THURSDAY, NOV. 1
The Flatliners Toronto's The Flatliners are a spunky quartet that laces a touch of reggae into their punk and rockabilly. The modus operandi here is to cause gyrations and head bopping among the listeners, and they generally succeed on that count. The Flatliners are on the road pushing the new release The Great Awake. Also on the bill: IED and The Not Likelys. The Milestone (Shukla)
FRIDAY, NOV. 2
Everytime I Die These blokes unleash an unholy barrage of guitars and gurgling vocals, akin to ole Black Flag gone haywire. But the Buffalo-based metalcore quintet has been dredging up original dirt for about a decade where they now invite comparisons by younger bands. Apparently they are on their sixth bassist, but no matter, they mean plenty business on the newest recording The Big Dirty. With Underoath, Poison the Well and Maylene & Sons of Disaster. Amos' Southend (Shukla)
SATURDAY, NOV. 3
The Edison Project The quartet's pop is chorus-laden with a bucketful of harmonized back-up vocals. The band members share writing duties and involve Southern melodies and sunny lyrics on their collaborative efforts. The Augusta, Ga. band's recent freshman recording, Do You Remember Rock and Roll?, was produced by Don Dixon, whose production ethos lends a hand to the young quartet's evolving sound. Evening Muse (Shukla)
DJ Vadim Russian DJ Vadim spins hip-hop, acid jazz and found sounds into what has become his signature "east meets west" grooves. Vadim started the respected indie label Jazz Fudge Records upon arriving in Britain and he has since gathered DJs and sound twirlers from around the globe on his jaunts into clubland and his own experimentalist recordings. He has also recorded for NinjaTune and BBE. With Abstract Rude and Yarah Bravo. Tremont Music Hall (Shukla)
American Aquarium As you can probably guess by the Wilco-cribbing name, American Aquarium play a sort of college rock-inspired take on country rock (whatever that is). The Raleigh natives turned some heads with last year's Antique Hearts, which established frontman B.J. Barham as a sort of post-Ryan Adams Raleigh songwriter to watch. The overall lyrical reach isn't wide-ranging – small towns, claustrophobic relationships – but Barham's at his best when he inhabits that smallest (and most infinite) of worlds, the one inside his own noggin. Snug Harbor (Davis)
The Eastern Seaboard I was feeling sludgy and uninspired the morning I threw on Da Board's latest, Relapse, to write this blurb, and within moments it was as if I'd mainlined 17 Italian espressos and rediscovered my music-lovin' mojo. Alternating twixt high-voltage Ayler-skronk, deft noir soundscapes and cubist balladry, the free jazzbo's fourth full-length recasts many of the tunes from their upcoming Black Saint release – The Sound Power – into a raw, Mister Hyde doppelganger. No doubt they'll have yet another compelling re-imagining for this opening date of their upcoming eastern swing. Patchwerk Playhaus (Schacht)
SUNDAY, NOV. 4
The Chops I can't claim familiarity with this new five-piece beyond their Myspace samples, but there's no arguing with their pedigree, which includes ex-members of: The Lost Sounds, The Makeout Room, The Nein, DigShovelDig, Descolada, Piedmont Charisma, Cripes Almighty, On the Take, and a host more. The new stuff is a molten-hot mix of garage/surf/new wave/twang that's as un-categorizable as those genres mashed together might suggest. Opening for D.C.'s Jukebox the Ghost, with Elevenauts. Milestone (Schacht)
TUESDAY, NOV. 6
Keller Williams and the WMD's Williams is sometimes called a one-man jam band. The singer/songwriter and guitarist writes eccentric tales poking a stick at life's ever-revolving dilemmas. His guitar, a custom-made ten stringer, bops along in an ever so happy mood. Williams has a keen sense of improv and he occasionally loops his own music while on stage to use as a backdrop. Neighborhood Theatre (Shukla)
Rev. Horton Heat This show will likely sell quicker than Dep hair gel and dark indigo Levi's to a greaser, but I'll ramble anyway. The good Reverend ain't afraid to take out the (white) trash, exalting the virtues of tequila, fast cars, and faster women. It's safe entry back into a simpler time – or at least some of the more totemic larger-than-life aspects of that time. It's sometimes predictable, but it's done in such a fashion that tribute never becomes trite. Perhaps most importantly, it rocks. Guess I could have led with that. Visulite Theatre (Davis)
Chris Cornell It may be a solo gig, but the former frontman of Soundgarden and Audioslave has quite a catalog to choose from for a setlist. His latest effort, Carry On, is his second solo album and even features an "interesting" cover of M.J.'s "Billie Jean." Having also written and recorded assorted songs for movie soundtracks, there's no telling what he'll play at this show. Ovens Auditorium (Hahne)
The Physics of Meaning These Triangle-ulators are fronted by songwriter Daniel Hart, a member of John Vanderslice’s band and a contributor to The Polyphonic Spree, among other projects. Those bands work as decent starting points to describe PoM’s music, but there’s much more going on here: heavenly orchestral rock, cut-and-paste chicanery and processed beats, pop hooks, Eastern trance flavors, and chamber pop balladry. Their self-titled debut on Chapel Hill’s Bu Hanan Records was one of the most promising regional releases of 2005, and the follow-up is allegedly in the pipeline. With Calabi Yau at the Yauhaus. (Schacht)