramaaah no matter how he conveys it. He's gathered hip-hop pals (Selena Carerra, Bungee, Soul Kwest, Hedonis Da Amazon) for this TLA gig, but the best reason to go is Schoolly D — West Philly's raw-knuckle OG king. Schoolly don't do too many rap gigs in the States these days. Plus he moved to like Gladwynne or some other Main Line. Suddenly "Gucci Time" takes on a whole other meaning.

- A.D. Amorosi

Composer Portrait: Julius Hemphill

Avant-jazz aficionados are almost certainly fans of Julius Hemphill, whether they know it or not. The late Texas-born saxophonist has long been condemned to the ranks of the "musician's musician," more influential than actually listened to. Ars Nova's Composer Portraits series aims to remedy, with three performances of Hemphill's idiosyncratic compositions in the coming months. This first installment features Hemphill collaborators Marty Ehrlich and Baikida Carroll re-creating music from the seminal 1972 Dogon A.D. , and pianist Ursula Oppens performing chamber pieces with the Daedalus String Quartet.

- Shaun Brady

Fri., Jan. 9, 8 p.m., $15, Settlement Music School, 416 Queen St., arsnovaworkshop.com.

This young Philly band knows the secret to straddling the classic/jam/indie divide: It's gotta be catchy, like sing-along-everybody-now-c'mon catchy. Peppy beats, twangy guitars and Jamie Olson's moonshine vocals help North Lawrence Midnight Singers hit you the same place the Wilburys or the Connells used to.

- Patrick Rapa

Wed., Jan. 14, 9 p.m., $8, with Those Darlins and The Broken Prayers, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684, johnnybrendas.com.