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Reflected Glory | No one will be noticing NQ Arbuckle Saturday night at the ARTery if Carolyn Mark wears her red party dress to the show

TERRIBLE HOSTESS!
Carolyn Mark & NQ Arbuckle
The ARTery | Nov. 21
Carolyn Mark once recorded an album called The Pros and Cons of Collaboration, but her latest album, Let’s Just Stay Here, concentrates on the pros — it’s the result of a very fruitful partnership with Toronto alt-country band NQ Arbuckle. “Getting these two deliciously sorry bands together is such a grand idea, they could have sung out the erotic personals and it would’ve worked,” wrote SEE’s Fish Griwkowsky in his four-star review of the disc. “Actually, that’s sort of what happened, except I’m having trouble finding the Asian transsexuals.”

GLOOMY GUS!
Matthew Ord
Blue Chair Café | Nov. 20
Early in the Spring, the latest album from British folksinger/guitarist Matthew Ord, con-tains enough stories of gloom, doom, and unlucky young men to impress even the most ardent emo kid: “Louis Collins” tells the story of a tragic duel in Avalon, Mississippi; “Roger O’Hehir” is the ballad about an elusive thief and his ultimate capture at the Bleachcream Fair; “Early in the Spring” is about a sailor who returns home to find his wife married to another man, and the love song “As I Roved Out” is just plain depressing. Cheer Ord up and check out his show, won’t you?

SHARP-DRESSED MAN!
Royal Wood
The Haven | Nov. 20-21
Meet Royal Wood, a snappy dresser with a snappy name. But not a creator of snappy music — the only thing this guy loves more than freshly pressed three-piece suits are pianos, string sections, and sweepingly romantic lyrics. Picture a less campy Rufus Wainwright, and you’ll get the idea — although reviews of his latest album, The Lost and Found EP, have also likened him to artists as disparate as Sufjan Stevens, M. Ward, and Ron Sexsmith. He’s spending two nights on the Haven stage this weekend — show him some respect and dress up.