The influences of the Brooklyn-based duo KaiserCartel include punk rock on the "his" side and The Cure and My Bloody Valentine on the "her" side.

But good luck finding much evidence in the sound of the group, which is playing at RIBCO on Thursday in a Daytrotter.com show. The band's music is largely acoustic pop, and Courtney Kaiser's voice has a character like Aimee Mann's but without the flat disillusionment. Whistles and xylophones add sunshine to some tracks, but there's also a magnetic sadness in many.

Kaiser and Benjamin Cartel - both of whom sing and play multiple instruments - insist that the influences can be heard, and their comments reflect a wise understanding of the efficiency and directness of their own songs.

On the 1996 benefit album Sweet Relief II: The Gravity of the Situation, the songs of Vic Chesnutt were covered by everybody from Madonna to R.E.M. to the Smashing Pumpkins to the Indigo Girls. Early in his career, the singer/songwriter was championed by Michael Stipe, who produced Chesnutt's first two records, released in 1990 and 1991. Early in his career, PBS aired a documentary titled Speed Racer about his life. He had a small part in Sling Blade.

He has collaborated with a diverse slate of artists from Widespread Panic to jazz guitarist Bill Frisell to the Cowboy Junkies to members of Fugazi and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Chesnutt's latest partnership is with the psychedelic-pop group Elf Power, part of the Georgia collective that spawned The Apples in Stereo and Neutral Milk Hotel. Chesnutt and Elf Power will be among the performers at a March 18 R.E.M. tribute concert at Carnegie Hall, at which they'll perform "Everybody Hurts."

I start with the résumé because even if you've heard Chesnutt's name, he's not exactly famous. He has an immense reputation but a relatively small audience.

You've probably never heard of Local Natives, but Daytrotter.com wants to change that. Daytrotter is bringing in the unsigned California quintet to headline a show at Huckleberry's in downtown Rock Island on Sunday, January 18. The show starts at 7 p.m., admission is $7, and the bill also includes The Union Line and Voxhaul Broadcast.

The three bands our touring together in a pair of vans, and spending the night at the homes of whoever will have them. In an interview this week, keyboardist, percussionist, and singer Kelcey Ayer talked about Local Natives' debut record, and the band's efforts to get noticed and get signed.

The group is earning favorable comparisons to Arcade Fire and Fleet Foxes. Here's an opportunity to judge for yourself, with two Local Natives tracks and a Talking Heads cover, and a recording of the Reader interview with Ayer.

William Elliott Whitmore, a farm boy who hails from Lee County, Iowa, is set to release his new record, Animals in the Dark, on the Anti- label on February 17. After a trio of acclaimed, intimate, spare, and highly personal albums on the Southern label, Whitmore gets more political on Animals in the Dark, and he also fleshes out his sound. What remains the same is his wizened, worn voice, which gives a startling authenticity to his straightforward, woodsy folk music.

Whitmore will be performing with The Donkeys, Pictures of Then, and Meth & Goats at RIBCO on Saturday, January 17, in a show presented by Daytrotter.com. The show starts at 9 p.m., and admission is $8.

In this interview with the River Cities' Reader, Whitmore talks about why he began looking outward, the challenges of writing political songs, and why he decided to collaborate more on this album.