Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI

8 p.m. • Fine Line • 18-plus • $15-$17

Ariel Pink may have been "discovered" by Animal Collective, which inked the arty Angeleno to its label in 2004, but it wasn't until his 2010 4AD debut that the prolific oddball really broke out. Returning this month with "Mature Themes," the lovably deadpanning kook continues to blend psych-pop savvy with Casio-glam and hints of Zappa-like eccentricity. Stating his music "has no basis in reality," Pink's extraterrestrial puckishness has made him an underground favorite among freak-flag wavers. Dam-Funk, who lent vocals to Pink's cover of Donnie & Joe Emerson's "Baby," and Bodyguard open. MICHAEL RIETMULDER

ALT-J

9 p.m. • Triple Rock • 18-plus • sold out

With a peculiar, pesky sonic patchwork that's part Björk electro-static, Grizzly Bear harmony-swirl and Muppet-voiced cutesy/grating, British quartet Alt-J will make its Twin Cities debut just a week after earning a Mercury Prize nomination. The former Leeds art students have been in steady rotation at 89.3 the Current for months with their tra-la-la-spiked single "Fitzpleasure," from their debut album "An Awesome Wave." JBM, aka Montreal songwriter Jesse Marchant, opens. CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

THE WEEKND

9 p.m. • Skyway Theatre • 18-plus • $30-$35

Part of the awesomely reductive PBR&B movement, this hipster-approved crooner has proved it possible to sell indie kids on booty-knockin' smooth jams. The key? Detached beats, a piercingly sultry voice and the general aesthetic of a pain-pill high. The Toronto tunesmith is blowing up on the strength of last year's mixtape trinity, which sees a proper collective release (along with some new material) in November via a division of Universal Records. Drake's bud is back in Minneapolis after selling out First Avenue this summer. M.R.

BLOC PARTY

7:30 p.m. • First Avenue • 18-plus • $25-$27

After a four-year hiatus and a solo album by frontman Kele Okereke, England's Bloc Party has returned to angular post-punk form on its obviously titled fourth album, "Four." The Current is all over this much-anticipated album, spinning the tension-filled "Octopus." Ceremony opens.JON BREAM

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: SYMPHONY OF THE GODDESSES

8 p.m. • Orpheum Theatre • $49-$129

There was a time when the thought of a symphony orchestra performing video-game music just seemed ridiculous. Those times have passed. On this tour, "The Legend of Zelda" franchise gets the royal treatment (and you'll be paying for it, with the top ticket price of $129). The production numbers will span all 25 years of the acclaimed video-game series, and with a complete four-movement symphony, no less. TOM HORGEN