Weekly Agenda: Confusing concepts, magical metal

Concept albums can elicit two fairly opposite reactions: giddiness (an entire album flowing under the strength of one cohesive idea!), or gastro-intestinal discomfort (the pomposity of thinking one idea is strong enough to carry an album from beginning to end). Georgia prog-metal animal Mastodon released its fourth album last year, and it happened to be its third consecutive concept album as well. But unlike 2004’s Leviathan and 2006’s Blood Mountain, which were based on relatively straightforward material, 2009’s Crack The Skye presents a much more convoluted and confusing tale. Centering on a paraplegic who astral travels by releasing his spirit into outer space, then becomes trapped in the spirit realm and eventually placed into Rasputin’s body in the middle of Czarist Russia, the story has a lot of head-spinning potential. So it might be wise to bone up on the Skye mythos before taking in Mastodon’s show at the Orpheum Theatre on Tuesday.

But not all concepts are so befuddling. Take, for instance, Stukenberg’s recently released The Silo Project, which takes the simple conceit of recording an album inside a silo and expands well beyond those boundaries. Stukenberg will be performing the album on Saturday at the Memorial Union Terrace, with the refreshing open-airiness of Everett Thomas’ homespun folk serving as opener. The organic feel of light, earthy folk can also be had the day before with Golpe Tierra, Madison’s self-described “Afro-Peruvian jazz” trio, which performs at the Cardinal Bar on Friday.

If the often-understated nature of folk and jazz has a local antithesis, it could be Foxy Veronica’s Peach Pies, the combination burlesque and cabaret revue that will be singing, dancing, and naughtying up the stage at the Inferno on Thursday. Should that somehow prove not exhilarating enough, Madison’s resident gothic electro act, GlassGhosts, will definitely get blood pumping at the High Noon Saloon on Sunday with an absolutely batshit live show that revels in a mixture of elaborate stage setups and unsettling performance art. Like Mastodon, both are heavy on concept but enthralling nonetheless, even if it’s hard to get a grasp what exactly is happening.