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Simultaneously garnering props from music industry hotshots and technology aficionados, Moldover’s 2009 debut album was more than an Internet flashpoint, it fostered the growth of a paradigm shift in live electronic stage acts: controllerism. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes of a dysfunctional MacBook, Moldover’s work catapults the stoic, laptop-based events of years past into a new era of rockstar idolatry, with the software controller in the driver’s seat. An unmistakable rock influence pervades his musical efforts, which deftly run the gamut from rapid, techno-fused breakbeats to glitch-inspired funk. Moldover will be supported by the DJ skills of Chicago favorites Striz, Magpie and Duke Shin. (John Alex Colón)

March 11 at Darkroom, 2210 West Chicago, 9pm, free before 10pm, $6 after.

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On the heels of their fifth full album, the Brooklyn shoegaze outfit bring their dreamy take on pop hooks over sonic jetwash to the Empty Bottle. “Flourescence,” released earlier this month, has the band moving towards bare-boned electronic post-punk territory, gravitating more towards Curve and My Bloody Valentine than Cocteau Twins on tracks like “Trails” and “Trance Out.” Yuki Chikudate’s soaring vocals still manage to surface above that expected cacophony of drone-noise, feedback and distortion, whether taking a distinctively retro sixties approach on “My Baby” or echoing as sonic texture on the epic “Leave the Drummer Out There.” Also wearing their influences on their cover sleeve, “Flourescence” showcases the distinctive style of classic 4AD Records to boot, with artist Vaughan Oliver supplying the look. And there, somewhere between the future and the past, eyes sometimes closed, keeping time with a finger on the keys and another shaking a maraca, Chikudate and Asobi Seksu don’t reinvent the wheel, but spin it well enough to trample over naysayers and trite, dead-genre revivalists. Hidden melodies, and surfacing beauty, textures upon sonic texture… if you like it, love it, you’re already there, and if you don’t, you already know. It’s why you never could get into the Jesus and Mary Chain or thought the first Raveonettes record sounded weird. But for the rest of us, we’ll see you there! (Duke Shin)

February 28 at The Empty Bottle, 1035 North Western, (773)276-3600, 9:30pm. $12.

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Listening to Ben Frost’s “Theory of Machines” (Bedroom Community), it’s difficult to concur with the categorization of “post-minimalism.” His compositions fly in the face of any label, at once gorgeous and terrifying. Certainly electronic music in the experimental vein, Frost’s work seems to interpret the would-be sounds of a blissful void, shockingly interrupted by the overwhelming sounds of pain. Imagine the backdrop of Loscil and Brian Eno pierced by the industrial tendencies of Trent Reznor and you might come close to Ben Frost’s sound. Felt as much as heard, his music elicits the feelings of fear and loneliness reserved for horror-film scores and thunderstorms, amplified by guitar-shredding and haunting vocal samples. Frost appears as part of the internationally acclaimed music and multimedia art festival, Sónar, which visits Chicago from Barcelona for the first time. (John Alex Colón)

September 11 at Chicago Cultural Center, 78 East Washington, (312)744-6630. 6pm. Free. Limited capacity.

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Chapterhouse never really got a fair shake. The Reading band, which formed and found its style amongst other early-nineties shoegaze acts like Slowdive, Ride and Moose, essentially stopped making music in 1993 as its members went their separate ways and the genre lost its battle with the skyrocketing popularity of grunge and hard rock. (Chapterhouse famously followed Nirvana’s set at the 1991 Reading Festival.) After My Bloody Valentine’s “Loveless” and one or two of Slowdive’s records, Chapterhouse’s debut full-length, “Whirlpool,” long out-of-print until re-released a few years ago, stands as one of the great complete shoegaze records, doused in reverb (of course), vocals buried, guitars chiming and bracing. “Breather,” one of Chapterhouse’s most famous songs, stands the test of time as both a fantastic pop number and proof that a shoegaze song can make you move. The band reunited for a gig in November of last year with Ulrich Schnauss, and apparently decided to give it another go, as it added short tours for 2010. Fans of the genre and that early-nineties Reading scene shouldn’t miss this—maybe this will bring “Whirlpool” to the masses, where it should’ve gone all those years ago. Bonus: Schnauss plays as well. (Tom Lynch)

May 5 at Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln, (773)525-2501, at 9pm. $16.

