Jeff Parker (left) and John McEntire of Tortoise

Photographer Caroline Voagen Nelson captured the home stretch of this year’s Bang on a Can Marathon—which kicked off River to River Festival yesterday at the World Financial Center’s Winter Garden—for the Volume. Click ahead for more pics of Tortoise, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Ryuichi Sakamoto and more.

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The Rural Alberta Advantage

Seems summer is upon us; what better way to celebrate than getting sweaty and rocking out to one of these shows?

Friday

The highlight of the night may just be the U.S. debut of Wolfgang Voigt’s legendary electronic project, Gas, at Columbia’s Miller Theatre. Be sure to check out our preview of the show here and the Clubs Q&A with Voigt here.

Also exciting is another performance from the Rural Alberta Advantage, who were recently signed to Saddle Creek. They channel Neutral Milk at the Bell House. Check out our preview of the band from a few months ago here. (They also play at the Mercury Lounge tomorrow.)

Saturday

Oh shit! Black Star reunites for a rare one at the Nokia. Hit us with your best stuff, Talib and Mos.

A pair of underground titans, Kylesa and Stinking Lizaveta, rage indie-metal at Cake Shop.

Tortoise plays at the Bell House. Isn’t that enough for you people? Alright, then, check out our recent opener on post-rock here and the brand-spankin’-new Tortoise-curated top-five instrumental tracks playlist here. (They also play the Bang on a Can Marathon tomorrow.)

Sunday

Speaking of which…the annual Bang on a Can Marathon at the World Financial Center is not to be missed. It goes on for a while, so show up at your leisure.

Finally, jazz, folk and pop converge in a postgenre flow at Rebecca Martin’s Joe’s Pub show. Check out our preview of the show here.

Our parents had the Ventures, but to those of us who came of age in the ’90s, Tortoise stands out as the most iconic instrumental band of our time. The outfit turned heads back then with its subtly evocative—and staunchly vocalless—blend of krautrock, plugged-in jazz and soundtracky ambience, and it’s still going strong today. As the Chicago quintet gears up for local gigs at the Bell House on Saturday and at the Bang on a Can Marathon on Sunday—and prepares to drop a new disc, Beacons of Ancestorship, via Thrill Jockey on June 23—we asked the band to furnish the Volume with a playlist of its all-time favorite instrumental tracks. Listen to the results below. (Drummer John McEntire picked Sonny Sharrock, guitarist Jeff Parker chose the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and bassist Doug McCombs opted for the Latin Playboys, Link Wray and Ennio Morricone.)

Note: If the tracks below stream as 30-second samples, you can click on the “windows” icon at the top right of the player to hear the full-length versions.