Music

• 

Beacon Rarely if ever has a press bio made me feel like I needed to go back to school as much as that of Brooklyn R&B-tinged electronic duo Beacon, aka singer/producer Thomas Mullarney III and producer Jacob Gossett. According to their bio, their latest EP, L1, was inspired by a phenomenon called Lagrangian points, which mark when an object, like a satellite, can remain stable when orbiting between two gravitational pulls, like those of the Earth and the Sun. Confused? Don’t worry; the idea of balance and influence translates to the music thanks to Mullarney’s vocals, which sound much like Tom Krell from How to Dress Well. With Lord Raja. Barboza, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9442, thebarboza.com. 7 p.m. $10 adv. 21 and over. Barboza, 925 E. Pike St., Seattle, WA 98122 $10 adv. Friday, January 23, 2015, 7 – 8pm

• 

Jonah Tolchin There sure are a lot of bearded folk singers out there these days plying newly written age-old songs, but what sets this New Jersey roots songwriter apart is his craftsmanship. On his debut full-length, Clover Lane, Tolchin sings like a master woodcarver, each word shaping the song with effortless fluidity. There’s a strong kinetic motion to Tolchin’s vocals, a kind of snap that ends a verse at just the right moment. That’s the hand of a master at work-the same kind of easy motion you see in the hand of an artist as he or she whips pencil across paper. As a folk singer, he’s clearly indebted to the fruits of the 1960s folk revival, first as a young kid listening to his dad’s eclectic record collection (his father once ran a record store in the Mississippi Delta). As a teenager playing the Newport Folk Festival, he crossed the generational divide with songs that paid easy homage to Appalachian roots, country and urban blues, and old-school country. Now, at a still-young 21, Tolchin’s debut album, arriving by way of Yep Roc Records, is a pastiche of American roots traditions, but it’s a quiltwork that never succumbs to imitation. There’s something deliriously hopeful in Tolchin’s songs. It’s that feeling you got the first time a folk song truly moved you, a feeling Tolchin never lost. With Debbie Miller, Tobias the Owl. DEVON LEGER Fremont Abbey Arts Center, 4272 Fremont Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103 $8 adv./$10 DOS Friday, January 23, 2015, 8pm

Centerpiece Jazz Band This Music Center Northwest combo performs. Kent Lutheran Church, 336 Second Ave., S., Kent $12.50 Saturday, January 24, 2015, 8pm

• 

The Vaselines Glasgow-based indie-pop band The Vaselines broke up in 1989, just two years after it formed, but Kurt Cobain, a huge fan of the band, helped keep its name and music on everyone’s mind by singing the band’s praises in interviews and covering Vaseline songs with Nirvana. Back together since 2008, the group, fronted by founding members and vocalists/guitarists Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee, recently released its third full-length, V for Vaselines. The album features the vocal harmonies and indie-pop energy that made Cobain, and so many others, fall for the pair way back when, but they also debut their folkier side on songs like “Single Spies.” With Loch Lomond. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9442, neumos.com. 8 p.m. $18 adv. 21 and over. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., Seattle, WA 98122 $18 adv. Saturday, January 24, 2015, 8 – 9pm

• 

Jukebox the Ghost Think of Jukebox the Ghost as the second coming of A-Ha, if the latter had an interest in both postmodern philosophy and all-night dance parties. The Brooklyn trio is an exuberant bunch, a group for whom it makes perfect sense to pair heavy topics with light, syncopated melodies. “We like talking about life and emotion and deeper things,” vocalist and keyboardist Ben Thornewill explains, “but we also want to be doing pop music, music people will enjoy listening to and enjoy dancing to.”

Thornewill says his band’s previous album, Safe Travels, was written in a time of emotional turmoil; topics like mortality and the supernatural are paired with sweeping orchestral arrangements. The band’s most recent self-titled album is more radio-friendly, moving from feel-good anthemic tracks like “Girl” and “Hollywood” to “Undeniable You,” a heartwrenching solo piece that has Thornewill railing with-and against-his own voice, looping his vocals in the live arrangement. But what makes this power-pop group pop is not it’s music’s crafted aspect, but its ability to draw inspiration from and riff off its surroundings. Three days into its latest tour, the band had already swapped covers with opening act Twin Forks. With guitarist Tommy Siegel, Thornewill keeps the banter going, always quick with a joke about the latest tour stop. Drummer Jesse Kristin pulls the dynamic together, a perpetual smile on his face as he keeps the beat. In an age of music-on-demand, each performance is a different experience. JULIA COOK The Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave., Seattle WA 98121 $13 adv. Tuesday, January 27, 2015, 7pm

• 

Kishi Bashi Sometimes all it takes is a single word to ignite a creative spark. For singer/violinist Kishi Bashi, leading his string quartet at this show, that word was Lighght (pronounced “light”), the name of his latest album and a one-word poem by Aram Saroyan. But while the poem and album share a title, the similarities end there. The poem’s extreme minimalism is juxtaposed against Bashi’s loop-heavy mix of orchestral and electronic elements, plus layered vocals galore. Even still, the album is as buoyant as its title suggests. With Elizabeth & The Catapult. The Neptune, 1303 N.E. 45th St., 682-1414, stg presents.org/neptune. 8 p.m. $25 adv./$27 DOS. All ages. The Neptune, 1303 N.E. 45th St., Seattle, WA 98105 $25 adv./$27 Tuesday, January 27, 2015, 8 – 9pm