The long-awaited Trystero Record Release Show is happening at Soundlab this Friday (Nov. 16). The 12” LP has been in the making for more than a year now, with over 100 hours clocked in at the studio, spent perfecting a vintage sound using techniques that were revolutionized during the 1960s and 70s. The result picks up the full range of the group’s heavy, hypnotic music. From it’s original conception as a crust band, Trystero has moved into the realm of slow, psychedlic tragic-core, plumbing the depths of instrumental metal with cello, bass and drums. The evening will feature guest musicians from the Stay Lows (among others), a video installation and complimentary hors d’oeuvres. It is also being billed as a “Black Tie Gala,” meaning—in this case—that “fancy attire is encouraged.” The party starts at 9pm.

John Linnell and John Flansburgh have been rocking the alternative music scene as They Might Be Giants for over 25 years, but their career has brought them far beyond the airwaves through various dabblings in film, television and children’s entertainment. The duo reached its widest audience during the 1990s with the Grammy-winning theme song to the now defunct Fox sitcom “Malcolm in the Middle,” earning them the mainstream recognition that a successful career in alt-rock typically cannot. TMBG will stop at the Town Ballroom on Friday (Nov. 16) on a tour for their newest release, The Else (TMB Productions). The album has been praised by both critics and fans alike for its revival of TMBG’s trademark unconventional and inventive rythms. Irish pop-duo Oppenheimer opens the show. Doors open at 7pm. (Ages 14+).

On Saturday (Nov. 17), Buffalo rock band Athera hits the Mohawk Place with special guests Goodbye Houston and Crush the Everlasting. After the dissolutions of separate musical projects, the five members of Athera came together to blend aspects of hard rock and progressive music, playing energetic shows that are getting them more and more attention with each subsequent gig. Named in part for the ancient Greek island of Thera—devastated in the 15th century by one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in history—the band describes its mission thus: “In the ashes of destruction, Athera has proven that it can rise again and still have its presence felt in this ever-changing musical landscape.” More power to them. The show—Athera’s final performance of the year—will start at 8pm.

Buffalo Contemporary Dance will present three more performances of modern dance at the newly opened ALT Theatre located on Great Arrow Ave. The show, which features works by Amy Taravella, Leslie Wexler and Kerry Ann Ring, had a successful premiere last weekend and continues through this weekend with performances on Friday (Nov. 16) and Saturday (Nov. 17) at 8pm and a matinee show on Sunday (Nov. 18) at 2pm. The three part dance concert features an extended version of Leslie Wexler’s highly acclaimed Rapid Motion Through Space Elates One (a scene from which is pictured above), set to Steve Reich’s Sextet. It also includes excerpts from Amy Taravella’s Bikini Launch—the first show ever performed at ALT—and Come When I Call You, also choreographed by Wexler.

Spades Alone, an up-and-coming quartet from Detroit, plays at Club Diablo on Saturday (Nov. 17) as part of their Northeast tour. This marks a busy time for the band, who have one CD under their collective belt and another in conceptual progress, with some songs already written and studio time coming near. A hooky mix of rock, ska and alternative, the group’s clever, laid back approach landed them a deal with Schizophrenic Recordings, which released their debut Ruddy Modes last year and is on board for the next one as well. The rest, as they say, is history— in the making. Saturday’s show starts at 9pm with Canto V and guests Burning 2 Entice and A Time to Stand. Spades Alone will also be doing a warm-up show at the Lafayette Tap Room earlier in the day (around 4pm), during the Tap Room’s weekly Am-Jam.