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Pop with a capital Pee
A look at the eclectic mix of sounds in town for you
By JONATHAN TAKIFF
takiffj@phillynews.com

The Belle & Sebastian band plays at the Tower Friday Nov. 14.

"Gee, that sounds like the soundtrack for one of those '60s or '70s, retro-style Target commercials," enthused my better half.

Actually, 'twas the sitar-guitar and horn-flecked "You Don't Send Me," from the new Belle & Sebastian album ("Dear Catastrophe Waitress") that caught her ear and mine - and got us dancing around the kitchen, doing our best frug and hully-gully.

Clearly, this B&S disc marks a shift in emphasis for the decade-old, Glasgow, Scotland-based collective.

The group won acclaim first for wistful, aching, indie pop, mostly the work of lead songwriter Stuart Murdoch. Then the septet kind of lost its way and diluted its core audience for the sake of democratizing the writing process among several group members. The band's sound evolved into a juggling act of folk rock and baroque pop, neo-Motown and achy Northern (U.K.) Soul.

As produced by old hand Trevor Horn, "Dear Catastrophe Waitress" seems more centered and also, you should pardon the expression, happier. Not that the stories of a lecherous employer, crisis-prone waitress or bullied school boy are all that funny. But the lyrical tone is consistently loopy and understated, while the music is mostly up-tempo and sunny, sweetly harmonized and breezily orchestrated in a generation-gapping, Mamas and Papas/LOVE/Brian Wilson/10 CC/Polyphonic Spree/Grandaddy continuum.

"Dear Catastrophe Waitress" should bring in a whole new audience to this worthy group, while giving old-liners new reason to believe. And if B&S gets a lucrative TV commercial placement out of the deal, how bad is that?

Belle & Sebastian, with classical-goth ensemble Rasputina, 8 tonight, Tower Theater, 69th and Ludlow, $26, 215-336-2000.

Pissed off!

What kind of musical would dare to call itself "Urinetown"? And what kind of audience would willingly suffer the consequences of exposure to such a stink bomb?

These questions hit you straight off (posed by a glib narrator) in this winking and often wickedly amusing piece of agit-prop theater, landing at the Academy of Music Tuesday.

The plot revolves around a world so starved for water (and so corrupted) that the citizenry must line up and pay to pee, and what happens to the social (dis)order when the have-nots rise up in revolt.

To keep up with the parodistic music by Mark Hollmann, sneering dialogue by Greg Kotis and choreographed visual jokes of John Carrafa, it helps to have a decent knowledge of past musicals that likewise dealt (in serious fashion) with the downtrodden and angry.

References pop up from "Les Miserables," "Fiddler on the Roof," "Cabaret" and "Annie," plus sing-and-dance-till-you-drop production numbers from "Guys and Dolls" and "West Side Story." Nods are made to the dark Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht classic, "Threepenny Opera," and Marc Blitstein's Depression-era "The Cradle Will Rock."

Only when the musical pauses for a little romance does it let down its sarcastic guard.

"Urinetown: The Musical," Tuesday through Nov. 23, Academy of Music, Broad and Locust streets. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with 2 p.m. matinees Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, $25 to $65, 215-893-1999 or http://rpac.org/broadway/.

Rockin' pneumonia

Philadelphia guitarist Fred Mascherino now plays in the popular modern rock band Taking Back Sunday, joining kindred spirits and Victory label-mates Saves the Day at the Electric Factory (tonight is sold out; tickets for tomorrow are $18.50, 7th and Willow streets, 215-336-2000).

Death metal ain't really my thing, but the thickly orchestrated might of Dimmu Borgir is rare and undeniable. The world's premier "black metal" band, DB is charting high in Europe and even on the Billboard 200 with the "Death Cult Armageddon" disc.

Tomorrow, this blast of Nordic fury blows through the Trocadero, supported by Nevermore, Children of Bodom and Hypocrisy. (Doors open 7 p.m., 10th and Arch streets, $23, 215-922-LIVE.)

On Sunday at the Troc, the ever daring moving target of Pigface (fronted by the seasoned Martin Atkins) headlines the United II Tour along with Dope, Professional Murder Music and Rachel Stamp (8 p.m., $18).

Greg Dulli (ex-Afghan Whigs) fronts the exotic Twilight Singers with support from the well-sown local group Grand Fabric tomorrow (9 p.m., the Khyber, 56 S. 2nd St., $17, 215-238-5888).

