Rock Picks: Winifred E. Eye, Stagecoach, Marianne Dissard, Thao

Ximena Sariñana

EMI TELEVISA MUSIC

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More About

• DITTY BOPS McCabe
• Winifred Eye
• Ximena Sarinana
• Marianne Dissard
• Thao Nguyen

FRIDAY, APRIL 24

Winifred E. Eye at the Smell

Winifred E. Eye have been around for nearly a decade playing exactly the kind of crusty, creepy music that you’d expect to hear emanating from a rusted old Oakland warehouse in the dead of night. Consider them the Bay Area’s answer to Tom Waits — a comparison certainly heard in the wizened voice of singer Aaron Calvert — offset by the more traditional psych-blues of the Black Angels and the odd-duck pop construction Isaac Brock tapped into for Ugly Casanova. The band have kept relatively quiet since releasing their sadly slept-on 2002 album, The Dirt Tier (released by Luckyhorse Industries, which also put out music by Love As Laughter at the time), but a new album, Til I Prune (Antenna Farm) promises to get the motor oil flowing through those grit-caked veins again. The night’s bill leans slightly more country-fried, so expect to hear Calvert’s gruff grumble slightly smoothed out over some good, clean twang. (Chris Martins)

L.A. Weekend at the Ricardo Montalban Theatre

The first annual L.A. Weekly L.A. Weekend, a two-day cultural festival that celebrates the writers, musicians, filmmakers, icons, culinary geniuses and overall creative souls who make this city so vital, occurs Friday and Saturday in Hollywood. Friday’s musical offerings include: DJ sets by L.A. punk icons Henry Rollins and Keith Morris; a performance by the Human Ear Collective, which has released cutting-edge lo-fi syrup disco and pop by Nite Jewel, Geneva Jacuzzi and Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti (Jacuzzi will perform); and a choreographed piece by dancer/Hysteria Dance Company co-founder/Sweaty Sunday instructor/We Are the World member Ryan Heffington. On Saturday, the Weekend will host the premiere of the documentary The Heart Is a Drum Machine, a film that seeks to better understand the relationship among music, body and life. A gig by Matt Sorum, who appears in the film, and “special guests” will follow the screening. (Randall Roberts)

Also playing Friday:

AL STEWART at McCabe’s; QUEENSRYCHE at House of Blues; PIGEON JOHN, ROOTBEER, TENA JONES, MR. J. MEDEIROS at the Roxy; JON BRION AND FRIENDS at Largo at the Coronet; VOICE ON TAPE, GAMBLE HOUSE, BILLYGOAT, YELLOW RED SPARKS at Pehrspace; TYRONE WELLS at the Hotel Café; ANGIE MATSON at Home.

SATURDAY, APRIL 25

Stagecoach Festival at Empire Polo Club

With its mix of high-gloss chart toppers (Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney, Okie empress Reba McEntire) and some of bluegrass’ most distinguished tradition bearers (incomparable veterans Ralph Stanley and Earl Scruggs), annual megahoedown Stagecoach has made an admirable stab at spanning the country-music spectrum. While the bill is peppered with disposable curiosities like ’70s drek hounds Poco, and Lone Star psychoshtick meatheads Reverend Horton Heat, there’s more than enough additional legit talent to spark an exodus inland. Charlie Daniels, f’rinstance, rates as one of country and rock’s mightiest titans; the dude has done it all — a hardscrabble rockabilly start, had his songs covered by Elvis Presley, enjoyed a long alliance with Bob Dylan, helped cook up Southern rock. There’s a lot more than “Devil Went Down to Georgia” going on with Daniels, and the threat of a visit from Austin gonzo provocateur Jerry Jeff Walker, the wildman who assisted in the Outlaw movement’s ignition, guarantees a high and mighty earful. The Stagecoach clan also had the very good taste to include James Intveld, one of Southern California’s finest and criminally underappreciated stylists, nicely rounding out this formidable musical buffet. 81-800 Avenue 51, Indio. Also Sun. (Jonny Whiteside)

Ximena Sarinana at Avalon

Ximena Sariñana is the portrait of domestic bliss on the cover of her 2008 debut album, dutifully doing her stitching while gussied up like a repressed ’50s housewife in a navy-blue dress with white polka dots. Of course, the word she’s stitching, Mediocre, which also serves as the album’s blandly sarcastic title, indicates that we’re not dealing with some typical vapid Mexican pop princess. Instead, she’s closer in spirit to Julieta Venegas and Ceci Bastida in that she sings mellow, melodic songs that are much more intelligent and artfully crafted than mainstream pop. Sariñana differs from some of her peers, however, in that there are less traditional Mexican-folk influences. Soulful, sophisticated ballads like “Normal” sound more like a Spanish-language Carole King. The CD was nominated for several Grammys and Latin Grammys — pretty heady stuff for a performer who got her start as a child actor in telenovelas. (Falling James)

Also playing Saturday:

THE GO-GO’S at House of Blues; LOS INQUIETOS DEL NORTE at the Nokia Theatre; EMITH at Genghis Cohen; CARNEY at the Troubadour; FASTBALL at the Mint; CELTIC WOMEN at the Greek Theatre; JOHN DOE at the Getty Center; YOU ME & IOWA, WE FLY BY NIGHT, THE HECTORS, AVI BUFFALO at Spaceland; GLEN PHILLIPS, GREG LASWELL, BRANDON MCCULLOCH & THE DEADBIRDS at the Hotel Café; LUCKY DRAGONS, STELLALUNA, NICOLE KIDMAN, CARDIAC PARTY, TREASURE MAMMAL at the Smell; BANG CAMARO at the Viper Room; DAVID WILCOX at McCabe’s.