Rock Picks: Neil Young, the Pogues, Michelle Shocked

{mosimage}Saturday, October 27

David Kilgour & the Heavy 8’s at the Echo

Even in this digital age of instant communication/gratification, New Zealand is still far enough away to seem exotic — which makes this rare stateside tour by Dunedin’s David Kilgour a big deal. The singer-guitarist might be best known as a founding member of the brilliant Kiwi trio the Clean, whose mesmerizing blend of droning psychedelia, art-punk and lo-fi folk was an acknowledged direct influence on Pavement and Yo La Tengo. Although the Clean have managed to hit these shores a couple of times in their 29-year career, this is the first time Kilgour’s toured over here with his full backup band, the Heavy 8’s. His recent solo album, The Far Now (Merge), is a typically enchanting travelogue with such breezy acoustic tunes as “Wave of Love” and the breathily ethereal “Sun of God” giving way to trippier tracks like the epic “Out of the Moment,” which uncoils with weaving violin and radiant flecks of guitar. “Yenisei” is a jangly, laid-back pop song with Kilgour mumbling cryptically intriguing lyrics. He wraps himself in a gauzy haze of solemn piano and skittering electronics on “I’m Gonna Get Better Lately,” covering his tracks with spiraling echoes from his magic ax. This early show starts at 7 p.m. with an opening set from Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci singer Euros Childs. (Falling James)

Backbiter at Mr. T’s Bowl

It’s been a while since we checked in on Backbiter, the punk-informed trio who are arguably L.A.’s best hard-rock band. Their monumental third CD, Time Again (which comes with an equally dazzling bonus EP, Magnet Heart Suite), made it clear that the longtime locals — who are recognized more for their faithful yet juiced-up remakes of classics by the Who, the Dictators, Roky Erickson and Syd Barrett — write their own excellent classic-rock songs (even if there’s no viable L.A. classic-rock station to play them). “Looking in the Mirror” sneers and snarls like an unholy combination of the Stooges and the Velvet Underground, “Strikes Like Lightning” strikes with serrated Jimmy Page riffs, and the band even gets uncharacteristically dreamy and arty on the lovely piano interlude “Dock Rats to Eternity.” They’ve since written a mess of cool new tunes, including “Blood Red,” a fuzzed-out folk anthem that sounds like an outtake from Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited. Tonight’s Blue Mask bill includes Backbiter spinoff Motorcycle Black Madonnas, the Beggars (with Chicken Hawks guitarist Sioux City Pete), Mad Lovers, and the Fleagles, the latest band from sardonic lo-fi tastemaker Edwin Letcher. (Falling James)

Also playing Saturday:

EAGLES, DIXIE CHICKS at Nokia Theatre; THROW RAG, BOLIDES, MORMONS at Alex’s Bar; DEADBOLT, GHASTLY ONES at the Echo, 10 p.m. (late show); SERJ TANKIAN at House of Blues; BATTALION OF SAINTS, DUANE PETERS GUNFIGHT at Malibu Inn; JOHN DOE at McCabe’s; DONNAS, DONITA SPARKS at the Roxy; 1990’s, AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT at the Troubadour; T.S.O.L., SMUT PEDDLERS, 45 GRAVE, THE DETOURS, THE CROWD at Vault 350.

{mosimage}Sunday, October 28

Roky Erickson & the Explosives at El Rey Theatre

Roky Erickson, one of the greatest rock & roll singers of all time, is a completely unparalleled figure. Talk about a pedigree: He fronted proto-punk Texas acid-garage outlaw visionaries 13th Floor Elevators, whose vastly influential, LSD-fueled mixture of raw, furious music and rebel spirituality stands unrivaled more than 40 years later. It was a task so demanding — and flat-out hazardous — that Erickson climaxed it with a long stretch in a maximum-security unit for the criminally insane. Despite profound damage, he re-emerged as the hard-shouting godfather of monster rock, anticipating (once again) and enhancing mid-’70s punk rock with sublimely savage classics like “Two Headed Dog” and “I Walked With a Zombie.” Forget the bewildered madman depicted in the recent documentary You’re Gonna Miss Me — Erickson, with a deceptively simple vocal style that employs both an incomparable raving tone and to-hell-and-back psychological weight, is assuredly ready, willing and able to melt your brain. In short, the significance of this long-overdue visit from the untamed, uncrowned prince cannot be overstated. (Jonny Whiteside)

Cadence Weapon, Final Fantasy at the Troubadour

While every kid in the Montreal and Toronto indiegentsia eye-rolled their way through the extended jerk-off that les Américains had over the Arcade Fire, other (and weirder) acts from the sticky web of Canada’s music scene were being groomed to fulfill the U.S. appetite for fresh cultural offerings. Among them, still semi-secrets, are Cadence Weapon and Final Fantasy. The former is Rollie Pemberton, a fluid and adroit music critic–cum–indie hip-hop idol, wanted everywhere for remixes. The latter is Owen Pallett, a roaming strings-for-hire reed of beautiful gay nerd. Pemberton is off-center and purposefully awkward, a chillingly dynamic rapper. Pallett essentially sings and plays violin, often bowing into a sampler and then singing and playing over the loop. The music is clever and morbid, but he inventively incorporates elements like projected shadows and Mariah Carey covers into his set. Both men are confrontationally singular and scarily cool. Can you handle it, America? (Kate Carraway)