THURSDAY 3/22

SKREAM AND BENGA ATTEMPT TO REDEEM "DUBSTEP"

The term "dubstep" now triggers knee-jerk revulsion and mockery among the cognoscenti, but it was only a mere four or five years ago when it signified the bleeding edge of sonic innovation. Back in the mid '00s, Britain's Skream and Benga were among the most striking, nuanced producers working in this bass-heavy realm. Benga has earned a place in the dubstep hall of fame with the marrow-chilling stealth bomb "Night" and 2008's Diary of an Afro Warrior, which I once called "dubstep's Bitches Brew": stark, dark, and sophisticated. In recent years, Skream has moved toward more accessible sounds, as evidenced by 2010's erratic Outside the Box and the Magnetic Man supergroup with Benga and Artwork. Still, anyone with Skream's advanced studio skills and ear for menacing atmospheres and tectonic-plate-shifting beats shouldn't be dismissed. With Artwork, Alvin Risk, Hijak, and Sgt. Pokes. Neumos, 8 pm, $25, all ages.

SATURDAY 3/24

DREAMTONE HAS A MONO/POLY ON FUTURE FUNK

For its third edition, the Dreamtone monthly has snagged one of the country's most scintillating future-funk producers working, Mono/Poly. The LA savant has won backing from Flying Lotus's Brainfeeder label and admiration from Radiohead. Mono/Poly's music possesses the gleaming surfaces and extroverted melodic verve of early-'80s funk with the rhythmic complexity of jazz fusion, but he then proceeds to alchemize these elements into compositions that could only happen in the post-dubstep era. Don't miss this budding underground superstar at an intimate venue. With Rap Class, Triceratop, Jon François, Ozma Otacava, Al Nightlong, and DJAO. Vermillion, 9 pm, $3, 21+.

TUESDAY 3/27

ANALOG-SYNTH IMPROV BLOWOUT WITH BRAIN FRUIT AND PALS

Prepare thyself for an intense night of analog-synth-oriented improvisations. Los Angeles's Dracula Spacecraft erects alternate-universe sci-fi-flick soundtracks that sparkle and warp in the same desolate reaches of the solar system as the work of Gil Mellé, Bernard Szajner, and Emeralds. Lawrence, Kansas, circuit-bender/instrument-builder Gerald Stokes combines unpredictable beatmaking with equally wildcard tonal exploration that splits the difference between Iannis Xenakis and Kid606. Seattle favorites Brain Fruit create some of the region's most inspirational kosmische ambient symphonies, when they're not cruising motorikly like the bastard sons of Neu! and Kraftwerk. Cop their Debacle Records CD 1.1 for a first-class ticket to the ionosphere. Rumor has it Brain Fruit's original drummer, Garrett Moore, will join them for this show. With White Leopards. Black Lodge, 9 pm.