New-school New York hardcore champs Kill Your Idols have a bracing new split EP out on Jade Tree — of all places — with Fat Wreck skatepunks Good Riddance — of all people. And they’re pulling a good old-fashioned New England weekender with brawling Wrong Island hockey punks Two Man Advantage, which sounds about right. On Saturday at the Palladium (800-477-6849) in Worcester, they’re joined by the Hope Conspiracy, the Dedication, and the Exit. And on Sunday they’re tacked onto a bill at the Tune Inn (203-772-4310) in New Haven, where the main attraction is a reunion of home-town international punk heroes the Pist. Boston punk heroes the Unseen are on the undercard as well.

In a preview of a bill that’ll be headed to Cambridge later this month, two of the most adventurous outfits in the extreme-metal camp team up for a couple of New England dates. Originally from Texas, Today Is the Day now operate out of Clinton, and their artful brutality finds a natural ally in the New Jersey supergroup Burnt by the Sun, whose Soundtrack to the Personal Revolution (Relapse, out January 22) has already been heralded, quite rightly, as one of the premier metal events of 2002. Both bands hit the El-N-Gee (860-437-3800) in New London, Connecticut, on Friday, and the Asylum (207-772-8274) in Portland for an afternoon all-ages bill on Saturday.

Afropop superstar Baaba Maal’s latest disc, Missing You (Palm Pictures), finds him getting back to basics and stripping his music to bare bones. The album was recorded for the most part outdoors, after the sun had gone down in a Senegalese village called Mbunk, where the chirp of local crickets managed to stow away on the master tape. In support of the disc, Maal is undertaking his first "acoustic" tour backed by a small ensemble, and it kicks off at the Somerville Theatre (617-876-4275) on Friday in what will be his only area appearance. But you’ll have several opportunities to catch blues ambassador B.B. King this weekend: he’s at Foxwoods Casino (800-200-2882) in Mashantucket, Connecticut, on Friday; at Merrill Auditorium (207-842-0800) in Portland on Sunday; and at the Calvin Theater (413-584-1444) in Northampton on Monday. And if seeing the self-proclaimed king of the blues isn’t enough, then you might want to avail yourself of an audience with the queen — Koko Taylor arrives at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence on Saturday along with Son Seals.

Issue Date: January 10 - 17, 2002
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