ROBIN BACIOR, GREEN HILLS ALONE
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Robin Bacior's Water Dreams is not so much a concept album as it is a suite, with each movement representing a different body of water. Bacior guides the rhythm on piano and guitar, with repeated phrases and deceptively simple melodies, allowing ample space for her voice to weave seamlessly through. With percussion by Ji Tanzer (Blue Cranes), bass guitar by Rian Lewis (who also engineered the album), and cello by Bacior's longtime musical partner, Dan Bindschedler, the music on Water Dreams is sweeping and orchestral, often sounding much larger than the quartet. This is in part due to the brilliant interplay between piano and cello, as well as Bacior's vocals, which she frequently layers and multi-tracks, harmonizing with herself. Bacior's voice is gentle and restrained, as though confiding intimate secrets to her listener, and when she sings, "Go on and wait it out / Oh, I don't care much anymore," on "If It Does," her voice sounds nearly on the point of breaking. SANTI ELIJAH HOLLEY Read the full article on Robin Bacior.



AESOP ROCK, ROB SONIC, DJ ABILITIES, HOMEBOY SANDMAN, DARK TIME SUNSHINE
(Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE César E. Chávez) See My, What a Busy Week!



WILLIS EARL BEAL, DRAGGING AN OX THROUGH WATER, AARON CHAPMAN
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) Willis Earl Beal has been moving around the States for the past several years, making minimal blues-, soul-, and hiphop-infused songs that are just enough off the beaten path to stop you dead in your tracks. After a tumultuous parting of ways with his label, XL Recordings, he moved to Olympia and released Experiments in Time: The Golden Hour, a document of his experiences during the change. Beal's image is as much legend as truth; from his roots in Chicago to touring with Cat Power to his recent film Memphis, his songs are passionate and tense, his performances striking and erratic. RACHEL MILBAUER


HAUNTED SUMMER, EAST FOREST, PINSCAPE
(Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) When the Visalia Times-Delta asked LA dream-pop duo Haunted Summer the dreaded "musical influences" question earlier this month, the band cited Björk, the Flaming Lips, and Animal Collective. All are believable, especially that last one, seeing as Haunted Summer started out in 2012 as an Animal Collective cover band. But playing AnCo's watery brand of psychedelic pop led Bridgette and John Seasons to their own sound, which is much more dreamy and much less weird than the band they once covered. Haunted Summer's debut album is still in the works, apparently, but their 2013 EP, Something in the Water, is full of hazy chamber-psych that unfolds in slo-mo, providing plenty of room for Bridgette's nostalgic croon. It's a likeable sound, as evidenced by the inordinate number of press clippings the band has posted to its Tumblr. BEN SALMON



BROGAN WOODBURN, THE CRENSHAW
(Turn! Turn! Turn!, 8 NE Killingsworth) The latest installment of Creative Music Guild's Outset Series continues the organization's interest in connecting disparate sounds and acts in thought-provoking ways. Leading tonight's charge is Brogan Woodburn, a local guitarist whose mastery earned him a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He's capable of living in the worlds of jazz and classical, but his most interesting works are jagged, noisy improvisations that evoke the spirits of Lee Ranaldo and Derek Bailey. Joining Woodburn is the Crenshaw, a double bass/drums/electronics duo that adeptly rides the sometimes thin line separating jazz fusion and triphop. ROBERT HAM