Rock Picks: Mulatu Astatke, The Soft Pack, Katy Perry, Merle Haggard

Also playing Saturday:

BILL MEDLEY at Civic Arts Plaza; LITTLE ANTHONY & THE IMPERIALS at Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts; DJ QUIK, ZOOLAY, J-MO, SEVEN at Key Club; KEEL at the Knitting Factory; Stan Ridgway at McCabe’s; LUCY LAWLESS at the Roxy; BABYLAND at the Smell; THE BLACK HEART PROCESSION, WARPAINT, THE MUMLERS at Spaceland; THREE BAD JACKS at the Troubadour.

Katy Perry: Beware of the cliches.

Bryan Wynacht

NOFX: 25 years of irreverence

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• Katy Perry
• The Viper Room
• Hal Blaine
• Punk Rock
• Underground Hip-Hop

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1

Mulatu Astatke, Cut Chemist, Egon and Quantic at the Harriet and Charles Luckman Complex (Pasadena)
“Timeless” is a new concert series curated by Los Angeles’ ArtDontSleep and Mochilla, highlighting gifted composers and arrangers from around the world. Their inaugural show assembles a 15-piece orchestra to back Mulatu Astatke, the ambassador for Ethiopian jazz since the 1970s; fans of Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers will recognize his hypnotic sound immediately. His appearance on the classic Ethio-jazz collection Ethiopiques, Vol. 4 helped to cement his place in the canon. The “Timeless” series places composers’ music into a contemporary frame. On Sunday’s Astatke show, DJs/producers Cut Chemist, Egon and the U.K.’s Quantic will perform sets. Future “Timeless” shows feature Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Carlos Niño working with the music of J Dilla (February 22), Brazil’s Arthur Verocai (March 15) and L.A.’s own David Axelrod (April 5). (Oliver Wang)

Also playing Sunday:

CALVIN JOHNSON, SHARON CHESLOW, DEVON WILLIAMS at the Smell.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2

Nightmares on Wax at the Echoplex
You all might recall with fondness the funky mess orchestrated with such deft danceability by England’s Nightmares on Wax, a.k.a. George Evelyn, on such crushing classix as ’95’s Smokers Delight, the rip-tastic Carboot Soul of 1999, or his comeback — or rejuvenation period — mix album of 2000 in the essential DJ-Kicks series. In a way, Evelyn never really does anything so revolutionary, yet the sheer consistency of surprise in his stuff has remained pretty extraordinary. A good example of how the man can bowl you over is his latest on Warp Records, Thought So, one majorly butt-kickin’ piece of sonic art. Wicked dub, the furriest and beeriest of big-bass party grooves; all manner of further Kool & the Gangism gobbage arrives replete with Evelyn’s growing island-groove consciousness and forays into noirish, soundtracky typa shit. There’s even some quirky BBC interval music and — well, he still loves to toss in a bit of everything, almost to bursting point. This true eclectic’s skills (and taste) are mind-blowing, due mainly to a never-ending feeling of surprise, and to the man’s palpable elation, pouring down like sugar stars on top of each track. (John Payne)

Also playing Monday:

CROOKED FINGERS at the Bordello; 60 WATT KID at Echo Curio; LE SWITCH, THE WHISPERTOWN 2000, WRONG WAY at Spaceland; DEVOTCHKA at the Viper Room.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3

Miranda Lee Richards at Spaceland
If Miranda Lee Richards picked up anything from Anton Newcombe, the eccentric Brian Jonestown Massacre front man who invited Richards to join his rotating-door trash-psych outfit for a spell back in the late ’90s, it certainly wasn’t Newcombe’s prodigious work rate: Eight years after she released her excellent solo debut, The Herethereafter, Richards has finally gotten around to completing a sophomore disc, Light of X, whose overdue February 10 release she is celebrating with a month of Tuesday-night Spaceland gigs. It’s unclear why Light of X took so long to finish, since it more or less picks up right where The Herethereafter left off — think pretty hippie-chick vocals laid over rootsy acoustic-guitar strums and shuffling psych-folk drums. Maybe she was just waiting for Dubya to get the hell out of Dodge. At Spaceland, Richards will be accompanied by a four-piece band, including guitarist (and Light of X producer) Rick Parker. (Mikael Wood)

Also playing Tuesday:

FRUITBATS, SARA CAHOONE, LUKE TOP at the Echo; THE BRONX at the Echoplex; CARY BROTHERS, GREG LASWELL, JIM BIANCO at the Hotel Café; MESHUGGAH at House of Blues; BUSHWALLA at the Mint.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4

The Soft Pack at the Echo
The Soft Pack (formerly the Muslims, as of November) got together after graduating from Torrey Pines High in San Diego, and it didn’t take long for these third-generation suburban punks to pick up on the Stooges’ slop, the Standells’ fuzz and the Replacements’ hooks. The Soft Pack keep the music spare and skeletal; they’re judicious in their editing of ramped-up pop, tight riffs and few words; plus they rock a sweater-vest-clad Richie Cunningham style that’s so much hotter than the contrived Johnny Thunders look. It’s this confident combination that made them one of 2008’s “bands to watch,” and generated a heap of blogging buzz. (It’s also what started rumors they moved to L.A. because they were too good for the Diego. Ouch.) Their last gig at the Echo was truly infectious, and it’s a good idea to catch this one — they probably won’t play a venue this small again. (Wendy Gilmartin)