From Up & Coming:

Joker, MC Nomad, Introcut, Sublo

Joker's productions bear dubstep's serious low-end pressure, but they move and sparkle with a lightness that's anything but ponderous, as much of the genre's output can be. His melodies possess a sort of comic-book vividness (and, at times, melodrama), coming over alternately ominous and whimsical, but always memorable; check out "City Hopper" for explicit proof. Joker's very young and still developing, but he's already showing exceptional promise amid dubstep's fertile grow bed. DAVE SEGAL

The Books

(Triple Door) I admit that I started listening to the Books because I really like their name (they don't call me "books editor" at this here rag for nothin'). But it didn't take long to become obsessed. Most band names are only obliquely related to their sound, but the Books just makes sense as a name for these guys: The lyrics are literary, thoughtful, and moody. They make music you can read to—understated, thoughtful, not one plucked guitar string or ambient loop out of place to distract you from the page. I suggest bringing a copy of Jonathan Lethem's Chronic City to this show; try reading a chapter in the middle of their set and you'll see exactly what I mean. PAUL CONSTANT

Peaches, Amanda Blank

(Showbox at the Market) Peaches and Amanda Blank represent the cream (pun intended) of the not particularly overcrowded white-female sex-rap field. The former is now an elder stateswoman for lyrical raunch and electro-rock crunch, but her once-libido-liberating shtick has brought increasingly flaccid returns since her peak with 2000's The Teaches of Peaches. Amanda Blank made the most of cameos on hipster-rap titans Spank Rock's "Bump" and "Blow," and parlayed that fruitful association into a solo-artist deal with Downtown Records. Blank's speedy XXX-ploitation flows have been somewhat tamed on her debut album, I Love You, on which she combines coquettish singing with her precision-tooled yet sultry rapping. Her producers—Diplo, XXXchange, and Switch—bring their B games, but Blank's charismatic cockiness will keep horndogs and the women who dig 'em listening. The homages to LL Cool J's "I Need Love" and Romeo Void's "Never Say Never" are utterly unnecessary, though. DAVE SEGAL

Kelly Clarkson, Eric Hutchinson, Parachute

(WaMu Theater) Is Kelly Clarkson the most normal pop star ever? I ask this in earnest and mean it as a compliment. From her grassroots triumph on American Idol through her universe-conquering megahit "Since U Been Gone" (currently riding high in best-of-the-decade roundups) through her bravely petulant battles with her record label, Clarkson has remained the type of girl you might see working at Orange Julius if she wasn't touring the world with multiplatinum albums. Besides her attractive normalcy, Clarkson's secret weapon remains her humongous voice, which will be wrapped around her hits, almost hits, and cherished album tracks tonight at WaMu Theater. DAVID SCHMADER

And there's always more in our complete music calendar listings.