MusiCal (October 2010)

By Don Allred

Chanticleer

Chamber Music Columbus’ guests Chanticleer are twelve a cappella voices, from soprano to bass, with three men in each section. The gently formidable spirit of their music roves through history. This evening’s program includes the magisterial polyphony of Renaissance composer/organist Orlando Gibbons, and the musical mosaics of contemporary composer/DJ Mason Bates, whose siren songs focus the shattered syllables of Odysseus, then lure listeners into compatibly South American visionary lucidity.

10/02 @ The Southern Theatre, 21 E. Main St.

7 p.m.

Berlin To Broadway

The truly thirsty “Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar),” as presented by The Doors, introduced rock audiences to composer Kurt Weill. Opera Columbus’ production of Berlin To Broadway vividly shadows Weill’s life, via his poignantly sharp-edged collaborations with Bertolt Brecht, Ira Gershwin, and others. The narrator and jazz sextet join four singing actors, including soprano Marcy Richardson, winner of the Weill Foundation’s Lotte Lenya Competition, named for the maestro’s definitive leading lady.

0/7 & 0/8 @ The Lincoln Theatre, 769 E. Long St.

8 p.m.

The Town Monster

Sad, sanguine, nocturnal, sun-kissing, and so much more, Columbus’ creatively conjoined combo the Town Monster avoid squeezing crispy, sometimes cryptic images into too tight a mood ring. Often materializing astride a Princely bounce, TTM’s tempestuous zest now flaunts James Allison on guitars, bass, keyboards and vocals (he also continues to orbit with the Blastronauts). The Monster’s concisely epic monthly series of online EPs further fuels an insatiable show.

10/08 @ The Rumba Cafe, 2507 Summit St.

9 p.m.

Hank Williams Jr. & Rowdy Friends 2010

Hank Williams Jr. is generally a genial host for all his rowdy friends, though 2009’s “Red, White & Pink-Slip Blues” still gathers eloquently smoldering momentum amidst economic doldrums. Bocephus’ current posse includes sly, wry, bar-surviving scribe Jamey Johnson, whose new The Guitar Song delivers cogent originals and jukebox-roasted chestnuts. Plus: robustly observant Colt Ford, photogenically diligent Josh Thompson, and Dolly Parton’s favorite young bluegrass critters, the Grascals.

10/08 @ The Schottenstein Center, 555 Arena Dr.

7 p.m.

Guided By Voices

After a decade of Dayton dayjobs, indie rockers Guided By Voices began to feel a fresh breeze, via the 1992 release of Propeller. 1994’s Bee Thousand launched them into a wider world, which, for the next two years, followed the hot, brand-establishing garage jingle-jangle of GBV’s classic line-up. They’re back, with songs from their mid-’90s arc, which often included casually dazzling ringers from all over their maps.

10/16 @ Outland, 95 Liberty St.

7 p.m.

SynerFest

Synerfest, AKA Synergy Festival, is a dark, sweet Ohio rainbow of the arts. We foresee Make-Up Wars, a Scream Queen Contest, Drag Review, painters and graphics artists, burlesque troupes too. From 10 until 5, there will be films; at twilight,16 bands begin to play. We’re particularly bewitched by Powell’s Curse Icon, who electronically feed upon vibrant metal moonscapes, replenished by the molten melodies of chanteuse Kiana.

10/16 @ The A&R Bar/ The Basement, both 391 Neil Ave.

Doors Open: 6 p.m.

Robert Randolph and the Family Band

Robert Randolph’s pedal steel guitar electrically connects bodies, minds and souls on We Walk This Road, which shakes the family tree of blues, gospel, R&B and rock. Randolph, also a veteran of the Experience Hendrix tribute tour, discovers inspired improvisations. For instance, deep into “Papa Was A Rolling Stone,” he recently baptized Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.” Now that we know he can do even that, he’ll raise some other stakes.

10/20 @ The Newport Music Hall, 1722 N. High St.

Doors Open: 7 p.m.

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan

Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Isobel Campbell infiltrated the male-dominated cool of chamber-pop cabal Belle & Sebastian, and she plays an agile Ariel to Mark Lanegan’s craggy cowboy Caliban. Yet basically, Campbell’s a shape-shifting Prospero, conjuring Lanegan from (sometimes further into) his deep, smoky shell. Lanegan, who sang with the Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age, lends adroitly moody allegiance to Campbell on Hawk; ditto young Willy Mason, who also opens their show.

10/21 @ The Wexner Center, 1871 N. High St.

9 p.m.

Karate Coyote

With three singers, many keyboards, guitars, bass and drums, Columbus’ two-woman, four-man, twenty-something Karate Coyote resemble proliferating grandchildren of prime-time Jefferson Airplane. KC’s rocking art-pop isn’t “psych” in the nostalgic style-tag sense, but it’s certainly outward bound. Tunefully metamorphic storylines travel bridges of harmonies and propulsive passageways, which you can also dance to and through, keeping a eye out for love and/or happiness.

10/21 @ The Rumba Cafe, 2507 Summit St.

 Doors Open: 10 p.m.

k-os

Canada’s Kevin Brereton says his stage name k-os (modestly lower-case) stands for knowledge of self, and he pronounces it “chaos.” He knows how to push his luck, while crafting what could easily be just another crazy quilt of musical elements. Instead, k-os cannily crosses hip-hop, soul, reggae, blues and several kinds of rock, including punk, alternative and rockabilly. Increasingly, this idealist also knows when to lighten up, without losing his IQ.

10/25 @Skully’s Music Diner, 1151 N. High St.

9:30 p.m.

Sleigh Bells

Sleigh Bells’ web site is mainly a whirl of cheerleaders, explosions and a young couple, who remain quite convivial, as their pop apocalypse eternally speeds up. It’s a silent movie, but perfectly suited for the cataclysmically catchy Sleigh Bells, whose sound suits Halloween as well as any other holiday. Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller fill rooms with vital hybrids of zoom and doom (ditching mere gloom), via voice, guitar and laptop.

10/29 @ Bar of Modern Art, 583 E. Broad St.

Doors Open: 10 p.m.