Critical 5 Concerts in NYC this week: feel the vibrations, Feb. 5-12

In honor of the sudden return of My Bloody Valentine, this week's critical concerts will focus on the shows that will move you on more than just an auditory level. These are sounds to get lost in, sounds that will shake you to your core.

Chests will be rattled by waves of sonic goodness. You'll feel the vibrations, and the next time you look up, hours will have passed by and it will all be over.

Some may call this psychedelic, we just call it awesome.

Memory Tapes, 2/6, 8:30PM at Glasslands Gallery

Dayve Hawk's music under the name Memory Tapes often gets lumped in with that most dubious late 2000's micro-genre: "chillwave". Heck, even a journalist as full of integrity and tact as yours truly has done it in the past on this very site. In reality, Hawk's swirling concoctions of shoegaze guitar, glistening keyboards, and new wave beats aim for something much more epic and difficult to pin down. This isn't music about a relaxing day at the beach; this is music about everything leading up to that relaxing day at the beach, and everything after that relaxing day at the beach. Widescreen.

Psychic Ills, 2/7, 8PM at The Bowery Ballroom

Let's face it: Psychic Ills don't make it easy on themselves by looking like the Manson Family posing for an American Apparel catalogue. How legit could these clowns really be, you may ask yourself. The answer: pretty damn legit. This is psych-rock done right; a kaleidoscope of hazy blues, primitive rhythms, and a freaky ambience that seems beamed in from outer space. You'll need to light plenty of nag chompra to cover up the scent of these jams. Plus, Pitchfork once gave one of their records a 1.4 rating, so they must be doing something right.

BEAK>, 2/10, 8PM at The Bowery Ballroom

After taking his main band, Portishead, into doomy minimalist krautrock territory on their 2008 album, Third, group leader Geoff Barrow apparently still wasn't getting enough in the way of repetitive beats and sinister old synth sounds. Thus, BEAK> was formed in 2009. There is a cosmic quality to BEAK>'s motorik excursions, with droning voices breaking in around the spaces occupied by abstract guitar stabs, relentless bass pulses, and Barrow's indestructible beats. For those of you looking for a slice of swingin' 70's West Germany in present day NYC, this show is your best bet by a country mile.

Octo Octa, 2/11, 8:30PM at Glasslands Gallery

House music is one of those things that is duller than a bag of hammers if done improperly, but luckily for every wannabe 90's club kid who has watched Party Monster one too many times, there's someone like Brooklyn-based Michael Morrison and his project, Octo Octa. His sounds are lush and trance-inducing, recalling such dance music visionaries as Giorgio Moroder and Arthur Russell. Since 2011, Morrison has been putting out 12" singles under the Octo Octa name through the boutique label 100% Silk, a name familiar to anyone who is used to seeking out the most interesting sounds of the current underground dance music boom. Just because the calendar says it's Monday doesn't mean you can't go out and boogie like it's Saturday.

Bleeding Rainbow, 2/12, 8:30PM at Glasslands Gallery

What a difference a few extra members and a few different letters can make. What used to be Reading Rainbow--a shoegazey indie pop duo--has now morphed into Bleeding Rainbow, a deafening four piece who wanna drag you kicking and screaming back into the feedback-drenched wastelands of the early 90's. No one will be comparing founding members (and married couple) Sarah Everton and Rob Garcia to Matt and Kim anymore, not when the guitars crunch like Kevin Shields and Glenn Branca fighting to the death, and the relentless drums snap in place like Wipers taking a ride on the Autobahn, as they do on the Philly natives' newest album, Yeah Right. As a nice bonus, they like to end their sets by smashing their instruments. When is THAT not a total hoot?!