Pop
Full reviews of recent concerts: mytimes.com/music.
ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI, THE LILYS (Sunday and Monday) With their hip choral flourishes, kicky grooves and pep-rally shouts, the quirky collective Architecture in Helsinki makes happy baroque pop. Sunday's bill includes the Lilys, whose mercurial Kurt Heasley exuded charisma as both an early-90's shoegazer and later, an Anglophile retro-rocker. Sunday at 8 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006; $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Monday at 9 p.m., Northsix, 66 North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-5103, $10. (Laura Sinagra)
THE BAD PLUS (Thursday) This piano-driven power trio's adventurous spirit straddles the boundaries of jazz and rock, and their exuberant forays are way more fun than their cover of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" would suggest. The players, native Midwesterners all, throw themselves into live shows with prairie-fire earnestness. 8 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006; $15, $20 at the door.
(Sinagra)
ASHA BHOSLE (Tomorrow) In countless Bollywood musicals over the last 50 years, the sweet, high voice of the heroine is dubbed by Asha Bhosle, one of India's most celebrated playback singers. In this "unplugged show," she'll be singing a small fraction of her hits with acoustic instruments, sharing the arena stage with Kumar Sanu and Sudesh Bhosle, who is not related to her. 8 p.m., Nassau Coliseum, 1255 Hempstead Turnpike, Uniondale, N.Y., (631) 888-9000, $32 to $147. (Jon Pareles)
BLOC PARTY (Tuesday and Wednesday) Many bands steal sounds from the danceable punk of the early 80's, but few do it with the enthusiasm of this British group. It's become a sensation with local fans and for good reason. 7:30 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 353-1600. $20 (sold out) (Sinagra)
CAMPBELL BROTHERS (Monday) The Campbell Brothers are part of the sacred steel tradition of the House of God Dominion church. It turns the steel guitar into a swooping, wailing lead instrument in gospel songs. 8 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006; $15, $17 at the door. (Pareles)
SLAID CLEAVES (Tomorrow) This singer-songwriter writes thoughtful tunes about characters with pawn-shop wedding rings and cars that burn oil, trying to pull out of downward spirals. 7:30 p.m., Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, (212) 239-6200; $20. (Pareles)
KIMYA DAWSON (Tuesday) Ms. Dawson's band the Moldy Peaches' adorable dirty-kid rambles created an indie splash in 2001, but this former youth counselor endures on her own as a comedian and poet of geek love and underdog resilience. 9 p.m., Northsix, 66 North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 599-5103; $8. (Sinagra)
THE DEARS (Tomorrow) This Montreal indie rock band plays lush, urgent guitar songs about panicked slacker dismay over encroaching technology and the loss of an individuality. 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $15 (sold out).
(Sinagra)
GENO DELAFOSE & FRENCH ROCKIN' BOOGIE (Tonight) Geno Delafose, the son of the zydeco accordionist John Delafose, holds on to the traditions of an older generation, pumping waltzes and two-steps on his button accordion. Like Clifton Chenier, he also dips deeply into the blues and rhythm-and-blues but keeps the music's old bayou flavor. 8 p.m., Satalla, 37 West 26th Street, Chelsea, (212) 576-1155; $22. (Pareles) THE GO BETWEENS (Tonight and Tomorrow) Blessed with two stellar songwriters - the brooding Robert Forster and sublime Grant McLennan - this Australian band recorded some of the best neo-romantic art pop of the 1980's. Since the duo's 2002 reunion, the disparity in their temperaments has resulted in a more discernable oscillation between light and dark sentiments in the music. Tonight at 10:30, Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700; $16, $18 at the door (sold out). Tomorrow at 8 p.m., Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, at Sterling Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 230-0236; $15, $17 at the door.
