Rock Picks: Slick Rick, Tapes 'n Tapes, Kate Nash

Slick Rick at the Rhythm Lounge

There isn’t a more appropriately named rapper than Slick Rick. The London-born, Bronx-based MC is smooth like a velvet tracksuit and spits constant free-flowing rhymes like water at Niagara Falls. Although many know of MC Ricky D as the originator of “La Di Da Di,” covered on Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle, his debut full-length, 1988’s The Great Adventures of Slick Rick, is near the top of most every hip-hop critic’s best-of list thanks to rap standards such as “Children’s Story,” “Indian Girl (An Adult Story),” “Teenage Love” and “Mona Lisa.” Hip-hop naysayers argue that the genre is nothing more than someone talking over a beat. Little do they know how accurate that statement is when discussing Rick the Ruler. Many MCs go for an unnatural vocal style to sound unique, but the man born Ricky Walters never comes off as anything but calm, comfortable and in control. 245 Pine Ave., Level 2, Long Beach. Also at the Roxy, Sat. (Ryan Ritchie)

Katie Cassidy

Northern State defy their photographer’s plea to look into the camera.

Cloud Cult obediently look directly into the camera.

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• DISASTER Alex
• Slick Rick
• Kate Nash
• Hip-Hop and Rap
• Heavy Metal

Tapes ’n Tapes at the Troubadour

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Cloud Cult obediently look directly into the camera.

HOZWE

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Mystery Hangup: Don’t they have Caller ID?

Uniting the lyrical interests of Pavement and the Decemberists (it can be done!) with Pixies-style soigné (and sex-nerd triumph not unlike that enjoyed by Fall Out Boy), Tapes ’n Tapes have enough smarts to get away clean with reworking the indie-rock songbook. From Minneapolis (refreshing!), the band seriously benefited from a classic Web 2.0 push involving a critical mass of hype for their first effort, The Loon. Later, Tapes ’n Tapes served as the center of a viral online clip from MTV’s sketch show Human Giant, wherein the blogging vox populi are violently coerced into promoting the band. The clip was only medium funny (the “TV” part of MTV hasn’t been really good since Sifl and Olly), but its message, now an old one, was sharply made. Validating all of this attention, Tapes ’n Tapes recently released Walk It Off, which is, predictably, more of the same thing. Again. (Kate Carraway)

Underground Road to Candyland at Alex’s Bar

Todd Congelliere flirted with pop music for more than a decade, but his punk roots kept him from committing to the genre until recently. The San Pedro resident dabbled in harmony on 1994’s Dance My Dunce by F.Y.P., a group that started as a hardcore band, then morphed into a pop-punk trio by the time of 2000’s Toys That Kill. The ex–professional skater continued with Toys That Kill, a still-active group that performs Buzzcocks-style punk. But that wasn’t enough, as Congelliere formed Underground Railroad to Candyland to perform covers in TTK’s downtime. The covers thing didn’t stick as the singer-guitarist wrote material that became Bird Roughs, a 12-track disc comprised of clean guitars, surf-influenced instrumentals, big hooks and a steady rhythm section. The album is the first release in Congelliere’s career that ditches dissonance to focus on power-pop delight, resulting in the culmination of a songwriter whose evolution continues to improve and inspire. (Ryan Ritchie)

Also playing Friday:

CAT POWER, BLIND MELON, WAYNE KRAMER, ROBIN ZANDER, STEVEN TYLER, ALICE COOPER, SLASH at Henry Fonda Theater; THE PHARCYDE at Blue Cafe; HONEY HONEY at the Hotel Café; AGENT ORANGE, THE BILLYBONES at Malibu Inn; MICHAEL WHITMORE at Taix; THE DONNAS at the Viper Room.

SATURDAY, MAY 10 

Northern State at the Knitting Factory

This all-lady New York hip-hop trio have ceded much of the media buzz they attracted when they started releasing records back in 2002 — either a sign that all-lady New York hip-hop trios are flourishing (probably not) or that the media have moved on to other novelties (um, yeah). But a lack of mainstream notice hasn’t dimmed the women of Northern State’s enthusiasm for what they do: On last year’s Can I Keep This Pen? (their debut for Mike Patton’s Ipecac label after a stint with Sony), Spero, Hesta Prynn and Sprout throw down about working hard, dealing with sucka mofos and wanting to have their minds blown over tracks that downplay the differences between ’80s electro, ’90s rap and ’00s indie rock. Onstage, Northern State devote more of their attention to putting on a show than to polishing their flow — a welcome rarity in hip-hop of any stripe. (Mikael Wood)

The Duke Spirit at the Troubadour

In making their second full-length CD, the Duke Spirit burrowed themselves into the Mojave Desert and recorded an album with Chris Goss (Masters of Reality) that was eventually titled — inappropriately enough — Neptune (Shangri-La Music). It’s a fascinating collision of influences, with the grand melodramatics of the British band’s heavy rock taken to even weirder places by Goss and desert-rat cronies like Dave Catching (Eagles of Death Metal). Above it all hovers the serene presence of Liela Moss, whose charismatic vocals sometimes come off like a modern-day equivalent to the Shocking Blue’s late lead singer, Mariska Veres. Neptune is a dreamy, druggy and dangerous album, ranging from the frantic, glittery crush of “Send a Little Love Token” to the hypnotizing ballad “Wooden Heart,” which is wrapped up in a cottony clouds of soft noise like the Jesus & Mary Chain. Moss coos icily over “The Step and the Walk,” whose ’60s-style shadowy pop verses are blown up into big rock choruses. “This Ship Was Built to Last,” meanwhile, is like a sugary girl-group confection on steroids. Great stuff. (Falling James)