Nelly's Country Grammar turned hick-hop dialect into an international language, and his last single sported one of the most absurd misspellings in a genre that revels in syntactic excess. So Noam Chomsky he ain't, but with "Hot in Herre" certified as the official hit of the summer, and collaborations with both 'N Sync's Justin Timberlake and Destiny's Child's Kelly Rowland smashing the singles charts, the St. Louis native is arguably the biggest pop star out there right now. On Saturday, his tour with Big Tymers and Lil Wayne hits Meadows Music in Hartford (203-265-1501); on Sunday, he's at the Tweeter Center (617-931-2000) in Mansfield.

Cobra Verde haven't put out an album since 1999's glam-rocking Nightlife, but it's not as if they'd been out of work -- they've just been pursuing a career as something like a house band for aging indie-rockers. With Bob Pollard, they were pressed into service as the new Guided by Voices for a couple albums and tours; now they've signed on to back former Dinosaur Jr. guitar hero J Mascis on a tour behind his new Free So Free (Ultimatum). They'll also open up the shows when J hits T.T. the Bear's Place (617-492-BEAR) in Cambridge on Wednesday and Pearl Street (413-584-0610) in Northampton next Thursday, October 10. J's former Dinosaur mate Lou Barlow has been concentrating on a new Folk Implosion album, and that's given Barlow's Sebadoh bandmate Jason Loewenstein time to make his solo debut, At Sixes and Sevens (Sub Pop). With the exception of the biker-punk opening track, it's a continuation of J Loew's increasingly Barlowesque Sebadoings -- a good thing, we think. He's at the Middle East (617-864-EAST) in Cambridge on Friday, at the Downstairs Café at Bennington College (802-442-5401) in Bennington, Vermont, on Saturday, at the Lucky Dog Music Hall (508-363-1888) in Worcester on Sunday, and at Harry's (413-584-4100) on Monday for the closing night of the Northampton Music Festival (www.nmfest.com).

As far as we can tell, the latest surfacing of Steve Albini's acerbic, razor-witted Zep-punk juggernaut Shellac does not portend a new album, and perhaps that's just as well. With bassist Bob Weston back from his stint as the fourth member of Mission of Burma, and Albini cooled down from curating this past year's All Tomorrow's Parties festival, they'll hit the Skinny (207-871-8983) in Portland next Thursday, October 10, and the Middle East next Friday, October 11. Meanwhile, Low take it slow with Mark Eitzel at the Iron Horse (413-584-0610) in Northampton on Monday and at the Coolidge Corner Theatre (617-734-2500) in Brookline on Tuesday. Incubus clones Hoobastank are at the Roxy (617-931-2000) in Boston on Friday and at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence on Saturday. Lupo's also hosts Brazilian metal banditos Soulfly on Sunday and turntable auteur DJ Shadow on Tuesday. Swedish agit-punks Division of Laura Lee are at Bill's Bar (617-421-9678) in Boston on Saturday and at the Met Café (401-861-2142) in Providence on Sunday. And Juliana Hatfield has been added to the undercard of the Aimee Mann shows tonight (Thursday, October 3) at the State Theater (207-780-8265) in Portland and on Friday at the Orpheum (617-931-2000) in Boston.