POWERKOMPANY
From the ashes of Athens, Ga., quintet Venice is Sinking, Powerkompany was formed in 2011 by former Venice fiddle player/vocalist Marie Davon and her husband, Andrew Heaton, also a fiddle player and vocalist for the foot-stomping Packway Handle Band. But instead of the folksy, organic sounds of their respective bands, Davon and Heaton have created in Powerkompany a cinematic electro-pop band through which they typically explore dark themes. Written from the depths of drug and alcohol addiction, their 2013 debut full-length, I Am More Than This, is by turns gauzily futuristic and cuttingly plainspoken. Davon is beguilingly girlish, strumming her baritone ukulele a she sings about longing, fickleness and blame. Hooks don't abound here, but Davon and Heaton use their alluring stage presence - they're always impeccably dressed - and obvious chemistry to draw you in. $8-$10. Oct. 17, 9 p.m. Double Door Inn, 1218 Charlottetowne Ave. 704-376-1446.

SUPER APE
You set a high bar when you name your dub-flavored band after maybe the most seminal dub LP of all time, the Upsetters' 1976 classic, Super Ape. But this local quintet wisely uses dub as a reference point only, updating the sound with an array of sonic experiments and cross-pollinated styles. Dirty Haire (Dirty Drummer's Dave Haire) and bassist Jason Michel provide the foundation, building grooves that range from slinky back-beat funk to urgent Trans Am-like motorik, while Christopher Holston's guitar effects and Scott Slagle's keys cut through the tension or pile it on, depending on the tempo. (Fat Face Trio's Troy Conn will be sitting in on guitar during the residency.) Almost everybody chips in with the programming and sampling, but Stephen Barrett's turntables, sampling and programming further tweaks the sonic landscape into other compelling shapes and shades. This is the second of the band's five-Wednesdays run in October, and a reminder that Charlotte's homegrown music scene is a lot more varied and imaginative than it's often given credit for. With Great Architect and Elroy Sugarthroat on this night (Benji Hughes, Andy the Doorbum and Personnel will also appear during Super Ape's residency). Free. Oct. 16, 10 p.m. Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St.

BEATS ANTIQUE
Riding a whirlwind of hip-hop, Gypsy jazz, Balkan beat-box, live electronica and whatever else pops into their ever-expanding minds, the members of Beats Antique are snaky-hipped guides to the garden of earthly delights, an ethnographic mish-mash for both world music mavens and club kids. The Beats' core trio brings plenty of exotica expertise to their overloaded table. Guitarist David Satori toured an Afrobeat ensemble through West Africa aboard a bio-fueled bus. Keyboardist Sidecar Tommy Cappel was a jazz-head until he discovered rap and descended into the world percussion rabbit hole. With her innovative mix of belly dance, breakin' and tango, ballet-trained Zoe Jakes is the visual focal point of the Beats, and those visuals are key. With all three members schooled in the San Francisco performance-art scene, the Beats' LPs are but a distant echo of their trippy, Psychonautic stage shows. Satori's and Cappel's chops are more groove-driven than song-based, circling Jakes as she dervish whirls like Scheherazade. At their worst, Beats Antique devolve to slinky burlesque in synth drum drag, but when this combo fires all their synapses, their transcendental grooves blow the doors off all preconceived notions of performance. $20. Oct. 15, 8 p.m. Chop Shop, 399 E. 35th St. 704-765-2467. www.chopshopnoda.com.

DANZIG
Master fiend Glenn Danzig is on the road marking 25 years in the noise biz for his namesake band. Of course, he lurked in the catacombs of horror punk way before that, when he fronted the much-imitated Misfits and later spawned the darker, gothic punk of Samhain. And then with a wrestler's swagger, mic and fists flying, hair flailing, Danzig launched the blues-metal of his namesake band in 1988. Experimentation permeates Danzig's work. He has left fans scratching their heads along the way with albums laden with industrial mayhem, electronic dirges and even quasi-classical outings. But on his latest album, Deth Red Sabaoth, he returned to the unholy mélange of punk, metal and blues. The record is one of his best, bringing together the elements of his past works. On this tour, ex-Misfits guitarist Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein joins him for what's sure to be a bone-crushing affair. With Butcher Babies, Texas Hippie Coalition and A Pale Horse Named Death. $27.50. Oct. 13, 7 p.m. The Fillmore, 1000 N.C. Music Factory Blvd. 704-916-8970.

EASTER ISLAND
Over the last year, Easter Island has become something of a buzz band in its hometown of Athens, Ga., and in certain corners of the Internet. It's earned it, too. The post-rock/shoegaze quintet has toured hard behind its 2012 release, Frightened, polishing its sound - influenced by the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Explosions in the Sky and Sigur Rós - to a high shine. It doesn't hurt that, by all appearances, the band members are exceedingly nice guys, doing things like asking local high schoolers and post-rock strivers Garlic City to open for them at the Evening Muse this week. That nice-guy charm translates into lush sonic warmth onstage, helping the band's layered, expansive music blossom. The recent addition of drummer John Swint, formerly of another beloved Athens band, Modern Skirts, rounds out an already talented roster, ensuring the buzz will continue for some time to come. $8-$10. Oct. 12, 8 p.m. Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St. 704-376-3737.

