Concert Previews

A Black Music Month festival presented by YFS – the Young Friends Society of African Diasporan Institutions – is happening at the World Cafe Live for four consecutive weeks, starting this Saturday, when Janelle Monae performs.

You might not have yet heard of Monae, a powerfully voiced Atlantan who has collaborated with OutKast's Antwan "Big Boi" Patton and piles her sculpted Afro high like a neo cyber-punk Grace Jones. But you will. Sean "Diddy" Combs, will see to that: He's signed Monae to Bad Boy Records and will release her album,

Metropolis,

based on Fritz Lang's futuristic 1927 silent film, in four distinct download "suites" before the whole album comes out this fall.

After Monae plays downstairs - and must-see rocker Steve Wynn performs upstairs the same night - the excellently curated YFS series will go international. Nigerian German singer Ayo is on for June 21, and Afro-pop synthesist Zap Mama, a.k.a. Marie Daulne, plays June 27 (with the Roots' ?uestlove spinning). And Seun Kuti, the Lagos-based scion of Nigerian legend Fela Kuti, brings his father's fabulous band, Egypt 80, to the University City venue on July 5.

- Dan DeLuca

Ever the adventurous artist, Rickie Lee Jones has taken her boho-jazz to places both accessible (her early pop hit "Chuck E.'s in Love") and challenging (1997's experiment in electronics and dissonance

Ghostyhead

), both tender (1981's perfect

Pirates

) and vituperative (2003's Bush-bashing "Ugly Man"). Last year's

The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard

was again something new: an improvisatory and often magical set inspired by the words of Jesus Christ. She's doing a residency for three Wednesdays at the Painted Bride, and she promises to touch on works from throughout her nearly three-decade career with a six-piece band that includes violinist Petra Haden. RLJ is unpredictable - that's part of the joy - and it is a treat to be able to see her in such an intimate setting.

- Steve Klinge

After generations of figuring out how advertising fuels success, event sponsorships are no longer a problem. Even Sonic Youth has a record out through Starbucks. So no one is exempt from the hand of a marketer's magic wand. But before you get worried that some roach spray was hosting alternative hip-hop's slyest rappers, know that this Decon is the unfortunate name of a CD/DVD label and creative media company, and that its TLA show is dedicated to two of its best artists' newest records, Aceyalone's

Magnificent City

and Dilated Peoples'

The Release Party

. Fans of deep, scratchy turntablism and smartly socio-political lyrics love the West Coast trio, and

The Release Party

is a documentary that follows the DP unit from the underground to the overground to the underground again with stark new tunes ("Spit It Clearly") and on-air guests (Kanye West) to show their validity. Dilated Peoples don't need pals and films to prove how dynamic or influential they are. But it's a nice starting place. And without bug spray.

- A.D. Amorosi

For years, Jonathan Meiburg's Shearwater existed quietly in the growing shadow of his other band, Okkervil River. That changed with album four,

Palo Santo,

which ultimately yielded a two-disc deluxe edition and a record deal with Matador. Having departed Okkervil River, Meiburg is now devoting himself full-time to Shearwater, whose new

Rook

is a lush and somewhat gothic opus. Meiburg's voice remains lovely in a vaguely creepy way, even if he holds back a bit as compared with past albums. Between his ghostly falsetto and florid lyrics and the band's ambitious instrumentation,

Rook

packs in more dramatic highs and lows than most bands do in an entire career. It just may be enough to let Shearwater stand alone once and for all.

- Doug Wallen