Come Tuesday, it's Thursday - a darkly intense, emo-rock band from New Jersey (where life, we know, is hell). The band's on a bill with Island labelmates Thrise at the Electric Factory, with Coheen & Cambria opening (8 p.m., $15.50).

Kevin Martin, former lead singer of Candlebox, comes on strong in the Robert Plant vein on his solo album "The Possibility of Being" and on Thursday with his new group the HiWatts at Whiskey Dix (8 p.m., 721 N. 7th St., $10 in advance, $12 at the door. 215-923-2192).

Those ever-tasteful classic rockers the Moody Blues just issued their first-ever holiday album, "December," and are likely to showcase some of its sweet stuff as they play the Tower (8 p.m. Thursday, $47-$67, 215-336-2000).

Other notables

The twangy, jamming Yonder Mountain String Band, sampled to surprising effect on down-home rapper Bubba Sparxxxs' new "Deliverance" album, can be heard in its entirety tomorrow at TLA (9 p.m., 334 South St., $15, 215-922-1011).

At the North Star tomorrow, you'll find the ever-experimental Poi Dog Pondering, currently sifting through soul, Latin, urban jazz, house and alt rock flavors (whew!), plus worthy opener Abra Moore. On Thursday, catch a great double bill of Joe Henry and Dayna Kurtz, two of the edgiest singer/songwriters plowing the fields. (Both shows 9 p.m., 27th and Poplar, $15. 215-684-0808.)

Norway's wunderkind Sondre Lerche has been inspired, he says, by the likes of Burt Bacharach, Steely Dan, Cole Porter and Elvis Costello. The 20-year-old performs tomorrow at North By Northwest with opening act Rachael Yamagata, a talent who's won favorable comparisons to Norah, Fiona and Sarah (10 p.m., 7165 Germantown Ave., $10, 215-248-1000).

An event called Rubbing Elbows With Ian Anderson is your chance to ask questions of and shoot requests to the minstrel mastermind of Jethro Tull, working solo tomorrow at the Scottish Rite Auditorium (8 p.m., 315 White Horse Pike, Collingswood, N.J., $39.50, 866-234-6265 or 215-336-2000). Kenny Loggins visits the same theater Thursday (7:30 p.m., $39-$69).

The ever comfy and reliable Livingston Taylor plays the Tin Angel tomorrow (7 and 10 p.m., 20 S. 2nd St., $23, 215-928-0770). Bittersweet talent David Wilcox, who sounds like a Taylor first cousin, comes into the room on Sunday (6 and 8:30 p.m., $25).

Willy Porter, a quietly intense singer/writer and super-dexterous acoustic guitar picker, plays twice at the Point in Bryn Mawr on Sunday (noon and 7:30 p.m., $20 in advance, $22 at the door, 610-527-0988).

Arlo Guthrie makes his pre-Thanksgiving "Alice's Restaurant" tour stop at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside (8 p.m. tomorrow, Easton Road and Keswick Avenue, 215-572-7650). Sunday, catch the dynamic Celtic band Leahy (7 p.m., $29.50). The prolific Ani DiFranco returns to her spitfire solo stance at the Keswick on Wednesday, which really means she'll be "accompanied" by her sing-along fans. That 1 Guy opens (7:30 p.m., $32.50). Then Thursday, the Keswick welcomes the Thorns, the harmonious collective of Matthew Sweet, Pete Droge and Shawn Mullins (8 p.m., $29.50 and $26.50).

Debuting Thursday

Livingston's nephew and James' and Carly's son Ben Taylor warms up a new occasional-use room, the Point at Manayunk Station. Yes, it's literally in the Manayunk train station - Septa's R6 Norristown line arrives a few steps from the club's door. Like Bryn Mawr's Point, this new, double-sized annex promises good music and food in a listener-friendly, non-smoking, cabaret (table seating) environment. Plus, for a change, the club has a liquor license, though all ages are welcome (8 p.m., 4401 Cresson St., $16 in advance, $18 at the door, 610-527-0988 or 215-487-1413).

Also booked into the space: Erin McKeown on Dec. 11; and Grey Eye Glances on Dec. 12.

Last kiss

The smart and sensitive Josh Ritter hits Tin Angel on Thursday. Sometimes echoing a young Bob Dylan or Nick Drake, Ritter has a gripping new album with songs of uncertain love and fragile possibilities, "Hello Starling," that recently won a New York Times "spin-off" against the latest by burgeoning superstar John Mayer. Curiously, this 26-year-old New Englander is massive in Ireland (8:30 p.m., 20 S. 2nd St., $10, 215-928-0770).

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