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Friday, August 1
• Listening to “For Emma” or “Skinny Love” or any song from the EP For Emma, Forever Ago, it’s easy to understand why the Bon Iver show at the Black Cat sold out so quickly. It’s even easier to understand why people are going crazy with offers for tickets on craigslist. The guy’s got a voice that just cracks your heart open.
 
Saturday, August 2
• If her latest and unpronounceable album is any indication, Aimee Mann just keeps getting better with age. “Freeway” is the first single from the album, but “Little Tornado” is, well, a little gem featuring whistling from author Dave Eggers. Mann plays the 9:30 Club.

• If you miss the Cardigans’ Nina Persson—and how could you not, really—“Submarine Symphonika” from sunny Cali band The Submarines might temporarily quell the longing: Blake Hazard’s voice in the song sounds eerily similar to that of our favorite Swedish chanteuse. Last featured on our weekly playlist in June, the band has since scored a touring gig with Mann and recently had “You, Me, and the Bourgeoisie” featured on an iPhone commercial.

• With a song titled “After Hours,” how could we not feature NYC-based dynamic duo We Are Scientists on our weekly playlist? Awesome track title aside, the band has a very catchy and energetic pop/rock sound that should make for the perfect soundtrack to a great Saturday dance party at the Black Cat.
 
Sunday, August 3
• It’s so easy to hate on the insufferable Chris Martin and the rest of Coldplay that one often forgets the band can actually put one or two decent songs together. “Cemeteries of London” from Viva La Vida (which will be hard to beat as the stupidest album title of the year) benefits from a pleasant guitar riff, a sweeping chorus, and, most importantly, hand clapping! The song’s almost awesome, really. But then Martin’s signature piano creeps in at the very end and we dislike Coldplay all over again. Martin and the rest of the band play at the Verizon Center.

Monday, August 4
• Like Bellman Barker, Deleted Scenes is a local band with a knack for great songs: “Ithaca” is so soothing in its tropical mellowness, you can feel yourself being transported, while “Fake IDs” grabs you (and doesn’t let go) with its drum beat. Currently splitting its time between Brooklyn and DC, the band stops by the Black Cat for a show alongside the Never and the Bee Team.

Need an extra music fix? Check out last week’s Listen Up! playlist.

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