Music Picks: Nicole Atkins & the Black Sea, Teebs, Los Amigos Invisibles, Rare Grooves

WEDNESDAY/FEBRUARY/16

Susan James. See Tuesday.

Location Info

Map

The Redwood Bar & Grill

316 W. Second St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Category: Bars/Clubs

Region: Downtown

Photos

4 user reviews	Write A Review
Save to foursquare

Coronet Theatre

366 N. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048

Category: Theaters

Region: Melrose/ Beverly/ Fairfax

The Echo

1822 W. Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Category: Bars/Clubs

Region: Echo Park

Photos

Bootleg Theater

2200 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90057

Category: Bars/Clubs

Region: Out of Town

Photos

The Conga Room

800 W. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90015

Category: Bars/Clubs

Region: Downtown

Photos

Nokia Theatre

777 Chick Hearn Court
Los Angeles, CA 90015

Category: Music Venues

Region: Downtown

Photos

The Glass House

200 W. Second St.
Pomona, CA 91766

Category: Bars/Clubs

Region: Out of Town

Photos

Related Content

• The Five Best Concerts in L.A. This Weekend
  December 21, 2012
• The Best Concerts to See In L.A. This Week
  April 1, 2013
• Music Picks: Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge, and Anthrax
  March 21, 2013
• Music Picks: Foxygen, Tomahawk and Nick Cave
  February 14, 2013
• The Best Concerts in L.A. This Weekend
  February 15, 2013

More About

• John Payne
• Chris Martins
• Austin Peralta
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media
• Punk Rock

BEACH HOUSE AT THE MUSIC BOX

It's been a minute since we've heard from Baltimore dream-pop act Beach House, but house calls are always welcome, as evidenced by the band's back-to-back sold-out nights at the Music Box. Fans no doubt are hoping to hear some new material from singer-organist Victoria Legrand and guitarist-keyboardist Alex Scally, but really anything from the duo's three-album back catalog would do. Their 2006 eponymous debut was a spellbinding affair — hazy, layered and cool with a certain psychedelia to it. With 2008's Devotion, Legrand's velvet-lined vocals were given more emphasis and the gauzy arrangements more warmth, leading to moments of true catchiness like "Wedding Bells." Their latest, Teen Dream, found Beach House buttressed by a bigger budget and bringing their already cavernous, beatific sound to a church converted into a studio. The results were, to paraphrase one critic, like tuning into the band at the correct frequency for the first time. Also Thurs. (Chris Martins)

NICOLE ATKINS & THE BLACK SEA AT THE TROUBADOUR

Nicole Atkins' just-out Mondo Amore finds the New Jersey "pop" singer-songwriter diving deep into something dark and painful, almost mangled — all of which, true to form, she delivers with a transcendent grit not unlike the old blueswomen she seems to carry inside. These are very tough-minded, brave performances, bound to split opinion on whether Atkins goes too far over the obsessive edge in her search for some kind of perspective on the pitiless storms of loss and disillusionment she's had to confront and conquer. This is the sound of the way love feels in our own grim times, and it is, not so paradoxically, enthralling. [Ed.'s note: The album cover is pretty striking too: Google it.] Atkins' ambitions are blessedly high; she's also guided away from mere rock emo-bathos by this smart, no-bullshit band to back her up, the Black Sea. (John Payne)

THE RADIO DEPT., YOUNG PRISMS AT EL REY THEATRE

No one who plays in a band can be truly shy, but the Radio Dept. can sure sound like it. Through a dozen-plus years of balancing delicate, guitar-based dream-pop (notably on debut Lesser Matters) and synth-'n'-drum-machine–generated indie dance (the disappointing Pet Grief), these elusive Swedes have kept things neatly introverted and quietly romantic. Last year's appropriately titled Clinging to a Scheme, despite being four years in the making, is more concise than ever (at just 34 minutes) and marks both a return to form and an artful melding of Matters' and Grief's more effective elements (though more from the former than the latter). TRD floats wistful, wandering lyrics on buoyant, sometimes baggy beats and sunny sheens of guitar sown with almost flippant electronic chiming. They ache hard but with apparently mendable heartache. Openers Young Prisms bring insistent, oil-projector psychedelia straight from their San Fran garage. (Paul Rogers)

Also playing Wednesday: SPONGE at Key Club; GRAM RABBIT at Bordello; VANAPRASTA, HE'S MY BROTHER SHE'S MY SISTER at the Satellite.

THURSDAY/FEBRUARY/17

LUCERO, OLIN & THE MOON AT THE ECHO

Memphis country-rock band Lucero is one of the hardest-working groups out there, touring almost 200 days a year. Their sixth studio album and major-label debut, 2009's 1372 Overton Park, embraces their Memphis roots with the addition of a horn section and arrangements by legendary session musician Jim Spake (Al Green, Cat Power, etc.). The driving force behind Lucero is raspy-voiced frontman and guitarist Ben Nichols, who sings about good loving and good drinking and will no doubt bring a raucous, drunken hootenanny. Idaho-bred, L.A.-based roots favorites Olin & the Moon's twangy country anthems will melt your heart and conjure up dreams of prairie sunsets, dusty roads and deserted towns. Just a few weeks ago they released their new record, Footsteps: Hopefully they'll play new tracks like "Not in Love," a soul-crushingly sad but beautiful tale of love and loss. (Lainna Fader)

BEACH HOUSE AT THE MUSIC BOX

[See Wednesday]

Also playing Thursday: JAMIE FOXX'S FOXXHOLE ALLSTAR JAM at Club Nokia; SHADOW SHADOW SHADE at the Satellite.