Rock Picks: Electric Daisy Carnival, Explosion in the Sky, Rodriguez

RODRIGUEZ, BRIGHTBLACK MORNING LIGHT AT HOLLYWOOD PALLADIUM
For decades, Sixto Diaz Rodriguez labored in obscurity as a construction worker in Detroit, no one vaguely aware that back in the day he had released two records now regarded as classics of American rock. The politically charged psychedelic folk of 1970’s Cold Fact has frequently been placed on a pedestal alongside the best of Love and even Bob Dylan. With the goal of creating the perfect pop album, Rodriguez recorded 1971’s Coming From Reality in London with several of that era’s prime rock heavies, including guitarist Chris Spedding and producer Steve Rowland (Pretty Things, PJ Proby). Unknown to Rodriguez, Cold Fact at some point got bootlegged and released in South Africa, where it became a huge sensation. This eventually led to his re-emergence as a performer, including at sold-out arena shows in South Africa. Both of these albums have now been re-released by Light in the Attic Records, sparking further joy in Rodriguez’s gritty, Detroit-soulful take on the savory pop pie. Wilderness mystics Brightblack Morning Light perform the steamily shimmering swamp gospel of their latest, Motion to Rejoin (Matador). (John Payne)

VNV NATION, WAR TAPES, AYRIA AT CLUB NOKIA
“California may have its stereotype image for so many but not for us,” said VNV Nation’s lead figure, Ronan Harris, recently, explaining the start of the group’s new tour for its latest album, Of Faith, Power and Glory, tonight. While the Irish-born, Hamburg-based Harris referred to his band’s regular return to the area and its noticeably passionate, varied L.A. fan base, it’s a description just as easily applied to VNV Nation itself. While the group’s origins in the 1990s lay with powerful industrial/dance efforts — a song like “Darkangel” can always be heard at almost any club featuring that style — in recent years VNV Nation’s increasingly majestic fusions of pop immediacy, punk-inspired exhortations, celebratory rave melodies and even gentle ballads have resulted in a stream of ever-more-memorable singles and albums. Of Faith, Power and Glory continues the pattern with ease, Harris’ warm rasp delivering lyrics of often-philosophical complexity in deceptively straightforward language, while instantly catchy songs like “The Great Divide” and “Where There Is Light” show that the band’s ear for a hook has sharpened. Recent VNV Nation live shows are even more of a rave-up in all senses of the term, percussionist Mark Jackson leading the musicians with his full-on drum-pad attacks while Harris works the crowd with both wit and full-throated commands to dance. But, Harris adds with a smile, he appreciates meeting Angelenos in particular for “having a fun chat about life, the universe and the price of tacos.” (Ned Raggett)

Also playing Saturday:

THE CONTOURS & SYLVESTER POTTS, JIMMY CLANTON, CLEVE DUNCAN & THE PENGUINS, THE VIBRATIONS, THE OLYMPICS, OTHERS at Gibson Amphitheatre; THE ZOMBIES, THE YARDBIRDS, THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP at the Wiltern; MARC COHN, KATIE HERZIG at the Canyon; TELEKINESIS, THE BOAT PEOPLE, ONE TRICK PONY at the Echoplex; A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS, DRAMARAMA, WHEN IN ROME, GENE LOVES JEZEBEL at House of Blues; WENDY & LISA at Largo at the Coronet.

SUNDAY, JUNE 28

ADELE, ETTA JAMES, JANELLE MONÁE AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL
It might seem like the heights of chutzpah for Adele to headline over one of her idols — beyond-legendary blues-jazz diva Etta James — but the young British singer has a wonderfully intoxicating voice and exudes poise and wisdom that go beyond her years. Her songs are more sophisticated and less cautiously retro than Duffy’s, and she’s obviously not a train wreck like Amy Winehouse (although Adele did cancel a tour once so she could get drunk and pursue a boyfriend). She’s as convincing belting out modern R&B (“Chasing Pavements”) and stormy soul rock (“Many Shades of Black”) as she is confiding intimate ballads (“Hometown Glory”). Etta James’ stylistic range (and cultural impact) is certainly more expansive, whether she’s bopping her way around “Night and Day” or slowly unfolding “My Funny Valentine.” Despite a distressing tendency to indulge in brassy renditions of dopey rock tunes by the Eagles and Alice Cooper, James is still amazing when she has the right material, as on her 2006 album of standards, Love Songs. Opener Janelle Monáe launches the evening with comparatively manic and inventively arranged art-pop/new wave/funk psychedelia. She explodes like a comet in a dozen directions at once with so many different ideas and personalities, and all of them are fascinating. (Falling James)

DAT POLITICS, CAPTAIN AHAB, BATTLEHOOCH, FOOT VILLAGE AT THE SMELL
They once released an album called Taco Flirt, but the members of Lille, France’s DAT Politics shouldn’t be mistaken for on-album pranksters (nor for the similarly named and fast food–curious Das Racist). On the contrary, this trio creates a glitch-dance hybrid that’s earned the group not only comparisons to, but collaborations with artsy electronicists like Matmos, Kid 606 and Blevin Blectum. DAT Politics do infuse their hyperactive beat collages with a certain lightness and occasional humor (not to mention orchestral hits and blaring synth), which probably has a lot to do with why the live experience is so damn enjoyable. The night’s opening triptych should loosen things up if nothing else: Captain Ahab is the proud author of such irony-dripping, Right Said Fred–copping raps as “’Snakes on the Brain” and “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Booty”; Battlehooch vacillate between spare, autumnal folk and spazzy Zappa punk; and Foot Village are, quite literally, a “drum ’n’ shout assembly.” (Chris Martins)