Friday 21
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NOW IT’S OVERHEAD Dark Light Daybreak, due in September on Saddle Creek, is the third album of complex, crystalline indie pop from Andy LeMaster, general mastermind of Now It’s Overhead. Like his previous records, it’s basically flawless. But that’s the problem–LeMaster’s music has about as much personality as a MIDI-to-USB interface. It reminds me of those jangly post-R.E.M. bands whose records I recall being absolutely perfect but can’t for the life of me remember any songs from. Devotchka headlines, Now It’s Overhead plays second, and Canasta opens. 10 PM, Subterranean, 2011 W. North, 773-278-6600 or 800-594-8499, $10 in advance, $12 at the door. –Miles Raymer
Saturday 22
CHARLEMAGNE, NICK CASTRO & THE YOUNG ELDERS NICK CASTRO doesn’t try to align himself with his more hirsute brethren in the psychedelic scene–sacrificing expansiveness and raw improvisation, he goes for a direct and polished style that’s more Ren Faire than freak folk. On 2005’s Further From Grace he got support from Espers and former Chicagoan Josephine Foster, and on his latest, Come Into Our House (Strange Attractors Audio House), he’s backed by members of outfits like Current 93, Cul de Sac, and In Gowan Ring. Despite the musicians’ pedigrees, though, the album has a bland, session-musician sound; the prominent use of various frame drums, Celtic harp, and tenor recorder lends it a world-music vibe, but the songs aren’t global jams so much as sound tracks for skirt twirling. –Peter Margasak
Wednesday 26
Thursday 27
