friday11
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c selim sesler Rom clarinetist Selim Sesler grew up in Kesan, a Thracian village in the northwest corner of Turkey, where Greece and Bulgaria meet, and the confluence of all those cultures is a big part of what makes his music so dazzling. Sesler’s 2000 album The Road to Kesan, a strictly folkloric affair, is still raucous as hell; his latest, Anatolian Wedding (Doublemoon), is a more accomplished work of alchemy, simultaneously vibrant and sorrowful. Sesler’s snaking, sharp-toned lines are fierce and fast, and he alternates between precise unison and ferocious counterpoint with the other lead instruments–twangy oud, sobbing violin, springy kanun (a regional instrument similar to the hammer dulcimer)–while aggressive darbuka propels the whole careful, sensual dance. The album explores music heard at weddings throughout Turkey, though some of the rhythms and more buoyant melodies come from those parts of Thrace that are over the border. In his Chicago debut Sesler leads a sextet; he’ll be joined for a few songs by the not-so-convincing Canadian singer Brenna MacCrimmon, who lives in Istanbul and appeared with him in Crossing the Bridge, Fatih Akin’s documentary on Istanbul’s music scene. This concert is part of Looptopia; see Fairs & Festivals for the complete music lineup. a 9 PM, Preston Bradley Hall, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington, 312-744-6630. F A –Peter Margasak
tight phantomz Chicago’s leading purveyors of unabashed and (mostly) unpretentious boogie rock weigh in on the double-album question with the new Silk Prison (Southern), a 34-song epic that’s all over the hard-rock map–goopy ballads, “Slow Ride”-style jams, crunchy anthems–and pinches guitar styles from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Sounds like pure self-indulgence, but Tight Phantomz excel at these riffs, and front man and superproducer Mike Lust keeps them crisp with tricks pulled from his trusty bag of holding (don’t ever turn your back on him). This is the Silk Prison release party, and Lust’s backing band will include folks from Pinebender and Euphone; the Narrator (see Sharp Darts) headlines and members of the Mannequin Men DJ between sets. a 10 PM, Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, 773-227-4433 or 866-468-3401, $8. –Monica Kendrick
sunday13
MYKEL BOYD There’s nothing but bird sounds on “Oiseaux Part Five,” Mykel Boyd’s side of a split eight-inch record he released on his Somnimage label, but you’d never know it from listening to the thing. Boyd, a local sound artist, has used a combination of acoustic and electronic processes to transform his source material into layered and deeply involving musique concrete, with jet-engine whooshes and electronic whistles folding into each other against a backdrop that sounds like a distant choir. For tonight’s performance, using four small tape players and some contact mikes, he’ll blend looped field recordings of fire, water, wind, and stones with the ringing of a bowed brass bowl. Jason Soliday and the trio of Jason Roebke, Guillermo Gregorio, and Brian Labycz open. On Sunday, May 13, Boyd performs live on the WLUW radio show Something Else, at 88.7 FM or wluw.org from 10 PM till 2 AM. a 8 PM, Elastic, 2830 N. Milwaukee, 773-772-3616, donation requested. A –Bill Meyer
PORCUPINE TREE These prog monsters’ new Fear of a Blank Planet is a bit of a concept album, full of the sort of paranoid what’s-wrong-with-the-kids-today fulminating that was crusty when Pink Floyd and Rush were doing it a quarter century ago. Like those bands, though, they have the good sense to hide their message under a shimmering carpet of virtuosity, working the percussion till it bleeds and giving the car-chase-hypnotized kids some righteous riffing and noodling to follow with their unblinking eyes. 3 opens. a 7:30 PM, Park West, 322 W. Armitage, 773-929-5959 or 312-559-1212, sold out. A –Monica Kendrick
