Say Hi
Mercury Lounge; 4/29 at 9:30 p.m.; 217 E. Houston St., nr. Ludlow St.; 212-260-4700
Eric Elbogen melds uptempo beats with expressive exploration of failed relationships—personal, professional, and otherwise. If you see him, you might want to just say hi.
2 Chainz and Miguel
Best Buy Theater; 4/30 at 8 p.m.; 1515 Broadway, at 44th St.; 212-930-1950
The hip-hop and R&B powerhouses join forces for DJ Prostyle’s birthday show. Ne-Yo will also make an appearance.
The Knife
Terminal 5; 4/30 and 5/1 at 7:30 p.m.; 610 W. 56th St, nr. Eleventh Ave.; 212-260-4700
Don’t let the synthy beats fool you: This Swedish electro-duo—whom you might know from Jose Gonzales’s cover of their song “Heartbeats”—are making statements with their music: personal, political, and otherwise.
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Beacon Theater; 5/1–5/3 at 8 p.m.; 2124 Broadway, nr. 74th St.; 212-465-6500
The dexterous fingers of the Mexican duo once again flex on 9 Dead Alive, their first album of recorded music in five years.
Chrome Sparks
Baby’s All Right ; 5/2 at 11:30 p.m.; 146 Broadway,nr. Bedford Ave.; Williamsburg; 718-599-5800
With a late set time, producer Jeremy Malvin’s percussive and psychedelic beats are well suited to winding down—or heating up—your night. With Infinity Shred.
CHVRCHES
Terminal 5; 5/2 at 7 p.m.; 610 W. 56th St, nr. Eleventh Ave.; 212-260-4700
At times with dark overtones, the Glaswegian electro-pop trio goes heavy on the synths, making an excellent backdrop for a forlorn ‘80s-style dance party with last year’s debut, The Bones of What You Believe. With the Range.
The Music of William Onyeabor
Brooklyn Academy of Music; 5/2 and 5/3 at 8 p.m.; 30 Lafayette Ave., at Ashland Pl., Fort Greene; 718-636-4198
David Byrne, Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip), Dev Hynes (Blood Orange), Money Mark, Kele Okereke (Bloc Party), and more pay tribute to Onyeabor, an elusive Nigerian funk musician who, according to Wikipedia, is now believed to be a taxi driver in Ireland. Part of a month of programming for the Red Bull Music Festival.
Iggy Azalea
Music Hall of Williamsburg; 5/4 at 7 p.m.; 66 N. Sixth St., nr. Wythe Ave., Williamsburg; 718-486-5400
The bombshell Aussie rapper’s debut album The New Classic was released in April, making it an early contender for album of the summer. In it, she tells us that she’s “Fancy.” But don’t worry, she’s not above going to Target on a first date.
Slint
Bowery Ballroom; 5/4 at 8 p.m.; 6 Delancey St., nr. Bowery; 212-533-2111
The somewhat overlooked but insanely influential alt-rockers disappeared after the release of their haunting, sprawling 1991 album Spiderland, reuniting in 2005 having just missed the spoils of their labor. Until now. They tour in support of 23rd anniversary boxed set reissue of the album.
Weekend
Glasslands Gallery; 5/4 at 8 p.m.;289 Kent Ave., nr. S. 1st St., Williamsburg; 718- 599-1450
With their latest, Jinx, the now Brooklyn-based (formerly San Fran) shoegazers pay homage to shimmery, bass-heavy New Wave. It’ll make you want to wear all black. With Cities Aviv and Grey Zine.
Bad Veins
Knitting Factory Brooklyn; 5/4 at 7:30 p.m.; 361 Metropolitan Ave.,at Havemeyer St., Williamsburg; 347-529-6696
These two boys from Ohio are masters of sprawling indie pop, tugging on heartstrings and making you grateful the blood flows through your veins (even if they do happen to be bad).
Jessy Lanza
Santos Party House; 5/4 at 7:30 p.m.; 96 Lafayette St., nr. Walker St.; 212-584-5492
Recently opening for Cut Copy, Lanza’s one-woman show is dreamily seductive, with her debut, Pull My Hair Back, warming up an icy veneer with a base of electro-pop and R&B. With Ricky Eat Acid.
Foals
Terminal 5; 5/6 and 5/7 at 7 p.m.; 610 W. 56th St, nr. Eleventh Ave.; 212-260-4700
On their latest, Holy Fire, the usually rigid math rockers dip their toes into expansive guitar space, anchored by the familiar yelp of Yannis Philippakis. (Also, in his live shows he crowd-surfs while playing the guitar.) With Cage the Elephant and J. Roddy Walston.
Ben Kweller
Bowery Ballroom; 5/6 at 8 p.m.; 6 Delancey St., nr. Bowery; 212-533-2111
The singer-songwriter has come a long way since fronting the band Radish with bleached hair in his early teens. Now, at 32, he’s married with two kids and owns his own record label, the Noise Company, which released his latest, 2012’s Go Fly a Kite.
Atmosphere
Highline Ballroom; 5/6 at 8 p.m.; 431 W. 16th St., nr. Ninth Ave.; 212-414-5994
The Minneapolis indie-rap duo named their upcoming album Southsiders, an ode to the native city. It also includes a track titled “Kanye West” that really has nothing to do with Kanye West. The video has a cool Bonnie and Clyde narrative, though.
Rob Zombie
the Capitol Theater; 5/7 at 7 p.m.; 149 Westchester Ave., Port Chester
Halloween is every day for the filmmaker and White Zombie musician, whose full immersion wills it into his shows every night. Look for a DVD of the live experience, his first-ever concert home video, The Zombie Horror Picture Show, out next month.
Wye Oak
Webster Hall; 5/7 at 8 p.m.; 125 E. 11th St.,nr. Third Ave.; 212-353-1600
On paper, Wye Oak (Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack) are a pro forma indie-rock duo, makers of careful, pretty, rather vaguely sketched folk-inflected rock songs about uneasy feelings and difficult relationships. But they execute better than most bands; their melodies stay with you, and the arrangements don’t merely signal “dreaminess,” they actually cast a spell.