Magnetic Fields comes to Lincoln Theater on Saturday and Sunday.
THURSDAY, MARCH 16
Jens Lekman, Lisa/Liza @ U Street Music Hall. 7 p.m. $25. All ages, accessible venue.
Jens Lekman is a Swedish songwriter known for the storytelling quality of his tunes. Lekman has released four proper full-lengths, including this year’s exceptional Life Will See You Now. After releasing the dark break-up record, I Know What Love Isn’t , in 2012, Lekman went through writer’s block. To combat it, he released a song per week in 2015, resulting in 52 songs of which two are on Life Will See You Now. The album also brought back Lekman’s sampling, which he did not use on I Know What Love Isn’t. The sample of the jazz song, “The Path,” by Ralph MacDonald on “What’s That Perfume That You Wear?” is an immediate standout. Life Will See You Now is a strong record in Lekman’s discography, and one of his best overall.
9:30: Katatonia, Caspian, Uncured. 7 p.m. $25. All ages, accessible venue.
FRIDAY, MARCH 17
Dungen @ DC9. 7 p.m. $15. All ages, inaccessible venue.
Stockholm, Sweden’s Dungen is a psychedelic four piece largely helmed by Gustav Ejstes. The band is a shapeshifter, moving from prog to krautrock to jazz. Since 2001, the band has released nine records with 2004’s Ta det lugnt being the first released in the United Sates. The band’s latest record, Häxan, is its first instrumental album, and it was inspired by Dungen’s score to to Lotte Reiniger’s The Adventures of Prince Achmed. The band always excelled in its groove and Häxan is proof of it. The band takes influences from many genres and cultures, blending them effortlessly.
Four Five Three: Wing Dam, Natural Velvet, Wae. 7 p.m. Donations Welcome. All ages, accessible venue.
Comet Ping Pong: Vundabar, Sports, Plastic Nancy. 10 p.m. $12. All ages, accessible venue.
SATURDAY, MARCH 18
Magnetic Fields @ Lincoln Theatre 6:30 p.m. $40-$55. All ages, accessible venue.
Stephin Merritt has been making music as Magnetic Fields since 1989. The band has released 11 albums, including the newest project, 50 Song Memoir. The indie pop band dabbles in experiments, and 50 Song Memoir is just as the title suggests: 50 songs that are a peek into Merritt’s 50 years of life. Each evokes the feel of a particular year through its stylistic approach. The album is the strongest showing from the Magnetic Fields since 2008’s Distortion, and one of the bests in their catalog. This show features the band playing the first 25 songs from 50 Song Memoir and Sunday’s performance features the next 25.
Black Cat: People’s Blues of Richmond, Wild Adriatic, Kid Brother. 8 p.m. $12. All ages, accessible venue.
SUNDAY, MARCH 19
Tennis, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever @ 9:30 Club. 7 p.m. $20. All ages, accessible venue.
It is impossible to talk about Tennis without mentioning its origin story. The married couple at the band’s core went on a sailing trip, which ended up inspiring an album about their adventures. Cape Dory was released in 2011, and the next two albums saw Tennis losing the lo-fi quality of the first recording by moving into bigger, better studios. After releasing Ritual in Repeat in 2014, Tennis toured and then went back to its beloved boat for inspiration. The resulting record, Yours Conditionally, was released last week and is a strong showing for the duo. The soul influence is still there, but the songs are more inspired by The Carpenters and ’70’s pop.
Lincoln Theatre: Magnetic Fields 6:30 p.m. $40- $55. All ages, accessible venue.
