by JOHNSON CUMMINS

We're two weeks away from the five-day party marathon that is Pop Montreal, but there are plenty of shows to hold you until the best fest around. Starting off the week tonight, Sept. 8, is the second instalment of the l'Attack Locale series at le Divan Orange, with Dare to Care's la Descente du Coude and one of my favourite bands in the city, Dirty Tricks, who finally launch a full-length. Opening the night will be Whiskey Trench.

Also happening tonight is a rare performance by the Japanese king of noise Merzbow. With over 200 releases, you never really know if he'll unleash torrents of white noise or ambient soundscapes, but this rare opportunity to see the guy who's undeniably the noise scene's biggest influence makes this a definite not-miss. Raising the stakes will be opener Tim Hecker, performing in Montreal for the first time in a year.

Also tonight, Clutch fill the Cabaret with sounds of Southern, swampy groove served up with Sabbath sludge. With a new keyboardist in tow, Clutch now sound more like the Meters meeting Funkadelic than their stoner-rock beginnings. Hint: They're known to put on long shows (three hours in Ottawa), so show up early. Hogtown's Nice Cat (featuring the drummer from the Illuminati) open.

On Saturday night, DFA's art punks Black Dice roll into la Sala Rossa. Although decidedly less noisy on recent releases, these Brooklynites' epics can still rattle your cranium. Opening will be Alien8's Et Sans, featuring members of A Silver Mt. Zion, Shalabi Effect and Fly Pan Am. Think '60s psych pop and '70s krautrock.

Also happening on Saturday night is the Bluegrass on the Main event at the Main Hall, with Slavek Hanzlik, Emory Lester and the Tena Palmer Trio. Although all stick close to the Appalachian roots of bluegrass, you can expect the hyperspeed and skill that makes up the new face of bluegrass. Hanzlik has been called one of the best flat-pickers around, Lester has won the Mandolin Player of the Year award four times and Palmer can switch gears from bluegrass to jazz on a dime. Opening the night will be a rare performance by locals Notre Dame de Grass, who just got off the festival circuit. Singer Matt Large's voice is guaranteed to give even the most callous a tremblin' lip.

On Tuesday, Portastatic play with the Tenement Hall at la Sala Rossa. You may know Portastatic's Mac McCaughan from his other band Superchunk. Oh yeah, he also runs a little indie label called Merge that's responsible for putting out a band called Arcade Fire.

TURN THE BEAT AROUND - I LIKE TO HEAR PERCUSSION. jonathan.cummins@gmail.com

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