Is your head going to explode if you have to listen to one more 4/4 beat? It might be time to embrace your inner pretensionaut and take in some post-rock. This Friday, April 9, Broken City hosts three fine Albertan examples of the genre. First, Edmontonians Team Building focus more on the ambient and atmospheric side of the genre — think Mogwai’s slow build if it’d been honed in a Canadian winter. Calgary’s Mares of Thrace (formerly Tosca) is a two-piece doom metal dynamo, and proof positive that “intricate” and “delicate” don’t always go together — it might take a course in advanced calculus, but you can headbang to this stuff. This City Defects, a spin-off from soon-to-be-defunct prog outfit Lint, takes that band’s inventiveness and ups the restlessness; it’s about as adventurous a sonic experiment as you’re likely to see in Calgary. Why settle for less?

Not to discount the more straightforward rock shows this weekend, of course. Local folk-rocker Chris Gheran just wrapped up his latest album, Coup D’Etat, one of the last to be recorded at Dave Alcock’s venerable Sundae Sound studios, and he’ll be releasing it on Friday at the Blind Beggar. Military metaphors and zombies abound on the album, along with the ghost of Britpop past; plus, it comes with a free shoulder patch, so, y’know, score.

Saturday, April 10 is a three-way split between the indie folk of CBC Radio 3 darling Matthew Barber at the Marquee Room, Rum Runner offshoot Mountain Jack’s two-fisted folk at Vern’s and the grand reunion of local skankers Five Star Affair at the HiFi. Really, whichever way you go, you win.

For something a bit more synthetic, check out Spirits at the Palomino on Monday, April 12. The Ontarian trio may draw heavily from the synth-drenched pop of the ’80s, but the hooks are 100 per cent real; they’ll be joined by Calgary’s own hyperactive popsters, The Shagbots.

Rounding out the week, Thursday, April 15 will see the Check the Rhyme tour swing by the Whiskey with a fairly unbelievable lineup. Occasional Gorillaz emcee Del the Funky Homosapien and Egyptophile Pharoahe Monch are the biggest draws, but Slaughterhouse, Bukue One, Peter Jackson (I really wish this was the director) and DJ Zac Hendrix top up the lineup. Don’t miss it.