John Cale delivers a sonic spiral

Listeners got something more than mere songs from avant-garde rock pioneer John Cale during his Monday performance at the Key Club. It was art. And music. Art music. Two great tastes that tasted great together -- at least, as mixed by this master.

Ranging over five decades’ worth of material in his 100-minute set, the Velvet Underground co-founder sang of railroad station tracks and a mother’s cries and other poetic juxtapositions that seemed nonsensical but added up to a meaningful, freewheeling and darkly humorous tour of messy humanity.

Backed by a trio as he played keyboards, guitar and viola, Cale, 62, sculpted a sound blending electronic and conventional rock, experimental and classical flourishes, pop and avant-garde styles.

Along with selections from his new album, “HoboSapiens,” the Welsh musician reached all the way back to his Velvet days for the discord-tinged, obsessive S&M; ballad “Venus in Furs,” as well as offering such earlier solo works as “Fear Is a Man’s Best Friend”; an epically noisy, bluesy “Gun”; and “Pablo Picasso,” Jonathan Richman’s cerebrally goofy riff on the artist’s charms.

Cale’s dolorous voice and the music’s droning tendencies occasionally proved monochromatic, but mostly they drew you into a sonic spiral, hypnotized and even delighted by the songs’ insightful nuggets and intriguing notions.

Tying scientific and literary references to more personal reflections, the new tunes felt both fantastical and grounded. It was strangely comforting how he captured small moments and passing thoughts, then expanded them to the edges of the universe, as if all this human sound and fury actually does signify something.