Upcoming

Got an email from State Media with their updated concert announcements and I literally gasped aloud when I saw that Bon Iver (the moniker of Wisconsin singer/songwriter Justin Vernon) will be making his way down to FLA before hitting Bonarroo, and will play State Theatre Wednesday, June 10. Bon Iver's stunning, austerely beautiful For Emma Forever Ago was No. 2 on my top 10 album of '08 list, Vernon a vocalist who takes your breathe away with his delicate, soulful falsetto.

Drummer Bill Salas is the new guy in These Are Powers, but the fascist cadences of his hallucinogenic beats give direction to the ghost-punk traipse at the center of All Aboard Future. "Easy Answers" establishes a rigid, slow-motion dub/industrial framework at the album's onset. Vocalist Anna Barie's elated banshee cry in "Life of Birds" is at once horrifying and alluring, as it jams the senses with a mashup of too many mixed signals.

Last year, Atlanta's Deerhunter came into its own with Microcastle/Weird Era Continued, a solid third album of garage psychedelia, with frontman Bradford Cox's beguilingly sedate vocals set against washes of pleasant fuzz and reverb-drenched sound. Sometimes the songs are breezy and ambient, other times driving and punk-insistent without ever becoming abrasive.

Apocalyptic Visions' singer/guitarist Sam Cuadra, is one of the artists featured in CL's cover story this week, Damn Hipsters:  The quest for validation may be Atlanta's only vice.

I got to see Ben Folds perform at Langerado last year and it was one of the highlights of the now-defunct fest, Folds far more lively and engaging and far less maudlin than I expected. So you can imagine my pleasure at receiving this very exciting concert announcement from No Clubs:

Hot off his tour serving as lead axeman for the Black Crowes, Luther Dickinson returns to the band he calls home, the North Mississippi Allstars with drumming/percussionist brother Cody and bassist Chris Chew, for a tour in support of Do It Like We Used to Do.

Turns out that road-dog R&B singer Southside Johnny Lyon has long had a soft spot for the music of Tom Waits. Instead of trying to cop Waits' avant-gardisms, though, Southside put his own stamp the material by singing over big band arrangements by Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg.

This might make for a nice road trip in early March. Harvest of Hope, a non-profit organization that provides financial, educational, and service oriented aid to migrant farm workers all over the country, has organized a three-day alternative music festival on the St. John's County Fairgrounds, a short distance from St. Augustine, Fri.-Sun., March 6-8. The lineup is surprisingly strong and the price is right. ($19.50 for a day pass/$39.50 for a three-day pass).

Los Cam­pesinos! know misery and dancing aren't antithetical, and that in fact combining the two can be a really excellent experience. The second album the Welsh septet released last year, We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed (Arts & Crafts), is dominated by lyrics about heartbreak, smoking, drinking, and heartbreak set to pogo-worthy indie rock with a heart of punk.

The rumors have been confirmed -- Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will be there. Phish will be playing two nights. Who else? Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails, The Mars Volta and a whole bunch more.

Tickets go on sale on Feb. 7 at noon.