Lytle, with big drum

They're too expensive — or they're overrun with meth labs." *

JASON LYTLE

Mon/8, 9:30 p.m., $16

Café du Nord

2170 Market, SF

www.cafedunord.com

Also opening for Neko Case

Tues/9, 8 p.m., $30–<\d>$33

Warfield

982 Market, SF

www.goldenvoice.com

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SNAP! OBSCURA NOT MISERABLE

Don't you dare call Camera Obscura nostalgists. Vocalist Tracyanne Campbell, she of the heart-torching girlish brogue, fumes at the very thought, despite a "post-dinner slump" following her vegetarian Thai green curry. "No, I don't think we're a bunch of miserable, nostalgia-hungry losers," she protests from Glasgow. "We don't long for the past. The past is very much a part of me, but I think it's good to try and live in the moment. I think we're misunderstood."

Still, the combo's delicious new My Maudlin Career (4AD) is steeped in girl-group charm and Motown shimmy — though Camera Obscura had forged its sound eons before those genres' current revival. There's little contrivance to Camera Obscura's lush music, Campbell explains, especially when it comes to recording: the group tends to track live with few overdubs. "I think a lot of times it's the happy accident, to be honest," she says. "I don't want to be too persnickety. I want to be brave enough to try and capture that moment on its own, without looking back with regret."

CAMERA OBSCURA

With Agent Ribbons

Mon/8, 9 p.m., $21.50

The Fillmore

1805 Geary, SF

(415) 346-6000

www.livenation.com