Conor Oberst and his band, Bright Eyes, have released a solid, subdued album titled "Cassadaga."

Courtesy of Saddle Creek Records

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New albums from Bright Eyes and Timbaland disappoint, although for different reasons.

"Cassadaga" isn't anywhere as adventurous as the last two Bright Eyes releases, but it's still solid.

Lead single "Four Winds" has an infectious violin hook with an unsingable-in-public chorus mentioning the "whore of Babylon" that will implant itself in your head.

Many of the other songs (including "Soul Singer in a Session Band" and "No One Would Riot For Less") are up there with anything brainchild and indie wonderkind Conor Oberst has done.

Judging from the press' tepid reaction to "Cassadega" though, perhaps the dark, subdued album was not what some were expecting.

On the other hand, super hip-hop producer Timbaland has dropped a cringe-inducing letdown with "Shock Value."

The main problem with the club-friendly album is not the stellar beats or orchestration.

The biggest gripe is that Timbaland inserts himself into tracks as a vocalist too much.

On "Bounce," Timbaland proves there's a reason he's usually behind the mixing boards and not the mic. He stumbles through his verse, referencing the female anatomy with middle school tact. This before Dr. Dre steps in and drops an "I kill me" midverse sounding more awkward than "The Office's" Michael Scott.

That the track centers on Justin Timberlake singing "bounce like your ass had the hiccups" need not be said, but since it's pretty embarrassing, why not?

So here's an idea:

Oberst experimented with electronic beats on 2005's "Digital Ash in a Digital Urn." He's also very popular with the indie ladies.

Let's get Timbaland, who also worked on the upcoming Björk album, to rebound and turn Oberst into the next great rock pioneer and sex symbol for bookworms.

It would provide an equal opportunity for both sides to branch out and, if nothing else, it would give the struggling hip-hop world some decent lyrics.

Bright Eyes will play May 9 at Mesa Amphitheatre. Tickets are $22 at ticketmaster.com.

Concert action is notoriously slow in Tucson during the summer, but some quality shows are already on the horizon.

English pop star Lily Allen is coming to Club Congress on May 16. Tickets are $21 and on sale now through Congress' Web site.

Allen released her debut album, "Alright, Still," in the United States in January to favorable reviews that also landed her a spot on "Saturday Night Live."

Then, on June 4, the Hold Steady will play Plush.

Because the Brooklyn, N.Y., band ended up having one of 2006's most acclaimed albums, "Boys And Girls In America," it will probably draw a larger crowd than it did last year at Congress. You can buy tickets early for $10 through Plush's Web site.

When I was in high school back in Massachusetts, a laser show at the Boston Museum of Science's planetarium was the perfect cap to a week of having no real responsibilities.

While I've never paid $22 to see a laser show, judging from clips on YouTube, Friday night's show at the Rialto looks to be worth the dough if you've got it.

Pink Floyd's recorded music is set to elaborately sequenced multicolored visuals, lights and movie clips. ("Wizard of Oz," dude!) Expect plenty of Visine-soaked eyes at the Rialto. The show starts at 8.

Why celebrate one birthday when you can hit four at once?

Members of local gypsy-rock act Molehill Orkestrah, space-disco group Pork Torta and glam-act Silverfox will be celebrating birthdays.

Silverfox is the new project of Congress' entertainment director, David Slutes, who will be enjoying his birthday shots. Serge of Pork Torta and Tucson Roller Derby announcing fame will also be throwing down.

We're not sure of the exact origins of the Tucson Legend's Alliance — there's some explanation dating to the year 1533 on the club's Web site — but it's not like this town ever needed a reason to party.

The show is $5, and doors open at 9 p.m. Friday.

You know those collages your sister used to make in middle school, where she and her friends would cut out words, phrases and faces from teen magazines to create something new?

That's kind of what the collective Negativland does with various media, except its goal is promoting a more anti-consumerist agenda by toying with modern culture and advertising.

The group has been creating records, CDs, video, books, radio and live performance using appropriated sound, image and text since 1980.

Since Negativland takes many different forms, we can't say what exactly will transpire at Solar Culture, but it's being billed as a "90-minute film and storytelling presentation" by one of the group's founding members, Mark Hosler. A Q&A will follow.

The event is $10 and starts at 9 p.m. Friday.

As a teen in the '90s, my first experience with Lou Barlow was with his project Folk Implosion and the catchy song "Natural One" off the soundtrack to the 1995 movie "Kids."

"Natural One" still sounds like the perfect accompaniment to the movie's main character, Telly, smoking blunts, drinking 40-ouncers, deflowering underage New York girls and unknowingly passing on the virus that causes AIDS.

Before Folk Implosion, though, Barlow was more well-known as a member of Sebadoh and Dinosaur Jr.

Barlow has a lengthy, media-documented past with both bands. Sebadoh released lo-fi indie classics like 1991's "III," which is often mentioned in the same breath as Pavement's seminal album "Slanted and Enchanted."

This was indie before "Internet-indie," and therefore much, much cooler.

Sebadoh is now back on the road with its original lineup of Barlow, Eric Gaffney and Jason Loewenstein. The band will wrap up its tour Monday night at Congress, with the Bent Moustache opening at 7:30. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 day of.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone's Austin Scaggs, "American Idol" loser and chart topper Chris Daughtry, who recently played the Rock, was told some compare his music to the critically despised Canadian rockers Nickelback.

"That's a huge compliment for me. They sold 5 million albums last year. Compare me all day to people like that! It gives me hope," Daughtry said.

You heard the man.