 |
Chaka Khan plays the Koger Center on Friday.
|
Thursday 19
Bad Suns, Coasts, Maudlin Strangers — Hearkening to
postmodern pop-rockers like Phoenix and Franz Ferdinand, Bad Suns’ music
is bouncy, danceable and busy — the sound of an excited young band
staking out its musical world. Coasts’ “Rush of Blood” directly
references Coldplay’s, ahem,
Rush of Blood to the Head; to wit,
they indulge in starry-eyed, arms-wide-open indie rock that’s not all
that far removed from those British stadium conquerors. Maudlin
Strangers open. — Corbie Hill
Music Farm Columbia: 9 p.m., $12 ($10 advance); 471-2779,
musicfarm.com
Friday 20
Blind Boys of Alabama — Since the mid-’40s, the Blind
Boys of Alabama have steadily cranked out soulful gospel tunes that
would move even the most ardent atheist. They recently collaborated
with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon for their 2013 LP
I’ll Find a Way,
but they boast a gravitas that transcends any indie rock crossover.
They’re a bona fide American cultural institution, and they won’t be
around forever. — Allison Hussey
Sumter Opera House: 7:30 p.m., $28-$35; 436-2500,
sumtersc.gov/sumter-opera-house.aspx
Beauty Slap — Call it two turntables and a bass
trombone: Pittsburgh’s Beauty Slap bridges ivory-tower music school
pedagogy and new-school laptop tweaking techniques to create some
seriously funky vibes. The C Street Brass quintet — which plays its own
free show Tuesday at USC’s Johnson Performance Hall — bays a bold
big-band brass sound, which is then mixed and manipulated by Ableton
wizard Jake Berntsen into sweltering EDM. — Patrick Wall
Conundrum Music Hall: 10 p.m., $15 ($12 advance); 250-1295,
conundrum.us
Chaka Khan — Chaka Khan is the featured artist at this
year’s Legends of ... Concert & Silent Auction, a fundraiser for the
Auntie Karen Foundation. With 10 Grammys to her name, Khan first became
a star in the ’70s with the funky R&B act Rufus. She struck out on
her own in the ’80s, delivering enduring hits such as “Ain’t Nobody” and
“I Feel For You.” Khan’s first love was jazz, an affection she nurtured
as her career matured, alternating between stately dips into the Great
American Songbook and her more famous R&B stylings. And recent
collaborations with Mary J. Blige and LeCrae show that Khan isn’t
resigned to the nostalgia circuit. — Kevin Oliver
Koger Center: 8 p.m., $56-$101; 251-2222;
auntiekaren.org
Saturday 21
William Starr Busbee
William Starr Busbee — The opening song on
College Rock II
— local musician William Starr Busbee’s simultaneous send-up and
celebration of the kitschy fare that dominates modern indie pop — is
called “Chaos Convention.” Its restless lo-fi pulse, breezy harmonies
and oddball guitar scuzz set the table for a collection that jumbles
college radio hallmarks with irreverent glee. Its title would also serve
as an apt tag for tonight’s release party, hosted at Busbee’s house and
featuring him and 11 other acts that attack pop and rock from their own
odd angles. Let’s get weird. — Jordan Lawrence
1415 Woodrow Street: 9 p.m., free;
forkandspoonrecords.net
Congaree Nomads — What, exactly, is music? One
classic definition comes from Edgar Varese, who called it “organized
sound.” California composer Michael Pisaro and local experimental
percussionist Greg Stuart have tested the limits of this definition for
about a decade, fusing disparate sounds — nature noises, rice grains
hitting cymbals — into blissfully amorphous compositions. Tonight, view
Congaree Nomads,
recorded at Congaree National Park by Pisaro, Stuart and digital media
artist Nathan Halvorson; the the 72-minute film combines video and field
recordings with a large-scale instrumental score. — Dan Cook
Conundrum Music Hall: 8 p.m.; free; 250-1295;
conundrum.us
Ghosts of the Kodiak — Ghosts of the Kodiak hearken to A
Perfect Circle, but in a good way. The music’s churning and
mathematical, like an impatient Red Sparowes, while the insistent,
super-serious vocals definitely owe at least a debt to Maynard James
Keenan. But where A Perfect Circle was pompous and over-philosophical,
Ghosts of the Kodiak seem down-to-earth and human, if a bit somber.
Still, they’d appeal nicely to Neurot Records adherents — or those still
trying to wean themselves from Tool. Knox Hamilton headlines. — Corbie
Hill
New Brookland Tavern: 7 p.m., $10; 791-4413;
courtesy(FREETIMES)
