There’s nothing like a crowd to drive ambitious souls in new directions. So while the Brooklyn quintet Punch Brothers is a string band with a long collective pedigree in roots music, they’re also notable for their skill

Friday, Sept. 25, Donnis w/ DJ Benzi @ Hot Water/Wherehouse, 10 p.m. Debut mixtapes don’t get much better than Donnis’ recent Diary of an ATL Brave, a stunning introduction to the charismatic upstart Atlanta rapper featuring some of the catchiest production that city has to offer.

Radio Milwaukee posted yesterday its long-teased, listener-voted list of the top 100 songs of 2008, and save for a handful of oddities and the inevitable exclusions (the station is biased against anything too heavy, hip-hop, punk or otherwise), it's a pretty unimpeachable list. The complete list is posted on the station's Soundboard blog, the top 20 are below: 20. Death Cab For Cutie - �Cath�...

Thursday, Oct. 30, Cornmeal w/ Good Gets Better @ Miramar Theatre, 8 p.m. The Chicago ensemble Cornmeal labels itself “progressive bluegrass,” but that tag may give a misleading impression. While the group isn’t immune to occasional jammy digressions into jazz and rock territory, they stay more closely within...