THURSDAY 2.4
Magic Castles
Nick Vlcek
Solid Gold (pictured) and Mark Mallman co-headline our Haiti benefit this weekend
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Sauce Spirits and Sound Bar
Magic Castles don't belong in this era. Much of their sound conjures Syd Barrett-helmed Pink Floyd, but undertones hark back to a more disant age, when footfalls of horses held a steady beat for echoing trail songs. In "Mountains of Snow," a lonesome cowboy's oddly Motown-style narration weaves between simple, breathy vocals and slowly trotting bass lines inching toward the ether. "Mystical Sage Warrior" is more upfront with its psych attribution. A viola ominously segues into thick, broken-record rhythms building in intensity and strangeness before Kinks-style guitar spills over into a calm, cosmic reflecting pool languidly making up the song's middle, drip-dripping until the fadeout. The band's patchwork snippets of influence form an alluring concoction that shines with the best of the cities' soothsayers and sits comfortably with the history books. With Sun and the Satellite and Come Fizzy Dolphin. 21+. $5. 9:30 p.m. 3001 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612.822.6000. —Erin Roof
FRIDAY 2.5
Sauce Spirits and Sound Bar
New Love is the debut of Minneapolis's Mike Swoop, but the album's smooth, funky instrumentals are in fact the work of an artist who has been producing in the area for the past eight years. Now setting out on his own terms, Swoop—who played Last of the Record Buyers at Fifth Element last month—explores a broad reach of influences beyond hip hop that includes jazz, Afrobeat, and traces of European house music. Trained as a drummer, he builds his grooves around samples with the aid of live instrumentation, creating rich textures with an emphasis on percussion. The album also features appearances from Rhymesayers MC Toki Wright, local duo Big Quarters, and Diametrix, the group with which Swoop got his start as a teenager. Tonight's release party, hosted by Franz Diego, will be a combination listening party and live show as Swoop explains the making of New Love while performing selected songs with guests Booka B and Espada. 21+. $5. 9 p.m. 3000 Lyndale Ave. S.; 612.822.6000. —Jeff Gage
Kicks & Spurs
Big V's
Big V's is a Petri dish for unlikely musical matings. On any given night, the venue offers the best and worst and most diverse of what the Twin Cities has to offer. With Kicks & Spurs' self-appointed label of "experimental folk country," it's easy to raise an eyebrow and wonder on which side of the coin the band will fall. In the end, they offer more standard, but no less delightful, fare than expected. Lyrics are typical sad-sack country-and-western stories, but the band's baritone and tenor harmonies render the words their most forlorn. And with guitars expressing equal appreciation for drawling and boot-scooting, Kicks & Spurs, like Big V's, offer a little something for everyone. With Red Daughters, Total Babe, and Mondomega. 21+. $5. 10 p.m. 1567 University Ave., St. Paul; 651.645.8472. —Erin Roof
SATURDAY 2.6
Gimme Shelter: A Benefit for Haiti
First Avenue
The magnitude of the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake is hard to quantify, let alone come to terms with. And even though we are thousands of miles removed from the relief efforts, many in the local music scene are donating time and money to help after one of the most massive natural disasters of our generation. City Pages and the Gimme Noise music blog are taking part in the fundraising efforts by throwing tonight's benefit party, and we've invited some of our favorite local bands to help out. Two of last year's City Pages cover subjects, Mark Mallman and Solid Gold, will be stepping out of the pages and onto the stage to co-headline the benefit. Picked to Click runners-up Zoo Animal will open the show with their inaugural performance on the Mainroom stage, and Peter Wolf Crier will return to First Ave after blowing the audience away at last month's Best New Bands showcase. DJs Jimmy2Times and Mike 2600 will keep the party going between sets with an eclectic mix of fun and funky dance music, and an artists' marketplace will allow local vendors to sell their artwork to benefit the cause. Net proceeds from the Gimme Shelter benefit will go toward the Red Cross Haiti Relief & Development Fund and Architecture for Humanity. 18+. $12. 6 p.m. 701 First Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612.332.1775. —Andrea Swensson
7th St. Entry
Last autumn, Saturday Night Live aired a fake talk-show sketch poking fun at contemporary mellow pop strummers like Jason Mraz and Dave Matthews, in which Andy Samberg—appearing as surfer-turned-bastion-of-calm Jack Johnson—punctuated dialogue with punch line non-sequiturs like "vegan brownies." Season 7 American Idol finalist Jason Castro belongs to this august lineage, whose leading lights seem like the kind of guys who take their pet iguanas everywhere, are in possession of copious Bob Marley bootlegs, and have packed and passed their fair share of peace pipes. On Idol, Castro's glassy expression, "Ras Trent" dreads, and giggly general mien left little doubt as to how he probably spends his spare time; if it hadn't been for the buttery, naturalistic warmth of his voice and savvy nature of his cover choices, it'd be easy to laugh off his manner and popularity. As postponements for his debut album—due in late March, as of press time—pile up, it's worth noting that several Season 8 Idol contenders already have product on the market, which encourages speculation that the green in Castro's garden isn't entirely decorative. But it could just as easily mean that he's polishing a humdinger of a debut. With Matt Hires and Caitlin Crosby. 18+. $8. 9 p.m. 701 First Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612.332.1775. —Ray Cummings
The Ponys
