You hear Mary Halvorson play a guitar once—it sticks with you. Her tone, both liquid and spiky, burrows into your nervous system on contact. Using a delay pedal and digital effects, she flattens, smears, and discombobulates single notes, which creates an eerie, addictive effect. Her darting, slippery approach makes her songs simultaneously vaporous, brittle, and…

A sightless, millennial African-American who lived an itinerant childhood before finding her community in Seattle, Brittany Davis has long described herself as a vessel through which any number of musical spirits freely move. In the rock-leaning Painted Shield with mentor Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam, she’s a Swiss army knife of a vocal harmonist and…

Devo and the B-52s are extending their combined farewell outings and joining forces for the Cosmic De-Evolution Tour, which will hit 11 North American markets beginning Sept. 24 in Toronto. Lene Lovich will open. The idea to team up was hatched during the SNL 50 anniversary concert earlier this year, when the New Wave-era heroes…