THURSDAY25
Thursday25
THE HOLD STEADY
PETER BJORN AND JOHN
SUPREME CUTS
Friday26
I CAN HEAR MYSELF LEVITATE
SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE
WAR ON DRUGS
Saturday27
SUSANA BACA
BRAID
LOST IN THE TREES
NRBQ
RELEASE THE SUNBIRD
Sunday28
Monday29
Tuesday30
VREID
Wednesday31
JIM WARD
FRIDAY26
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I CAN HEAR MYSELF LEVITATE This Chicago quintet got some buzz last year for their debut EP, What Is Left; this show celebrates the release of its self-released follow-up, A City Submerged, which their press release describes as “the story of a city’s demise brought on by a leader’s lack of dignity, morality, and selflessness.” Hmm, I wonder if that’s allegorical. Either way, I Can Hear Myself Levitate‘s sound is better suited for more ambitious concepts than What Is Left‘s focus on relationship disintegration. Here and there they get spacey and indulgent—”Saints” opens with some guitar woo-woo that sounds like Jimi Hendrix drooling in his sleep—but for the most part the salty, savory postpunk angularity of their noodling and riffing on A City Submerged and the touch of Dischord earnestness in their vocals (see also Fugazi) bolster the dourness of the lyrical message on the power of the pleasure principle. —Monica Kendrick Onasis, Mismatch, Without a Breath, Photo Finish, and DJ Haha open. 8 PM, Reggie’s Rock Club, $10. 18+
SUSANA BACA Singer and activist Susana Baca has spent most of her career researching, preserving, and advocating for Afro-Peruvian culture, and her efforts have paid off. These days there’s no shortage of international artists exploring its once-buried riches—from popular Peruvian singer Eva Ayllon to panglobal dance group Novalima. Her government has noticed, and new president Ollanta Humala named her Peru’s Minister of Culture in late July, making her the country’s first black government minister. On her terrific new album, Afrodiaspora (Luaka Bop), Baca takes a different approach than on previous recordings, drawing on her recent travels and academic studies to interpret songs of the African diaspora in the new world—not just Afro-Peruvian material but also tunes made famous by Cuban great Celia Cruz, the Meters/Neville Brothers classic “Hey Pocky Way,” a piece by Mexican nuevo cancion singer Amparo Ochoa, and more. Eight of the eleven tracks feature guest musicians, who often color them with regional instruments—though the guests and the songs sometimes hail from entirely different regions (and despite the presence of Chicago blues harpist Billy Branch, there’s no blues number on the album). Whether the music is from Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, or elsewhere, Baca’s crack working band—bassist Oscar Huaranga, percussionist Hugo Bravo, and guitarist Ernesto Hermoza—give it an Afro-Peruvian foundation. They’ll support her on this date, joined by violinist Maria Elena Pacheco. —Peter Margasak 7 and 9:30 PM, Mayne Stage, $30-$45.
SUPREME CUTS While most Chicagoans took the opportunity to hibernate during February’s blizzard, Mike Perry and Austin Keultjes started recording their first jam as Supreme Cuts. That song, “Amnesia,” is as warm as a winter afternoon spent canoodling under a mound of blankets next to a roaring fire. It’s an effect these two former members of the Dirty Diamonds seem to have a flair for creating; on their proper debut, a four-song EP called Trouble (Small Plates), they meld spaced-out samples, chopped-and-screwed vocals, and sumptuous synths to make music that oozes with a lush but warped sensuality. Perry and Keultjes have been awaiting the EP’s release since putting the finishing touches on it in late spring—it comes out digitally today, and the vinyl version will be available Tuesday—but they haven’t just been sitting around. Throughout the summer they’ve been uploading dark, warped remixes of pop songs to their Tumblr (Kate Bush, Gucci Mane, Lorenzo with Keith Sweat), and earlier this month they dropped a mix via the Fader that includes a new Burial-style dubstep banger called “Jacy” that wraps up with an irresistible juke beat. It’s a good thing they’ve kept working, since for this show—Supreme Cuts’ live debut—they’ll need more material than just their hot-and-heavy EP tracks. —Leor Galil See also Thursday. oOoOO with Butterclock headline; Glitter Bones and Supreme Cuts open. 10 PM, $12, $10 in advance.
TUESDAY30
