Weekly Music Picks: Soggy Marathon Edition

A weekend stand of winning baseball at home when the Sox take it to the Angels followed by the all day boozy spectator sport that is the Boston Marathon it's going to be a long week. Lucky for music fans there's a lot to look forward to and keep you up all night with that lovely ringing in your ears that only comes from live music.

Tuesday, 4/17
Sammy Miami's Southern Alternative Acoustic Jamboree
As part of Shoot The Moon's April residency at the Abbey Lounge lead vox and the man who might look more like a rock star than any other local band member we've seen in a while has helped pull together a night jam packed with back to back music. Both stages at the Abbey will be utilized - sets bouncing from pub stage to main stage, and back again, and back again, and...oh you get the picture. Seager Tennis, The Hidden, Dope Fiend, Boilermaker, Glenn E. Yoder (of Cassavettes), Kier Byrnes, Unger, yard Hayden, Karinations, and Shoot the Moon perform on both stages. They've already announced Alan Petitti and Dave Herlihy (of O-Positive) as special guests of the night, but who knows what else the evening will hold.
Abbey Lounge, 9 p.m. start (and the music won't stop), 21+, $7

Rodrigo y Gabriela (Sold Out)
After visa troubles forced their show last month to be postponed, the phenomenal Mexican duo are finally hitting the Roxy. The heavy metal loving, Latin acoustic guitar playing/banging duo's new eponymous album, produced by John Leckie (Radiohead, New Order), was released last Fall to rave reviews. Rod y Gab must be seen (and heard) to be believed (check the YouTube clips below), but you had to get your tickets early to catch this gig.
Roxy, $20, 8pm
website | myspace | YouTube videos from Letterman & Jools Holland | purchase

John Abercrombie Quartet
Berklee alum John Abercrombie started out playing with greats like Gil Evans, Gato Barbieri and Chico Hamilton. In the early 1970s, he was part of the innovative jazz rock group Dreams with Billy Cobham and the Brecker Brothers. As a leader, Abercrombie has recorded for ECM records for over 30 years, including his famous trio with drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Dave Holland. He brings an extremely impressive quartet to Beantown featuring Marc Johnson on bass, the great Joey Baron on drums, and Mark Feldman on violin.
Regattabar, 7:30pm, $25
website | wikipedia

Wednesday, 4/18
Sofia Koutsovitis Group
The warm, sensuous alto of Argentinean jazz singer Sofia Koutsovitis graces the Regattabar. Although a NYC resident since completing her masters at the New England Conservatory a few years ago, Sofia is still a regular on the Boston jazz scene. She performs a mix of Latin jazz and experimental songwriting grounded in traditional Argentinean chacarera and zamba rhythms, Afro-peruvian festejo, and Brazilian samba.
Regattabar, 7:30pm, $14
website | myspace

Thursday, 4/19
Kool Keith, aka Dr. Octagon
The wonderfully warped Kool Keith (aka Dr. Octagon and Dr. Doom) returns to Beantown. After his stint as one of the original Ultramagnetic MCs, Kool Keith released one of the best leftfield hip hop hits of the 90's, Dr. Octagonecologyst (which also helped put master producer Dan the Automator on the Map). Catch this underground hip hop legend and his often bizarre, but always amazing stream-of-consciousness flow.
Harpers Ferry, $20, 9pm (8pm doors)
Kool Keith: website | myspace | wikipedia
Dr. Octagon: website | myspace | Mike Relm's Return of Dr. Octagon Megamix.mp3

Ghostland Observatory
The Austin-based duo Ghostland Observatory is starting to generate some significant national buzz. While the electonic/punk sound evokes thoughts of Daft Punk or LCD Soundsystem, a good chunk of the hype is focused on Aaron Behrens, the latest in a long line of frontmen likely to do just about anything during a performance. See the band at Great Scott on Thursday night, DJ Carbo is slated to share the bill at Great Scott.
Great Scott, 9 p.m., 18+, $10
Ghostland Observatory: myspace

Friday, 4/20
Guster (also Saturday, both sold out)
Guster is in the middle of its Campus Consciousness Tour and Boston happens to be a pretty college-heavy metro area -- yet the band will kick off Friday a two-night stint at the Opera House. Why? Why not - it's the Boston-based band's homecoming shows and they will play where they want to. People who have yet to pick up their tickets to see the jam/groove/pop band should start looking around online; people who have should bring canned food items to food drives organized by Rock for a Remedy. Mason Jennings opens on Friday night; The Format opens Saturday.
Opera House, 6:30 p.m., all ages
Guster: website | myspace

Tragically Hip (sold out)
They've been playing together since 1983. They've released a number of albums over the last two decades and are in Boston this week on tour promoting their latest release, World Container. Lots of people are saying lots of good things abou this latest release - we promise one thing: we're not going to make any "hip" related puns here.
Avalon, 18+, $28
Tragically Hip: website

Saturday, 4/21
Ozomatli
The great Latin hip hop collective Ozomatli hits Boston a week before playing Coachella. Nobody mixes and mashes-up hip hop, salsa, cumbia, Latin jazz, and dub better than Ozomatli. The gang are also outspoken political activists and regularly play anti-war rallies and social justice protests of various stripe. Although they appear to be traveling without a DJ this tour, Ozomatli has been home to two great turntablists over the years: DJ Spinobi and the phenomenal Cut Chemist. And every year around the first week of February, Bostonist finds ourselves digging out Ozomatli's first album to play "Super Bowl Sundae." Catch the group touring in support of their brand new album Don't Mess with the Dragon.
Paradise Rock Club, 18+, 9pm (8pm doors), $20
website | myspace

Sunday, 4/22
The Frames
Irish rock band The Frames will be in town to support recent release "The Cost" - and we echo the Globe's Sarah Tomlinson, who noted last month that "...the album is sophisticated and layered with deft orchestration. And yet, the band's songwriting and delivery display an earnestness and lack of pretension that's pure rock." Awwwwww yeah.
Somerville Theatre, 8 p.m., $21
The Frames: website

Matt Durutti and Victoria Welch contributed to this post