The Weekender | November 17-20, 2011

Thursday 17

7pm, 10pm, Lincoln Hall, $20, 18 and up
M83’s last album, Saturdays=Youth, pulled off the near-impossible: It brought to mind Simple Minds without ever sounding like Simple Minds. The new, even more consciously epic Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming largely sticks to similar stylistic lines, but this time mastermind Anthony Gonzalez has amped up the ‘80s cheese and wordless anthemic choruses to such an extent that it borders on shamelessness. Not that there’s anything to be ashamed about. At its best M83 evokes a hazy nostalgia more effective and moving than most in the chillwave movement, while its My Bloody Valentine–esque sheets of shimmering guitar provide something more visceral than your average effects-laden shoegaze outfit.


8pm, Park West, $35, 18 and up
Ledisi is a funkafied soul singer with a smooth Southern twang and a finger-snappin', foot-tappin' mix of jazz, soul, hip-hop, funk and R&B that's all her own. Tonight she's celebrating the release of a new CD, Pieces of Me.


9pm, Beauty Bar, $5 (free with RSVP at do312.com)
Billed as a "celebration of the DJ," Beauty Bar's Phonographic night does right by the claim, booking lightning-handed turntablist Rob Swift, of famed DJ crew the X-Ecutioners, to juggle, scratch and cut it up for the party's inaugural event. The DJ whiz is accompanied by local DJ posses Cutz on Cuts and Midnight Rockers.


10pm, Spy Bar, $20 (free before 12am with RSVP at clubtix.com)
Like his sometimes production partner Arno Cost, Norman Doray is a filter-disco-loving Frenchman with a deep-seated love of national heroes Daft Punk. Doray also happens to be a favorite of hotshot jock David Guetta, who's booked him to play everywhere from Ibiza to Sin City. His Spy Bar set is bound to be a raucous one, covering electro, French house and dirty Dutch anthems.