Josh Rouse
9 p.m.
Friday
Uncle Pleasants
Louisville, Ky.
Josh Rouse found his niche in Nashville, Tenn., after playing through countless, meaningless basement bands in Nebraska, his home state. The singer/songwriter has released four albums to date, from 1998's "Dressed Up Like Nebraska" to 2000's "Home," for which he received Cameron Crowe's attention; the third track from "Home," "Directions," ended up on the soundtrack to Crowe's "Vanilla Sky." In 2002, Rouse released "Under Cold Blue Stars," an album that came to define him as a significant, sensitive force in singer/songwriter land. The album marked his slight departure into the storytelling on which he'd focus during his next two records. After the release of "Under Cold Blue Stars," Rouse said, "I like stuff that's easy on the ears. All that 1972 singer-songwriter (expletive deleted)? I just love that stuff. I'm a closet easy listening fan." Fittingly, as that quotation foreshadowed, Rouse released his latest batch of songs in 2003 and called it "1972." The album is full of simple tales Rouse wrote all over the world. He said he penned "Come Back" in Norway and "Love Vibration" in Australia. With "1972," think Jackson Browne, James Taylor. The record is steeped in the sounds of the "Pure Gold '70s" compilations you see on late-night infomercials. But that doesn't mean it's trite or outdated; "1972" just requires a different mood. So if you can afford to pay for the gas to Louisville, swing by Goodwill, pick up a wide-collared button-down shirt and head to Uncle Pleasants.
A Perfect Circle
8 p.m.
Friday
Tower City Amphitheatre
Cleveland+â-è
So much is missing in modern rock: restraint, sincerity, tastefulness, sensitivity; very rarely does popular radio or MTV yield a band with any redeeming qualities. We get guitars that sound like airplane engines. We get lyrics that might make even Staind's Aaron Lewis cringe. Simply, rarely do popular rock bands warrant lingering on a frequency before hitting the "seek" button. Except Los Angeles-based A Perfect Circle does. Though initially conceived as a Tool side project (featuring singer Maynard James Keenan), APC, after releasing its second record "Thirteenth Step," has solidified its presence in contemporary rock. Jonathon Sholl, bassist for Fort Wayne-based band Nurse, called APC a band for "your angry feminine side." What he means is that the Los Angeles-based quintet displays restraint, sincerity, tastefulness and sensitivity. APC is heavy, but guitarists Billy Howerdel and James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins) choose the moments to step on their distortion pedals carefully. The band's music is rich, layered and dynamic. It's dark, but not brooding; it's emotional, but not melodramatic. A Perfect Circle is embracing the same indulgence The Cure did. Neither band is afraid of darkness (just as this critic is not afraid of abstractions). But while bands like Hoobastank, Cold and Lostprophets muck everything up, A Perfect Circle holds its ground and carries the flickering torch for legitimately heavy music. Get to Cleveland for the band's show at the Tower City Amphitheatre.
Sufjan Stevens
9:30 p.m.
Saturday
Blind Pig
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Sufjan Stevens is a Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter who is known as much for his quirkiness as he is his intelligent, artistic pop music. In 2001, his second album, "Enjoy Your Rabbit," was a collection of songs titled "Year of the (insert mythic animal)," similar to the headings on placements in Chinese restaurants. His musical ability, though, can't be disputed: Stevens recently released "Seven Swans," a collection of acoustic folk that is meant as an accompaniment to 2003's expansive, majestic and triumphant "Michigan," a collection of 15 odes and/or laments to different cities in his home state. With song titles like, "Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Rebuild! Restore! Reconsider!)" and "Oh God, Where Are You Now? (in Pickeral Lake? Pigeon? Marquette? Mackinaw?)" Stevens proves he means business. His cryptic lyrics reveal far less than his titles, but when accompanied by his arrangements, reminiscent of folk and chamber pop, they tell sad stories of middling, maudlin life in "The Great Lakes State." In the album's liner notes -- including a hand-drawn map of the state and its representative wildlife -- Stevens is listed as having played 21 instruments and handling most of the vocal duties. Critically adored, Stevens' "Michigan" is one of the most creative, most intelligent releases of 2003; his show at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor with Rosie Thomas and D. Whitmore will likely be a celebration of the subject matter he so excellently addressed.
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