While Evan Dando tries to squeeze a little more juice from his overripe indie pop project Lemonheads , his tour mates are the sweet pick on this bill. VietNam creates music that refers to that rich era of rock and reefer, when our country went to war with its namesake. Roll a bit of the Stones into a big batch of the Velvet Underground, sprinkle with some Dylan, and you've got the crimson-eyed jams these groovy Brooklyn dudes bang out with panache. Beyond some oversimplified yet stylish rehashing of the past, though, VietNam's songs revel in odd psych-blues phrasings and ramblin' piano bar rousers, the kinds of tunes in which adding "man" to the end of every other line doesn't feel forced. Live, the act does everything from "playing" a big black beanbag to casting silhouettes while atmospheric films flicker in the background. Take it easy with the Lemonheads and VietNam on Friday, Nov. 24, and Saturday, Nov. 25, at the Independent at 9 p.m. Admission is $20; call 771-1422 or visit www.theindependentsf.com for more info. — Jennifer Maerz
There are few sounds more distinctive than throat singing — whereby a vocalist, by controlling the shape of the mouth and larynx, effectively produces more than one pitch or note simultaneously. Sometimes it resembles the clarion call of the Apocalypse, other times an elemental cry for nature. While throat singing exists in many cultures, the best-known variants hail from Tibet and Tuva, the latter home to coed quartet Chirgilchin . Laurie Anderson , on the other hand, is a globally revered mistress of multimedia, embracing musicality from the pop song to the avant-garde. She and Chirgilchin will perform separately, then together — and their joint forces will resemble very little heard in your mind's ear. Chirgilchin and Laurie Anderson make Turkey Weekend memorable on Saturday, Nov. 25, and Sunday, Nov. 26, at the Herbst Theater at 8 and 7 p.m., respectively. Admission is $30-50; visit www.cityboxoffice.com for more info. — Mark Keresman
