THURSDAY 10/19
Com Truise, Nosaj Thing, Cleopold
Don'tcha just love that synthwave—the cheesy-cool synthesizer music that soundtracked '80s filmmakers' concepts of the future—became a genre? And that guys like Com Truise have a seemingly inexhaustible supply of celluloid sci-fi scenes in their heads? If you put on one of his albums—like his latest, Iteration (Ghostly International)—and listen to it in your car at night, it makes even mundane stuff like hitting the Del Taco drive-thru '80s-movie awesome. Co-headliner Nosaj Thing, aka Jason Chung, is a less specialized DJ/producer, working with hip-hop artists like Chance the Rapper and Kendrick Lamar. But his fourth album, Parallels (Innovative Leisure), shows he'd make a fine composer in his own right. Opener Cleopold is from L.A. via Australia, and serves more song-oriented pop fare on his debut EP Altitude & Oxygen, released last year on Chet Faker's Detail label. Metro Music Hall, 615 W. 100 South, 8 p.m., $18 presale; $20 day of show, 21+, metromusichall.com
Huey Lewis and the News, Jamie Kent
Do you remember the first time you heard Huey Lewis and the News? Was it the infectious summer song "Do You Believe in Love?" from the San Francisco band's second album, Picture This (Chrysalis, 1982)? If it wasn't then, it had to be the magical summer of 1984 when they had five singles from Sports—like "I Want a New Drug"—on the radio and MTV. That's when we fell for their doo-wop vocals, saxophone skronk, Lewis' gritty blues harp (which he wielded on the Irish hard-rock band Thin Lizzy's heralded 1978 album Live and Dangerous), summery power-pop hooks, new wave keys and arena-worthy guitar solos. They were—and remain—everyman rockers that appeal to almost anyone, and represent a much-needed reminder of happier and (superficially, at least) simpler times. Eccles Theater, 131 S. Main, 8 p.m., $45-$125, all ages, live-at-the-eccles.com
FRIDAY 10/20
The Afghan Whigs, Har Mar Superstar
What a perfect coupling: dark, brooding alternative rock giants led by a guy who'd make a brilliant stand-up comic, and a proto-nerdcore pop/R&B champion/satirist/goofball, who sometimes pretends to be dark and brooding. Yeah, at first, it doesn't seem like a musical love connection, but the two acts are surprisingly complementary. Greg Dulli's songs are emotionally heavy, but he's quick wit with a knack for zeroing in on absurdity and bullshit in any situation. Har Mar's tunes are more lighthearted, and sometimes he'll lose his pants onstage, but with each new album, he demonstrates a growing tendency for stashing bombs of profundity among his goofy lyrics. Since he's playing first, it's as if they're bringing us up only to drop us. Except for one thing: Bummer music has a paradoxical effect. It's cathartic—particularly when it's loud—and therefore healing. So what's more likely to happen is that Har Mar will get us dancing and make us laugh, releasing tension so that the Whigs can go deep and clear out our emotional cobwebs. Which, barring an epic hangover, should leave everybody feeling great. Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, 8 p.m., $25, 21+, theurbanloungeslc.com
SATURDAY 10/21
Lyrics Born
The Kickstarter page for Lyrics Born's current release—a greatest hits project called Now Look What You've Done, Lyrics Born—lays it out: "Twenty-three years. Eight albums. Seven mixtapes. Now it's time to hit 'em with the GREATEST HITS!" That's a lot of music to boil down to 18 tracks representing the best of this rapper/producer's distinguished canon, which dates all the way back to 1993 and features collaborations with dudes like Lateef the Truthspeaker, Gift of Gab, Galactic, Ivan Neville, Dan the Automator, Cut Chemist, KRS-One and more. But it's not just the quantity of music and co-creators that sets Lyrics Born—Tom Shimura—apart from the crowd. It's that dusky voice and brainy flow, those lyrics born of a rare mind that has soaked up a lot as he migrated from Tokyo to SLC to Berkeley, where he moved in a creative and social circle that included Gift, Lateef, DJ Shadow and others. Tonight, backed by a full band, he'll take The State Room crowd on a nearly quarter-century trip, showing what, exactly, he's done—and why he keeps doing it. The State Room, 638 S. State, 9 p.m., $18, 21+, thestateroomslc.com
MONDAY 10/23
Tim Reynolds & TR3
Not a fan of the Dave Matthews Band? You'll change your mind after seeing Matthews perform as part of an acoustic duo with guitar wizard Tim Reynolds. Longtime friends, they met in Virginia at the bar where Matthews worked. Reynolds, along with sax player LeRoi Moore (RIP) and drummer Carter Beauford, were among the older and wiser musicians who urged Matthews to start a band. All three were invited to join the group—but Reynolds declined, saying he was happy with his own project, prog-rock trio TR3. That didn't stop him from playing on some DMB albums, occasionally joining the band on tour and Matthews for those duo shows—one of which occurred at Kingsbury Hall in 1999. Matthews' songs take on a new life with only Reynolds to accompany him. But "only" sells it short: Reynolds is no ordinary guitar player. Through technique and technology, he supplements Matthews' tunes with anything from subtle textures to mesmerizing extended intros and solos. Reynolds joined DMB full-time in 2008, but still records and tours solo and with TR3. His solo records are mind-scrambling jaunts into alternate guitar universes, while TR3 is a bit more straightforward and song-oriented (as much as a prog act can be those things) with room, of course, for quantum side trips—exercises in string theory, if you will. (Randy Harward) The State Room, 638 S. State, 8 p.m., $20, 21+, thestateroom.com
WEDNESDAY 10/25
Kesha, Savoy Motel
When she first emerged, the claim that Kesha was arguably the most authentic of the plastic pop divas didn't hold much water. What good are intelligence, talent and an independent personality that's supposedly resistant to manipulation by svengalis who stand to profit from you when you've enlisted one of those selfsame profiteers (Dr. Luke) as your main collaborator? This, and singing vapid, materialistic songs while claiming to be repulsed by the gluttony and excesses of fame? That earns a lingering sidelong glance. But still, some of the songs on her debut album Animal (2010) were actually really good. Then Kesha began pushing back, demanding more room on her albums for guitar rock and working with cats like Wayne Coyne and Iggy Pop on Warrior (2012). When that snowballed into taking on her label and accusing Dr. Luke of sexual and emotional abuse—essentially risking her career in the process—she demonstrated she's made of something far more durable. Rainbow (RCA/Kemosabe) is the bold, ass-kicking album you'd expect from someone of Kesha's considerable intangible attributes. It gets lyrically deep, even brutal, and veers into country and rock territory while remaining unapologetically pop—and teaching synthetic divas, pop fans and grouchy critics a thing or two about what's really real. The Complex, 536 W. 100 South, 7 p.m., $35.50 presale; $38 day of show, all ages, thecomplexslc.com