Van Dyke Parks - Wednesday @ Mississippi Studios
If you’re a music geek, the name Van Dyke Parks is music to your ears, considering the man’s pop pedigree. He has contributed lyrics to many great Beach Boys songs (”Heroes & Villains”, “Surf’s Up”), performed with The Byrds, produced albums by Ry Cooder and Randy Newman, and provided string arrangements for Joanna Newsom’s album Ys. As well, he recorded the intricate and far-reaching LP collector favorite Song Cycle. He comes to town not in support of any new music, nor is there any indication of what he will be up to tonight. But considering the man’s track record and his fascinating solo work, you would be foolish to miss out on a performance of this magnitude in as intimate a venue as Mississippi Studios.

Slabtown Bender - Friday through Sunday @ Slabtown
Busy this weekend? Not anymore you’re not, as you’ll want to have yourself parked in the friendly confines of Slabtown if you want to walk around town calling yourself a rock ‘n’ roll fan. Over the course of one weekend, a ridiculous number of incredible garage, punk and rock acts will take over this NW Portland bar and there is plenty of gems to be found in this overstuffed lineup. This includes the fuzzy rumblings of Ty Segall, the pub rock/glam hybrid Sir Lord Von Raven, two of the Bay Area’s best pop garage outfits Shannon & The Clams and The Dirty Cupcakes, and a bevy of local favorites like Pierced Arrows, The Bugs, Pure Country Gold, and The Foxgloves.

Daedelus/Nosaj Thing/Jogger - Monday @ Rotture
A fine package tour this. It brings together three young bucks from the world of electronica. All are from the Los Angeles area, and when they’re not remixing each other’s work, add a warm glow to the their own liquidy grooves. The emphasis throughout is on wowing synthesizers, dripping bits of sonic ephemera and beats that stir together elements of hip-hop, electro, deep house and smatterings of disco. Even if you play the wallflower for this night, you’re going to have plenty to chew on from the sidelines.

By Robert Ham. [Twitter @bob_ham]
Nomo @ Sunday @ Doug Fir Lounge
While the music writers and critics of the world try to parse out whether Vampire Weekend is honest in their approach to African pop, you should busy yourself with this fine group of gents from Michigan. Formed in the early part of the past decade, this sextet plays some of the best Fela Kuti-inspired Afrobeat you’re likely to find played by American natives. While they bring their upbringings as jazz and rock players into the mix, the heart of the group beats with the chugging, swaying rhythms of their plentiful percussion section and the buoyant back and forth of their horn section.

DJ Krush - Saturday @ Rotture
He touts himself on his MySpace page (or at least someone involved with his publicity does) as “one of the best hip-hop DJs”. Yet, one quick spin through his weighty discography and you’ll likely be saying the same thing. His work on the wheels of steel and as a producer have helped bring in such high profile collaborators as Mos Def, The Roots and Aesop Rock. But his musical chops have also earned him a place to perform alongside jazz/experimental icon Bill Laswell and Japanese avant garde trumpeter Toshinori Kondo. This night will likely see him tightening up his DJ chops for an upcoming event that will have Krush spinning for six hours straight. Prepare yourself accordingly for a long haul of deep grooves and lucid electronica.

Jaguar Love - Tuesday @ Holocene
The former members of the mighty Seattle group The Blood Brothers responded to that band’s break up by splitting up its musical personality. The gents who went on to form Past Lives took the sonic expansiveness, experimentalist leanings and low slung rhythms. But the boys who went on to create Jaguar Love kept the slinky sexiness that was always under the surface of many Blood Brothers tracks. Here, they’ve turned up the sensuality with the help of some curvy electro rhythms, taut guitar and keyboard antics and Cody Votolato’s straining vocals wriggling over the top of it all. Catch them now - for free, no less - in this cozy venue before the rest of the world gets a hold of them and you won’t be able to see them from the nosebleeds of whatever theater they’ll be filling up in six months’ time.