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This Week's Best Shows and a Spotify Playlist of the Bands

By Daniel Jumpertz | February 20, 2014 7:53am
 Eight essential concert experiences in New York City between Feb. 20 and Feb. 26.
Gigs of the Week Thursday, Feb. 20
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Thursday, Feb. 20
Angel Olsen's vocal range extends from otherworldly ethereal to snarly aggression. Her most recent album "Half Way Home" at times recalls Roy Orbison at his chilling best, and is a great showcase for her amazing singing and songwriting. Olsen, who has collaborated with both Will Oldham (aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy) and Emmett Kelly (Cairo Gang) says that her new record is about "the endless searching, the fruitless waiting, the idea of a home that is inside yourself.” At Le Posson Rouge.



Friday, Feb. 21
Montreal's Suuns are able to combine wiry garage textures with throbbing dub bass and spacious reverb-drenched vocals on their second album "Images Du Futur," with music blog The Line Of Best Fit declaring the album "exciting in a way that few albums manage to be, dangerous and compelling like a first cigarette or fumbled sexual encounter, and nothing here quite seems real." At Williamsburg's Death By Audio, 49 South 2nd St. $10, doors 8 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 22
Fiercely independent electronicist Kieran Hebden's has released seven albums as Four Tet — each a beautifully detailed amalgam of electronic production and organic instruments. With his most recent “Beautiful Rewind,” he eschewed marketing completely, tweeting that there would be "no pre order, no youtube trailers, no itunes stream, no spotify, no amazon deal, no charts, no bit coin deal, no last minute rick rubin." At Terminal 5.

Young Aussie singer/songwriter of the moment Courtney Barnett is back in town after wowing audiences and critics with her appearance at New York's CMJ Festival in 2013, with NPR Music describing her as "the quirky Aussie who wheezed life into 2013". She started her own label, Milk! Records to release her music in 2012, and has just signed to hip NYC label Mom + Pop Music and been added to the Coachella Festival line-up. At the Knitting Factory, Williamsburg, doors 7 p.m. Friday at the Lower East Side's Mercury Lounge (doors 10:30 p.m.)

Sunday, Feb. 23
Norwegian Sondre Lerche began writing his own songs at 14, and in 2002 at the age of 19 released his major label debut, the acclaimed "Faces Down." Fast forward to 2014, and Lerche is preparing the release of his seventh studio album in 2014. His 2011 self-titled album featured collaborations with Midlake drummer McKenzie Smith and was penned far from home. "Since it was written in New York, it's more confrontational in the lyrics," Lerche says. "In the past, my records were more reveries, asking the question of who you would want to be. This record is more concerned with trying to figure out what's real, with daring to deal with things as they actually are." At Baby's All Right, Williamsburg.

Monday, Feb. 24
Sebadoh's first album in 14 years, "Defend Yourself," was released last year and according to founding member and signing bass player Lou Barlow, "We kept to ourselves during the recording and didn’t have much, if any, outside intervention. That, to our minds, makes it a true Sebadoh record and aligns the style of Defend Yourself with our early releases." At the Lower East Side's Mercury Lounge, doors 7:30 p.m. They also have a show Sunday 9 p.m. at Baby's All Right in Williamsburg.

Tuesday, Feb. 25
I Respect Music is a rally and concert organized by the Content Creators Coalition in order to pressure Congress to support pay of musicians for radio airplay. Featuring David Byrne, Mike Mills (REM), John McCrea (Cake) and many more. From 6 p.m., free, at Le Poisson Rouge.

Wednesday, Feb. 26
Since Pavement's 1999 split, their singer, guitarist and prime songwriter Steve Malkmus has recorded six studio albums with his band The Jicks. Highlights include the 2001 album "Stephen Malkmus," described by rock critic Robert Christgau as "exactly the unpredictable effort you'd expect, it utilizes a new bunch of Portland buddies to render the old noises into background music as it explores such themes as Yul Brynner's makeover and piracy on the coast of Montenegro." The new album, 2014's "Wig Out at Jagbags" is another highlight, and a delightfully quirky slice of loose, indie Americana inspired by Malkmus's recent move to Berlin. At the Bowery Ballroom.