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The Brooklyn-based trio These Are Powers deftly combine punk aesthetic with straight-up house beats and experimental digressions, crafting a sound that’s as scary as it is massive. The real superstar here is ex-Liars Pat Noecker’s oppressive bass, dominating textures like a schoolyard bully. Anna Barie’s infectious vocals—cutting and in control, but borderline demented—take a while to comprehend fully, but with time come across with more and more power. The group’s recent record, “All Aboard Future” (Dead Oceans), is a nightmarish jaunt through a rotten candyland, and once you get started, there’s no looking back. Full of short, meaty noise-dance tracks that throw everything at you—beats, live drums, synths galore—plus Noecker’s muscular foundation and Barie’s lyrical slicing, this record would do terrible things to an already damaged mind. A wonderfully deranged sound, These Are Powers invent a dance-floor bleakness sure to make a mess of anyone in the audience. The three-piece often improvises with their electronics as well, but I don’t even want to think about the madness that spawns from that. (Tom Lynch)

March 27 at Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, (773)227-4433, at 9pm. $10.

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The grittier bits of Norway’s Sereena Maneesh keep the act from being just another shoegaze revivalist band, though the group offers a good share of pop as well. The second record, released last week on 4AD, called “S-M 2: Abyss in B Minor,” sports an overly melodramatic title for a record that’s more than a mope-fest. Sereena Maneesh often rides a wave of dark, epic sprawl that’ll exhaust even the most patient My Bloody Valentine fans, but the moments of pure beauty and fuzzed-out heavenliness make up for any indulgences. The seven-minute-and-twenty-second-long “Don’t Come Down Here,” from the band’s self-titled debut, stands as the top choice of the short catalogue. That record on a whole is superior, but there’s nothing on “Abyss in B-Minor” that’s disagreeable. Even the absurdly atmospheric groove of “Ayisha Abyss,” a notable new track, seems like a natural progression. The synth-heavy meanness of “I Just Want to See Your Face,” assisted by its brevity (only three minutes!), impresses as well. The group may not be setting the world ablaze, but Sereena Maneesh is a solid band making solid records. (Tom Lynch)

March 31 at Bottom Lounge, 1375 W. Lake, (312)666-6775, at 8pm.

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Efterklang’s juggling of experimental electronics, pop and post-rock has made for three solid records, most recently “Magic Chairs,” the Denmark group’s first for 4AD. The collective manages to avoid Animal Collective joylessness while maintaining many of the same musical elements; quite simply, Efterklang is just prettier, and it goes down easier. Lead track “Modern Drift,” with its heavenly and incessant dueling piano parts, could’ve been a straight-up dance track (and it would’ve worked), but the band shows restraint and pulls the elements into one tight pop force, a remarkable decision and a bold way to begin a record. The rest of the record may not reach the height of its opening song—”Alike” sounds like a phoned-in Peter Gabriel, and “I Was Playing Drums” is so melodically misguided you’d think it was a different band entirely—but that’s a minor complaint for a band that’s not quite great, but oddly admirable. Plus, live, Efterklang has ten thousand people on stage, so you’ll have something to look at as well. (Tom Lynch)

March 8 at Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln, (773)525-2508, at 9pm. $12.

There has been a steady ongoing wave of electro-noise floating through the independent musical seas for a while now. The dynamic duo cleverly titled Truman Peyote brings a crisp and carefree attitude to what is often clogged with pretentious high concept, well, noise.

Hailing from the Boston neighborhood of Jamaica Plains, Caleb Johannes and Eric Farber pump out elongated sound-filled structures, using samples, field recordings and anything they can gets their hands on, making noise reminiscent of Animal Collective, The Rapture and Matt & Kim. Along with their LP “Light-Lightning,” the twosome has a twelve-inch split with fellow Whitehaus Family band Many Mansions and a split seven-inch with Turtle Ambulance on Breakfast of Champs due out this month, featuring the track “New Life, New Wife.” The song’s already received much love from Pitchfork.

Farber and Johannes discuss their music, their busy schedules and the town that influenced their sound. Read the rest of this entry »

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Edgy, nightmarish scream-noise groups have always been a mixed bag. Some work, some don’t, and it’s unusually difficult to discern precisely why. Long-running Bloodyminded, which began in New York but now calls Chicago home, was founded by Mark Solotroff, he of Intrinsic Action underground fame. Sonically the band pushes boundaries with its grating stew of loops, synthesizer, feedback and vicious screaming and, in person, the result is hypnotizing and terrifying. Bloodyminded’s avant-garde aesthetic challenges the audience with industrial indulgence, mechanical, haunting and at times brilliant. Not for everyone—hell, this is only for a small few—but those who can get into it have much to gain. This could get uncomfortable. (Tom Lynch)

December 3 at Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, (773)276-3600, at 8pm. $3.