Music critics' picks

What's the best little indie rock band you've heard but can't identify? Maybe Spoon, that ever-fresh breeze blowing out of Austin, Texas. Some of the twisted charm in the film "Stranger Than Fiction," newly out on DVD, is connected to the liberating, jangle-pop songs and instrumental scoring of Spoon and front man Britt Daniel.

Spoon tunes also have gotten major exposure in TV shows. Their best-known "I Turn My Camera On" scored "Friday Night Lights," "Bones" and "Veronica Mars," and on Jaguar automobile commercials.

It's been a couple of years since Spoon's last release, the multihued "Gimme Fiction," which wound up on several best-of lists. A new bassist has since joined up, Rob Pope, and they've got a new, full-length studio album (due out in July but as yet untitled) to preview here.

Starlight Ballroom, 460 N. 9th St., 7:30 p.m. Sunday, $17.50, 215-769-1530, www.r5productions.com.

- Jonathan Takiff

Along with stepsister Tanya Donelly, Kristin Hersh formed alt-rock trailblazers Throwing Muses in the early '80s, blurring the lines between punk and folk. When Hersh went solo in 1991, her career only got more interesting. She's also embraced the Internet revolution with "Works in Progress," a subscription service of exclusive rarities, through throwingmusic.com. While this show is billed as a full band with strings, at press time, London string duo the McCarricks were having visa troubles. Dolorean is also on the bill.

World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St., 7:30 p.m. Monday, $19-$24, 215-222-1400, www.worldcafelive.com.

- Sara Sherr

Back in the mid-'90s, underground hip-hop label Rawkus Records led the charge for progressive, lyrically driven hip-hop, as opposed to the simplistic, hook-driven rap that currently dominates the radio and clubs. Emcees such as Mos Def, Wordsworth, Pharoahe Monch and Talib Kweli were at the forefront.

When Rawkus shut down a few years back, that didn't deter Brooklyn-based Kweli, though he remains one of the most underrated lyricially clever emcees in the field. He's here with alt-rock band Sugarcult and solo rapper William Tell.

TLA, 334 South St., 6 p.m. Thursday, $28.50, 215-922-1010, www.thetla.com.

- Damon Williams

Alto saxophonist Tim Berne has been one of the leading voices on the downtown New York scene for at least 25 years, and while his list of projects includes an impressive number of pun-happy band names, each of those tendsthey tend to be different combinations of the same handful of collaborators. Granted, Berne and company have forged a heavy, driving sound with intricate nuances and confident spontaneity that definitely benefits from familiarity, but it's always good to see new voices enter into that conversation.

Buffalo Collision, which played its first shows in January at New York's now-defunct club Tonic, includes frequent Bern collaborator Mat Maneri on viola, but also has Bad Plus rock/jazzers pianist Ethan Iverson and drummer David King.

Rose Recital Hall (Fisher-Bennett Hall Room 419), University of Pennsylvania, 34th and Walnut streets, 8 p.m. Tuesday, $15, www.arsnovaworkshop.com.

- Shaun Brady

Pianist and communicator Jeffrey Siegel has a knack for connecting the great piano repertoire to eager audiences, and his Keyboard Conversations have turned a generation of newbies into music lovers.

His ability to alternately discuss the works in the context of a composer's life, then give elegant performances of the music, has allowed his tenure for more than 20 years in many major cities. Though he has often performed as soloist with the world's finest symphony orchestras, this double gift has become his calling card.

To wrap his season, Siegel is presenting "The Romantic Music of Robert Schumann," probing the composer's mental instability and the inspiration from his talented wife, Clara.

Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Broad and Spruce streets, 7:30 p.m. Monday, $30, 215-893-1999, www.kimmelcenter.org.

- Tom Di Nardo