[JAZZ FUSION] + FRI, JAN. 16

Alexander Anderson, a student of the Berklee College of Music, leads a trio of jazz fusion madness. Blending some of the spacy free-form wildness of Sun Ra with the down-and-dirty textures of Miles Davis, the Alexander Anderson Trio take an egg beater to expectations, creating deceptively complex songs that blend the psychedelic headiness of free jazz and the formality of the classics of the genre. On Fender Rhodes and synthesizer, Anderson's fingers trip and skip down the keys in a way that can be dangerously unpredictable. With the rest of the bill fleshed out by the power prog of Jeff Mikey and the Bouncy House, as well as the cacophonous sludge of Captain Algebra, this will certainly be an alluringly eclectic show. Try not to get whiplash from the sudden shifts in styles. {REV. ADAM MCKINNEY}

ALEXANDER ANDERSON TRIO, w/ Jeff Mikey and the Bouncy House, Captain Algebra, 8 p.m., Deadbeat Olympia, 226 N. Division St., Olympia, cover tba, 360.943.0662

[COVER BAND] + FRI, JAN. 16

Here I was, all prepared to write up The Good Lovelies, when lo, it turns out our Agenda calendar editor already did the job. (I'm telling you - I do not say this lightly - their cover of "The Chipmunk Song" is a keeper. I know!) Luckily, there's an equally worthwhile band playing that same night. Ladies and gentlemen, Steely Dan! ... well, nearly. That's right: Nearly Dan. Like Rain, the Beatlemaniacs playing in Oly next week, Nearly Dan is a cover band that specializes in mimicking an iconic ensemble, in this case the '70s supergroup that gave us "Hey Nineteen," "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" and "Reelin' in the Years." Here's hoping Jamie Dieveney of the Coats is able to sing lead, as he has an uncanny gift for capturing the smooth inflections of Steely Dan vocalist Donald Fagen. I'm also a fan of Jack Klitzman's sexy sax and Michael McGee's pitch-perfect guitar solos. So go back, Jack; do it again! It's a great night for musical craftsmanship in the Gritty City. {CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL}

NEARLY DAN, 8 p.m., Jazzbones, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, $10-$15, 253.396.9169

[BLUEGRASS] + SAT, JAN. 17

The best music has never been about noodling around, proving what a virtuoso one is as a player, or simply trying to fill up one whole side of an album with a 22 minute plundering of one marginally interesting idea. No, the good stuff pushes the fringes of what had been heretofore accepted within the realms of popular music, thrusting it as far as possible into the arena of legitimate art. Nothing like White Horse had existed prior to its release. The Olympia bluegrass quintet The Oly Mountain Boys produced the first bluegrass concept album - centering on the life and hard times of Charlie McCarver in Washington state during the early 20th century. White Horse gallops to traditional bluegrass influenced by the music of Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley and Earl Scruggs. This is the best brand of bluegrass: energetic and thoroughly heartbroken. {RON SWARNER}

THE OLY MOUNTAIN BOYS, 8 p.m., The Spar, 2121 N. 30th St., Tacoma, 253.627.8215

[INDIE ROCK] + WED, JAN. 21

Toronto's Hooded Fang have garnered their fair share of positive reception since their formation in 2007, even earning a nomination for a Polaris Prize (sort of like the Canadian Grammy's) and setting up a tour supporting Johnny Marr, and they're deserving of every bit of praise. As their sound has evolved over the years, they've begun to embrace a volatility that wasn't quite present in their early days. Combining garage rock fuzz, the wiry dynamism of the Pixies, and the fractured structure and bombastic sound of Broken Social Scene. Unlike the majority of bands that rise on gales of internet hype, Hooded Fang have only improved, getting darker and leaner without giving up the vitality that made them so appealing when they first arrived on the scene. {REV. AM}

HOODED FANG, w/ No Body, Guaranteed Whales, 8 p.m., Deadbeat Olympia, 226 N. Division St., Olympia, $5, 360.943.0662