THURSDAY NOVEMBER 10

SUBTLE, JEL, DEAD SCIENCESubtle rose from the ashes of iconoclastic hiphoppers themselves and cLOUDDEAD, so sounding conventional ain't on their agenda. Instead, Subtle (featuring Doseone, Jel, and others; keyboardist Dax Pierson is recovering from a paralyzing auto accident) etch odd aural hieroglyphics that agglomerate elements of prog rock, psychedelia, spindly funk, and acid-fried folk. Jel (themselves, Deep Puddle Dynamics) is one of hiphop's most underrated producers. His sampler contains some of the most distinctive, darkly psychedelic and funky sounds this side of Madlib and DJ Shadow, which he then tweaks into tantalizing new forms. With Greenball and 10 Seconds, Jel broadened hiphop's parameters with sly subversiveness (check Greenball's "Near East Bounce" for an early example of dubby Indian funk hybridity). Chop Suey, 1325 E Madison St, 324-8000, 8 pm, $10 adv, all ages.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12

CARO, KRISTINA CHILDSThe Return of Caro, Orac Records co-honcho Randy Jones's 2005 debut LP, is a diverse dance album that will please your hedonistic, intellectual, and audiophile needs. As a DJ (his role tonight), Jones keeps it weird and danceable, old and new, tech-house and electro, and unpredictable and familiar. He brings the same acute attention to detail to the dance floor as he does to the computer screen in his studio. Re-bar, 1114 Howell St, 233-9873, 9 pm–2 am, $3, 21+.

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 15

HAKEA, WYNDEL HUNTHakea's new seven-track CD reveals artistic growth from a local duo who've already been making serious progress over the past 18 months. The pair's ill atmospheres have accrued more lurid shades of illness and their ability to conceive unconventional rhythms has become sharper. Hakea remind us that industrial-leaning IDM and techno still have mutational life in them. Ex-Soov member Wyndel Hunt has just released his debut Fascillations (Dragon's Eye), a cliché-free collection of field recordings, supremely subtle ambience, becalming drones, alluring/repellent motorized noises, and off-kilter breakbeat funk. Baltic Room, 1207 E Pine St, 625-4444, 9 pm–2 am, $3, 21+.