The Gossip, Friday, October 23:Contrary to popular belief, most pop culture critics worth their salt enjoy admitting when they are wrong. Heavy Cross, the first single from the Gossip’s Rick Rubin-produced debut for Columbia, initially hit my ears in all the wrong ways. It’s a shiny, precisely engineered dance floor anthem that lacked the grit and soul that originally attracted me to now-iconic frontwoman Beth Ditto nearly a decade ago. It sounded like a thinner, user-friendly version of Standing in the Way of Control and was such a turn off that exploring the rest of the album took me several months. Glad I finally dug in, because the opening track alone makes Music For Men entirely worth the investment. True to its title, Dimestore Diamond is indeed a dark, glorious jewel masquerading under the simple, but entirely riveting percussion work of drummer Hannah Billie, the long under-appreciated anchor of the group. I now stand in solidarity on the dance floor, happily corrected. With MEN, Champagne Champagne. Showbox at the Market, 1426 First Ave. 628-3151. 8 p.m. $20 adv./$22 DOS. All ages. Note by HANNAH LEVIN

Little Pieces (EP release), Friday, October 23:The title of Little Pieces’ new EP, Vampires Fill Their Waterbeds with Blood, is a quirky, off-kilter selection of infectious, instantly appealing songs that take a few listens to really absorb. The first track, I’m A Bull, swings like a surf-rock garage band, while Windless, the EP’s other notable track, shows Little Pieces’ sunnier side. Jolly’s distinctive voice — a cross between Elvis Costello and Ted Leo — is an acquired taste, but a few listens should remedy any misgivings about his utterances. That’s also about how long it takes to notice that Jolly’s off-kilter way of turning a phrase doesn’t always make much sense. Not that Jolly doesn’t know how to intrigue a listener: The EP contains several inexplicable references to an albatross that may or may not be the same albatross. Whether it’s your thing or not, it’s to Jolly’s credit that his music is a far cry from standard singer-songwriter fodder. Re-bar, 1114 Howell St. 233-9873. 10 p.m. $5. Note by SARA BRICKNER

Brandi Carlile, Saturday, October 25:When Brandi Carlile sings The Story, the title track from her 2007 album, her voice strains and pulls. She belts out, All of these lines across my face/ tell the story of who I am–and the pain Carlile feels is palpable and raw. The Ravensdale native sounds more polished on her latest release, Give Up the Ghost, produced by the hit-making Rick Rubin, who’s known for his ability to blend vocals and instrumentation seamlessly. Even if her instrumentals are a little more pop and less country this time around, Carlile’s lyrics are still as heartwrenching as ever on Give Up the Ghost, an album about unmet expectations and dreams deferred. She’s the kind of songwriter that opens her emotional veins wide: I close my eyes, I think of you/ I take a step, I think of you/ I catch my breath, I think of you, she sings on Looking Out. Yet her swirling guitars and brushed drums are so charming that it’s tempting to forget the emotions Carlile is laying bare. But then there’s a song like Dreams, the album’s single, where she belts out, I have dreams, with a conviction that verges on desperation. Suddenly, her pain is all too real and her songs all too beautiful to forget. With Katie Herzig. The Paramount, 911 Pine St. 683-1414. 8 p.m. $27.50. All ages. Note by PAIGE RICHMOND

Alela Diane, Saturday, October 24:Alela Diane sings folk music in a vocal twang not unlike Jolie Holland or Karen Dalton, earthy and lived in, with a catch in her throat on the high notes. At first blush, I took her for any number of women out there armed with acoustic guitars and quirky voices. But then I saw her live and realized she wasn’t pretending to be anything other than what she was–a West Coast girl from a hippie town encouraged to play music by her hippie parents. As a result, what she brings to the table is somewhat akin to the Grateful Dead–a languid blend of old American music that is equal parts parlor, campfire, coffeehouse, and indie rock club. Her latest release, a split 10 with Alina Hardin, features a cover of Townes Van Zandt’s Rake that chills to the bone. With Marissa Nadler, Barton Carroll. Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave. N.W. 784-4880. 9:30 p.m. $12. Note by BRIAN J. BARR

Ghostface Killah, Saturday, October 24:Hurry home so you can rub my big belly and kiss it, Ghostface Killah raps on Babe, the first single from his latest release, Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City. One of the best storytellers in all of hip-hop and by far the most talented MC/writer of the Wu-Tang Clan, Ghostface ventured out to the ragged edge of his already twisted, often comic mind for his latest disc: an R&B effort spiked with the kind of dirty talk that would turn Roman Polanski on. The above-quoted line is about as tame as the album gets. Just ask Natalie Portman, who was apparently the inspiration for Stapleton Sex, a greasy XXX romp. Ghost fans will probably want to hear less about his sexual exploits set against soul-inspired beats tonight (the album falls short of its ambition), however, and more from his past efforts, especially 2006’s Fishscale. Cocaine, not cunnilingus, inspired that one. With They Live!, Animal Farm, Cheezealeo. Showbox at the Market, 1426 First Ave. 628-3151. 8 p.m. $20 adv./$23 DOS. All ages. Note by KEVIN CAPP

