Tonight, the Sasquatch Festival hullabaloo begins:

Sasquatch! Pre-Party with: Doves, Wild Light

(Crocodile) In the wake of Coldplay's massive success, a deluge of emulators (Travis, Elbow, half of Astralwerks' '00s roster) followed, seemingly hell-bent on compromise. It's as if these groups formed with the express purpose of putting rock fans to sleep under a large, beige blanket. Doves hover somewhere in the middle of this muddle. They create mediocre, pleasant stadium rock that wouldn't dare color outside of the lines or get too raucous, although "Winter Hill" from the new Kingdom of Rust is decent Spiritualized lite. Such an approach is always a safe bet for a band: The world overwhelmingly consists of people content with colorless, flavorless, frictionless music that emits faint signifiers of sonic excitement—an orderly bombast that won't ruffle or moisten expensive couture or coiffures. One shouldn't be surprised by the popularity of bands like Doves, but it's nevertheless baffling that anyone gets excited by—and pays good money for—such utter blandness. DAVE SEGAL

DJ AM, Matt & Kim, Drop the Lime

(Neumos, free) For some dumb reason, when I first scanned this lineup, I read it as saying "DJ A-Trak" rather than, as is in fact the case, DJ AM. Bummer, because while both are what you might call celebrity DJs, they are of vastly different class. Ah well, in any case, Drop the Lime is good, bassbin-rattling fun, if you didn't make it off the Hill to catch him at See Sound Lounge a few weeks ago. Matt & Kim are a fine punk-pop singles band, even if I can't quite sit through a whole album (haven't checked my stamina against their live set in a while; maybe I should). And, hell, the whole thing's free (on Bacardi and VH1's dime) if you go and submit some personal information (presumably for marketing/demographic purposes) to www.getpartytickets.com, where you'll also note that L.A. gets Tiga and James Murphy for their affiliated party. Dang. ERIC GRANDY

Remember to check our online music calendar for a complete listing of bands, DJs and live music.

I review Berlin techno luminaries Modeselektor and Apparat's latest collaboration as Moderat in this week's music section, and while I'm not excessively impressed with the album—it's good, solid listening, it just probably won't end up in my 2009 top 10 is all—I cannot recommend tonight's show strongly enough if you're a fan of either act, or techno in general, or even just beats and tones. Both Modeselektor and Apparat are top-notch live performers (my money's on Modeselektor for being the better of the two—recall that sweaty, genre-flipping performance at Re-Bar—but it's hair-splitting), and no doubt the material from their new album, Moderat, wil sound great performed live, where they'll likely be favoring the more beat-heavy cuts, possibly stretching some out and improvising with others. Not only that, but Modeselektor will be doing a DJ set, which is sure to be fire, and local heads Truckasauras and Nordic Soul will be warming things up beforehand. Oh, also, Moderat's visual collaborators, Pfadfinderei, will be providing a live video performance. Here's what it looks/sounds like when they all get together to make some pasta:

Tonight, Eric Grandy recommends the North American debut of Modeselektor and Apparat as Moderat:

Modeselektor, Apparat, Truckasauras, Nordic Soul
Their new album, Moderat, better realizes the potential sketched out in their previous work, not of a quarrelsome soundclash, but of a seamlessly integrated sound. Because, really, as tempting as it is to pigeonhole each act—Apparat as the swoony, ambient electro popster and Modeselektor as the glitchy electro-hop humorists—they have far more in common than they do in conflict. Apparat knows his way around a hard beat and a tweaked sample, Modeselektor are just as accomplished at producing lush analog ambience or a pop vocal turn, and both have several tracks that combine the above elements to make for music as heady on the headphones as it is on the dance floor.

On Moderat, the three producers all meet in their shared middle ground, the space where their harder edges are softened, their glitchy tendencies debugged, their ambient sides anchored by more thoroughly bumping beats.

Dave Segal reviews the new album from NOMO:

Nomo, Sly Lothario

The new Invisible Cities (Ubiquity) further expands on NOMO's idiosyncrasies. The opening title track soars into the humid world-jazz processionals that marked Don Cherry's best '70s work. NOMO's cover of Moondog's "Bumbo" captures the sui generis composer's unruly rhythmic bustle and melodic eccentricity. "Crescent" subtly paraphrases John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" and adds serene flute accompaniment and restrained hand claps; it's a paradoxically chilled party jam. "Ma" features a bizarrely tuned guitar motif, seraphic female sighs, and spy-flick brass that mesmerize and induce tension with the rarefied skill of Mission: Impossible/Dirty Harry soundtracker Lalo Schifrin. "Banners on High" spirals into psychedelic jazz's most transcendent airspace, while "Elijah" and "Nocturne" float onto a heady, spiritual astral-jazz plane that nods to Alice Coltrane and Carlos Santana's cosmic bliss-out LP Illuminations.

Scott Weiland

(Showbox at the Market) Who the hell is Scott Weiland? Starting out as an Eddie Vedder impersonator with Stone Temple Pilots, Weiland parlayed that gig into stints as a Jim Morrison impersonator with the remains of the Doors and an Axl Rose stand-in with Slash's GN'R spin-off Velvet Revolver. The closest thing to a constant: Weiland's well-documented love affair with Sweet Lady H, which I guess counts as a sort of Layne Staley impersonation. Tonight, Weiland performs in support of his 2008 solo release, "Happy" in Galoshes. DAVID SCHMADER

Black Breath, Lesbian, Funerot, the Helm

(Chop Suey) It's easy to forget that punk and metal used to be opposing forces. Black Flag's long hair and guitar dexterity used to flabbergast audiences. Similarly, SSD and their Boston peers bummed everyone out by going metal in the '80s. This rift was generational, though, and tonight's show is proof. Black Breath exemplify the bridging of the gap with their brand of d-beat hardcore—equal parts Motörhead and Discharge. Lesbian combine the sounds of earlier crossbreeds like Melvins and Neurosis with a hearty dose of psych and prog. Funerot blur the lines with their modern take on crossover thrash. The Helm marry the down-tuned sludge of Eyehategod with the wrath of '90s power-violence. It's a new era, folks. Bring earplugs and air freshener. BRIAN COOK

Remember to check our online music calendar for a complete listing of bands, DJs and live music.