ROCK PICKS: Black Francis, Bob Dylan, Caroline Weeks, Casiokids

Also, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, The Dodos, Buddy Guy and others

Comments (0) By L.A. Weekly Music Critics Wednesday, Aug 5 2009

OMAR FARUK TEKBILEK AT THE SKIRBALL CULTURAL CENTER
Turkish multi-instrumentalist Omar Faruk Tekbilek is a virtuoso interpreter of vast-ranging Middle Eastern traditional musics who sees it as his duty to draw conscious connections between artistic expression and spirituality. It’s a calling that has found him worldwide renown as a cultural ambassador of sorts, who uses the power and essential empathy of his music to build bridges between often quite disparate audiences. A scholarly authority on the deeply intertwined musical histories that span the Mediterranean and North African regions, Tekbilek pushes his ensemble in elaborately constructed compositions that explode with fiery technique on a fascinating variety of instruments, emanating even to the uninitiated a joyful and moving humanity. This show is free, but there’s limited seating available, and it’s on a first-come, first-served basis. No street parking permitted, but there’s lots of on-site parking, a mere $5 per car (cash only). (John Payne)

The Brooklyn-via-Venezuela band Los Amigos Invisibles

Roxy Epoxy: “I want to own you.”

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Also playing Thursday:

VINCENT GALLO & SEAN LENNON at Largo at the Coronet; THE REJ3CTZ, COLD FLAMEZ, THE BANGZ at the Roxy; IVAN NEVILLE’S DUMPSTAPHUNK at the Key Club; TLEILAXU MUSIC MACHINE, ALASKAS, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FLORIDA, ANTHONY’S REVENGE at the Smell; LIL WAYNE, YOUNG JEEZY, SOULJA BOY, PLEASURE P, DRAKE at the Gibson Amphitheatre; THE IDAN RAICHEL PROJECT WITH ELIJAH EMANUEL at Santa Monica Pier; BURNING BRIDES, JONNEINE ZAPATA, MARY MAGDALAN, SABROSA PURR at the Echo; COCO MONTOYA at Pershing Square.