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THURSDAY, JULY 9
Synth Library Portland has been providing low-cost access to high-tech musical equipment for 10 years, and it celebrates its anniversary with a bash featuring some of the most out-there musicians preserving the West Coast’s long tradition of synthesis. Golden Donna (Portland resident Joel Shanahan, aka Auscultation) performs alongside SoCal DJ Baseck, Bay Area Eurorack wizard Eric Schlappi, and long-running local dirty-bass project Wet Mango. Process PDX, 5040 SE Milwaukie Ave. 8 pm. $23. 21+.
FRIDAY, JULY 10
If the “best albums of all time” coffee-table book genre survives long enough for the current generation of music nerds to write them, you’ll probably see the gothic-toned shoegaze outfit Have a Nice Life’s debut, Deathconsciousness, somewhere in there. This slow, suburban, doom-choked album, made by a duo of Connecticut musicians in 2008, was little known upon release but turned out to be an early feather in the cap of the consistently exciting label The Flenser. Today, Deathconsciousness is unquestionably a classic. Have a Nice Life hasn’t put out an album since 2019’s Sea of Worry, but their cult continues to grow. Portland’s Rhododendron and the Bay Area’s Bosse-de-Nage open. Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St. 8 pm. $41. All ages.
TUESDAY, JULY 14
Sam Prekop spent more than two decades making soft-spoken, sexy and literary jazz rock, both solo and with his band The Sea & Cake. But this decade, he took a sharp left turn into full mad synth scientist. The greatest showcase thus far for his impressive modular synth rig is 2022’s Sons Of, recorded with fellow Chicago music scene veteran John McEntire on drums, on which kaleidoscopic electronics and impossibly tight grooves spiral for more than 20 minutes at a time. The Sons Of duo is recording a live album at Holocene this Tuesday. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St. 8 pm. $31.99. 21+.
