YOU GUYS. Christine McVie has re-joined Fleetwood Mac. I ... I can't even. It's gonna be a good week. We're playing with house money at this point, so might as well go your own way to the following shows:
Volcano Choir, The Fillmore, Tuesday
Justin Vernon has somewhere around 13,000 side projects by now, but this one is the one you need to know. The Bon Iver frontman has now made two incredible yet distinct albums with his old Wisconsin conspirators, the most recent of which, Repave, is on par with everything Bon Iver has done to date, no overstatement. The album is rich with Vernon’s cunning turns of pace and phrasing, masked by the inevitable helping of power balladry Bon Iver only sparingly explores. This is thinking man’s rock ‘n’ roll, of the highest, mightiest order.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4dZbJHT7_4
Sila, The Chapel, Friday
Billed as equal parts James Brown, Fela and Bob Marley, Sila’s reference points aren’t an accident. Sila makes a mission of his music but not at the expense of an audience’s sense of intelligence. It’s meaningful, fun fare that checks preachiness at the door. His new album SuperAfrican celebrates all that’s good and important and positive and empowered, just as the three aforementioned revolutionary musicians endeavored. Come see what the next revolution might look like.
Painted Palms, Rickshaw Stop, Friday
Count me among the mesmerized by the tripped-out psych philanderings of local indie pop outfit Painted Palms. These songs are strangely seductive, free-form but simplistic in both their structure and philosophy. Like a lazy Dolores Park Sunday. Just saunter about, buy whatever they’re selling, observe, and let the mind melt and adjust. Fans of Animal Collective and Yeasayer, take note.
http://youtu.be/uMr3lPskDqo
Colin Meloy, The Fillmore, Friday
Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy’s world is vast, infinitely expository and forever expanding. Serious imagination is required to sufficiently understand Meloy’s characters and landscapes and plot twists, but it’s a worthwhile challenge. There’s always a payoff, and on multiple levels, with unexpected intellectual and musical hooks paving the way. Meloy minus his usual Decemberists teammates allows us an opportunity to really focus on the stories that make The Decemberists such a fascinating phenomenon in the first place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPOMHM6waxk
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