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Thursday, Oct. 16
The image on the cover of Kassi Valazza’s new album, From Newman Street, showing her utterly bored expression as she’s served breakfast in bed, evokes the predicaments that ’70s country queens like Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette often found themselves facing in their songs—yet the sound of the Portland singer-songwriter’s newest record belongs purely to the golden-hued and faintly psychedelic school that’s defined the local country scene recently. Jeffrey Silverstein, Valazza’s compatriot in cosmic magic, opens. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave. 7 pm. $23.23. 21+.
Sunday, Oct. 19
Stereolab embodies the sense of possibility in the air in the latter half of the ’90s, when indie-rockers were rediscovering old vinyl records just as dance and pop music were getting more futuristic. The resulting recombinant stew was arguably perfected by this Anglo-French collective, and it’s as funky as ever on this year’s Holograms on Metal Film, which distills their inimitable blend of psychedelia, leftist theory and loungy ’60s orchestral cheese to a fine point. The amazing Chicago synth outfit Bitchin Bajas opens. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St. 6:30 pm. $53.86. All ages.
Tuesday, Oct. 21
Lorde’s imagery is sharper and her art pop more skeletal than ever on her new album, Virgin, crafted in collaboration with producer Jim E. Stack. The atmospheric grossness that clings to her music in repeated mentions of teeth, vomit and spit takes center stage on a record in which she literally shows her bones on the album cover. The stakes were high following the head-scratching Busby Berkeley stoner fantasy of Solar Power, but here she’s exceeded expectations and turned in what might be her best full-length yet. Moda Center, 1 N Center Court St. 7 pm. $41.54. All ages.
