On the Beat: What to Check Out at Waking Windows

You read that right: This is an all-Waking Windows music section. We'll catch you up on Vermont music news next week. This week is about helping you navigate the goings-on in Winooski for the 12th annual fest. Faithful readers of the section might recall my advice from Waking Windows past: Abandon a plan. Once again, I urge you to let yourselves wander. Winooski is a small town. You're not going to blow an ACL trudging around the rotary, and the chances of you discovering your new favorite band are pretty high. That said, it's not a bad idea to focus on a few shows you just can't miss. While anything on the Rotary Stage will be fair game, it's pretty common for the more intimate venues, such as the Monkey House, to fill up quickly. In that spirit, here are three shows I'm prioritizing this weekend. Feel free to join or make your own path! Reorder Narcotic, Friday, 8:50 p.m., at the Monkey House: Those keeping stats on Waking Windows will notice that a certain band has played the fest every year: Swale. The Burlington-based indie rockers were in danger of blowing their streak this year after realizing not all of their members were available. But Swale guitarist and vocalist Eric Olsen saw an opportunity. Along with longtime collaborator and Blue Button bandmate Jason Cooley, he put together a project the two have been dreaming about since 2002: Reorder Narcotic. "I wanted to do this massive, Glenn Branca-style guitar orchestra," Olsen said, referencing the late avant-garde composer and guitarist. Branca famously convened entire orchestras of electric guitars, bringing in some of New York City's best six-string samurai, such as Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Page Hamilton of the hard-rock band Helmet. Olsen has organized a Vermont version, drafting an eye-popping lineup of local guitarists: Luke Awtry (Dogface, Andriana & the Bananas), Cooley, John Flanagan (the Wet Ones!), Amanda Gustafson (Swale), Julian Hackney (Rough Francis, Death), Lauren Costello (ouzkxqlzn) and Zack Martin (Carrigan). They'll be supported by two drummers: Urian Hackney (Death, Iggy Pop) and Jeremy Fredericks (Swale, Blowtorch). Swale and Rough Francis bassist Tyler Bolles holds down the low end. "Everyone in Swale ended up being available after all," Olsen pointed out with a laugh. "So we're all doing this. That still counts — the Waking Windows record stands!" Do I have any clue how that many guitars will…