Austin singer-songwriter Bill Callahan headlines the Sixth & I Synagogue Wednesday night. Photo by Hanly Banks.
TUESDAY
The Dodos quietly released their fourth full-length Carrier back in August. The San Francisco duo has always managed to carve out an interesting niche using drums and acoustic guitar, but their latest record finds them going in a different direction after losing their third member unexpectedly in 2012. That weight of loss fills the band’s new record as singer Meric Long is at his most plaintive with an uneasy directness in his songs. Despite the heavy source material, the Dodos live shows have always been more catharsis than crushing defeat. Experimental guitarist and former member of Baltimore’s Ponytail Dustin Wong opens the show at The Black Cat. $15, 8 p.m.
>> 9:30 Club: Daughter, Bear’s Den. $20, 7 p.m.
>> U Street Music Hall: Grouplove, The Rubens. 7 p.m. Sold out.
>> Union Arts: Sonic Circuits 2013: Free Improv round robin with Aaron Martin, Amanda Huron, Charles Woods, DJ Underdog, Jabari Axum, John Moon, Reginald Cyntje, Herman Burney, Susan Alcorn, TA Zook, Luke Stewart, Mike Sebastian and Thomas Stanley. 8 p.m., $10. Tickets sold at the door only. A festival pass can be bought for $80.
WEDNESDAY
It’s still weird to see Bill Callahan smile. The Austin based singer-songwriter has always had a Very Serious Disposition on stage and in interviews. But listening to his latest record Dream River, he seems happy. Maybe that’s now seeping into his press photos. Good for him. New Bums – the latest project from Six Organs of Admittance‘s Ben Chasny — joins him at Sixth & I Synagogue. 8 p.m., $20-25.
>> The Howard Theatre: Big Boi, Killer Mike, Fishhawk, Renegade. 6 p.m., $29.50-35.
>> Rock And Roll Hotel: Typhoon, Radiation City. 7 p.m., Sold out.
THURSDAY
Sonic Circuits 2013, the experimental music, film and dance festival is in its 11th year now. Shows, film screenings and dance performances more kick off Tuesday night and run until Sunday evening at various venues throughout the city. Thursday night’s showcase at the Atlas Performing Arts Center featuring Fast Forty, Ghosts of the Holy Ghost Spermic Brotherhood, hBar, semisolid, Richard Pinhas is just one of many events worth your time. $10-15, 7 p.m. Festival pass is $80.
>> Fillmore Silver Spring: Drop Electric, Honest Haloway, Technophobia. $12, 7 p.m.
>> Rock And Roll Hotel: Surfer Blood, Team Spirit, Andy Boay. $16, 8 p.m.
FRIDAY
LCD Soundsystem might be dead, but James Murphy has been keeping himself busy. He’s been producing soon to be released Arcade Fire album, still manning down the fort at DFA Records and occasionally spinning records. He’ll be doing the latter at the 9:30 Club with owner of U Street Music Hall Will Eastman. $40, 11 p.m.
>> Merriweather Post Pavilion: The Flaming Lips, Tame Impala, Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger. $35-45, 5:30 p.m.
>> The Dollhouse: Radiator Hospital, Spoonboy, Art Sorority For Girls, Spinsters. $5, 6:30 p.m.
>> Atlas Performing Arts Center: Sonic Circuits 2013: Human Food, Governor Silver & the Queen Bees, Black Saturn, Birgit Ulher & Forbes Graham & Bill Hsu,Kayaka, the Molecules. $10-15, 7 p.m. Festival pass is $80.
SATURDAY
Three rapturously received mixtapes and a Drake co-sign will pull you from Internet obscurity to a headlining gig D.A.R. Constitution Hall. This has been the case for Toronto’s Abel Tesfaye, performing as The Weeknd, who brings his eternal mope to the historic venue. Quickly rising pop singer BANKS and the electronic producer Anna Lunoe will open the show. $55, 7 p.m.
>> The Black Cat: Wavves, King Tuff, Jacuzzi Boys. $18-20, 8:30 p.m.
>> Atlas Performing Arts Center: Sonic Circuits 2013: The Subtle Body Transmission Orchestra + the Nancy Havlik Dance Performance Group, Sharound Mansur & Tara Rodgers, PAS Musique, Safe Creations, Craig Hilton, the Quickest Path to Earth, Superlith, MRI, JOHN 3:16, Räum, Iron Dog, BLK TAG, Chastity Wood, the Jazzfakers, Ensemble Volcanic Ash. $15-25, 12 p.m. Festival pass is $80.
SUNDAY
The Chicago based psych-folk musician Angel Olsen will headline DC9 in support of last year’s quiet storm Half Way Home. Since then, she’s been keeping her next project under wraps, but I’d expect to hear a bit of what’s next for the rising singer-songwriter. Pillars & Tongues will open the show. $12-14, 8 p.m.
>> Atlas Performing Arts Center: Sonic Circuits 2013: Margaret Rorison & Josh Millrod, When We’re Older, Chris H. Lynn + Amptext, Makioki Sisters, Crunch (Jack Wright, Andrea Pensado, Walter Wright), the Anthony Pirog Sextet, Paul Clipson & En, bAgg*fisH, Sonar, Konk Pack (Tim Hodgkinson, Thomas Lehn, Roger Turner). $15-25, 2 p.m. Festival pass is $80.
