Music Picks: Lauryn Hill, Bad Brains, Shuggie Otis

thu 12/6

Death Grips

PHOTO BY JULIE MOE

Lindi Ortega: See Tuesday.

Related Content

• The Five Best Concerts in L.A. This Weekend
  November 30, 2012
• The Five Best Concerts in L.A. This Week
  December 3, 2012
• Nas & Lauryn Hill - The Wiltern - 11/30/12
  December 1, 2012
• Music Picks: No Doubt, Nikki Hill, Alice Cooper
  November 22, 2012
• Music Picks: The Weeknd, That '70s Soul, Power of the Riff
  December 13, 2012

More About

• Marcus Roberts
• Bela Fleck
• Sara Watkins
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media
• Hip-Hop and Rap

THE ECHOPLEX

Sacramento hip-hop-and-beyond group Death Grips make freaked-out music for (or from) a future by Burroughs or Philip K. Dick. It's about resisting control and contamination, finding the greatness in what other people consider garbage and staying one step ahead of everybody who's out to get you. Maybe that's what got them bounced from their major-label contract after barely six months — a ride that finished recently with Death Grips putting their brand-new NO LOVE DEEP WEB up for free download before it was even officially for sale. Not sure if that was a "fuck you" to the industry or more of a vigorous "fuck it" to the world, but seems kinda inevitable now: Major labels release records, but Death Grips release viruses. No wonder the deal blew apart. —Chris Ziegler

Polyphonic Spree Holiday Extravaganza

FONDA THEATER

For years, The Polyphonic Spree have staged colorfully unconventional holiday spectacles back home in Dallas. Having just released their first Christmas album, Holidaydream: Sounds of the Holidays Volume One, the whimsical, be-robed collective is taking that show on the road. What to expect at this all-ages musical circus? Besides the Spree doing a set of blissed-out renditions of holiday standards ("White Christmas," "Silver Bells") and a later rock set, the kindie music act Gustafer Yellowgold will perform, as well as a potpourri of eclectic acts. Past shows in Dallas have included bell choirs, zoo animals and tap-dancing grandmothers. A Donny & Marie Christmas, this ain't. —Michael Berick