Ingrid Michaelson at the Hotel Café
Ingrid Michaelson proves (yet again) that television is the new radio. Like Nick Drake’s VW-ad-spurred posthumous popularity, the label-less Michaelson has become an indie singer-songwriter success story following her multiple song placements on Grey’s Anatomy (including the show-commissioned season-finale centerpiece, “Keep Breathing”) and the current Old Navy spot set to her infectious “The Way I Am.” While her genial folk-poppy sound and confessional “You and I” lovelorn lyrics suggest that this Staten Island native might be Sarah McLachlan’s latest acolyte (and her geeky-chic glasses have drawn her easy comparisons to Lisa Loeb), Michaelson nicely varies the Lilith Fair template — like using jagged guitar riffs to enliven “Die Alone” and “Overboard” on her delightfully charming self-released Girls and Boys. But what really impresses is how Michaelson injects her relationship tales with amusing details, not broad platitudes, while her affably catchy melodies never turn overly melodramatic. (Michael Berick)
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Dance-class revolutionaries Listing Ship
The Monolators never get tired of playing musical chairs.
Volumen Cero focuses on the bright spot.
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Tori Amos at Nokia Theatre
Volumen Cero focuses on the bright spot.
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Multiple personalities are your best entertainment value, and on Tori Amos’ current world tour not only do you get Tori, you get Santa, Clyde, Isabel and Pip, all of whom sport different colored hair and one of whom may in fact be the promiscuous wife of a Mafia kingpin. Each personality interprets some of the 20 tracks from her ninth studio album, American Doll Posse, an avowedly more political statement than her previous, insular works. Tempest, teacup, etc.: The first single, “Big Wheel,” incited a kerfuffle because the term “MILF” is in the song (she could actually be referring to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front; one never knows). Plus, you can buy a CD of the performance you just heard shortly after it ends — because, as ever with the redoubtably spectacular Tori Amos experience, it helps to have concrete proof that you haven’t just stepped out of a dream. (David Cotner)
Also playing Sunday:
NE-YO at the Wiltern; OASIS at Silent Movie Theatre; WAYNE HANCOCK, 8 p.m., I SEE HAWKS IN L.A., noon, at Safari Sam’s.
Playing Monday:
BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA at Disney Hall; LETTER OPENERS at Crash Mansion; METAL SKOOL, WEAPON OF CHOICE at Key Club; CROOKED COWBOY at Mr. T’s Bowl; THE BINGES at Spaceland; JAMES TORME at Tangier; GREAT NORTHERN, HAPPY HOLLOWS at Viper Room.
Tuesday, December 18
The Monolators at the Scene
The ultracharming husband-&-wife duo the Monolators have expanded into a full quartet, with singer-guitarist Eli Chartkoff and singer-drummer Mary Chartkoff now joined by bassist Andrew Bollas and lead guitarist Tom Bogdon. Their new 10-inch EP, You Look Good on the Train, which is available only on vinyl or as a digital download (www.ninjastarrecords.com), fleshes out Eli’s lo-fi tunes with keyboards, saxophones and other instruments to wonderful effect. Eli croons the offbeat love songs “At the Top of the Stairs” (where he collects sea shells and rhapsodizes about a gal “in pink jeans and tambourines”) and “My Weaker Self” with his distinctly unusual, rubber-throated yowl, whereas Mary spits out the jangly title track and the loopy punk rock ditty “Eagle Fighting Zebra” (which is apparently about crazy women brawling at Mr. T’s Bowl) like a more melodic Exene Cervenka. As much as the Monolators might evoke the Modern Lovers and the Subsonics with such whimsical roots-pop songs as “Strawberry Roan,” from their 2006 CD, Our Tears Have Wings, they have their own indefinably unique style and are one of this town’s most promising new combos. (Falling James)
Also playing Tuesday:
CASTLEDOOR, FLYING TOURBILLON ORCHESTRA at Boardner’s; SOCIAL DISTORTION at House of Blues; COLIN HAY at Largo; NU-TRA, JEAN PAUL YAMAMOTO, FUXEDOS at Safari Sam’s; OLIVER FUTURE at Viper Room.
Playing Wednesday:
AMON AMARTH at Avalon; FANGS ON FUR at the Bordello; SOCIAL DISTORTION at House of Blues; THE BINGES at the Troubadour.
Thursday, December 20
Volumen Cero at the Knitting Factory
Volumen Cero are a bilingual rock trio from Echo Park with roots that extend as far as Peru, Mexico and Chile, but their sound is more Anglocentric than inspired by traditional Latin music styles. After forming in Miami in 1998, they came to wider attention in 2002 with the release of “Hollywood,” a single from their second album, Luces. A jangly lament about an actress riding around in limos while chasing her dreams in Tinseltown, the tune glides with swirling power-pop guitars and new-wave keyboards. Volumen Cero gained more exposure with their 2004 CD, Estelar, becoming one of the first Latin alternative bands to get airplay on MTV’s Advance Warning, thanks to the surging rush of acoustic guitars on “Autos.” Singer-bassist Luis Tamblay is soothingly reassuring on “Despiértame” as Marthin Chan chimes in with spiraling Cure-style lead-guitar patterns, while drummer Fernando Sánchez lays down a contemplative groove under the spacy echoes of the yearning “Diviso.” Although Tamblay sang primarily in Spanish on Estelar, the band will feature six English-language tracks on their upcoming fourth album, I Can See the Bright Spot, which also includes guest vocals from former Tijuana No! siren Ceci Bastida. (Falling James)
Also playing Thursday:
AMY FARRIS, NADINE ZAHR, SHAWN PANDER at Genghis Cohen; OZOMATLI, CHALI 2NA, CUT CHEMIST, WEAPON OF CHOICE at House of Blues; WATKINS FAMILY HOUR at Largo; THE LILYS at Spaceland; HENRY CLAY PEOPLE at Crane’s; BANYAN, NELS CLINE SINGERS at Dipiazza’s Lava Lounge.