(Sinagra)
ARLO GUTHRIE (Wednesday) Forty years after releasing "Alice's Restaurant," the folk music scion Arlo Guthrie will perform his populist story-album in its entirety at the Hudson River Festival. You assume that he'll also sling some trademark banter between tunes. 7 p.m., Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City, Lower Manhattan, (212) 528-2733, free. (Sinagra)
IRON AND WINE (Thursday) The modern rustic Sam Beame takes a whispery, almost Chet Baker-like approach to folk vocals. Sung atop delicately plucked guitar, his lyrics speak to the sensitive male's concerns about intimacy and mortality. 7 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village (212) 353-1600; $18, $20 at the door. (Sinagra)
RICKIE LEE JONES (Wednesday) Ms. Jones's Southwestern hippie roots give her urban-bohemian jazz leanings a willful whimsy. This outdoor set will cull from both the swooping reveries and ersatz street-corner jive of her 1970's releases as well as the best of her later albums. 7:30 p.m., Celebrate Brooklyn, Prospect Park Bandshell, Prospect Park West and Ninth Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn; $3 suggested donation.
(Sinagra)
JUDAS PRIEST, QUEENSRYCHE (Tonight) Rob Halford has brought his menacing baritone and dog-whistle howl back to the seminal late-70's British heavy-metal band that famously tried to carry on without him. Attempts at leather-clad relevance include an ode to the Loch Ness monster, but live they'll please the crowd with growler favorites. 8 p.m., PNC Bank Arts Center, Garden State Parkway, (732) 335-0400, $20 to $49.50. (Sinagra)
CHAKA KHAN (Saturday) In the 2002 Funk Brothers documentary "Standing in the Shadows of Motown," R & B luminaries reverentially jammed with the still-rocking house band, but Ms. Khan pushed past safe territory with her explosive rendition of "What's Goin' On." Recently, she's been roughing up jazz standards and making funk with Prince. 7 p.m., Apollo Theater, 253 West 125th Street, Harlem, (212) 307-7171; $37 to $57.
(Sinagra)
LAURIE LEWIS, TOM ROZUM (Tomorrow) The master fiddler and singer Laurie Lewis shares the bill with her fellow Grant Street band member Rozum. The two play bluegrass in the style of Bill Monroe. 7:30 p.m., Satalla, 37 West 26th Street, Chelsea, (212) 576-1155; $20, $23 at the door. (Sinagra) BRIAN MCKNIGHT, NEW EDITION, GERALD LEVERT (Tonight) The R&B crooner Brian McKnight returns with new songs about the romantic quandaries of a rich, newly divorced man. The reunion of 80's boy band New Edition, without Bobby Brown, is reportedly every bit the guilty pleasure it should be, featuring not only mega hits like "Mr. Telephone Man," but also the best of members' spin off groups (Bell Biv DeVoe's "Poison") and solo projects (Ralph Tresvant's "Sensitivity," Johnny Gill's "My My My"). Their impassioned contemporary Gerald LeVert opens. 7 p.m., Theater at Madison Square Garden, (212) 465-6741, $49.50 to $95.50. (Sinagra)
AIMEE MANN (Tonight) Ms. Mann's great new concept album about two addict lovers in the 70's who meet at the Virginia fairgrounds and light out for the territory features the astute, sad lyrics and low-key but enduring melodic hooks for which this singer-songwriter is known. 6:45 p.m., Roseland Ballroom, 239 West 52nd Street, Manhattan, (212) 777-6800; $35. (Sinagra)
OLIVER MTUKUDZI (Tonight) Like too many African stars, this Zimbabwean singer and nimble guitarist is often presented as a purveyor of "words of wisdom," to quote the liner notes to his new album, "Nhava" (Heads Up). Luckily, his music isn't nearly so heavy-handed: expect a gorgeous night of gentle but restless polyrhythmic grooves. 8 p.m., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 840-2824; $30 to $35.
(Kelefa Sanneh) THE NATIONAL (Wednesday and Thursday) These Ohio natives play a kind of countryfied indie rock that underplays its hand enough to seem modest. But even if the frontman Matt Berninger's self-deprecating relationship woes recall those of the Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo, his renderings have yet to make his gripes as interesting. 10:30 and 11:30 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston Street, Lower East Side, (212) 260-4700; $12.
