by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

Okay… go! This week alone sees gigs from that other boy-girl blues-punk duo Fiery Furnaces at El Salon, Planet Smashers with guests the Pietasters at Café Campus, Canuck MC Kardinal Offishall at le Medley and a one-man band Bob Log III at la Sala Rossa. Foufounes Électriques has the notorious Dayglo Abortions on Sept. 14 (same night as the notorious Phil Collins), and the Casualties and our own Ripcordz the night after. Sept. 12 sees the Rital Fest at Kola Note, a night of Italo-quebecois music with, among others, the Fiszarmonia accordion orchestra and troubadour Marco Calliari, also of Anonymus and Mononc Serge's Academie du Massacre.

Next week: the return of Cameo - word up! Also lined up are Trashcan Sinatras at Cabaret, the folk-with-bite of Ember Swift at Club One and former Anthrax frontman Joey Belladonna at Café Campus.

Things that go pop in the night

Late September offers Of Montreal, who aren't, at El Salon on the 23rd. URB Magazine's Mush Tour, featuring Her Space Holiday and Neotropic, is at the same space the night after, same night as a likewise-interesting electronic bill, the New Maps show with Toronto's Tinkertoy and B.C. mash-up man Secret Mommy at O Patro Vys. For more handmade beats that night, check out Amazones, the les Percussions de Guinée night of African women drummers at Place des Arts. They're there on Sept. 25 as well, same night as cello hellcats Rasputina at Cabaret and the CD launch party for local next-big-thing the Arcade Fire at, get this, the Salvation Army Church.

Carlos Placeres opens for the Afro-Cuban All Stars at Metropolis on Sept. 28, the night before the kickoff of the Pop Montreal festival. Bigger than ever, Pop Montreal offers too much to even begin to list here, but a few highlights are in order. There's a photo show/loft party featuring the Dears performing their Protest EP end to end, blues-punkers Black Keys, a CD launch from les Georges Leningrad and an awesome bill of Waking Eyes, Money Money and Death From Above 1979 marred only by headliners Billy Talent. There's also the return of Kool Keith, the Weakerthans, the Unicorns, OG American post-punkers Mission of Burma, pretty boys du jour Franz Ferdinand and the miracle of Canned Hamm. Pop ventures into new territory with Jamaica's Sugar Minott and the Mighty Diamonds, although for true Zion action catch Hassidic toaster Matisyahu with local klez-hop scoundrel Socalled.

From black on black to Black & Blue

October gets off to a big start with Metallica's two-night stand at the Bell Centre. The Black & Blue weekend - which, at seven nights, is now really a week - kicks off Oct. 6, and sports DJs like Mark Anthony, Gilles Massicotte and, at Unity II's Pre-Jock Party, locals Éloi Brunelle, François le Baron and Frigid. Oct. 2, by the way, is the night old-time rock 'n' roll cats holler for joy as the First Lady of Rockabilly Wanda Jackson joins the Lustre Kings and the lustrous Bloodshot Bill at the 19th Rockabilly Jam at 1855 Rachel E.

The second week of October is full of progress - prog-rock (King's X at Foufs, Marillion at the Spectrum), prog-core (the End at le Medley, grand old No Means No with locals the Donkeys at Cabaret) and, um, prog-indie (the Faint with TV On the Radio at the new Cabaret la Tulipe on Papineau). Oh, and there's word of Interpol at Metropolis.

Oct. 16 sees DJ Krush at Club Soda, Cradle of Filth with Neuraxis and Blood of Christ at le Medley, Bruce Cockburn solo at le Spectrum and current ostensible Brit-rock saviours the Libertines at la Tulipe. But there are two themes for mid-month: Argentina and industrial rock. Locals Fly Pan Am and Tim Hecker are joined by Argentine chanteuse and former TV star Juana Molina at la Sala Rossa, while her countryman Federico Aubele dazzles Petit Campus. On the industrial tip, hoary old-tymers Ministry are at Metropolis with My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult on Oct. 17, while KMFDM are at la Tulipe Oct. 19.

Leg up on MEG

The Stranglers, back in fine form with their new one Norfolk Coast, get all nice 'n' sleazy Oct. 20, the same night that the MEG fest returns with another hot lineup. On board at press time are rad-fem dance-punx Le Tigre with no less than the Bronx-based godmothers of dark, sparse punk-funk ESG, the French house heroics of Superdiscount, the awesome Teamtendo (the French duo of ATM Cougar and Cute Groundhog, using Gameboys as their musical instruments), the supercool neo-disco of Metro Area, Vancouver's Output signees Circlesquare and a CD launch from Montreal's Montag.

If none of that works for you, there's always the lighthearted fun of grindcore's grand old men Napalm Death at Foufs on Oct. 22. The same week sees Scottish darlings of dim-lit folk-pop the Delgados, indie icons Blonde Redhead with Liars, Mouse on Mars with T.O.'s Junior Boys and the ethereal sexpot Sarah Brightman at the Bell Centre. The ferocious …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead hack a swath through Café Campus Oct. 22 as well.

Things get pretty heavy around Halloween. A CD launch from tiki-rawkers Paradise is in the cards for Oct. 28, while the almighty Gwar descend upon helpless lil' Montreal on Nov. 2 - same night as the soirée of big, dark psychedelia with the Warlocks (a band formed on the day Anton LaVey died) with Dead Meadow, location TBA. There's also the grim, Balkan, pseudo-fascist, industrial doomsayin' of those kooky characters Laibach, at Café Campus on Nov. 8. Furthermore, there's noisy New Yorkers Black Dice and Animal Collective to be found at la Sala Rossa on Nov. 10.

The night after that, the Bell Centre hosts flute-tootin' Ian Anderson and his band Jethro Tull in a two-part show, half acoustic, half electric. An extensive Powerpoint presentation on 18th-century British agricultural developments remains unconfirmed.

Later November sees a triple dip of notable jazz ladies - Coral Egan at the Spectrum Nov. 12, the Christine Jensen Quintet with her sister Ingrid on board the night after at Théatre Outremont, and the lovely Stacey Kent at the Spectrum on Nov. 26. That's the same night that indie overlords the Pixies, newly reformed, start their two nights at CEPSUM. That's it for fall - hey, Paul, let's have a ball.

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