Friday, Feb. 7Aan started a few years back as just another Portland

Friday, Feb. 7

Aan started a few years back as just another Portland folk band, but, infected by its hometown’s askew-pop bug, it’s the latest in a long line of PDX experimentalists like Menomena, Binary Dolls, and 31 Knots. On its just-released debut full-length, Amor Ad Nauseum, the band can be heard starting, stopping, buzzing, and harmonizing amid impossibly catchy pop hooks while Bud Wilson sings in a high register, usually landing somewhere between sweet Jeff Buckley and tortured Jason Molina. It’s all kind of baffling. With Desert Noises. Barboza. 8 p.m. $8 adv./$10 DOS. 21 and over. MARK BAUMGARTEN

Seattle’s Ancient Warlocks are straight-up, smoked-out stoner-rock goodness. On 2013’s self-titled release, the band delivers all the big riffs and amplifier worship it can muster, drenched in the blues-influenced, fuzzed-out sludge found in some of the best stoner rock of days past. That’s pure rock ’n’ roll, folks. With Mos Generator, Argonaut, Cody Foster Army. Columbia City Theater. 8:30 p.m. $8 adv./$10 DOS. 21 and over. JB

Ben Fisher, Fremont Abbey. Read our review of Fisher’s new Charleston

here

.

Grayskul w/Kimya Dawson Seattle hip-hop outfit Grayskul has crafted forward-thinking lyricism and beats to much acclaim, leading to working with the likes of Wu-Tang Clan’s Raekwon. Sharing the stage is forever folk experimentalist Kimya Dawson (who collaborated with Aesop Rock in the group The Uncluded)—a seemingly odd combination, but a brilliant testament to both groups’ boldness to challenge musical norms. With the Chicharones, Triceracorn, Vold Pedal, DJ Graves 33. Nectar Lounge. 8 p.m. $7 adv./$10 DOS. 21 and over. DUSTY HENRY

Augustines Having spent this past fall touring with Scottish indie-rock act Frightened Rabbit, this now-Seattle-based band (formerly known as We Are Augustines) will deliver a batch of ambitious, roof-raising indie cuts from their new self-titled release (out Feb. 4). Think rowdy, shout-along rock with feelings—and a freshly realized Northwest sensibility. With My Goodness. Neumos. 8 p.m. $18. All ages. KEEGAN PROSSER

Saturday, Feb. 8

Spekulation has a knack for mashing up unusual, incongruous sounds and turning them into something very compelling. Most recently, he remixed a Marshawn Lynch interview; before that, he mixed Nas with Industrial Revelation; and he once created a track consisting entirely of didgeridoo and Aboriginal vocal samples. He takes the stage with a nine-piece live band after a six-month hiatus. With Julie C, Perry Porter, and others. Columbia City Theater. 8 p.m. $8 adv./$10 DOS. MICHAEL F. BERRY

Dancing on the Valentine Celebrating its ninth year, this annual benefit for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which comes together through producer Jenny George (who herself beat leukemia at age 16 after being given less than 30 days to live), is so packed with local talent you might forget that the tribute theme this year is Madonna. You’ll no doubt remember when, say, alt-country group the Swearengens cranks out a twangy cover of “Like a Virgin” or XVIII Eyes cottons its brand of psychedelic shoegaze to “Like a Prayer.” With Adra Boo, The Redwood Plan, the Young Evils, Fox and the Law, XVIII Eyes, Lazer Kitty, Gibraltar, Three Beats Two, Hotels, the Swearengens, Magic Matches, DJ Doc Blammer. Hosted by Dana of Three Imaginary Girls. Neumos. 8 p.m. $15. 21 and over. GWENDOLYN ELLIOTT

Blind Boy Paxton The blues has always been a genre steeped in mystery and intrigue—two characteristics Paxton has in spades. His recorded output is practically nil, so if you want to see and hear him play, your best bet outside of YouTube is on Saturday night. With Laura Sheehan. Phinney Neighborhood Center. 7 p.m. $17. CR

Toad the Wet Sprocket was about the weirdest band handle anyone had ever heard in 1991, but it soon became a common household name (it’s actually a Monty Python reference). Songs like “Walk on the Ocean” and “All I Want” appealed to kids and their parents alike, giving teenagers reason to question whether their parents had secretly always been just a little bit cool. After a 16-year break with only sporadic performances, TTWS is back with a new album, a greatest-hits compilation, and a tour to boot. With Jonathan Kingham. The Showbox. 8 p.m. $27.50 adv./$30 DOS. 21 and over. JESSIE MCKENNA

Jupe Jupe Composed of My Young on vocals and synthesizer, Bryan Manzo and Patrick Partington on guitar, and drummer Jarrod Arbini, Jupe Jupe has already released two albums, Invaders and Reduction in Drag, that have garnered the band attention for its sleek, layered soundscapes and dissections of pop culture. The upcoming Crooked Kisses—out March 3, but likely on the set list tonight—picks up where those left off with swells of haunting synthesizers, spooky vocals, craggy guitars, and thundering electronic beats. With Atomic Bride, Black Nite Crash. Sunset Tavern. 10 p.m. $8. 21 and over. KEEGAN PROSSER

Sera Cahoone, Tractor. See our write up

here

.

Sunday, Feb. 9

Through his work with British group UFO and later with the Scorpions, Michael Schenker has firmly solidified his place among heavy-metal guitar greats. His latest record, 2013’s Bridge the Gapfinds, finds the “Mad Axeman” carrying forth the metal tradition he helped pioneer so many years ago. With Gundriver, Zero Down, guests. El Corazon. 8 p.m. $20 adv./$25 DOS/$75 VIP. CR

The headlines have been kind to Shelby Earl these days; her latest, Swift Arrows, topped many a “Best of 2013” list, and she’s been profiled in scores of online rags from Rollingstone.com and NPR to Paste and No Depression. Tonight she’ll add another bullet point to her resume: animal lover, taking the stage to benefit the pet-advocacy nonprofit PAWS, the Progressive Animal Welfare Society. The Manor House. 4–7 p.m. $65–$120 with drinks and hors d’oeuvres. GE

Jeremy Bolm of Los Angeles hardcore act Touche Amore may shout his message instead of sing it, but he’s got a lot to say on the band’s third album, Is Survived By—such as his advice to Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra: “Expose what hurts you the worst/The exchange deals a handsome return.” Indeed. With mewithoutYou. Neumos. 8 p.m. $15. DL

Eddie Money, Snoqualmie Casino. Read our preview

here

.