One of the most popular and critically acclaimed artists in contemporary electronic music, Amon Tobin’s mix of ominous, downtempo atmospheres, off-kilter jazz rhythms and skewed drum and bass epitomize the Ninja Tune label’s substantial contribution to breakbeat science. Beginning with his debut album Bricolage, the Brazilian-born Tobin transformed the lightly jazz-inflected brand of electro-lounge popular at the time by crafting instrumental trip-hop tracks that drew upon retro-jazz and bossa nova, employing reverbs, delays and other sound effects to push the music in wildly different directions. Awash in spacey ambience and atmospheric echoes, Tobin’s soundscapes, which explored darker realms on the subsequent albums, transcended the dance floor to function as mini-soundtracks to unseen narratives. Around the time of the release of the millennial-futurist scorcher Supermodified, Tobin also began to explore the outer limits of sub-frequency bass, creating walls of sound that rattled with cinematic intensity. A regular headliner at the world’s biggest electronic music festivals, Tobin’s visit to Buffalo is a rare treat that likely won’t come our way again anytime soon. Opening is Niagara Falls native Wisp (Reid Dunn), whose star has been rising in the international electronic music world since signing to the Venetian Snares’ Sublight label. Known for a mix of speed breaks and resplendent melodies, his sound is often compared to Aphex Twin (who has played Wisp’s music in his DJ sets). Also on board is the constantly exciting local DJ and producer Mark Kloud, who will be accompanied by a drummer and keyboardist for his set.

If you were to ask the late Kurt Cobain what his favorite bands were, he might have said the Beatles and the Melvins, and not necessarily in that order. Centered around the fright-haired frontman Buzz “King Buzzo” Osborne and drummer Dale Crover, the Melvins’ uncompromising slow and heavy plodding noise (perhaps best exemplified on 1986’s Gluey Porch Treatments. now reissued on Ipecac), has proven influential in the underground. You can’t deny their shadow over the current crop of doom metal, but there’s more:While Cobain’s Nirvana was the breakout band of the Northwest rock explosion, it was the Melvins who proved the lynchpin to it all. Matt Lukin was the original Melvins bassist, before exiting to start Mudhoney and beginning a revolving door at the Melvins’ bass slot; Crover was initially Nirvana’s fill-in drummer until he introduced Cobain to Scream drummer/Melvins fan Dave Grohl; Cobain was an occasional member, contributor and enough of a champion of the Melvins to help the band secure a major label deal at Atlantic for 1993’s Houdini. After 20 years the Melvins continue to make albums, collaborating with everyone from 1970s teen pinup Leif Garrett to punk icon Jello Biafra. They even issued a coffee table book, Neither Here Nor There, showcasing the dark, disturbing, psychedelic and mostly hilarious art that accompanies the band’s releases and gig posters. Crover and Buzzo’s current incarnation includes members of Big Business (who are also a supporting act) for an even bigger and louder Melvins. Also on the bill is Ghostigital.

Emerging Pictures, the digital cinema network that has so expanded moviegoers’ choices in the past year with its programs at the Market Arcade, this week presents a selection of nine movies from the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s recent LatinBeat film festival. Originally screened in September at Manhattan’s prestigious Walter Reade Theater, the series includes films from Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela, all in their original language with English subtitles. The features include Nine Queens (pictured), the Argentine hit about an elaborate con game (you may have seen the American remake, Criminal); Chilean novelist Alberto Fuguet’s Se arrienda (For Rent), about a young composer’s failed attempts to remain true to his art; and Al Otro Lado (To the Other Side), Mexico’s official entry to the Academy Awards, a three-part film about children whose fathers were forced to leave their countries to find work.

Lisa Germano has never been easy to pin down. She has never conformed to any musical genre nor has she compromised her artistic vision for her audience or for a record label. A musical wonder who learned the violin before she was 10, by 1987 she was recording and performing in John Cougar Mellencamp’s band, where she would remain for seven years. After releasing a couple of solo records in the early 1990s, she signed to the then ultra-hip 4AD Records, where she released Geek, the Girl, a harrowing collection of songs drenched with sadness, inferiority complexes and naked fear and insecurity. The album received rave reviews and was on many a critical “Top Ten” list for that year. After parting ways with 4AD later that decade, Germano all but retired from the spotlight, opting to play backup with artists such as David Bowie, Johnny Marr and Calexico. However, this past year, Michael Gira (Swans, Angels of Light) signed Germano to his Young God Records, where she recently released In the Maybe World, a stark and honest album that is simulataneously beautiful and melancholy. Opening for Ms. Germano are local female rockers Michel Weber and Ellen West.