Also playing Saturday:
Daniel Francis Doyle
Sly & Robbie
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THE SYLVIA JUNCOSA BAND, THE COSMETICATORS, THE DEFENDANTS, THE CRYSTELLES at American Legion Post 206; TELEPATHE, ABE VIGODA, NITE JEWEL at the Smell; MUSIC OF BATTLESTAR GALACTICA at California Plaza; J.D. SOUTHER, JILL SOBULE at El Rey Theatre; LES CLAYPOOL at the Ventura Theatre; THE CHUCK DUKOWSKI SEXTET, DJ KEITH MORRIS, THE KRIS SPECIAL at Echo Curio; GREEN JELLY, 45 GRAVE at the Knitting Factory; WENDY & LISA at Largo at the Coronet.
SUNDAY, JUNE 14
DANIEL FRANCIS DOYLE AT THE SMELL
In the grand old tradition of watching one-man bands attempt the impossible in the cruel hope that their entire shtick will collapse in humiliating disaster, you really have to give it up for Daniel Francis Doyle, an Austin octopus who makes a most disarmingly feral noise on recorded guitar loops as he whips and lashes his polybeat tubs while confessing and pleading in sputtering yelps on his trusty headset mic. Far from a merely amusing novelty act, Doyle is commitment personified, pushing his and our physical and emotional parameters to scary and dramatic extremes; he’s feverishly pursued this punishment for a decade now, in his solo role, in the late ’n’ lamented Early Lines and currently as a member of When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth. A real hair-shirt delight, Doyle’s grippingly beautiful new We Bet Our Money on You album is on the rather relevant blogger label We Shot JR Records. Also at Pehrspace, June 15. (John Payne)
Also playing Sunday:
DICK DALE at the Ventura Theatre; MIKE STINSON, DOGWEED, ELLIOTT RANDALL, BIRD & MOON at the Echo (5 p.m.); URINALS, GESTAPO KHAZI at the Echo (10 p.m.); BILLY RAY CYRUS at House of Blues; MARSHALL CRENSHAW at McCabe’s.
MONDAY, JUNE 15
A CAMP AT THE TROUBADOUR
“We’re gonna party like it’s 1699,” Nina Persson sings at the opening of A Camp’s second album, Colonia. “Slaughter the rabbits/the doves and the boars . Let’s raise our glasses/to murderous asses like you.” Despite such quaint, old-timey sentiments, the music sounds more like an ’80s pop song than, say, the country-style settings on A Camp’s self-titled 2001 debut, which was produced by Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous. In fact, the best thing about the new CD from this side project by Cardigans singer Persson, her guitarist-husband, Nathan Larson (ex–Shudder to Think), and Atomic Swing guitarist Niclas Frisk is the way their sugary, easy-listening tunes are occasionally contrasted by sarcastic lyrics like “You’re my America . Lay your big dirty hands on my innocence.” Guest musicians, including violinist Joan Wasser, Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha and singer Anna Ternheim, help to give the glossy arrangements a little more flavor, although the blend of influences sometimes leads to unsettling combinations like “Chinatown,” where the wonderfully kaleidoscopic guitars and vapid vocals come off like Television backing Stevie Nicks. (Falling James)
Also playing Monday:
VON BONDIES at the Viper Room; MARSHALL CRENSHAW at the Grammy Museum; OLIVER FUTURE, CHRIS GARNEAU, ALEXANDRA HOPE at the Echo; EL GRAN SILENCIO, VIERNES 13, LA BANDA SKALAVERA at the Knitting Factory; DANIEL FRANCIS DOYLE, THAT GHOST, EAR PWR, ADVENTURE, THE DOZAL BROTHERS, KYLE H. MABSON at Pehrspace; CASTLEDOOR, DEEP SEA DIVER, AGENT RIBBONS at Spaceland.
TUESDAY, JUNE 16
JOHANNA KUNIN AT THE BOOTLEG THEATER
KCRW darling Johanna Kunin studied improvisational jazz, avant-garde chord structures and experimental classical music while at Seattle’s Cornish College of the Arts. But her early piano lessons with Grandma back in chilly Minnesota may have influenced her even more strongly. Surely both aesthetic tangents helped to develop the schizophrenic allure and warm-hearted complexity that underlie her strange pop creations. Kunin’s competent stride was forged by Chan Marshall’s aching brilliance and the Fiery Furnaces’ Blueberry Boat–era, lyrical bad-dream designs, but Kunin’s got her own thing going on too without a doubt. Rarely have twinkling keys, woodwind orchestrations and covers of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg’s work been pulled off simultaneously with such ghostly, lovely ease. With an eight-piece backing band, Kunin is usually situated at the keys, never wailing nor whining, but always thinking, constructing the music carefully and making it look easy — which, in the vapid pool of current female touring talent (not to mention those ladies who rarely lead the band), is a big upgrade of rejuvenating proportions. (Wendy Gilmartin)
Also playing Tuesday:
ART BRUT, MIIKE SNOW, GOLDEN YEARS at Spaceland; THE SECTION QUARTET, SAM PHILLIPS, GRANT-LEE PHILLIPS at Largo at the Coronet; HEADLIGHT, CAPILLARY ACTION, 60 WATT KID, HOWARDAMB at Echo Curio; WILLY PORTER, RAINING JANE at the Hotel Café; MISSISSIPPI MAN, ZACH LUPETIN & THE DUSTBOWL REVIVAL, LEFTOVER CUTIES at Silverlake Lounge.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17
ZAP MAMA AT EL REY THEATRE
Congo-born, Belgian-raised Marie Daulne founded Zap Mama with the goal of creating a musical bridge between Africa and Europe. Almost 20 years later, she’s done that and then some, transforming what began as a five-woman a cappella outfit to an ongoing multinational collaboration. She’s bridged generation gaps as well, not only working with pretty much the entire Okayplayer massive (The Roots, Talib Kweli, Common, Erykah Badu .), but spotlighting the vocals of her grown daughter on the latest Zap Mama album, ReCreation. The new record continues Daulne’s march into a future Pangaea, where Brazilian cadences frolic next to Malian guitar, next to choral vocals, next to hip-hop production, ad infinitum. But rather than whip these myriad influences into a bland, flavor-negating platter, Daulne has become a master at vibrancy, largely avoiding the potential for cheese. The new LP has its exceptions (G. Love stops by), but they’re made up for via songs like “Chill Out,” which features Tony Allen on drums. Live, all that inspiration becomes a living, heaving pan-global big band to be experienced at least once in a lifetime. (Chris Martins)
