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Sparklehorse + Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter
Wednesday, February 14
SEE FEATURE (Sparklehorse), P. 62. Showbox, 8 p.m. $16 adv./$17
Cursive + Macklemore + Patient Patient
Thursday, February 15
After thoroughly dissecting the "painfully disintegrating relationship" motif on such previous Cursive albums as 2003's Domestica and 2004's Ugly Organ (the remarkable Album of the Year, by his side project the Good Life, also follows suit), frontman Tim Kasher shows off a different side with the band's most recent, Happy Hollow. A sprawling, weighty concept album about the role of religion in modern-day small-town America, the record is miles away from heartbreak. The Omaha, Neb., songwriter, who's both a longtime friend and labelmate of Conor Oberst, makes albums the same way Rushmore's Max Fischer put on plays: His incredibly ambitious productions are packed with detail, dazzling, and highly entertaining even when they enter the land of the overwrought or absurd. Lyrically, Kasher is a clever, sardonic storyteller, and on Hollow he brings an orchestral flair to Cursive's guitar-rockin' pseudo-emo (i.e., more trumpet, less whine). This should be a fine show—safety glasses and earplugs optional. MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG UW HUB Auditorium. 6:30 p.m. $8 students/$12
Erin McKeown + Eleni Mandell
Thursday, February 15
SEE FEATURE (Eleni Mandell), P. 61. Tractor Tavern, 8 p.m. $15
Grizzly Bear + Papercuts + the Cave Singers
Friday, February 16
With their sleepy-time sonic textures and average-dude appearance, N.Y.C.-based Grizzly Bear aren't one of those bands that promise a party at their shows. But if you take them up on an evening of graceful, guitar-based meditation (heard even better live than at home on their Warp album Yellow House)—or did, last October with TV on the Radio at the Showbox—you'll be glad, if not ecstatic. There's not much onstage movement to look at, but with all manner of densely and creatively used percussion and instrumentation (from a xylophone, glockenspiel, autoharp, and lap steel), there's an awful lot to listen to. So close your eyes and enjoy. With Papercuts and the Cave Singers. RACHEL SHIMP Neumo's, 8 p.m. $10 All ages (balcony only)
The Presidents of the United States of America
Friday, February 16
SEE FEATURE, P. 59. With Supernova, Rock N Roll Soldiers, and DJ Cherry Canoe. Showbox, 8 p.m. $18 adv./$20 All ages Also: Sat., Feb. 17, with Supernova, "Awesome," and DJ Cherry Canoe. 8 p.m. $18 adv./$20 Also: Sun., Feb. 18, with No-Fi Soul Rebellion, the Trucks, and DJ Cherry Canoe. 7 p.m. $18 adv./$20 All ages
Miho Hatori + Los Abandoned + Johanna Kunin
Friday, February 16
Tokyo-born Miho Hatori is probably best known for co-fronting Cibo Matto, whose brash, funky, sample-heavy groove was in the heart of N.Y.C.'s East Village scenesters during the second half of the '90s. They hung with the Beasties and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, tore off many a roof with their legendarily energetic shows, then called it quits around the turn of the millennium. Hatori subsequently appeared on albums by Gorillaz and Handsome Boy Modeling School, developed a jones for Brazilian pop, and in 2005 recorded Ecdysis (named after the "skin"-shedding process of various insects and reptiles), which received a U.S. release last fall. Augmented by former members of Soul Coughing, Hatori's solo work is more dreamy, intimate, and organic than Cibo Matto's, but still plenty quirky and groovy; in spots it sounds like a more playful Stereolab. MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG Crocodile Cafe, 9 p.m. $10 adv./$12
Various + Sientific American + ndCv
Saturday, February 17
If you haven't noticed, the quality of music used in many television advertisements over the past few years has been steadily rising. Marketers have been tapping in to the indie pool more frequently (the Shins, Modest Mouse and Of Montreal have all reaped the benefits), and though Seattle electronic music producer/ DJ Sientific American (Andrew Rohrmann) hasn't put out a record since 2004's Strong for the Future, he's kept his head well above water in otherwise glitchy, arid skies, through licensing and corporations (Volkswagon, HP, Discover) who no doubt paid a premium sum for his music to be used to hawk products. But he's no sellout. Sientific American is a well-honed producer and DJ who has held it down around the city since 1998, creating real, blissful, mysterious, thinking man's electronic music. TRAVIS RITTER Chop Suey, 9 p.m. $10
Bob Weir and Ratdog
Saturday, February 17
There are legions of folks who will do just about anything for a touch of Jerry Garcia. They buy the Ben & Jerry's ice-cream flavor inspired by the man, plaster their bumpers with dancing bear stickers, and sport skull-adorned tie-dye. Some will even sit through a Bob Weir gig. What they might not know is that while the man was an integral part of the most influential, pioneering hippie jam band that ever was, Weir's not into free love, musically speaking. The Dead were early adapters of generous taping policies, which allowed fans to record shows and trade tapes as long as no money changed hands, but Weir has since worked his magic to help remove much of those recordings from the popular Archive.org at the end of 2005. Recently, the Grateful Dead camp took aim at WolfgangsVault.com, a site that streams classic performances of concerts promoted by Bill Graham Presents. Please, go to the show. Purchase another copy of Workingman's Dead and a few shares of stock in Grateful Dead Productions. Weir obviously needs the money. CHRIS KORNELIS Moore Theatre, 7 p.m. $36–$38