(Sinagra)
MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO (Wednesday and Thursday through June 18) Uncompromising in her aesthetic, the neo-soul singer and bassist Ndegeocello continues to present various views of the female and black experience, often proposing a poly-gendered idyll of throwback grooves and pungent ganja smoke. 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton, (212) 581-3080; $40 (Sinagra)
OTEP (Tonight) Reminiscent of "The Exorcist," the growl of this band's female singer and namesake Otep is a truly soul-shuddering sound. It's too bad the band's music, which takes the arty rap-rock route instead of straight death metal, doesn't have the same convincing pummel. 6 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006; $17. (Sinagra)
GRAHAM PARKER (Tomorrow) Emerging from England just before the arrival of punk-rock, Graham Parker used the sturdy structures of soul and 1960's rock, spitting out angry, articulate songs that chafed against dishonesties large and small. These days, he's less furious and more cranky, but he's still holding the world around him to high standards. 7 p.m., Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, TriBeCa, (212) 219-3006; $20, $22 at the door. (Pareles) ANN PEEBLES (Thursday) This gutsy Memphis soul diva's profile rose among the MTV crowd when her eerie, sultry 1973 hit "I Can't Stand the Rain" was sampled in 1997 by Missy Elliot. Ms. Peebles performs outdoors as part of the BAM R & B Festival. Noon, MetroTech Commons Plaza, Flatbush Avenue and Myrtle Street, Downtown Brooklyn, free. (Sinagra)
JOHN PRINE (Wednesday) An American original, Prine is among Cole Porter with pop's greatest rhymers and with Bob Dylan among its most articulate sidelong storytellers. The administration of George Bush II has given this committed Lefty newfound fire. 8 p.m., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 840-2824, $37 to $47. (Sinagra)
THE RAVEONETTES (Tomorrow) Clearing away the garage noise of their debut album, this Danish duo now strives for pure 60's pop. Its new album incorporates rock history from girl groups to surf rock to punk, as well as historic rock, with cameos by Ronnie Spector, Suicide's Martin Rev and the Velvet Underground drummer Maureen Tucker. 6 p.m., Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street, East Village, (212) 353-1600; $20. (Sinagra)
REBIRTH BRASS BAND (Tonight) The Rebirth Brass Band, a New Orleans institution since the 1980's, updates the traditional strutting rhythms and continuous improvisation of New Orleans parades with an infusion of funk. It doesn't need microphones, amplifiers or anything but breath and rhythm to make a crowd jump. 10:30 p.m., B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, 237 West 42nd Street, (212) 997-4144; $17, $20 at the door. (Pareles)
SLOAN (Monday and Tuesday) This Canadian power pop trio has soldiered along dutifully for 15 years, and as its recent singles compilations suggest, the group's knack with heroic hooks and wry lyrics is undeniable, despite lack of commercial success. 8 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, Lower East Side, (212) 533-2111; $20. (Sinagra) SOUNDS OF DETROIT: THE SPINNERS, THE TEMPTATIONS, MARTHA REEVES AND THE VANDELLAS (Tonight) Their names may have outlasted their original lineups, but classics like "My Girl," "Rubbberband Man" and "Heatwave" are classics in any iteration. 8 p.m., Hammerstein Ballroom, 311 West 34th Street, Manhattan, (212) 307-7171; $25 to $90. (Sinagra)
SANTANA, LOS LONELY BOYS (Tuesday) Carlos Santana has been a "rock-en-espagñol" progenitor and fusion guitar heavyweight for decades , but one of the most remarkable incarnations has been his recent one as lite-rock collaborator and impresario. Los Lonely Boys couldn't have existed without him. 7 p.m., PNC Bank Arts Center, Garden State Parkway, Exit 116, Holmdel, N.J., (732) 335-0400; $20 to $75. (Sinagra)
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS, RALPH'S WORLD (Tomorrow) The whip-smart wits of the novelty pop band They Might Be Giants have lately taken a run at recording children's albums. They play during the day here for an all-ages crowd. Another musician making indie rock for the kids of indie-rock fans is Ralph's World. 6 p.m., South Street Seaport, South and Fulton Streets, Lower Manhattan, free. (Sinagra)