Critics' Picks

"Storm's coming." Linda Hamilton's portentous final line in Terminator 2 must have been on Darren Keen's lips as he watched the Faint, his Nebraskan countrymen, release their breakout Blank Wave Arcade. Though their days may be waning, the Faint's post-nuclear fallout has salted the earth a bit for the nation's budding Duran Durans. But Omaha's one-man band the Show Is the Rainbow offers something much more meaningful than derivative Devo mimicry—there is a clubby, atomic pitter-pat lurking in his 606, and punk sensibility coloring his production. A cadre of frantic, urgent melodies carries Darren's spot-on Mark Mothersbaugh warble, and his thumping, clacking tempos will have your toes doing double-time. If the Faint are neo-wave's spreading, diffuse mushroom cloud, the Show Is the Rainbow is its irradiated Omega Man, prowling the ravaged wasteland for an unspoiled dance floor and a few mutants with whom to shake ass. With Mel Gibson & the Pants, Mystery Palace, and Tay Zonday. $8. 9:00 p.m. 3018 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612.823.4719. —David Hansen

MONDAY 02.04

DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist

First Avenue

DJ Shadow has spent the last year or two networking with hyphy stars, and Cut Chemist's last big project was the fantastic Lost and Found: Rockabilly and Jump Blues (co-compiled with rare groove archivist Keb Darge), but when the two Cali turntablists/record collectors/music geeks team up, shit gets taken to a whole other level. Nine years ago, they put together a live set consisting of immaculately cut-and-mixed funk and soul 45s; shortly afterward, it was released as the rare, prized, and litigated-out-of-existence Brainfreeze (currently fetching $130 on eBay for an original pressing). That CD, along with 2001 semi-sequel Product Placement, contains some of the most mind-bending real-time vinyl manipulations ever recorded, and their Hard Sell set—initially unveiled last summer at the Hollywood Bowl—pushes things even further by extrapolating these 45s into whole new compositions. One thing's for certain: Whatever it is they're going to play, it won't feel like somebody else's records. 18+. $20. 8:00 p.m. 701 First Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612.332.1775. —Nate Patrin

Poison the Well

Station 4

Last year's Versions snatched Poison the Well out from under the metalcore cloud that's shadowed them since 1998, plopping the Miami-based quintet smack in the center of progressive hardcore's outer fringes. Sure, the album's banjos, mandolins, horns, and piano shocked both old fans and those who'd embraced the band circa 2003's You Before You: their third album and first (and last!) for Atlantic. But like the slew of aspiring imitators currently daubing their riffs with sheep dip, the naysayers have since adjusted—probably just in time for PTW to unleash another salvo of surprises. With the Chariot, Dance Gavin Dance, and A Girl a Gun a Ghost. All ages. $15. 5:00 p.m. —Rod Smith

TUESDAY 02.05

Mardis Gras Party

Uptown Bar

Ever since Father Louis Beau Chapeau established the parish of Uptown in 1735, the crossroads of Lake and Hennepin has been a stage for revelry and celebration during Carnival and its joyous finale, Mardi Gras. After tonight, sobriety and reflection will be the order of the day from Urban Outfitters to Figlio, as the good citizenry ponder the sacrifice of Christ. But for now, let the good times roll and party with the mystic societies of local music, including the percussive fury of the Gay Witch Abortion Krewe, the dreamy circuit-bending bliss of the Order of the Beatrix*JAR, the robotronic chants and electro-sludge of the Unicorn Basement Society, and the primitive bass'n'bitching racket of Troupe Kitten Forever. 3018 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612.823.4719. —Sarah Askari