Bill Patton, Friday, July 3: Bill Patton claims that he is a aEœsad bastard singer-songwriter who lives in Seattle, as so many of them do.aE True, the Emerald Shitty has produced a rather large and stinky pile of this particular brand of weepy white boy. But, as with all niche genres, some performers are better than others. Bill Patton is one of them. A classically trained composer and music teacher, Patton plays songs that are pensive, murky, and atmospherically akin to those early Iron & Wine demos. Yet his lyrics tell stories that are, for all their drizzly mystery, plainspoken and crystal clear. He also covers Black SabbathaE™s aEœFairies Wear BootsaE, transforming the stoner anthem into a bit of Clarence Ashley-esque hillbilly surrealism. Joining Patton is Mike Dumovich, a Vashon Island native whose music I will forever champion. Like Patton, Dumovich sings pensive songs, delivering them in a matter-of-fact voice and radiant guitar plucking that can put you in a trance. His lyrics are weighted down with chilly imagery and a very Pacific Northwest gloominess. Dumovich is an idiosyncratic character whose music and personality cannot be neatly boxed upaE”which is to say, he’s a true artist in a music scene full of phonies. With the End of the Night, Sugar and Hate. Jewelbox/Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave. 441-5823. 10 p.m. $5. Note by BRIAN J. BARR

The Dirty Projectors, Friday, July 3:Considering how difficult it is to come up with a decent band name, itaE™s always impressive when a chosen moniker is not only memorable, but also legitimately evocative of an artistaE™s sound. Dirty Projectors mastermind Dave Longstreth has a notorious proclivity for schizoid genre-surfing. Whether he and his rotating cast of accomplices are helming a concept album about Don Henley (2005aE™s The Getty Address), or a nearly song-for-song aEœre-imaginingaE of Black FlagaE™s Damaged (2007aE™s Rise Above), he obviously takes great pleasure in screening the art of others through his own filthy lens, even if the results are as likely to be unlistenable as they are brilliant. However, with his most recent release, Bitte Orca (Domino Records), Longstreth seems to have found an almost breezy middle ground, infusing a brisk degree of pop melody into a cohesive collection of smartly structured songs without compromising his love of the art-damaged, angular or abrasive. With WhataE™s Up? Chop Suey, 1325 E. Madison St. 324-8000. 8 p.m. $12. Note by HANNAH LEVIN

Infected Mushroom, Friday, July 3: Infected Mushroom has the kind of genre-spanning sound that finds critics deploying so many hyphens that their copy looks like a wrinkled-carpet portmanteau. (See what I mean?) The scribblers call it psy-trance, thrash-and-metal-something-or-other and a lot of other essentially meaningless phrases. So letaE™s call it what it is: electronic music. (After all, the essential jock resource DJ Mag saw fit to throw the duo among its 10 best.) Since their break-out disc, 1998aE™s The Gathering, Israeli-born Amit aEœDuvdevaE Duvedevani and Erez Eisen have studded their hallucinatory melodies with angry guitars and wailing vocals, as well as more cosmopolitan influences, especially the music of their Middle Eastern homeland. Their upcoming album, The Legend of the Black Shawarma (it drops in September on Paul OakenfoldaE™s label, Perfecto), features guest spots by KornaE™s Jonathan Davis and Perry Farrell. To what extent Infected Mushroom has expanded, or maintained, its embrace of other sounds isnaE™t known. LetaE™s see what the crits call it. With Gunslinger, Osiris Indriya & Amanita (aka Future Nurses), Johnny Monsoon, DJ Patrick Walen. Showbox SODO, 1700 First Ave. S., 652-0444. 8 p.m. $25 adv., $35 dos. All ages. Note by KEVIN CAPP

Green Day, Friday, July 3: With 2004aE™s American Idiot, Green Day executed a near-genius punk rock opera with balls, intellect and genuine heart. It spoke eloquently to the generation unlucky enough to be hitting puberty with the stench of war in the air and was so overtly anti-Bush that you could practically feel Joe StrummeraE™s posthumous, approving gaze from above. When one sells nine zillion records using this approach, itaE™s undoubtedly tempting to repeat that formula, which is precisely what Billie Joe Armstrong and company have done with 21st Century Breakdown. Unfortunately, it misses the mark entirely, sounding more like one of their young fans trying to emulate them than a 21 year-old band building on lessons accrued. Furthermore, while itaE™s common knowledge that they are friendly with Kathleen Hanna, the fact that the drum intro to the first single (aEœKnow Your EnemyaE) sounds lifted straight from Bikini KillaE™s aEœRebel GirlaE feels both disrespectful and lazy. All that said, if Green DayaE™s only function in this world is to be the gateway band that makes kids fall in love with punk rock and eventually go out and buy London Calling, then they get a pass for now. KeyArena, 305 Harrison St. 684-7200. 8 p.m. $25-49.50. All ages. Note by HANNAH LEVIN

