I know Levi Romero more as a prof than a poet—I studied New Mexico lit with him at UNM—but I’ve heard him read his distinctive work. His style is highly dialectical, but there’s something else in its essence. Something difficult to distill in description, but something entirely Nuevo Mexicano. Something about this difficult and beautiful land captured my heart, and his work explores that … something. See what I mean at Chatter on Sunday, Dec. 1, when Romero is featured poet. At The Kosmos (1715 Fifth Street NW) starting at 10am, experience Bach’s "Suite No 3 in C Major for Unaccompanied Viola," György Kurtág’s "Hommage a Robert Schumann" and Robert Schumann’s "Märchenerzählungen (Fairy Tales) Opus 132" as performed by Keith Hamm (viola), James T. Shields (clarinet) and Conor Hanick (piano). Get there early for gratis espresso. General admission tickets are $15, but students and the 30-and-under crowd pay $9. Children get in for a fiver.
Four Up All Y’all’s Hearts Hip-Hop
Talib Kweli
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Talib Kweli is the trifecta. He’s intellectual without being stuffy and political without being preachy, and he’s a real MC. Kweli ostensibly tours in support of the mid-December release of Gravitas. Preview track “The Wormhole” references the Illuminati once too much for comfort, but it’s also a total banger. If 2013’s Prisoner of Consciousness can serve as any kind of qualitative oracle, Gravitas will encompass the full spectrum of hip-hop merits with few of its possible pitfalls. His winter tour hits Burque on Sunday, Dec. 1, at Sister (407 Central NW). The 21-and-over gig kicks off at 7pm, and presale tickets are $25 to $30. Coloradan hip-hop supergroup BullHead*ded, local freestyle crew Akword Actwrite and DJ Clout move the crowd, too. If you’re a Kweli superfan, make the meet-and-greet at Just Urban Smoke Shop (1319 San Mateo NE) from 5 to 6pm on Sunday.
Four Up Metal Occult Following
Morbid Angel
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Hailing from metropolitan, seaside Florida, oh-so-heavy foursome Morbid Angel has purveyed their chops-heavy metal for just shy of three decades. Morbid Angel’s current tour celebrates the 20th anniversary of the group’s third full-length, Covenant. This occult-themed release marked a pivotal turning point in the band’s crossover to mainstream metal audiences. The music video for “God of Emptiness” was featured in Mike Judge’s iconic ’90s uh-huh-huh-huh vehicle “Beavis and Butt-head,” and the rest is history … and the present. Fans aged 13 and over can experience Covenant live, in its entirety, at Sunshine Theater (120 Central SW) on Sunday, Dec. 1. Beginning at 7:30pm, Torture Victim and Left to Rot warm up your earplugs. General admission tickets are $20, and VIP packages—early entry and mad Morbid Angel swag, including an embossed leather notebook, a black candle and a tour t-shirt and poster—will run you $65.
Four Up Vocable Wilderness
Julianna Barwick
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Louisiana-born, Missouri-raised musician Julianna Barwick may call Brooklyn home now, but her extraordinary vocal style clearly originates from some other, heavenly realm. She conjures her uncommon vox by layering and looping her ethereal voice. Barwick’s second full-length solo studio outing, Nepenthe, was released in August of this year—to critical acclaim—on Dead Oceans. Created in collaboration with Alex Somers, Reykjavík string quartet amiina and a choir of teenage girls, Nepenthe takes its title from a storied anti-depressant—or “drug of forgetfulness”—referenced in Greek literature and mythology, including Homer’s epic “Odyssey.” Commune with the many singular voices of Barwick at Immanuel Presbyterian Church on (114 Carlisle SE) on Monday, Dec. 2. This rarefied all-ages recital begins at 8pm, and admission is $10. Local electro-acoustic ambient/noise project MŪN opens this out-of-this-world concert.
