Everyone wants to be The Beatles. We’ve all seen our fair share of cover bands, album cover tributes/parodies, and even wardrobe similarities. Every “Best Of” list has, and will always, name check an album or two. Their influence is far reaching and several musicians, from around the globe, have all tuned in at some point. Yet at the same time, admit it, they warped Charles Manson’s mind. Oh, and they’re definitely responsible for boy bands, MTV and, sigh, Oasis.

But as we all know, The Beatles giveth and The Beatles taketh away. The seeds that The Beatles have sown flowered into the honest croonings of Daniel Johnston. And some of those also became weeds known as Coldplay. But some got way too much of that untested chemical fertilizer. When that happened, The Residents' Meet The Residents sprouted.

You may think that there's not much surprise to StreetFest, an outdoor event with food and music, in downtown Champaign. For all we know, summer has always been outdoor season, the time of year when you splash on some sun block, bravely enjoy the warm sun rays and head downtown to check out a cover band or two. But think about this for a second: when’s the last time you went to a StreetFest with original music?

That’s right, this StreetFest is a first in giving us a sampling of local delights. It’s got Headlights, with their upbeat melodic goodness and boy-girl vocal interplay. Elsinore, with their catchy choruses and laid-back riffs, will definitely entertain. Not to mention, Tall Tale, with piano keys trickling and the unapologetic pop voice. Let’s not forget, Krukid, bringing his tight beats and proudly African brand (no gangsta’ gimmickry over here) of rap.

Some things are extremely probable. Like the chances of hearing "Don't Stop Believing" twice in a frat party, or getting hit by a Jimmy John’s “freaky fast” delivery car. But even more probable are the odds that you’ll enjoy this week’s album. They’re from Brazil, 95 percent of the album is in Portuguese and most of the tracks are rearrangements of popular Brazilian songs.

At this point it doesn’t seem that appealing, does it? And with the war on terror raging, it may not be so patriotic to listen to a Brazilian band. In fact, there might be a law against bobbing your head to this. But before you start raising those mini flags and chanting, You-Es-Ey! You-Es-Ey!, imagine Brazil: the warm and gentle sunrays, laid back beaches, Mardi Gras. Yup, they sound exactly like that.

Isn’t life decidedly odd sometimes? Before, being cool meant using hella as much as possible. Now it seems that you have to be uncool to be cool. Yup, you heard me right. See those kids wearing shirts that could have gotten them beat up in the fourth grade? How about that dude with the home-knit sweater coupled with his thick grandma glasses? In this day and age of musicians being weird for weirdness' sake, it’s really refreshing to just have a straightforward song: plain melodic goodness minus all the bleeps and skronks. And tonight you’ll be treated to some of that as Santa and Carl Hauck perform at Mike ‘n Molly’s.

Whenever someone mentions how awesome Radiohead is, my mind instinctively turns off. I feel a bit nauseous, my palms get a little clammy, then I regain composure, nod politely, and force my opinion on them. I’m convinced that to ensure survival of the human race, knowledge of Captain Beefheart must be sowed. I’ve been trying to convince anyone willing to listen, within a 10-foot radius, on the wonders of Beefheart. But now with the glory of the Internet, why not heckle everyone within the earth’s radius?

Don’t worry, I’ll assure you that I’m not going to yodel like a pretentious music geek and devote a whole paragraph to drop album references all over or yak about Captain Beefheart being an underappreciated musical genius.

( Ed. note: Andrew will be taking a fresh look at somewhat obscure, underappreciated older music with this regular column. )

Tribal drums rain down, town folk flock over, bass and saxophone debate, but in the end, get together. Afro-Cuban drumming meets free jazz and flirts with electronica. And the ensemble is constituted of 11 members. My oh my, what do we have here?

Sonic Liberation Front, a Philadelphia based group, performs this Saturday at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. With their first album, Water and Stone, released in 2001, SLF continues to expand the all-encompassing genre known as jazz. Now with three albums and several collaborations ranging from free jazz pioneer James “Sunny” Murray to alternative television producer Termite TV Collective, SLF is set to push the boundaries of music.

Bows up, eyes alert, as this Sunday, National Public Radio host Garrison Keillor conducts the Champaign-Urbana Symphony. Together with music director Steven Larsen, whose 11 years amidst C-U Symphony is sure to provide an exceptional experience.

Expect humor, bow ties, upright citizens and of course, passionate music.

Keillor is best known for NPR's radio variety show, A Prairie Home Companion or for Disney fans, Odin's voice in animated series Hercules. The Minnesota native boasts of books, audio cassettes and poetry, all entangled in his quirky sense of humor.