Guys, the polar vortex is back. The last time it was here, pretty much every event across town got canceled. Hopefully that doesn’t happen again, because the first half of this week has a handful of excellent shows to catch.
Tonight Citizen Cope plays their last show of a five-night run at City Winery, while indie-pop songstress Frankie Rose headlines Schubas. Also, local jazz treasure Erwin Helfer plays at Katerina’s as part of his January residency. Tomorrow night Earring, one of my favorite bands to emerge last year, will be at the Empty Bottle supporting Clearance, and Lawrence Arms front man Brendan Kelly will be celebrating the release of his band’s new album with an acoustic set at the Wicker Park Reckless Records. And on Wednesday, bubblegum-garage-pop rodent Nobunny will be playing two shows at Township, one of them all ages, the other 21 and up.
And as usual, there’s a couple more Soundboard picks to check out after the jump.
Mon 1/27: Weyes Blood at the Empty Bottle
Weyes Blood has canceled. Ryley Walker, Circuit des Yeux, Mark Trecka, and Field Auxiliary are all still playing. “In recent years experimental music has produced quite a few hauntingly psychedelic chanteuses who deliver mesmerizing, spooky sounds and charged postfolk vocals that range from rustic crooning to borderline avant-garde caterwauling,” says Peter Margasak. “And no one in this imaginary genre can match the creepy beauty of Weyes Blood, aka Natalie Mering, a Philadelphia native who cut her teeth in tripped-out ensembles such as Jackie-O Motherfucker and Axolotl. I recently discovered her 2011 album, The Outside Room (Not Not Fun), and it’s a stunner, with murky guitar, organ drones, and hand percussion caressing her enchanting, harrowing voice.”
Wed 1/29: Dave Rempis, Joshua Abrams, and Avreeayl Ra at the Hideout
Local jazz staple Dave Rempis leads a trio at Hideout this week. “When a freely improvised group prominently features saxophonist Dave Rempis, its music tends to be fiery and bulldozer intense,” writes Margasak. “He’s furiously propulsive, usually locking in with a drummer (or with two in the Rempis Percussion Quartet) and riding even the swiftest rhythms like an unsinkable raft on tumbling rapids. But in this relatively new trio with bassist Joshua Abrams and percussionist Avreeayl Ra, he shows off a surprisingly gentle side. The group has just released its first album, Aphelion (Aerophonic), and on its brief opening piece, ‘Ruah,’ Rempis blows quiet, tender washes on baritone saxophone, his breathy long tones and gentle melodic fragments only occasionally spiked with acrid low-end honks and upper-register squeaks; meanwhile his partners summon a meditative, floating calm with a small harp and a kalimba.”