Pelican, Saturday, October 24:Though a precursory loud-to-soft template had been well established by groups such as Isis and Neurosis when Pelican came along in 2003, the Chicago instrumental quartet nonetheless stands out for its distinct brand of melodic heaviness. Much like those aforementioned metal innovators, Pelican makes expansive, brooding, long-winded music. But the similarities end there. For one, Pelican leans more heavily to the non-distorted, winding guitars made famous by its hometown’s post-rock community (see: Tortoise). More remarkably, though, Pelican sounds way natural in both modes, and its transitions between the two don’t sound as forced as they do with the majority of the band’s influences and peers. Bands on either side of the post-metal / post-rock divide tend to make ponderous, showy displays of their mood, but Pelican rolls through its music, sounding loose and carefree as it goes. Meanwhile, the band’s refreshingly sincere, irony-free nods to classic rock help tie its sound together into a cohesive whole. Look out for fresh material from the grand, just-out-of-the-oven new album What We All Come to Need, sure to be a late-inning contender for most absorbing start-to-finish heavy rock album of the year. With Black Cobra, Sweet Cobra. El Corazon, 109 Eastlake Ave. E. 381-3094. 5 p.m. $12 adv./$14 DOS. All ages. Note by SABY REYES-KULKARNI

Amy Millan, Sunday, October 25:Amy Millan has a resume most musicians would kill for. The Toronto-bred indie rock princess sings with the bands Stars and Broken Social Scene and can boast a successful solo career as well. On her new album, Masters of Burial, Milan steers clear of the punchy beats and synthesizers characteristic of her collaborative efforts and instead utilizes acoustic guitars and muted horns. The delivery is sweet and slow, without ever being sluggish. Millan’s sultry voice, much like that of her friend and colleague Cat Power, is ideal for mulling over brooding subjects like mortality and lost love. The album’s highlight however, is her exquisite rendition of Death Cab for Cutie’s Into the Dark, on which she gives Ben Gibbard a run for his money. With Bahamas. Triple Door, 216 Union St. 838-4333. 7:30 p.m. $13 adv./$15 DOS. All ages. Note by ERIKA HOBART

Blitzen Trapper, Sunday, October 25:Blitzen Trapper’s songs sound as if they were written 35 years ago–by Steve Miller, while he was living alone in a cabin in a woods, with a banjo for his only friend. There’s an enchanting, simple quality to the Portland band’s music, but there’s something absolutely weird about it, too. The video for Furr, the title track on the band’s 2008 Sub Pop release, is the perfect example of this. Sepia-colored paper cutouts act out the story of a 17-year-old boy who runs away into the woods, becomes a wolf, and learns something about life in the process. Lead singer Eric Earley appears from time to time, earnestly crooning the chorus: You can wear your fur/ like a river on fire/ but you better be sure/ if you’re making God a liar. The beauty of both the song and the accompanying video is that, beneath all the imagery metaphor, they feel honest and true. The stories in Blitzen Trapper’s songs, like the murder mystery on Black River Killer, might be fantasy, but they’re not about escape–they’re about finding meaning in reality. With Wye Oak. Neumos, 925 Pike St. 709-9467. 8 p.m. $14 adv. Note by PAIGE RICHMOND

Helladope, Sunday, October 25:Buoyed by MC/producer Tay Sean’s hypnotic, whimsical production and MC Jerm’s easy delivery, Beacon Hill’s Helladope has emerged as one of local hip-hop’s most original talents. They’re on a tip that people like to call interstellar or space age. While this is true on cuts like Thee Trip, featuring Thee Satisfaction, and This is My Planet, featuring Jarv Dee, it’s also true that the duo has other things on its mind. Out Here Doin’ It, for example, featuring another inventive MC, GMK, finds Helladope pushing the outer limits not of the stratosphere, but of Southern hip-hop. It’s a just-cruisin’ jam that recalls early Outkast. In short: Tay and Jerm are not one-note wonders. With TC Izlam, Spaceman, Avatar. Nectar, 412 N. 36th St. 632-2020. 8 p.m. Free. Note by KEVIN CAPP

The Sounds, Tuesday, October 27:Swedish synth-poppers the Sounds first burst onto the scene in 2002, proclaiming themselves to be the vanguard of some sort of updated New Wave — everything from the opening riffs of their hit single, Seven Days a Week, to lead singer Maja Ivarsson’s CBGB bleached blonde Blondie-redux style. The quintet’s newest album, Crossing the Rubicon, seems to find Ivarsson a bit more serious — she’s gotten some tattoos and toned down her girlish chutzpah — but make no mistake, this is still a straight-up thumping dance record, the kind you are required to groove to when it plays at your friends’ parties. Ivarsson’s vocals still retains that punky ’80s spirit, keyboards groove along in the background, and the songs are still plenty synth-happy and are punctuated by claps. Live, Ivarsson is a force to be reckoned with — crowd-surfing, swearing and fist-pumping all over the stage. And that’s the type of thing the Sounds bank on — that such energy is infectious. With Semi Precious Weapons and Foxy Shazam. Showbox at the Market, 1426 First Ave. 628-3151. 7 p.m. $20 adv./$22 DOS. All ages. Note by E. THOMPSON