Music Picks: Joan Osborne, Tears for Fears, the Cute Lepers, J. Cole, Low

thu 9/22

The Cute Lepers: See Wednesday.

Location Info

Map

The Echoplex

1154 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Category: Bars/Clubs

Region: Out of Town

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El Rey Theatre

5515 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Category: Bars/Clubs

Region: Mid-Wilshire/ Hancock Park

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House of Blues Sunset Strip

8430 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90069

Category: Bars/Clubs

Region: Out of Town

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The Wiltern

3790 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90010

Category: Music Venues

Region: Out of Town

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Music Box Cocktail

13114 Downey Ave.
Paramount, CA 90723-2413

Category: Bars/Clubs

Region: Southeastern Cities

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More About

• Moby (Musician)
• Mikael Wood
• Peter Hook
• Indie Rock and Indie Pop
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

J. Cole

CLUB NOKIA

To pluck from the lyrics of Jay-Z, the mastermind who signed him, J. Cole's "not a businessman — he's a business, man!" The North Carolina native and magna cum laude St. John's University graduate seems to have adopted an old-school approach in this oversaturated new-media world. That tried-and-true mentality sometimes feels a little staid, and Jay-Z isn't the best A&R guy, but Cole's too smart not to have a plan. Besides, he raps with the emotional honesty of a therapist and the easy confidence of a first-round draft pick. Last November, his third mixtape, Friday Night Lights, almost broke the Internet; his debut album, Cole World: The Sideline Story (which, yes, features Jigga), is set to drop Sept. 27. The entire online gymnasium is chanting. —Rebecca Haithcoat

Two Door Cinema Club

THE WILTERN

Fresh off the European summer festival circuit, the three lads from Northern Ireland who comprise Two Door Cinema Club don't look nearly as formidable as they are. Resembling buttoned-up schoolboys far more than indie rockers, the trio crank out a sound that's simultaneously polished and raw, rockin' and poppy, with catchy guitar hooks aplenty. Although comparisons to Phoenix and Vampire Weekend abound, Two Door Cinema Club are forging their own path just one full-length into their career. If their Coachella appearance earlier this year was any indication, the crowd is gonna eat this stuff up. The summer may be winding down, but tonight you can dance like it will never end. —Laura Ferreiro

Wanda Jackson

PAPPY & HARRIET'S PIONEERTOWN PALACE

There's just something weirdly fantastic and uniquely American about seeing the great Wanda Jackson at this Mojave Desert outpost. Pioneertown was created in the 1940s as a set for film and television Westerns, before taking on a life of its own and becoming the most authentic fake Old West town you'll ever find. Ms. Jackson, of course, is truly authentic — a rockabilly and country-music innovator who was mentored by Hank Thompson and has worked with both Elvises (Presley and Costello). She was one of the first rockabilly divas to play guitar and write her own songs (including the classic "Mean Mean Man"), and her hits have been covered by everyone from the Go-Go's and the Cramps to Southern Culture on the Skids and the Fall. She's still going strong with her recent album, The Party Ain't Over, aided and abetted by the seemingly ubiquitous Jack White. —Falling James

Sonny Rollins

UCLA ROYCE HALL

New York magazine recently called Sonny Rollins "one of the last jazz legends," with contemporaries such as Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane long since passed. Rollins' compositions, including "Oleo," "Airegin" and others have become part of jazz history, standards that have been played thousands of times the world over. His Thursday night show at UCLA's Royce Hall (and Sunday matinee at the Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa) includes bassist Bob Cranshaw and guitarist Peter Bernstein, and will feature music from Rollins' just-released CD, Road Shows, Vol. 2. He's backed by Sammy Figueroa on percussion and Kobie Watkins on drums, and these are the only 2011 SoCal chances to experience the power of the now 81-year-old tenor saxophone giant. —Tom Meek

The Necks

BLUE WHALE

This Australian/Kiwi crew — Chris Abrahams (piano), Tony Buck (drums) and Lloyd Swanton (bass) — make one of those sounds that can skew your head a bit. Not quite jazz, not really rock or ambient or contemporary classical or whatsit, just a beautiful meltdown of all of the above. They'll often play spontaneously composed works that reveal seemingly endless depths of harmonic/melodic variation, their trancelike effect grounded in satisfyingly deep polyrhythms that propel this powerfully ambiguous beast forward. The Necks, though always in masterful control, never really know where a piece might take them, and it makes for great modern music: the sound of surprise. —John Payne

Cerebellion

SUZY'S (HERMOSA BEACH)

On first listen, Cerebellion's ostensibly angry vocals, clicky kick drums and crunchy guitars deliver nasty wafts of nü-metal. But give 'em a minute. This OC foursome put miles between themselves and that genre, with lofty lyrics and a supple musicality that bursts its hesher heart with quasi-medieval harmonies and the welcome flamenco flurries of songs like "Undeniable" and "Inalienable." There's something here for shirtless pit-stokers and headphoned tokers alike, all laced with an earnest sense of injustice that makes you want to run out into the streets and do something, anything, about everything. A single, truly spectacular song could be the difference between Cerebellion mildly pleasing everyone and massively motivating a true following. —Paul Rogers

Also playing:

CINDERELLA at Canyon Club; THE JANKS, AMERICAN TOMAHAWK at Bootleg Bar; MIAMI HORROR, CLASS ACTRESS, GIGAMESH, L.A. GIRLFRIEND, FRANKI CHAN at El Rey Theatre; fDELUXE at Largo; BELANOVA at Conga Room.