Roadtrips

edited by Matt Ashare

"We'll find a magic spell to turn this muck to gold," goes one of the lines on Luna's latest, Pup Tent (Elektra). And though Dean Wareham has yet to mine platinum from Luna since he left lauded local space-rockers Galaxie 500, he's definitely smoothed out some of the quirks. Which probably has less to do with hoodoo than with a little aging -- but you can decide for yourself when they ooze into Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-LUPO) in Providence on September 12, and the Paradise (617-562-8804) in Boston the following night with Sixteen Deluxe.

Mike Patton's got another solo disc out on the avant label Tzadik -- this time it's weird, pasta-inspired soundtrack work and subjazz noise with guests including John Zorn, Erik Friedlander, and Marc Ribot. Expect nothing but the hits, on the other hand, when Patton's pop-thrash marquee act Faith No More bypass Beantown and hit the Strand (401-272-0444) in Providence on Thursday the 18th.

Others not coming to Boston this week: slick-o country megastar Alan Jackson and teenage yodelin' queen LeAnn Rimes, who headline the Worcester Centrum (331-2211) tonight (Thursday the 11th). Indigo Girls, who have a new album out (and maybe a little more hip cachet since everyone started comparing Sleater-Kinney to a punkier version of them), opt to reward UMass-Amherst with an exclusive area gig on Friday the 12th at the Mullins Center (413-733-2500). A massive hip-hop/soul bill -- touted as the new face of R&B -- featuring Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Mary J. Blige, and Dru Hill drops on the Centrum on September 14.

And don't slit those wrists just yet -- the Morrissey show at the Orpheum in Boston on September 14 has been sold out for weeks, but there are still tickets available for his show at the Strand on September 16.