Avant-garde
Thomas Truax
The Cellar, Oxford
Saturday
Tickets from wegottickets.com

A cross between steampunk eccentric and mad inventor, Thomas Truax is among the most entertaining and creative of artists. The composer not only writes his own music, he makes his own instruments with whatever he has to hand; scrap metal, gramophone parts and bits of bicycle are all game. The result is post-rock indie-blues played on creations with names like the Scary Aerial, Mother Superior and Dr Pacemaker.

Soul
Trevor Nelson’s Soul Nation
O2 Academy, Oxford
Sunday
Tickets £12 and £25 (VIP) from ticketweb.co.uk

The smooth one dishes out horizontal grooves to soothe you into the new week. Expect classics and new gems. Support from Tony ‘Naked’ Nanton, Count Skylarkin’ and Sir Sambo Sound.

Pop
Music in the Park
Thame
Sunday
Tickets £7 (£4 concs) on wegottickets.com or more on the gate

Up to 5,000 people are expected at Elms Park for its annual day of music. This year it is headlined by 1970s glam tribute Slyde, playing top tunes from Slade, Sweet, T-Rex, David Bowie, Jeff Beck, Wizzard and more.

Punk-rock
Fearless Vampire Killers
O2 Academy, Oxford
Tuesday
£9 from ticketweb.co.uk

Oxford Mail:
Twist: Fearless Vampire Killers

Hailing from Beccles, on the edge of the Norfolk Broads, Fearless Vampire Killers play hard-edged punk with a theatrical twist, as you might expect from a band names after a 1960s comedy-horror film.

Indie-pop
Sunset Sons
O2 Academy, Oxford
Wednesday
Tickets £10 from ticketweb.co.uk

Laid-back surfers Rory, Jed, Rob and Pete, who met on the beach in France, play sun-kissed indie-rock with swagger.

Rock
UFO
O2 Academy, Oxford
Wednesday
Tickets £22 from ticketweb.co.uk

Heavy metal survivors UFO were huge in the 70s. Biggest album 1982’s Mechanix was recorded at Richard Branson’s house in Shipton-on-Cherwell.