Madison is still in the thick of summer vacation season, but school is in session over the next few days at UW-Madison with the Hip-Hop in the Heartland lecture series. Live music dominates the rest of the week, with opportunities that include: The Baseball Project at the Northwoods League All-Star Game; "Caliente!" at Concerts on the Square; and, more shows by Touch People, Chris Forsyth, Double Ewes and Dietrich Gosser, Best Coast, BoDeans, Imaginary Cities, and Smoking Popes.
Monday 7.23
NOTEWORTHY: Nicaragua's Sandinista National Liberation Front est., 1961.
UW Red Gym, 7 pm. Also Tuesday & Wednesday, July 24 & 25, 7 pm
As part of a weeklong training institute, the UW's Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives presents this lecture series for the public. It includes poets Taylor Mali and Mahogany Browne (Monday); Columbia University professor Christopher Emdin (Tuesday); and an open mike (Wednesday).
Dragonfly Lounge, 9 pm
Illegal Art's Darren Keen, a.k.a. electronic experimentalist Touch People, records rock-band instruments and sculpts their sounds into songs that resemble the music of Steve Reich, Dan Deacon and Battles. With Yip-Yip.
Mickey's Tavern, 10:30 pm
This guitarist's arty compositions have been dubbed "mesmerizing and transcendent" by Time Out New York and "a rapturous transmutation of noise into light" by The Wire. With Spiral Joy Band and Sapropelic Pycnic.
Tuesday 7.24
NOTEWORTHY: Tennessee is first Confederate state readmitted to the Union, 1866.
Warner Park Duck Pond, 5 pm. Also High Noon Saloon, 10:30 pm
This supergroup of musicians from R.E.M., the Dream Syndicate and the Young Fresh Fellows has been touring baseball parks around the country with a new collection of songs about Satchel Paige, Jackie Robinson and other legends of the game (see Tour Stop). After the performance, catch the Northwoods League All-Star Game or head to the High Noon for the second concert.
Wednesday 7.25
NOTEWORTHY: Cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya is first woman to perform a space walk, 1984.
Capitol Square, 7 pm
The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra's outdoor season continues with "Caliente!," a program that features Gershwin's "Cuban Overture," a cha-cha-cha medley and other Latin sounds. The Cuban music group Tiempo Libre guests.
UW Memorial Union Terrace, 8 pm
Expect local band Double Ewes to build out their own version of indie rock with electronics and electric guitars. Former Madisonian Dietrich Gosser performs minimal, folk-infused tunes such as "Curious Scar" and "Noah's Ark," which local musicians Jeremiah Nelson and Paul Otteson have been known to cover.
Majestic Theatre, 8:30 pm
The West Coast is the best coast, according to these L.A. surf-pop purveyors, whose sophomore album, The Only Place, recently scored a thumbs-up from SPIN. With Those Darlins and the Midwest Beat.
Thursday 7.26
NOTEWORTHY: President Harry S. Truman desegregates U.S. armed forces, 1948.
Majestic Theatre, 8 pm
Though singer and guitarist Sam Llanas has departed the Wisconsin-bred roots-rock band that spawned the 1996 hit "Closer to Free," the rest of the gang is carrying on with new recruit Warren Hood, a gifted violinist from Austin, Texas. With Miles Nielsen.
Frequency, 8:30 pm
In addition to opening for the Pixies, this soulful rock duo ruled Canada's college-radio charts last year with their debut album, Temporary Resident. With Phox and A Torrid Affair.
UW Memorial Union Terrace, 9:30 pm
Though this Chicago-area quartet revere the sing-along punk of the Ramones, they also look to artists such as Elvis Costello, the Cars and even Liberace for inspiration. Croon along to tunes from 2011's This Is Only a Test at this free show on the Terrace. With Trapper Schoepp & the Shades.
