There may be no band working today whose music is harder to succinctly describe yet easier to enjoy than that of Chicago’s SEA AND CAKE. On all of its five striking records, airy Brazilian rhythms, jazzy interplay, hooky pop melodies and arty arranging converge to create music that’s unmistakably ambitious yet as instantly alluring as a pastel-splashed Caribbean seascape. The quartet’s latest LP, “Oui,” is its most accomplished and artistically successful effort to date. Throughout the record, graceful, understated songs glide by on a current of buoyant rhythm, gently ringing guitars, vibes, muted keyboards and Sam Prekop’s breathy vocals, creating a unique musical atmosphere that’s simultaneously international and colloquial, cerebral yet accessible and often irresistible. Sea and Cake performs Friday at the Double Door, 1572 N. Milwaukee Ave. 773-489-3160.
Marcia Ball, Friday and Saturday at FitzGerald’s: Marcia Ball was apparently the first out-of-town artist booked to play FitzGerald’s when the club opened 20 years ago, so it’s only fitting that Bill FitzGerald has invited Ball and her band back to celebrate the club’s anniversary. Even if Ball hadn’t been one of the club’s first premier acts, her fiery, infectious brand of New Orleans-style rock and R&B has long been a local favorite, and it should provide a rousing start to this great venue’s anniversary year. 6615 Roosevelt Rd., Berwyn. 708-788-2118.
Marvin Tate’s D-Settlement, Saturday at HotHouse: Harking back to the days when black funk and white rock first fused in an LSD-brokered meeting of cosmic minds, Marvin Tate’s D-Settlement blends poetry, R&B, psychedelia, jazz, rock and more into wide-ranging music that often recalls the sounds of P-Funk and the Last Poets. Although the 11-member ensemble’s impressive and ambitious debut CD, “The Minstrel Show,” suggests D-Settlement is still in the process of forging a truly seamless blend of its influences, there’s no question that the band has the potential to make some supremely ear-bending sounds. 31 E. Balbo St. 312-362-9707.
Other concerts
Sno-Core 2001, Wednesday and Feb. 2 at the Riviera Theater: For the 2001 edition of this “winter lifestyle” music extravaganza, Sno-Core will be splitting into two separate tours: Sno-Core Rock and Sno-Core Icicle Ball. Sno-Core Rock hits town on Wednesday and is scheduled to feature Fear Factory, Kittie, the Union Underground, Slaves on Dope and Boy Hits Car. The Icicle Ball arrives on Feb. 2 with Galactic, Les Claypool’s Frog Brigade, Lake Trout and Drums and Tuba. 4746 N. Racine Ave. 312-559-1212.
Downset, Monday at House of Blues: Pity the poor protest singers of yore who had to make their message stick using little more than their voices and acoustic guitars, whereas modern-day rabble rousers like Rage Against the Machine and L.A.’s Downset can deliver the word in a Marshall-stacked thunderclap of hip-hop and megaton metal riffing. Downset’s latest LP, “Check Your People,” favors edgy, deafening belligerence over the sleeker, more tuneful venting of your typical Rage rant, but the band wields earthshaking bronto-riffs more skillfully than most aggro rockers. 329 N. Dearborn St. 312-923-2000.
Big Wu, Saturday at the Vic Theater: If you’re one of those people who could never get enough of Little Feat’s sophisticated, Southern-based blend of R&B, jazz and rock, you might look to Big Wu to satisfy some of your craving for boogie. There’s more than a little Lowell George and Co. — as well as a bit of the Dead — in this up-and-coming jam band’s sound, though the songwriting isn’t quite as memorable, and the instrumental sojourns lack Little Feat’s virtuosity. 3145 N. Sheffield Ave. 312-559-1212.
.38 Special, Thursday at House of Blues: Where the first wave of Southern rockers (Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker Band) trafficked in intricate, extended improvisation, the second wave distilled songs about girls, good times and dueling guitars into radio-ready pop fare, and few were more successful with the formula than Florida’s .38 Special. The band is still led by Donnie Van Zant (and boasts two-thirds of its ’80s lineup); .38 Special’s recent “Live at Sturgis” record proved it hadn’t lost its ability to keep its raucous, hooky riffs intact. 329 N. Dearborn St. 312-923-2000.
Factory 81, Monday at House of Blues: This Detroit quartet chose wisely when it opted to call itself Factory 81, as its die-press, by-the-numbers aggro rock boasts all the generic conformity implied by its name. Unfortunately, the raging ferocity of so-called extreme rock, which sounded so fresh just a few years ago, has quickly fossilized into formula, and Factory 81 is a perfect case in point. (Opening for Downset.) 329 N. Dearborn St. 312-923-2000.
Also: Teena Marie, Friday and Saturday at House of Blues; Arlo Guthrie, Friday at Centre East.
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