Friday/December/4
Sandy Kim
Magic bus: Two of these Girls are not like the others.
Jayme Thornton
Cold Cave: Life is but a dream.
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The Airborne Toxic Event with Calder Quartet at Walt Disney Concert Hall
In what seems like no time at all, Los Feliz’s the Airborne Toxic Event has gone from being a locally touted indie rock troupe to a bona fide international phenomenon. Singer and songwriter Mikel Jollett (a former editor of Filter) started the band after a series of personal tragedies, and quickly saw his luck improve. With the kind of trajectory usually reserved for acts with far less soul, ATE landed a Spaceland residency, then an appearance on Carlson Daly, followed by a record deal with a Shout! Factory subsidiary that morphed into a contract with Island Records. All on the strength of an album’s worth of songs (found on ATE’s eponymous 2008 debut), a string-laden batch of romantic and anthemic rock tunes that first turned this city’s collective ear a couple of years ago. The Disney Hall event is more than a homecoming show — it’s set to be a celebratory extravaganza involving multiple guests (including frequent collaborators Calder Quartet) and various unexpected asides, promising to honor “the music and culture of East Los Angeles.” (Chris Martins)
Maude Maggart at the Gardenia Room
Fiona Apple’s sister Maude Maggart is a captivating singer in her own right, although stylistically she’s more of a cabaret performer who revels in classics from the Great American Songbook. And while the concept of a modern singer digging into the merry wordplay and bright melodies of such old standards has indeed become increasingly standard, Maggart manages to breathe new life into these well-traveled tunes. Her version of “My Funny Valentine” is icily beautiful instead of predictably mawkish, as she trills with a delicately birdlike quiver that soars airily over a restrained tinkling of piano keys. She’s just as absorbing when she’s swimming around in a sea of stars on romantic ballads like “Deep Purple” as she is weaving through a thicket of violins and piano on a playful remake of Irving Berlin’s “Pack Up Your Sins.” Maggart infuses her 2007 CD, Dreamland, a collaboration with actor Brent Spiner, with clever production touches, including scraps of evocative dialogue and sound effects, which transform tracks like “I Remember You” from straightforward reinterpretations into something much grander and, yes, dreamier. Also Sat. (Falling James)
Also playing Friday:
CHARLIE HUNTER, ERIC KALB, ALAN FERBER at the Mint; KRS-ONE at the Roxy; THE CRANBERRIES, GRIFFIN HOUSE at Club Nokia; COLD CAVE, FORMER GHOST, ABE VIGODA at Eagle Rock Center for the Arts; PETER CASE at McCabe’s; LITTLE DRAGON at El Rey Theatre; BOBB BRUNO, SUBTLE SELVES, LOS FANTASMAS CARMESI, SLUMBER BEAST at the Smell; NOFX, MAD CADDIES, DEAD TO ME at Fox Theater Pomona; TODD RUNDGREN at the Orpheum; THE SHYS, CASTLEDOOR, BLACK HOLLIES at the Echo; BIG WHUP, WATERCOLOR PAINTINGS, SO MANY WIZARDS, COBRA LILIES at the Echo Curio; LESS THAN JAKE, FISHBONE, THE SWELLERS, SAGE at the House of Blues; JON BRION at Largo at the Coronet; DIRTY MERCY, THE SPECTACLES, DAN KRIKORIAN, KAY HANLEY at Molly Malone’s.
Saturday/December/5
Girls at the Troubador
Since the last time Girls played L.A. (in September opening for Cass McCombs at the Bootleg Theater), they’ve jet-propelled to atmospheric levels of popularity that border on overexposure. Critics dig them, writers are creaming over Christopher Owens’ culty background story, radio loves them — Jason Bentley plays them practically daily on his morning show — and their first album, Album, is guaranteed to be at the tippy top of many best-of, year-end lists. So what’s a smitten fan to do? Judging from the show at the Bootleg, we know Owens, Chet “JR” White and company are capable of a ferocious, audience-wowing output, but the debate continues as the press and play get hotter and hotter — can Girls sustain the hype? For now, it might not matter. Girls’ songs and sound seem to be a bottomless grab bag of tricks everybody adores — Owens’ Buddy Holly voice, the weepy, I’ll-always-be-fucked-in-the-head sentiments with such melodic ease, and the mountains of reverb and nostalgic pop stanzas that never get old. Enjoy the buzz now, before the possible hangover tomorrow. (Wendy Gilmartin)
KIIS-FM Jingle Ball at Nokia Theatre
Pointing my browser to KIIS-FM’s Web site to check for any late-breaking additions to this year’s Jingle Ball lineup, I landed on a page promising appearances by both Chris Brown and Rihanna. A callous instance of stunt-booking gone wrong? Fortunately, no — ’twas only a leftover ad for the annual holiday show’s 2008 edition. Jingle Ball’s latest bill features no such discord, though it is as bracingly eclectic as always: new-Nashville superstar Taylor Swift, capping a year in which she’s won just about everything there is to win; R&B jobber-turned-starlet Keri Hilson; hip-hop veteran Fabolous, a man seemingly unable to turn down any gig he’s offered; and the Ting Tings, riding high on a recent endorsement from Jay-Z. They’ll be joined by electro-emo brats 3OH!3 and club-rap clowns LMFAO, as well as Jay Sean and Jason DeRulo, a pair of young one-hit wonders who’ll spend 2010 struggling against obsolescence. Consider this stocking stuffed. (Mikael Wood)
