Music Picks 

Thursday 4.5
ttMaria Taylor (Kilby Court'see Music, p. 165); Bullet For My Valentine (Avalon Theater); Dead City Lights (Piper Down); Cowboy Mouth (The Depot)

Friday 4.6
ttStephen Pearcy of Ratt (Club Vegas); Voodoo Organist, Black Market Babies (Burt’s Tiki Lounge); Iota CD Release (Broken Record'see Music, p. 166); Purr Bats, The Furs (Suede)

Saturday 4.7
ttAMBULETTE, LIZ PAPPADEMAS
ttWhen Virginia’s Denali broke up, vocalist Maura Davis took her sultry siren call to Chicago to extend what she started. The result is Ambulette, a band cut from the same solid pop that first showcased Davis’ depth and range. The Lottery EP, their first release on Astralwerks, is five slightly unsettling tracks of lyrics delivered as threats or seductive whispers, depending on your mood. San Francisco singer/pianist Liz Pappademas works in smokier tones, brushing her jazz-club pipes over rich keys that cascade like hot wax over naked skin. While sometimes bringing to mind Fiona Apple, Pappademas comes across as much more sure of herself'less a nervous wreck than a woman with nerves of steel. Pick up her recently released debut, Eleven Songs. It pairs nicely with Rioja. Kilby Court, 741 S. 330 West, 7:30 p.m. All-ages. Tickets: 24Tix.com.

PETER & THE WOLF
ttPeter & The Wolf are either brilliant, eccentric or one-trick ponies wearing out a gimmick. Ignore the hype surrounding the Austin group’s penchant for performances in graveyards and churches with rat bones and blood to evoke the occult, and you might just find something inspiring, even touching in Red Hunter’s voice. An ordained Shaker priest who literally set sail for the band’s last tour (seriously, on a boat), Hunter seems to be a legitimate self-made American Gothic outcast whose creative output is appealing even when his almost contrived persona wears thin. Listen, at least, to Experiments in Junk’s found sounds, particularly the track featuring Hunter and friend recording their jaywalking adventures in New York. Slowtrain, 221 E. Broadway, 7:30 p.m. All-ages. Info: 364-2611, SlowtrainMusic.com.

Also Saturday: Appleseed Cast (In the Venue); Maximum Distortion Benefit (Club Vegas); B-Side Players (Suede, Park City); DJ Five (Harry O’s, Park City)

Sunday 4.8
ttTHE PONYS, DEERHUNTER
ttBoth The Ponys and Deerhunter performed at this year’s South by Southwest music & media festival, but while the former band put on an impressive show, the latter group left a rather lackluster impression of their supposed talents. To wit, The Ponys, a Chicago quartet who follow a basic, slightly psychedelic rock format, rarely face the sort of technical problems that derail Deerhunter’s fragile experiments in electronic noise. There is, however, no great reason to throw a fit when your guitarists are out of tune. Still, judging by their recorded works, the Georgia-based artists are the perfect antidote to predictable, homogenized radio schlock. Here’s hoping their Salt Lake City appearance proves all that crack I smoked in Austin did my judgment no harm. The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, 10 p.m. Tickets: 24Tix.com.

Monday 4.9
ttGLUE, MINDSTATE
ttGlue are stuck together, as artists, friends and winners. The seamless hip-hop collective’ three members (emcee Adeem, “folktablist” djdq and producer Maker) made various marks on Scribble Jam and DMC before uniting and holing up in a Chicago lodge to record their first EP with a computer, 8-track, one turntable and a microphone. Six years later, they’re rolling large under Fatbeats'the label fronting the funds for Glue’s forthcoming sophomore effort, Catch as Catch Can'with their first headlining tour, one that depends on you to keep on keeping on. The road to success is paved with 29 shows in 33 days and a little help from friends like local duo Mindstate. Come find out what’s really going on in our hip-hop scene. Monk’s, 19 E. 200 South, 10 p.m. Tickets: 24Tix.com.

Also Monday: John Vanderslice (Kilby Court); The Brobecks (Solid Ground Cafe); Railroad Earth (The Depot); Stephen Marley & Jr. Gong (Suede, Park City)

Tuesday 4.10
ttHit the Lights (Kilby Court); Lazlo Holyfield (Urban Lounge)

Wednesday 4.11
ttTHE LONG WINTERS
ttIt’s easy to fall in love with The Long Winters'or with someone else while listening to the Seattle quartet’s instantly catchy pop songs. Vocalist/guitarist John Roderick writes endearing lyrics that are neither epic nor sappy, scripting real-life narratives that could easily describe any one of his listener’s personal experience as a “Pushover.” But their recorded works are more than just sunshine and roses. Roderick dabbles in obtuse imagery, describing veiled tragedy on 2003’s When I Pretend to Fall without naming the incident: “‘Do you remember when you saw her last?’ I said, ‘Her skin is cinnamon, her skin is cinnamon,’” he shouts, delirious, over jangly mandolin. Well-read, but not snobbish; tight, but not rigid, The Long Winters are the group you pine after but understand when they say, “We’re better as friends.” Kilby Court, 741 S. 330 West, 7:30 p.m. All-ages. Tickets: 24Tix.com (with The Broken West).

COMING UP
ttBlue October (Great Saltair, April 12). Jedi Mind Tricks (Suede, April 12). Ice Cube (The Depot, April 13). Type O Negative (Great Saltair, April 16). Wolfmother (In the Venue, April 17). Lindsay Buckingham (The Depot, April 18). Grand Champeen (Urban Lounge, April 18). Placebo (Great Saltair, April 19). Peeping Tom (The Depot, April 19). Ted Leo & The Pharmacists (In the Venue, April 21). G. Love & Special Sauce (The Depot, April 21). Five for Fighting (The Depot, April 23). Brazilian Girls (The Depot, April 24). Aqueduct (Urban Lounge, April 25). Gwen Stefani (E Center, April 30). The Rapture, Shiny Toy Guns (In the Venue, May 2). Mastadon (In the Venue, May 7). Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (In the Venue, May 16).