FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
The Brunettes: loopy, loopy lovers
Tony Mott
The Drones: cold and sober
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Seu Jorge, Bebel Gilberto at the Hollywood Bowl
Bebel Gilberto has a lot to live up to. If you believe what they say about her dad, legendary singer and guitarist João Gilberto, then bossa nova itself would have to be her older sister (he fathered the genre in 1958). Her mother is Brazilian music royalty, too, but so far the towering height of that family tree has done nothing to stunt Bebel’s growth. She held her own at Carnegie Hall at age 9 alongside Stan Getz and Miúcha (mom), and ever since that first gig, the younger Gilberto has carved out a corner for herself wrapping that lithe, honeyed voice around a breezy mix of classic bossa, light jazz and classy acoustics. Seu Jorge has no doubt found his biggest fame playing Knockout Ned in City of God and covering David Bowie for The Life Aquatic, but the favela-raised samba prince has a handful of solidly inventive albums under his belt, including last year’s America Brasil O Disco, which blends the traditional strains of his country with blues and funk. The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra backs, while fireworks light up the sky. (Chris Martins)
Sunset Strip Music Festival at Sunset Blvd. & Doheny Dr.
Last month’s Sunset Junction Street Fair offered people who wear headbands for ironic reasons a perfect opportunity to meet and mingle. This weekend, the Sunset Strip Music Festival will offer the same to people who wear them sincerely. Saturday’s big outdoor show — for which Sunset between Doheny and San Vicente will be closed, say festival organizers, for the first time ever — is scheduled to feature a motley crew of rockers old and young, including Ozzy Osbourne, Korn, Pepper, the Donnas, the Ringers and Fishbone. You’ll also get stupid-funny party rap from Shwayze and LMFAO. That night you can also catch B-Real of Cypress Hill at the Whisky or ex–Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley at the Viper Room, where he’s likely to play stuff from his new solo disc, Anomaly. If none of that appeals, try Augustana at the Roxy or Talib Kweli at the Key Club, both on Friday. Festival is Thurs.-Sat., September 10-12. (Mikael Wood)
Vivian Girls, The Beets at the Echo
Okay, it’s been exactly one year since Vivian Girls released their debut album, and one year of comparisons to the Pandoras, the Ramones, the Shangri-Las and Shonen Knife. The overexposure has fortunately not gone to their cute, bang-covered heads, even though your mom probably knows who they are and thinks they’re cool. Maybe that’s why Vivian Girls sound a tad more surly, angry and down on the new one (out just three weeks now), Everything Goes Wrong, which turns out to be a not-to-be-fucked-with steamroller as opposed to a sophomore stumble. Last November’s show at the Smell had the girls playing on borrowed gear to a steamy, sold-out room of ecstatic kids. Expect the same this time. Vivian Girls come throttling out to L.A. armed with their sophomore LP on the last night of their quick, cross-country Nightmare of Sound tour with the Beets, who are also (of course) from Brooklyn and chug along to a fashionably grungy, underwater stumble recalling Olympia, Washington, indie-rock glory days. (Wendy Gilmartin)
Also playing Friday:
DEAD MAN’S BONES at Bob Baker Marionette Theater; PETER FRAMPTON, KANSAS at the L.A. County Fair; PAOLO NUTINI, ANYA MARINA at the Wiltern; EXENE CERVENKA & JOHN DOE at Alex’s Bar; POLLYN, THE CONGRESS OF AMERICAN MUSICOLOGISTS at the Bootleg Theater; TALIB KWELI at the Key Club; CHERYL WHEELER, KENNY WHITE at McCabe’s; AUGUSTANA, HONEYHONEY, HUNTINGFIELD at the Roxy.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
Destroy L.A. feat. Flying Lotus, Daedelus, Gaslamp Killer at the Henry Fonda Theater
Not quite a festival, but more than a show, Destroy L.A. promises to gather a boatload of local “beat music” talent under one roof (one roof that isn’t the Airliner, that is), and considering the heavy-hitters crowning the bill, the event may make good on its titular threat. Since releasing the thump-happy and texturally dense Los Angeles last June, headliner Flying Lotus has continued to be this city’s most buzzed-about electronicist, and a figurehead for the Low End Theory crew. Daedelus is an elder statesman of sorts, having released his melodic beat-oriented LPs through mainstays like Plug Research, Mush and, most recently, Ninjatune. Mount Washington’s Gaslamp Killer carves aggressively banging soundscapes from old psych, funk and soul, while Jogger (whose members moonlight in Daedelus’ The Long Lost band) specializes in glitch-and-guitar compositions that evolve over time. Spoken-word weirdo Post-Foetus opens, and we hear incredibly talented up-and-comer TOKiMONSTA, the South Bay’s Jennifer Lee, is scheduled to appear as well. Plus DJs, of course. Whew. (Chris Martins)
SASSAS Anniversary feat. Carl Stone, Frosty, Jimmy Tamborello, Vinny Golia, LAFMS, others at various venues
This is a whole bunch of different events at eight different venues, in fact, within a daylong celebration of the Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound (SASSAS) ongoing Sound concert series, stalwartly thrusting the L.A. experimental-music banner ever higher. Starting in Eagle Rock and ending in Venice, the day features a cornucopia of the best in the new sound-art, electronic and extreme-music spheres. These include: Carl Stone’s performance at Eight Veil (7174 Sunset Blvd., Hlywd.; 323-960-5723) as part of Into Infinity, an audio-loop collaboration between Dublab and Creative Commons; memorial tributes to composer James Tenney and microtonal guitarist Rod Poole (the latter with Nels Cline, Joseph Hammer, Tom Recchion, Devin Sarno and others); a reunion of sorts by several of the LAFMS bands of legend, including members of Airway, Doo-Dooettes and Le Forte Four; and performances at Amoeba Records by artists from the crucial Cold Blue label, including Rick Cox, Michael Jon Fink and Chas Smith. These events are stone FREE, and that includes an after-party at Beyond Baroque in Venice. Complete schedule and map of the day’s events at soundnet.org/sound/2009. (John Payne)