Double Dagger, Sunday, July 5: Yet another cult commodity from Baltimore, Double Dagger has finally been doused in the national attention it deserves with the May release of More on the ever-trustworthy Thrill Jockey. Unwieldy on paper but effortlessly catchy on record, the trio constructs brainy post-punk anthems as sturdy as steel girders with just bass, drums, and Nolen StralsaE™ shouted vocals. Bringing an art-school inventiveness to the brawny speechifying of hardcore, Double Dagger lunges into each song with a wolfish hunger, Bruce WillenaE™s swaggering bass blurring with distortion and activity while Denny BowenaE™s drums work themselves into dizzy flurries. ItaE™s a rare band that can bridge the gap between No Age and Wilderness while still warmly reminding us of the Minutemen and the Fall. Even potentially self-serious entries like aEœLuxury Condos For The PooraE aE“ off 2007aE™s Ragged Rubble aE“ and MoreaE™s aEœThe Lie/The TruthaE find unlikely life as infectious near-pop delightsaE¦at least until you notice the lyrics. With Arbitron, Chk Minus, Brain Fruit. Comet Tavern, 922 E. Pike St., 322-9272. 8 p.m. $6. Note by DOUG WALLEN

The Rural Alberta Advantage, Monday, July 6: Take a look at any review of The Rural Alberta Advantage’s debut, Hometowns, and the ready-made witticism aEœwhat’s the advantage to living in Rural Alberta?aE; is sure to pop up. It doesn’t seem that the proud Albertans mind the question; rather, they invite and attempt to answer it through thoughtfully composed and heavily nostalgic vignettes of life in, around, and away from their own hometown. The other near-surety is the comparison, especially of RAA singer Nils Edenloff, to the fuzzy, slightly manic folk rock of Neutral Milk Hotel. While there are certainly comparisons to be found in Edenloff’s gruff, wholly unselfconscious braying, and RAA’s melding of gentle sweep and balls-out rush certainly evokes the ebulliently ramshackle nature of NMH’s best material, this is certainly no rip off tribute band. For one thing, Hometowns is a simple album, with no hint of cryptic mysticism or vague lyrical suggestions. Nils Edenloff is a storyteller, the William Carlos Williams to Jeff Mangum’s T.S. Elliot. Then there’s the sheer pop-ness of RAA. Yeah, there’s a hefty dose of lo-fi folk punk, but there’s also a lot of straightforward melodicism and catchy pop hooks balancing the clattering surge. Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave. N.W. 784-4880. 9 p.m. $7. Note by NICHOLAS HALL

Mantic Ritual, Tuesday, July 7: LetaE™s set the record straight: as much as famous metal musicians would have us believe otherwise, the rise of Nirvana did not precipitate the demise of thrash metal, the thrilling heavy metal sub-genre launched by Metallica, Exodus, Megadeth, and Slayer. Most likely, the musicaE™s sudden erosion occurred from within. And Mantic Ritual clearly felt the pain. The bandaE™s production values, guitar riffs, and lyrics are all micro-tailored so that its album, Executioner, may as well have been recorded 25 years ago, during the time when the music was still more raw than progressive and had yet to surge in popularity. Hell, itaE™s a surprise the label didnaE™t airbrush some acne into the band photos to mimic the back cover of MetallicaaE™s Kill aE˜Em All. By presenting thrash as an embalmed museum piece, Mantic Ritual sheds zero light on why this most vital of forms barely evolved past 1993. But, of course, fans who pine for the glory days of leather and jean jackets will throw their horns up anyway. Like Twinkies, at least you know exactly what youaE™re going to get. With Pro-Pain, Sworn Enemy, Sojourner, Crooks to Kings. El Corazon, 109 Eastlake Ave. E. 381-3094. 7 p.m. $15 adv., $17 dos. All ages. Note by SABY REYES-KULKARNI

Cracker, Tuesday, July 7: In 1990, when the legendary Camper Van Beethoven broke up, it mustaE™ve seemed inconceivable that singer/guitarist David Lowery would ever front a band as initially straight ahead-sounding as Cracker. Where Camper was known for its zany, offbeat wit and rollicking stage presentation, CrackeraE™s demeanor falls 180 degrees in the other direction. On first listen, Cracker, with its bountiful hooks and smooth country-rock guitar, sounds tailor-made for radio. And the ubiquitous hit aEœLow,aE which has probably been played in every shopping mall across America, only seems to cement that perception. Since Camper re-formed ten years ago, however, itaE™s gotten easier to regard Cracker on its own merits — and recognize the songwriting strength behind LoweryaE™s deceptively accessible songs. In retrospect, itaE™s not only remarkable that he was able to re-invent himself and sneak some hits through the mass-appeal chute, but that Cracker would have such longevity and age so well. With Victor Krumnenacher. The Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave. 441-7416. 8 p.m. $18 adv. Note by SABY REYES-KULKARNI

Shemekia Copeland, Tuesday, July 7 and Wednesday, July 8: While itaE™s definitely a pleasure to listen to the recently released Never Going Back, or the handful of other discs Shemekia CopelandaE™s put out over the past decade, they only hint at the dynamic voice and compelling presence the 30-year-old Harlem-born soul/blues powerhouse brings to the stage. I had the great fortune of catching Copeland aE“ the daughter of the late, renowned blues singer-guitarist Johnny Copeland aE“ live a couple of months ago, and she brought the house down with her potent, clarion pipes, clearly inspired by Etta James; her grasp of classic soul chops; and she and her razor-sharp backing bandaE™s ability to push those vintage sounds into the modern arena without watering it down or cheesing it out. DimitriouaE™s Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave. 441-9729. 7:30 p.m. $23.50. All ages. Note by MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG