The Short List: The Week's Recommended Shows

Busdriver ~ Sunday, August 30

One of underground hip-hop's more challenging artists, Los Angeles rapper Busdriver's flow is both instinctive and adroit, filled with lightning-fast runs, dazzling flashes of poetry, and impressive vocal shapeshifting. He leaps from impish, sing-songy elocution to a half-speed, haunted croon to a manic attack strangely reminiscent of Mr. Bungle–era Mike Patton, believe it or not. Marry that to peculiar imagery, confusing allusions, odd couplets, illogical tangents, and experimental production, and you've got the aural equivalent of a David Lynch flick: beautiful and at times utterly baffling. A graduate of the acclaimed Project Blowed hip-hop collective (which also counts Aceyalone, Abstract Rude, and Pigeon John among its many alumni), Bus just dropped his ninth LP, Jhelli Beam, his most sonically ambitious and rewarding album yet. With Abstract Rude, Open Mike Eagle. Chop Suey, 1325 E. Madison St., 324-8000. 8 p.m. $10 adv.,/$12 DOS. MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG

Brian Tamborello

Busdriver: the David Lynch of underground hip-hop.

Ryan Schierling

Harvey Danger are cooking up something special for their last show ever.

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More About

• Natasha Khan
• Tim Easton
• David Lynch
• Hannah Levin
• Hip-Hop and Rap

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Tim Easton ~ Sunday, August 30

It's nice to have friends in high places—especially if those friends are Lucinda Williams, Tim Easton's mentor, or the guys from Wilco, who've played on one of Easton's records as his backing band. And with the release of his latest New West record, Porcupine, he himself can take his place among alt-country royalty. On it Easton, a Midwesterner who relocated to Joshua Tree, Calif., returns to his earlier, punchier rock-and-roll sound. It's still a pretty diverse collection of tunes, from the swinging rockabilly of "Burgundy Red" to the soulful slide guitars on "Young Girls" and the smooth pop sound of "Seventh Wheel." Easton's dusky, creaking vocals, similar to M. Ward's, are perfect for relaying his occasionally tender and introspective lyrics, as on "Broke My Heart," where he sings "There's only two things left in this world: love, and the lack thereof." With Kate Tucker. Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave. N.W., 789-3599. 9 p.m. $10. E. THOMPSON