BUDDY GUY
The blues landscape is littered with unsung heroes like Robert Johnson, who, though deified in death, struggled in obscurity their entire lives. Buddy Guy is not one of those neglected masters. The guitar titan might be the "most-sung" blues hero. Yes, Guy was marginalized into sideman status during the '60s by his then-label boss Leonard Chess. (The Chess Records honcho thought Guy's fiery fretwork was too damn noisy.) It's also true that Guy's stateside career dropped off the map in the '70s. Yet, beginning in the '90s, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and other Guy acolytes started singing the praises of Guy's twisting, tail-spinning Telecaster while 'fessing up to copping many of the blues elder's licks. Clapton stresses that Guy is the bridge between scorching Chicago blues and modern, boogie-centric hard rock. Nearing 77, Guy is still every bit the show-boater in his flashy polka-dotted suit, soloing behind his back and with his teeth - he did that crazy shit long before Hendrix. With recent efforts, Guy has succumbed to Santana syndrome, collaborating with ill-fitting guests like Kid Rock for no good reason. Yet Guy's ebullient stage presence, roller coaster fretwork and consummate storytelling confirms his status as a living legend. With the Donna Duncan Band. $34.50-$69.50. Oct. 10, 7:30 p.m. Knight Theater, 430 S. Tryon St. 704-372-1000.
- PAT MORAN

INDIA.ARIE
After a four-year exile from the public eye, purveyor of spiritual, empowered R&B India.Arie returns, touring her fifth studio LP, SongVersation. Arie's sabbatical almost became permanent, due to dissatisfaction with the music industry and a few reputed dark nights of the soul. Yet, you wouldn't know that from Arie's new material, a seamless continuation of her mature and introspective blues-and-Motown-rooted R&B, dominated by her assured and sandy vocals. When she debuted with her 2001 LP Acoustic Soul, Arie cited illustrious forebears like Donny Hathaway and Sam Cook, but her most telling influences are the steady, acoustic guitar-driven compositions of Bill Withers and the earnest confessionals associated with Lilith Fair, where incidentally, Arie got her first big break. Her subsequent albums flirted with reggae, country music and Turkish instrumentation. The new LP splits the difference between these mild experiments and the pristine, spare approach of Arie's debut. It's a shame that a relatively outre collaboration with Israeli artist Idan Raichel was scrapped, since Arie excels when stretching her self-imposed boundaries. At her worst, Arie's lyrics can resemble Hallmark epiphanies delivered by a chirpy motivational speaker, but Arie's firm spiritual compass commands respect. With Gramps Morgan. $27.50. Oct. 8, 8 p.m. The Fillmore, 1000 N.C. Music Factory Blvd. 704-916-8970.

ABYSSINIAN: A GOSPEL CELEBRATION F. WYNTON MARSALIS
For anyone remotely into the strain of improvisation that dominated jazz in the second half of the 20th century, Wynton Marsalis is a polarizing figure to say the least. The trumpeter was the guiding voice behind Ken Burns' Jazz series, and the chief reason why the neophyte Burns ignored virtually everything that happened after hard bop, from terrific explorations of melody and rhythm by Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane to Miles Davis' fertile fusion era and Sun Ra's space jams. It left a bitter aftertaste on what had otherwise been an enjoyable series, and similarly exposed Marsalis' traditionalist agenda. This work - commissioned by the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem to celebrate its bicentennial anniversary - blends the sacred and secular in an Ellingtonian "joyful noise" journey through blues, gospel and jazz history... well, jazz history up to 1964 or so. Yup, Wynton's revisionist agenda lives on, undermining the very music he claims to be "repping." Featuring the 15-piece Lincoln Jazz Center Orchestra and 70-member Chorale Le Chateau choir, directed by Damien Sneed. $20-$50. Oct. 8, 7:30 p.m. Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, 3400 Beatties Ford Road. 704-372-1000. www.blumenthalarts.org.

ELIM BOLT
"Everyone in this city is bouncing off the walls," Johnnie Matthews III sang on "Batshit," from the band's superb 2012 debut, The Nude South. Whether that line was about his bolt-able hometown of Elim, S.C., or his new digs in the burgeoning Charleston scene doesn't really matter. That collection of romantic Roy Orbison croonery roughed up with fuzzy guitars and garage hooks channeled youthful angst into impressive up-tempo pop. In its seven songs, everybody was drifting from one shitty job to another or longing to get out of Dodge with "tires screaming," as Matthews sang on the antsy "Farm Kid." Hailing from the same fertile Charleston scene that's recently birthed Run Dan Run and The Company band, Elim Bolt has an upside that frankly tops both. A Daytrotter session earlier this year revealed new tracks that promise even more on its follow-up, due out soon on regional label Hearts & Plugs. Late show with Archie Powell & the Exports. $8-$10. Oct. 5, 10:30 p.m. Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St. 704-376-3737. www.eveningmuse.com.

BANDS, BEATS & MUSIC FESTIVAL
If you haven't yet caught an in-person demonstration of "Guttah Genius" Luca Brazi's flows, go now and thank us later. The Charlotte MC's rusty-razor voice and wide-awake lyricism have been earning fans since the release of his 2010 mixtape Brain Food up until his newest, Sol. The show's line-up is a genre-hopping feast from hip-hop to rock, with Tanner Wayne, Pradigy GT, DJ Sved, Young Jules, Keen Society and more. $8. Oct. 4, 6 p.m. Amos' Southend, 1423 S. Tryon St.