Live Music Picks: November 30-December 6 

• Natalie Simpson Beehive Photography

THURSDAY 11/30
The Proper Way
The Proper Way—an Ogden duo comprised of Scott Rogers (vocals, guitar, banjo, mandolin) and Shane Osguthorpe (vocals, piano, guitar, Dobro, harmonica)—plays a menu of covers classic rock, pop, alternative country and contemporary singer-songwriters that offers audiences more than note-perfect facsimiles of their favorite radio food. Given their instrumentation, you might accuse them of doin' the shtick originated long ago by Hayseed Dixie and perpetuated by a slew of newer acts like Steve 'N' Seagulls. That's only half true. The Proper Way's huge and varied repertoire can include the usual suspects (The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Prince, Cyndi Lauper), while revealing that they hold great songwriting at a premium, with selections by songsmiths like Jason Isbell, Townes Van Zandt and Vic Chesnutt. And they render the tunes with a reverence that honors the original writers and performers, and with originality sufficient to earn respect for their own talents. Then they'll whip out surprises like Schoolhouse Rock's "Three is a Magic Number" or one of two-dozen TPW originals. Now that's doin' it proper. (Randy Harward) The Hog Wallow Pub, 3200 E. Big Cottonwood Canyon Road, 9:30 p.m., $5, 21+, thehogwallow.com

• Chris Arson Photography

FRIDAY 12/1
Mark Farina, Nate Lowpass, CHOiCE, ArtsOfChaos
Dallas-based Mark Farina is an acid jazz musician and OG house DJ who started spinning instrumental hip-hop beats back in 1989, and has been cranking out feel-good mid-tempo tracks ever since. In fact, he's the rare sort of DJ who is content to occasionally go hands-off and let the groove ride, rather than coming at you with flashy turntable moves, gold chains and backwards baseball hats. Now considered one of the top DJs in the world, Farina has an enormous body of work, including the eight-volume Mushroom Jazz series (Om, Innercise/MRI). Like a lot of instrumental hip-hop, it's great music to soundtrack a road trip, or do homework by. In that way, you can consider Farina a precursor to RJD2, Blockhead, Illogic and a legion of other so-called "beatmaker" guys who blend the drums and bass of hip-hop with the cinematic collages of R&B and soul. Armed with an absolutely enormous collection of old-school records, Farina has a stated goal, according to his website, to "bring new music to as many places as I can and expose obscure records that otherwise might go hidden." (Howard Hardee) Metro Music Hall, 615 W. 100 South, 9 p.m., $15, 21+, metromusichall.com

• Josef Torres

Periphery, Animals as Leaders, Astronoid
Periphery guitarist Misha Mansoor and Animals As Leaders axemen Tosin Abasi and Javier Reyes always seem to be getting ink in the guitar-centric mags like Guitar World—and with good reason. Their freaky fretboard wizardry will mess with your mind. The music's not bad, either. Each band takes progressive rock and metal to such new heights that they're getting credit for helping to pioneer a new offshoot genre, the onomatopoeiac "djent." Toss that word into the lexiconic bin, 'cause it shortchanges what these bands are really doing, which is updating extant music. Periphery is more song-oriented, letting Mansoor's gui-trickery stand out but serve the song, while AaL merges instrumental shred with Primus' goofy jazz-noodling. What's noteworthy is that the two acts have birthed three new guitar heroes, while also enjoying success as bands. It'll be interesting to see how they're regarded a decade from now. (RH) The Complex, 536 W. 100 South, 6 p.m., $24.50 presale; $30 day of show, all ages, thecomplexslc.com

• Nate Ryan

SATURDAY 12/2
Charlie Parr, Them Coulee Boys
This country-blues road hound from Minnesota just rolled through town in July, two months prior to releasing his aptly titled 14th album, Dog (Red House). He gets his 300-show-a-year work ethos from his parents; they worked together as meat packers to feed their boy, who grew up to write insightful, timely songs that capture the essence of blue-collar life through the lens of smartly drawn characters in relatable situations. Dog thrums with this sensibility, and the songs come to vivid life through Parr's wise lyrics, rolling fingerpicked arpeggios and gently tense slide licks. You can almost see what Parr sees out the window of whatever vehicle gets him to work each day, and how his mind processes these thoughts into songs that'll stick by your side like loyal friends. Wisconsin folk-punk band Them Coulee Boys are like-minded, and certainly skilled, but they sound like young'uns playing hipster Americana—at least for now. We'll see how they sound after Parr drags them around the country. (RH) The State Room, 638 S. State, 9 p.m., $16, 21+, thestateroom.com

• Skit

TUESDAY 12/5
Psycho a-Go-Go: The Hexxers, Los YaYaz, The Boys Ranch, Miami Face Eaters, DJ Woody
Mysterious Southern California band The Hexxers dropped Freaks With The Savage Beat (Golly Gee) in 2004. Oddly, this appears to be their only album, and there are no other tour dates online. Not that they have much of a web presence: Facebook reveals only a dead "local business" page. Hexxers.com hasn't been updated in 13 years as of four days before this show, which kinda makes you wonder: Did they plan this? Is it a gimmick, dropping an album and then disappearing (at least from the internet) only to reemerge 13 years later to mesmerize only one audience before poofing away again? Are we lucky ... or cursed? Let's go with the former, 'cause Freaks is one badass beach party with chunky, reverby guitar chords, beach blanket rhythms, rampant innuendo and songs about gravestones and bones. And here's a shout-out to local Latin garage punks Los YaYaz, who've been playing around town for a while now. They released their debut 7-inch 45RPM 00001 (losyayaz.bandcamp.com) in September and its two tracks, "No Puedo Gritar" and "Nos Feratu" clock in at a lean 3:07 (combined), but they're mean as hell. (RH) The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, 8 p.m., $5, 21+, theurbanloungeslc.com

• Bystrov Eugene

WEDNESDAY 12/6
Diskoteka Avariya
Attention young American music listening people: This is legitimate endorsement of extremely popular, award-winning Russian electronic pop music recording trio Diskoteka Avariya. It is in no way influenced by the American president-leader Donald J. Trump, who in no way received golden showerings by beautiful Russian women provided by our great leaders as professional courtesy. Anyway, your musical editor Randall Vern Harward, Jr., born 29Feb. 1972, social media password "rosebud," has this to say about Diskoteka Avariya in, of course, his own word. I quote: " . ? ." Hahahaha. Is joke. Really. I have on unimpeachable authority that Mr. Harward has utmost respect for this 27-year-old Russian musical institution, which has brought great honor to the mother country with many Golden Gramophone awards for excellence in the creation of rocks and rolls. But go ahead and hear directly from him with your freedom of speech:

Music is a universal language, and so is a good time. This trio from Ivanovo, Russia (about 160 miles from Moscow), is fluent in both. One moment they might sound like formulaic major-label plasti-pop with compulsory hip-hop overtones. The next, they're flirting with the silly club-cool of Deee-Lite, crossing through Smash Mouth territory en route to Beck's house, where they meet up with Soul Coughing to make bombastic, quirky jams with humorous lyrics. Naturally, language barriers prevent us from getting the jokes—but discotheques are for dancing, anyway. (Randy Harward)The Depot,400 W. South Temple,7 p.m., $60 early bird, $80 presale, $100 day of show, 21+,depotslc.com