Critics Picks: Super Furry Animals and more

In retrospect, 2000 turned out to be a pivotal year for the Super Furry Animals. First, the band put out Mwng, a collection of songs recorded entirely in their native Welsh. Then, less than a year later, they released Rings Around the World, which transformed SFA from a prodigiously gifted rock band that occasionally flirted with electronic elements to an acid-fried, genre-defying collective. RATW was unmistakably the work of SFA, but a bolder version, unafraid to apply their considerable talents to more adventurous pursuits, from the soulful, Marvin Gaye-esque first single, "Juxtapozed with U," to the Aphex Twin-like meltdown "No Sympathy." The band's most recent record, Hey Venus, features late-'60s pop as its unifying theme—horns and vocal harmonies abound. The band also dabbles a bit in Middle and Far Eastern instrumentation. Fortunately, SFA's increased focus hasn't dulled their unique wit: Who else would title a song "Baby Ate My Eightball?" With Times New Viking, who will also be playing their own free show at 7 p.m. at Treehouse Records on Thursday, February 14. 18+. $15. 8 p.m. 1308 Fourth St. SE, Minneapolis; 612.604.0222. —Jonathan Garrett

Babyface

Trocaderos

Kicking off his 13-city tour behind his ninth solo LP in Minneapolis, the curiously but aptly named (for a nearly 50-year-old elder statesman of R&B who remains ageless) Babyface is still finding ways to stay hip with the kids while also gracefully segueing into an adult contemporary nostalgia act. It's almost better that his new album, Playlist, a collection of covers plus two originals, sticks to tracks so middle-of-the-road bland (Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight"?!) that he may rival recent karaoke master Rod Stewart for schmaltz; if the man continued to play tastemaker for another generation of R&B fans, we might have to start asking questions about possession by demons or some similar soul-bartering. Even Stevie fell off eventually. To hell with it—with a track record like 'Face's, tonight can be about unabashed wistfulness, where the beginnings of new jack swing rub elbows with Tender Lover and the LaFace legacy. With George Stanford. $45. 8 p.m. 107 Third Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612.465.0440. — Jordan Selbo

SATURDAY 2.16

Rotting Christ

7th St. Entry

You want testimonials? While campaigning for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination, Project for the New American Century contributor and pro-family careerist Gary Bauer called Rotting Christ a "homosexual music group" and accused them of promoting "anti-Catholic garbage." Five years later, born-again Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine refused to share a bed—er—concert lineup with the black-metal trailblazers. And those are just the mustard on the Satanburger's pickle. Since forming in 1987, the Athens, Greece-based legends have won lovers (mostly European) and haters (mostly American) by the truckload—sometimes even for music-related reasons. Theogonia seems destined to tip the scales in favor of the fans. Newly released worldwide by indie-metal behemoth Century Media, the band's 11th album is awash in trickery surprisingly bedazzling for hellhounds of their vintage. Not that Rotting Christ's bedrock values have changed much: The Gothic, doom, and folk elements co-founding sibs Sakis and Themis Tolis first introduced in the '90s still enrich the quartet's BM marrow, as do chanting, clean vocals, and heavy atmospherics. Theogonia simply offers the most inviting whole to date. Openers Immolation, Belphegore, Averse Sefira, and D.I.M. threaten to open exactly the kind of portal the headliners require. 18+. $17/$20 at the door. 7:30 p.m. 701 First Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612.332.1775. — Rod Smith

Hip Hop for the Homeless Benefit

Triple Rock Social Club

After 30 years of paying lip service to the virtues of keeping it street, hip hop and some of its most selfless practitioners are posed and ready to put your money where their rhymes are in a show that honors those who have had the unkind street thrust upon them. Homelessness is the Gorgon of social ills, and its sweltering gaze has turned many a courageous hero to stone. But for every Gorgon, there is a Perseus, and tonight, the Argonauts of Minnesota hip hop are assembling for a most noble Clash of the Titans. Doomtree's Dessa, Heiruspecs, the Chosen Few, M.anifest—this is the kind of benefit show sonically stunning enough to make you forget you're performing a vital social service. It doesn't matter where you fall within the continuum of altruism, missing a chance to see this lineup at such a menial price would be enough to haunt even the hardest conscience. 18+. $8/$10 at the door. 9 p.m. 629 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612.333.7399. —David Hansen

MONDAY 2.18

A Place to Bury Strangers

Triple Rock Social Club