Wilco ~ Wednesday, February 10
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Not post-everything, just Post Harbor.
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In less than 10 years (1995 to 2002), Wilco evolved from a scrappy bar band at the cutting edge of alt-country to a critically exalted American rock institution. Thankfully, the band's recorded output has reflected—and in many ways even exceeded—that progression. Taken as a whole, the creative sweep of Wilco's albums tells the story of a highly ambitious band not only unafraid to transform itself, but that actually fuels itself on the need to do so. The good news is that the Wilco concert experience spans the full range of its recorded work and then some. The bad news is that the band plays with an almost contrarian sense of set-list pacing. Expect some jagged turns and sudden drops in energy. Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St., 683-1414. 8 p.m., $32 adv./$35 DOS. All ages. SABY REYES-KULKARNI
Cumulus Festival ~ Thursday, February 11 through Saturday, February 13
Though the "post-rock" genre is decidedly a niche market, the folks who put together Cumulus Festival (one of whom, Levi Fuller, also plays in The Luna Moth) have done a great job making the stormy, distorted stylings of bands in this niche more accessible to the general public—for one thing, by enlisting excellent, relatively well-known headliners (in the Pacific Northwest, at least) to offset some of the more bizarre, experimental artists on the docket. The highlight of last year's lineup was unquestionably Earth, a psychedelic local band once signed to Sub Pop Records. For its second go-round, Cumulus Festival has kept the bar high by recruiting Talkdemonic, a Portland-based act whose strings-and-percussion instrumentals defy easy categorization; they use the descriptor "folktronica," as apt an adjective as any. Thurs. & Sat.: Café Venus/Mars Bar, 609 Eastlake Ave. E., 624-4516. Fri.: The Funhouse, 206 Fifth Ave. N., 374-8400. Seecumulusmusicfestival.org for details. SARA BRICKNER
Lights ~ Thursday, February 11
Lights is a post-everything band from Brooklyn; it tosses all that is hip and cool into a bowl and stirs until yummy goodness ensues. At the group's core lies a love for vintage FM rock. Vocalists Linnea Vedder and Sophia Knapp often sound like the teenage offspring of Heart's Wilson sisters (or maybe even the unknown mamas in Anonymous/J. Rider). But on Rites, Lights' debut full-length for Drag City, the band tricks out the rock with touches of post-punk, dub, and funk. At times, Lights even dives mind-first into an arty free-bop that's vaguely reminiscent of fellow New Yorkers Telepathe and Rings. However, the band is always mindful to return to what it knows best: riffs, jams, and soaring harmonies. With White Buffalo Black Madonna, the Entrance Band. Chop Suey, 1325 E. Madison St., 324-8000. 8 p.m. $10 adv./$12 DOS. JUSTIN F. FARRAR
Post Harbor ~ Thursday, February 11
The shoegazing quintet Post Harbor is like Sunny Day Real Estate's doting younger cousin—and in this city, that's not a bad thing. A lot of us have been craving some good, moody post-rock since Sunny Day's triumphant reunion show at the Paramount last year, and the songs on Post Harbor's They Can't Hurt You if You Don't Believe in Them fit the description perfectly. It's intensely visceral stuff: Melting vocals drift in and out among bleak, empathic guitar lines. At times, the songs drop to nothing but a fluid cello melody or some thin keyboard notes. The effect is almost gaspingly beautiful. It's music that creeps up before crashing into you like cold waves on a seashore—just as the best parts of SDRE's self-titled "pink album" does. With Daniel G. Harmann and the Trouble Starts, the Soft Hills, the Oregon Donor. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9442. 7 p.m. $7. E. THOMPSON
Grandmaster Flash ~ Friday, February 12
Grandmaster Flash is hip-hop. The double-back, back-door, back-spin, phasing, cuttin', scratching—back in the early '70s, Flash penned the hip-hop DJ's dictionary, transforming the role from that of mere musical docent into an art form all its own. Flash wasn't content with merely playing records; he wanted to make music. He began marking his records with grease pencils, giving himself the visual cues necessary for implementing his signature manipulations, doing things with records that no one had ever even considered. Half mad scientist/tinkerer and half musical evangelist, Flash's creativity knew no boundaries, finding inspiration in sources across the entire musical spectrum, and offering that everything-goes attitude as the foundation for the early days of hip-hop. Everything that has come since finds its origins in Flash, and none of it can top that original creative spirit and those first heady adventures on the wheels of steel. With the Dowlz, Mixed Up Mike, Darrius, Sasse, ADHDJ. Heaven Nightclub, 172 S. Washington St., 622-1863. 9 p.m. $10. NICHOLAS HALL
Dessa and P.O.S. ~ Friday, February 12
There's no such thing as a casual Doomtree fan, so it's safe to say that there's a significant subset of music nerds who have spent years not-so-patiently waiting for the Twin Cities hip-hop collective's only lady MC, Dessa, to finally release her full-length debut, A Badly Broken Code. Those unfamiliar with Doomtree might find the album something of an acquired taste. Like most Doomtree records, Code is cerebral and moody—in other words, not the sort of thing you'd play at a party unless you wanted to keep everyone quietly mooning over their beers. Dessa's rhymes, too, are raw and intimately personal, exposing vulnerabilities with unabashed candor. She tours with P.O.S., a longtime Doomtree crew member who's recently begun putting his records out on Rhymesayers; his adventurous, punk-rock-influenced production will provide a welcome contrast to Dessa's introspective, soulful stylings. With Grieves. Nectar Lounge, 412 N. 36th St., 632-2020. 9 p.m. $12 adv. SARA BRICKNER
