Music Menu 

The b-sides This Chapel Hill outfit, featuring a former founding member of Squirrel Nut Zippers, creates soundtracks that masquerade as indie rock. Old B&W TV shows, el cheapo horror movies, 60s harmony groups and classic film noir sentiments are all game and help create an aura of a late night drive through sinister city streets. A nifty E.P. has been out for a year and a fresh, full-length record, Yes, Indeed, The b-sides, Quite!, should be on the streets by the time you read this. With Discohesive . Friday, Fat City. -- SS

Don Dixon After receiving a clean bill of health from the doctors following recent heart problems, Don Dixon's once again doing what he does best (besides producing records): playing live. This show will feature Dixon, along with Spongetone Jamie Hoover and percussionist Jim Brock, playing songs off his record Invisible Man, as well as a brand new record, Notepad #38. Wednesday, October 17, Double Door. -- TD

Frocky Jack / Velvet Charlotte's Frocky Jack are a rock band with REM and Pink Floyd signatures twisted into the picture, but they claim a hefty chunk of their own musical turf. Psychedelic-pop is glued with jazzy overtones to pump up the experimental Frocky sound. Velvet is a young band with male and female vocals flip-flopping over simple rock tunes. The new record, Where Are the People? (Eskimo Kiss Records), has nice lyrical touches and a developing, though not quite yet defined, sorta sound. Pacer is also on the bill. Friday, 23 Studio. -- SS

Robbie Fulks On his freshly released record, Couples In Trouble (Bloodshot Records), Fulks takes on full duties, and the self-produced effort answers to no one while bringing out his complete palette of rock, bluegrass, country and touches of gospel onto a single canvas. The tall, cool one can whine with the best of country crooners, rock with the lo-fi wunderkinds and bring home the bacon at the same time. Thursday, Double Door. -- SS

Femi Kuti Taking after his late father (the legendary Fela Kuti), Nigeria's Femi Kuti continues to bring Afrobeat (a term, coined by Kuti Sr., for the amalgamation of traditional African rhythms with the marriage of jazz and thick, muscular funk) to these shores. Femi put in a decade and a half in his father's band and along the way released a slew of his own projects that have furthered Afrobeat. But this is a Femi show and the music is at once contemporary and immediately danceable. Hats off to Perry Farrell and the Jane's Addiction posse for bringing him along as an opener. Friday, Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre. -- SS

Lil' Rascals vNOLA Brass Band True NOLA brass band music here -- you can almost taste the jambalaya. Their red-hot new album, Buck It Like A Horse, does just that, a beer-drenched cookout caught on tape, even without extra cooks in the kitchen like guest Kermit Ruffins and his Bar-B-Q Swingers. How this spicy concoction will go down in the relatively small confines of the Evening Muse remains to be seen, but clearing out the tables and chairs might be a wise idea. Highly recommended. Sunday, The Evening Muse. -- TD

Long Beach Dub All-Stars Featuring the two members of Sublime remaining after Bradley Nowell's unfortunate passing, LBDAS are a fresh out of the water, Long Beach filet of what's good about fusion music. A mix of ska, reggae, funk, rock, island music, coastal culture and more, the LBDAS are what they claim to be: All-Stars. The beats and scratches and guitar licks here are refreshingly without gloss, and the music has real flavor as a result. They may be obsolete in a number of years, but they sure sound fresh right now. Monday, Tremont Music Hall. -- TD

Beaver Nelson Austin-based tunesmith Nelson sings a familiar song. Despite having recorded for the better part of the last 10 years, Nelson doesn't have much work in the record bins, mostly due to record company disease (the old bait-and-switch is now the sign-and-drop). Like many a talented young songwriter, Nelson signed young and was summarily spit out early, despite a folksy, rough-hewn acoustic sound that's drawn raves from Austinites and the press alike. Still right around 30, Nelson's got more than enough time to make up for that which he lost in record limbo. Good stuff. Tuesday, Double Door. --TD

Niche and Inland Oyster Roast and Music Bog Another big beer/music/food fest at Fat City, with a pretty fair lineup to boot. Proceeds from the event, which features the aforementioned grub and brew as well as artists like Cast Iron Filter, A.L. Wood, Abe Reid, The Merle, and the Belmont Playboys, go to benefit Hospice of Charlotte. Saturday, Fat City. -- TD

OURS Strangely enough, OURS only show their lead singer on their PR photos. At least they're honest about it. The lad in question, Jimmy Gnecco, is touted as a Jeff Buckley-esque belter, mixed with a little Thom Yorke. Meaning, he oversings and isn't always intelligible. Sunday, Tremont Music Hall. -- TD

Abe Reid / The Charms It's hard to believe this soul singin' blues man hales from Statesville, NC. Listening to Abe's knee slappin' licks, you might guess Mississippi, Chicago or maybe even Austin -- whatever the case, he's a showman for sure. On stage, he's very personable, funny and just way cool to watch and listen to. He's also faced his share of hard times over the years, which gives his brand of blues more soul than that of some of his more popular contemporaries. The Charms are taking the highway up from Atlanta to bring their poppy-Celtic sounding melodies to the Queen City. This outfit certainly isn't short on instruments: They've got quite the exotic assemble, including the digeridoo, djembe, mandolin and violin. Should make for an interesting live show. Thursday, Fat City -- Lynn Farris