Music Picks: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Bridget St. John, Bad Astronaut, Kings of Leon

MONDAY/JULY/12

PHOTO BY WILLIAM RICHARDS

Still wailin': the Wailers (minus, obviously, Marley, Tosh, etc.)

Bulletproof bouillabaisse: Antibalas. See Thursday.

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The Echoplex

1154 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Category: Bars and Clubs

Region: Out of Town

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Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

8800 Irvine Center Dr
Irvine, CA 92603

Category: Music Venues

Region: Out of Town

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KINGS OF LEON, BUILT TO SPILL AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL
After finally matching their U.K. success here at home with 2008's Only by the Night (in particular its pair of crossover hits, "Sex on Fire" and "Use Somebody"), Tennessee's Kings of Leon have been camped out in New York lately working on a follow-up album they've said might be out by the end of this year. For the summer, though, they're crisscrossing the United States, playing the kinds of outdoor-amphitheater shows for which their tailgate-appropriate arena rock was seemingly intended. According to England's NME, the Kings played a handful of new songs at a Hyde Park gig last week, as well as a cover of "Where Is My Mind?" by the Pixies — hopefully we'll get the same. Idaho-based grunge-guitar openers Built to Spill haven't been thrilling in about a decade, but they nearly always get the job done. (Mikael Wood)

Also playing Monday: BMI'S ACOUSTIC LOUNGE at Genghis Cohen; THE SWEET REMAINS, AUSTIN LUCAS & CORY BRANAN at the Hotel Café; STREETLIGHT MANIFESTO, SUPERVILLAINS, THE WONDER YEARS, DON POTTHAST at the Key Club; SUMMER DARLING at Spaceland; UNKLE MONKEY at the Waterfront.

TUESDAY/JULY/13

BRIDGET ST. JOHN, ELISA RANDAZZO AT SPACELAND
Tonight the British folksinger Bridget St. John makes an extremely rare appearance on these shores. She came to attention in England in the late 1960s, when she recorded the first of three albums for the late John Peel's influential label Dandelion Records. With generic song titles like "Ask Me No Questions" and "Hole in My Heart," St. John isn't an especially memorable lyricist. Instead, the chief appeal of her music lies in the gentle grandeur of her songs and in her tremulous vocal style. More than just a simple folkie, St. John is arty and experimental enough to have collaborated with Mike Oldfield and the Soft Machine's Kevin Ayers. Elisa Randazzo opens the evening with a set of acoustic-based tunes from her new Drag City release, Bruises & Butterflies, which includes two collaborations with St. John. As with St. John, Randazzo has an arty side, having worked with the Red Krayola's Mayo Thompson. (Falling James)

Also playing Tuesday: SPIRIT ANIMAL, GUN RUNNER at the Bootleg Theatre; TUESDAY CLASSICS: LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC WITH RAFAEL FRÜHBECK DE BURGOS, MARTIN CHALIFOUR at the Hollywood Bowl; SAM BRADLEY at the Hotel Café; STREETLIGHT MANIFESTO, SUPERVILLAINS, THE WONDER YEARS, DON POTTHAST at the Key Club; EYTAN AND THE EMBASSY at the Silverlake Lounge; HEY CHAMP, IMAGINE DRAGONS, THE VICIOUS GUNS at the Viper Room; THE RICHARD GLASER JAZZ BAND at the Waterfront.

WEDNESDAY/JULY/14

SMOKEY ROBINSON, LIZZ WRIGHT AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL
Last year, the Motown maestro released a surprisingly strong studio disc called Time Flies When You're Having Fun, which complemented nine fresh originals (including "You're the One for Me," a sultry Joss Stone duet) with a smooth-as-butter cover of Norah Jones' "Don't Know Why." He's expected to play material from the new record at tonight's show — his debut at the Hollywood Bowl, and doesn't that seem kind of strange? — but there's no way his set won't be packed with oldies like "The Tears of a Clown" and "The Tracks of My Tears." Forty-plus years after they helped define late-20th-century pop, those tunes still ripple with equal parts emotion and invention. Opener Lizz Wright comes from the jazz world but knows plenty about country, gospel and soul, as well. (Mikael Wood)

Also playing Wednesday: TOH KAY, GUGGENHEIM GROTTO at the Hotel Café; MAMMOTH FOLLIES at Levitt Pavilion Pasadena; KINGS OF LEON at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater; THE NON at the Viper Room.

THURSDAY/JULY/15

ANTIBALAS AT THE ECHOPLEX
Their name is Spanish for "bulletproof," and as far as modern Afro-beat orchestras go, Antibalas more or less are — the Brooklyn-based ensemble deals largely in brass, but their chops are made of steel. The group has more than a decade under its belt, founded in 1998 by saxman Martín Perna and modeled after a combination of Fela Kuti's legendary Africa 70 lineup and Latin jazz great Eddie Palmieri's Harlem River Drive Orchestra. Four albums and a flood of 12-inches have followed, largely sticking to a mix of jazz, funk, dub and improv that isn't so much formula as bouillabaisse — a time-honored recipe whose varying quantities of secret ingredients give it that extra spice. Members of Antibalas have appeared on every TV on the Radio release to date (including Dave Sitek's forthcoming solo thing, Maximum Balloon) and toured with that better-known band, but nothing beats witnessing the 12-man massive in its own element, blasting out those groove-laden, agitprop epics to a crowd full of revelers. (Chris Martins)

KT TUNSTALL AT THE HOTEL CAFÉ
KT Tunstall set herself apart from other pop singers when she released the captivating track "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree," from her 2004 debut album, Eye to the Telescope. Stepping on an effects pedal, the Scottish singer-guitarist was able to loop the melody behind her, which gave the song a more layered and engrossing feel. Eventually, the former acoustic busker was joined by a full band, although the electric arrangements on her most recent CD, 2007's Drastic Fantastic, weren't always as interesting as her solo performances. Tunstall returned to her acoustic roots on her recent Rub-a-Dub-Dub Tour of Scotland, and at tonight's intimate performance she'll likely preview such new songs as "Madame Trudeau" and "Glamour Puss," from her upcoming album, Tiger Suit. (Falling James)