> CONCERT SAMPLER
Live music highlights, Oct 13 to 19:
Japandroids “The House That Heaven Built”
Just when you were starting to wonder where they’d got to, Vancouver’s Brian King and David Prowse have returned from a two-year hiatus precipitated by the sudden, exhausting success of second LP Celebration Rock. The house quickly sold out for this comeback on the strength of their rousing rock anthems made for beery nights in a tinsel-decked club. (Saturday, Horseshoe, doors 9 p.m.)
Roscoe Mitchell (& the Montreal-Toronto Art Orchestra) “Angel City”
Music Gallery’s 11th annual X Avant Festival starts Thursday and it’s a safe and fascinating bet every night, including this finale Sunday, with a special concert by Art Ensemble of Chicago co-founder Roscoe Mitchell fronting a 15-piece all-star orchestra in the service of his lifelong mission to explore the possibilities of outside music. The master saxophonist brings classical composition and free jazz together, with decades of ensembles defying convention with noise, sound collage, improvising and unusual instrumentation. The only listener requirement is open ears and the willingness to surrender to the unpredictable sonic wash. (Sunday, Music Gallery, doors 7 p.m.)
Power “Slimy’s Chains”
Sounding like Johnny Rotten’s Aussie grandson fronting a Stooges/Minutemen mash, guitarist/singer Nathan Williams spits out tales of frustration and lust while laying waste to the armies of hipster-coiffed power-punk bands polluting the airwaves. And while it’s nice that this rockin’ trio has debut album Electric Glitter Boogie to promote, it’s actually Power’s ferocious, rough-and-ready live shows that launched them out of Melbourne. As part of the third Not Dead Yet Festival, they’re slotted in the middle of a seven-band onslaught. You’ve been warned. (Sunday, Silver Dollar, doors 8 p.m.)
Mick Jenkins “Drowning”
Coming up through Chicago’s spoken word/slam scene, Jenkins created mixtape buzz and successfully collaborated with Chi-city biggie Chance the Rapper, but it was 2014’s “Martyrs” single with its “Strange Fruit” sample and blistering social commentary that showed he leads, not follows. “Drowning,” the second single from official debut LP The Healing Component, is a languidly dark concoction that similarly goes for the jugular, with T.O.’s Bad Bad-Not Good adding musical accompaniment. Jenkins is building a hip-hop bridge to Gil Scott-Heron and gets pick of the week honours with soul rapper Smino co-hosting. (Tuesday, Adelaide Hall, doors 8 p.m.)
Johann Johannsson (and the American Contemporary Music Ensemble) “Flight from the City”
The Icelandic composer who lives now in Berlin has long been putting out gorgeous contemporary music then hit the motherlode with back-toback Oscars and BAFTA-nominated movie scores ( Sicario, The Theory of Everything). The Denis Villeneuve association is now cemented, with Johannsson composing for the direc- tor’s upcoming pair of blockbusters. In the meantime, he’s moved on to Deutsche Grammophon and brought along his regular ACME partners, who joined him on latest studio recording Orphée. For this tour he lands a spot in a rock palace that rarely houses such erudite pairings. For lovers of the dramatic and cinematic. (Wednesday, Danforth Music Hall, doors 7 p.m.)
Sunflower Bean “Come On”
Latest all-covers EP From the Base- ment functions as a handy guide mapping out the Long Island trio’s potent DNA, with T. Rex, the Modern Lovers, Spiritualized and Neil Young tackled. Their own stuff drives along sugary and heady, with Julia Cumming and Nick Kivlen swapping guitar and singing over top of drummer Jacob Faber. They sweetly pummeled the Buddha last winter. Buzzy brothers-in-pop Lemon Twigs, from the same area code as the Bean, are along in a supporting role. They’ll be back headlining here soon. (Wednesday, Garrison, doors 8 p.m.)