New Zealander duo Glass Vaults plays Radio-Active Records in the early evening.

This weekend, flashy events — Fashion Week Swim and the like — occupy most of the usual Miami-Dade party-circuit stomping grounds. So it’s as good a weekend as ever to keep things in downtown Fort Lauderdale. There, Saturday offers two intimate shows worth checking out if your ears are open to unexpected and, often unapologetic, sounds.

First up: Glass Vaults and Mothersky at Radio-Active Records

Saturday afternoon, Radio-Active hosts an in-store headlined by Glass Vaults, a duo hailing all the way from Wellington, New Zealand. They dub their style “ambient big beat,” two genre-signifiers relatively forgotten in the ’00s. The pair’s take on ambient, though, is more about choral and orchestral soundscapes than the old downtempo chill-out stuff of yore. Think vast swaths of soaring effects warmed up by the occasional hazy vocal and burbling electronic beat, or an update on vintage dream pop.

They’re joined by local artist Mothersky, the project of Radio-Active’s own Richard Vergez, who mine similar turf. Mothersky is all instrumental, but searches for the same sublime qualities in repetitive structures and ethereal sounds.

You can download a free compilation EP by both acts below, courtesy of the label Jukboxr.

Download: Glass Vaults and Mothersky EP

Glass Vaults, with Mothersky and Adna. 7 p.m. Saturday, July 21 at Radio-Active Records, 845 N. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale. Admission is free. Call 954-762-9488, or visit radio-active-records.tumblr.com

Holly Hunt, Shroud Eater, and Slashpine at Green Room

Regular Salty Eggs readers by now know virtually almost all there is to know about Holly Hunt and Shroud Eater, two of the best Miami-based acts currently going on the heavy-music scene. (If not, refresh on Holly Hunt here, and Shroud Eater here.) But well worth a closer look is Slashpine, one of the area’s few acts proudly flying the black metal flag, but in an accessible-ish way. That means few of the usual visual trappings of the genre, and a refreshing willingness to play at events heavy with other venues.

This doesn’t mean the group lacks the sharp teeth of its black metal peers though. Its recent three-song seven-inch, is full of the kinds of goosebump-raising, tormented howls, lightning-fast tempos, and echoing, expansive atmospherics that make the style so jarringly powerful. Download the seven-inch for free below via Bandcamp. All bands perform as part of New Times Broward-Palm Beach’s ongoing County Grind Live series at Green Room.
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Holly Hunt, Shroud Eater, and Slashpine. 10 p.m. Saturday, July 21 at Green Room, 109 SW 2nd Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Admission is $5; age 21 and up. Call 954-727-0950, or visit greenroomlive.com

Glass Vaults, Green Room, Holly Hunt, Mothersky, Radio-Active Records, Shroud Eater, Slashpine