Here's this week's top five club picks.

The Swell Season - Academy Award winning duo  Glen Hansford and Marketa Irglova are back together. At least, musically, as their real life relationship went sent, much as did their fictional relationship in Irish indie film, "Once." The group's highly anticipated followup to the celebrated soundtrack finds the two exploring songs written about their own breakup. The circumstance are a bit awkward, but the outcome is a developed concept piece that swoons between orchestral sweeps and back porch jaunts, all centered on forlorn love and loss. The Swell Season pays a visit at 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 22, to The Knitting Factory Concert House, 919 W. Sprague Ave. Cost: $28, $30.

Black Taxis - Regarded as the next-up band to watch in the indie scene, Black Taxis are true performers. Their showmanship has been turning heads and building a buzz, so expect a packed when they appear at 9 p.m. on Saturday, July 24, at Mootsy's, 406 W. Sprague Ave. Also on the bill is Sunrise/Sunset, and Tiny Moving Parts. Cost: $5

Mark Matos - This San Francisco native openly admits his infatuation with psychedelics -- both music and drugs. Spreading the word on his "Acid Gospel" Matos' latest album is a narrative about the moments of clarity experienced when using hallucinogenics and how his occasional excursions with LSD have kept him grounded. It sounds out there, and so does the music. As fans will find with Matos' returns with his new band, Os Beaches, along with Taxco, HORSES, Nathan Peterson and Hospital Floors at 7 p.m. on Sunday, July 25, at Empyrean Coffee House, 171 S. Washington St. Cost: $5.

Portland Cello Project - Portland's own self-proclaimed "rochestra" brings its dozen-plus cellist back to surprise listeners with symphonic renditions of rap songs and vice versa, that's at 8 p.m. on Saturday, July 24, at Empyrean Coffee House, 171 S. Washington St. Cost: $10.

The Head and the Heart - These up and coming local folk-rockers are oozing with impressive dynamics, anchored mainly by the accompaniment of strings alongside acoustic guitar and sweet melodies. Add former Spokie Noah Gunderson to the mix, and you've got the ingredients for an evening of deft musicianship adnd sincere songwriting, starting at 8 p.m. on Friday, July 23, at Empyrean Coffee House, 171 S. Washington St. Cost: $8.