THORLOCK, BITTER RESOLVE Ah, hell: it’s BYOBL (bring your own black light) night at the Milestone again. Missouri’s Thorlock and Chapel Hill’s Bitter Resolve exist along the same continuum of heavy-lidded, ’70s-referencing riff-metal. Thorlock’s swinging rural sludge verges on boogie at times while noisy guitars growl and wallow in their own feedback. Bitter Resolve crunches along like a tank in low gear, its protometal riffing driven by powerful, asymmetrical drum lines. Yet don’t let the shared aesthetic fool you: Both bands chart distinct courses through the stoner metal landscape. $6-$9. The Milestone.

JIMKATA There are some songs that confound, starting off disjointed, losing their way around the bend, seeking convergence. But most tracks have a spacey groove that gets in your head. It takes awhile to latch onto what they’re doing, but the Electro-rock band from Ithaca parlays seemingly disheveled beats and riffs into floating jams. A bit funky with a sunny disposition, the combo merges sounds into dance-inducing songs, kicking into the higher gear of rock when needed. $10-$12. Double Door Inn.

CESCHI So, it’s a concept album with a name that sounds like a punchline (The One Man Band Broke Up) but it’s really about the cold, lonely inevitability of death (oh, and there’s some suicide too). So, the medium is rapid-fire, emotionally-loaded hip-hop with the black-hoodied grit of road-hardened post-punk and the heartsick romanticism of John Frusciante’s solo records. So, Ceschi Ramos named his record label after his four-fingered right hand. So, all this shit is true. So, it works so well. So, you can catch it at the Milestone. So, why aren’t you there already? $6-$9. The Milestone.

A NIGHT IN RIO Who can take a folk song and whip it into a dance frenzy? Brazilians, of course. For the third year, the Latin American Coalition celebrates Carnival with music, dance and a spread of the multi-ethnic South American country’s delicious culinary delights. Expect the sweet, rubbery sounds of Bossa Nova, Tropicalia, Musica Popular Brasileira and more when Charlotte singer/guitarist Reinaldo Brahn interprets Brazilian legends like Antônio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto and Caetano Veloso. Also expect lots of sweaty samba dancing and an introduction to capoeira, a dance form with roots in Brazil’s early African slave culture that combines martial arts-like moves with rhythmic music fueled by the berimbau, a stringed percussion instrument. $10-$15. Neighborhood Theatre.

THE DAVID MAYFIELD PARADE Singer/songwriter, guitarist Mayfield is touring in support of his newest solo recordings; his other outfit, the bluegrass quintet Cadillac Sky is currently on indefinite hiatus. Mayfield’s American songbook is genuine, and filled with folk, country, old-time rock and gospel. The Avett Brothers caught on early. They’ve taken Mayfield along on tour and stacked him into many of their jams. Don’t let his humble demeanor fool you; the musical troubadour is a force on stage, albeit bereft of any pretensions. Late Show. $12 in advance. The Evening Muse.

ARLO GUTHRIE He’s had only one top-40 hit and hasn’t charted since 1981, but singer, songwriter, activist and comic raconteur Arlo Guthrie is still running strong with an illustrious recording and touring career. Building on the early trifecta of “Alice’s Restaurant,” “City of New Orleans” and beloved drug running anthem “Coming into Los Angeles,” he still maintains starry-eyed optimism leavened with wry humor. But darker material like “Victor Jara,” a plaintive paean to the Chilean activist murdered by a C.I.A. backed junta, prove that Arlo is just as much the fascist killing guitar slinger as famous father Woody Guthrie. A rare opportunity to see a national treasure. $33.50-$39.50. McGlohon Theatre.

KNIVES AND DAGGERS Time to crank the delay and dial the gain up, people, for on this night no guitar goes undistorted. That’ll certainly be the case when this Asheville five-piece molds their “turbulently loud” soundscapes on stage via its three-guitar lineup. In the studio, K&D blends in strings with the guitars and voices — picture Dirty 3’s Warren Ellis joining Explosions in the Sky, with Rachel Goswell and Neal Halstead chipping in occasional vocals — to create more nuanced and impressive dynamics. The result was the debut last summer of the elegant What Hurts the Most, 30 minutes of shoegaze glory. Mmmmm. Yummy. With locals Cement Stars and Human Pippi Armstrong, Greenville, S.C.’s Modern Man, and DJ Ol’ Kurty Bastard. $6-$9. The Milestone.

CHARLOTTE SYMPHONY: COPLAND The beauty of Aaron Copland is that, for all his familiar, pastoral accessibility, the man was a tone poet. Not long after composing his mammoth “Symphony No. 3,” he explored serialism — a relative of atonality. But the skill required to compose so counterintuitively is obvious even in the spacious, balanced intervals of the relatively traditional “No. 3.” The understated theme (as well as the embedded “Fanfare for the Common Man”) is more about tonal interplay and modality than anything so painfully explicit as melody. The first of two consecutive nights. $26.50-$82.50. Belk Theater.

OFF THE RECORD Combining stripped-down or acoustic performances with on-stage Q&A gives music fans an opportunity to find out more about a band/artist’s songs and songwriting. This month features Grown Up Avenger Stuff and The Local Traumatic showing off rarely seen sides of their music. As always, hosted by yours truly. $6 advance. The Evening Muse.