6 top Milwaukee concerts this week, including Angel Olsen, Explosions in the Sky
ANGEL OLSEN
Style: Folk fond of '50s rock and country touches, and open to vulnerable confessions.
Backstory: Cutting her teeth in the coffee-house scene in her native St. Louis, Olsen's first noteworthy credit was singing backing vocals for Bonnie "Prince" Billy, on the road and on a couple of records. Her rich, slightly haunting voice — and just as crucially her songwriting — earned the attention of esteemed indie label Jagjaguwar (home to Bon Iver), which released her sophomore album "Burn Your Fire for No Witness" in 2014. Olsen upped the ambition and earned the strongest reviews of her career for last year's "My Woman," the 12th best album of 2016, according to review aggregator Metacritic.
Why you should go?: Olsen was at the Pabst last year, but that was with a sparse trio set-up, and ahead of "My Woman." Songs from the strong album, including new career signature "Shut Up, Kiss Me," have now settled nicely, while the show also could offer a sneak peek at tracks from a forthcoming rarities collection.
Opener: Americana trio Mount Moriah, hailing from North Carolina, where Olsen is now based.
Time and place:8 p.m. Sunday, Pabst Theater, 144 E. Wells St.
Price: $22.50 at the box office, the Riverside Theater box office (116 W. Wisconsin Ave.), (414) 286-3663 and pabsttheater.org.
— Piet Levy,
plevy@journalsentinel.com
CHICANO BATMAN AND KHRUANGBIN
Style: Lysergic rock and funkiness that melds Hendrix and the Far East.
Backstory: Based in Los Angeles, Chicano Batman is a groove-fascinated quartet that obviously has a Latino background. It began its trippy trip around 2008. Khruangbin is a trio from Houston led by Laura Lee and intrigued by Thai funk music from the 1960s and 1970s. (Its band name means “engine fly,” or “aeroplane,” in Thai.)
Why you should go: Chicano Batman’s latest album, this year’s “Freedom Is Free,” is a superficially relaxed series of deep cuts with psychedelic and tropicalia overtones. (There’s also a thrumming political vibe.) Khruangbin is still developing after its 2015 album “The Universe Smiles Upon You,” which sounds like a soundtrack for Day-Glo romance. Drop by, turn on, tune in.
Opener:The Shacks, an unconventional Queens, N.Y., group.
Time and place:8 p.m. Friday, Turner Hall Ballroom, 1040 N. 4th St.
Price:$18 at the door and in advance through the Pabst.
— Jon M. Gilbertson,
Special to the Journal Sentinel
GOGOL BORDELLO
Style: Punk and rock spiked with wanderlust.
Backstory: Gogol Bordello frontman Eugene Hütz was born to Russian and Ukrainian parents and also had a gypsy background that found its way into his music. He alighted in New York City and put together a group reflecting his peripatetic tendencies and the crazy quilt that is the population of the United States. GB’s first LP, “Voi-La Intruder,” emerged in 1999.
Why you should go: This year’s “Seekers and Finders” carries forward Gogol Bordello’s combination of gypsy music and punk rock, and Hütz is the kind of tangle-haired, crazy-eyed leader who needs the stage to bleed off his substantial excess energy. Whatever the backgrounds of the various members of this band, it is one of those “Only in America” experiences.
Opener: NYC-based brass-funk group Lucky Chops.
Time and place: 8 p.m. Monday, Turner Hall Ballroom.
Price:$29.50.
— Jon M. Gilbertson
TOMMY CASTRO AND THE PAINKILLERS
Style: Modern blues that never forgets the genre’s history.
Backstory: Although Castro is 62 years old, it remains difficult not to think of him as a young bluesman, perhaps because he didn’t really get started on his own until the 1990s. Before then, the San Jose, Calif., native had played in cover bands and in the Dynatones. After that, he got accolades from guys like B.B. King.
Why you should go: On the Friday before this show, Castro and Co. are releasing “Stompin’ Ground,” on which guests like Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo and harmonica master Charlie Musselwhite add to the energy the Painkillers bring to Castro’s aged voice and ageless guitar skills. Castro might be in the best creative shape ever and he’s in no mood to retire onstage.
Time and place: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Shank Hall, 1434 N. Farwell Ave.
Price:$20 at the box office, (866) 468-3401 and ticketweb.com.
— Jon M. Gilbertson
EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY
Style: Primarily instrumental music that teaches you about “post-rock.”
Backstory: Known as Breaker Morant until near the end of the 1990s, Explosions in the Sky originated in Austin, Texas, although three of its members were from Midland and the fourth from Rockford, Ill. The band’s tendency toward indie instrumentals rather than “sung” songs comes from a desire to be leaderless and heavily collaborative.
Why you should go: The latest Explosions full-length, 2016’s “The Wilderness,” shows that being leaderless doesn’t mean being rudderless, because the foursome’s artistry is almost always aimed toward accessibility. In a live environment, Explosions will expand upon the killer playing and melodicism of its intelligent studio achievements.
Opener: Holy (Expletive), a provocatively named Toronto electronica group.
Time and place:8 p.m. Wednesday, Pabst Theater.
Price:$25.
— Jon M. Gilbertson
LOCAL SHOW SPOTLIGHT
BO & AIRO
10 p.m. Friday, Company Brewing, 735 E. Center St. $7. The hip-hop drum and bass duo celebrate the release of debut EP "I." — Piet Levy