May 18, 2016
Most fans were first introduced to the Atlanta-based weirdo rapper/producer Count Bass D by virtue of his feature on MF Doom’s splendid fifth album, “Mm.. Food.” But by that time, Count Bass D’s debut album “Pre-Life Crisis” was already nearly a decade old. Bass D has been slogging away in the shadows and the occasional spotlight since 1993, and his cult fans still buy up his records — he released his latest, “Instantly New,” in March — and pack venues. Tonight Count plays his new music and fan favorites at the Trocadero with opening sets from Dillon, Darko The Super, Yikes The Zero, and Buddy Leezle.
Doors 8 p.m., show 9 p.m.; $12-$14
It’s hard to believe Twin Peaks released their first album only three years ago. The Chicago garage band was in high school when they started and has, over the course of three records, grown up in front of their fans and inside their music. Their latest, the just-released “Down in Heaven,” finds them easing up with a delightfully low-stakes set of songs recorded in Massachusetts. The band is joined by fellow Chicagoans NE-HI and former Light Pollution singer Jimmy Whispers at Boot & Saddle.
Doors 7:30 p.m. / show 8 p.m.; $13-$15
South Philly upstarts Queen Of Jeans are back this week with their third of four residency shows at Bourbon and Branch this month. The residency, which folds a different band into the bill each week, brings local folk trio The End Of America into the spotlight alongside an opening set from singer-songwriter Christa Gniadek.
Doors 7 p.m., show 8 p.m.; $10-$12
Beach Slang, the energetic Philly punk band whose lead singer James Alex is more than a decade older than the rest of the group, released their debut album in October after dropping a pair of EPs in 2014. That first full-length, “The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us,” is short but loud and invitingly energetic. This weekend the quartet headlines Union Transfer, supported by Potty Mouth, Dyke Drama, and Positive No.
Doors 7 p.m., show 7:30 p.m.; $15 (all ages)
Dave P. has been throwing enterprising parties under the Making Time tagline for 16 years. The promoter and futuristic electronic DJ is celebrating the milestone with an ambitious string of anniversary shows throughout May. A couple weeks ago Making Time brought out Virginia dream-pop group Wild Nothing for the first of those Sweet 16 shows, and this week the party is back and headlined by DIIV, the Brooklyn indie-rock band that broke out with a 2011 debut called “Oshin” and finally delivered a splendid follow-up in “Is the Is Are” earlier this year. As with most Making Time throwdowns, this party runs late and features drink specials through the night.
Show 9 p.m.-4 a.m.; $10-$15
James Hinton makes wildly ambitious sampled-based music under the name The Range. Hinton, previously living in Rhode Island and now based in Brooklyn, went to an Ivy League school where he majored in Math, and while his music carries the clean edges of a practiced technician, he’s not an unemotional producer. He has just released his third album in “Potential,” a record that samples scores of YouTube-mined vocals. What makes “Potential” compelling beyond its sound is that the 20-something producer made the unusual but sincere decision to track down the sampled artists himself in search of genuine permission.On Saturday Hinton is joined by the Philadelphia-born, Atlanta-reared rapper Rome Fortune for a can’t-miss free show at Coda.
Doors 7 pm., show 7:30 p.m.; free
Car Seat Headrest’s new album “Teens Of Denial” has been making headlines for the wrong reason: a sample clearance issue. Instead of a breakout moment for the group and its leader Will Toledo, the record has been bogged down by the news that Ric Ocasek, singer for The Cars, yanked permission to interpolate one of the band’s songs at the last minute. The digital version of the album will be released tomorrow, but physical copies had to be destroyed and will be accordingly delayed. And still, despite the removal of what sounds like one of the album’s best moments, “Teens Of Denial” remains an appropriate introduction to a band whose discography is rather long but informal. Despite — or maybe because of — a typical music industry snafu, “Teens Of Denial” seems like the moment where Car Seat Headrest creeps out of the bedroom and onto the big stage. On Sunday, the group plays Underground Arts and is joined by ascendant Glasgow trio Twin Pines.
Show 8 p.m.; $13
Three years removed from the band’s last record, Montreal indie rockers Islands have decided to follow up with a simultaneous dual release of a pair of albums called “Taste” and “Should I Remain Here At Sea?” Just a few days into a tour that starts in Montreal and caps off in Las Vegas, Islands swing through Johnny Brenda’s on Sunday. Local rapper/producer Lushlife, who recently released “Ritualize,” joins the show as an opener.
Doors 8 p.m., show 9 p.m.; $15
Islands
