From jungle pioneer Goldie and the Decibel Metal & Beer Fest to British electronic duo Plaid and Bay Area thrashers Death Angel, here are 12 of the best music shows in Los Angeles this week.

fri 12/13

Goldie 

1720

It’s absolutely accurate to refer to English DJ and producer Goldie as the godfather of electronic bass music. The West Midlands man came out of the breakdance and graffiti scenes and pioneered what was called jungle and later became drum & bass. His Metalheadz club, which would also tour, went a long way to raising the profile of fellow bass artists such as LTJ Bukem. Meanwhile, his 1995 album Timeless is a bonafide classic. The follow up, 1998’s Saturnz Return, is a bit more of a mixed bag, though it still has its moments. Nineteen years passed before 2017’s The Journey Man, which took a full five years to produce. In between, he put out music under the name Rufige Kru but it’s sure good to have Goldie back out there. —Brett Callwood

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Carcass (Gene Smirnov)

Decibel Metal & Beer Fest 

THE OBSERVATORY

Heavy metal and beer is a marriage that has blended together hand-in-hand throughout the life of the genre, from Metallica in their early days having alcohol-fueled alter egos dubbed “Alcoholica” through the hundreds of bands that have shared their love for wicked brews in song. This weekend, over a dozen bands — including headlining veterans Possessed and Carcass and new-school greats such as rising melodic metal stars Spirit Adrift and power-violence masters Nails — descend upon The Observatory, with breweries such as Inglewood’s Three Weavers and San Diego’s Societe sharing plenty of pours to ensure a properly fueled mosh pit. The floor may get messy and sticky, but the beer will taste good and the opportunities for drunken headbanging will be plentiful. Also Saturday, December 14. —Jason Roche

sat 12/14

The Delta Bombers 

ALEX’S BAR

Las Vegas rock and blues act The Delta Bombers formed in 2008 when the members met through now-dead social media platform Myspace. Since then, band members have come and gone, but the consistency of the albums has remained of a high standard. Most recently, 2018’s Pressure and Time, released through Wild Records, saw the group explore rootsy Americana. The crowd tends to some from the rockabilly punk side of things, but those lines are blurring. Main support are Greg Antista & the Lonely Streets — another act coming from an alt-country/cowpunk place with a strong Johnny Cash influence. BAT! (featuring members of L7, Stellar Corpses and Resurex) and The Legendary Swagger also play.—Brett Callwood

dsc 6050 379621

Audio Karate (Jacob Fox)

Audio Karate 

HI-HAT

Latinx SoCal punks Audio Karate reunited last year after a lengthy hiatus, and we’re delighted that they’re back. They’ve released the “lost” album Malo, and frontman Arturo Barrios told us that, “Most of these songs do not have finished lyrics. I’m just singing the melody and doing this hodge-podge, phonetic, stream of consciousness thing. So doing that live feels a little silly because I’m trying to recreate that. As I write this, I realize I really should just finish the lyrics.” As for what we can expect from this L.A. set, he said, “I will say that for the first time as a band, we now have a comprehensive body of work. Three albums to draw from now makes for a pretty legit show.” Decent Criminal and Pity Party also play. —Brett Callwood

sun 12/15

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MC Chris (Eleanor Stills)

MC Chris 

WHISKY A GO GO

Nerdcore/hip-hop/pop-punk crossover artist MC Chris was most recently heard on the soundtrack to Kevin Smith’s Jay & Silent Bob Reboot — appropriate for the comedian turned musician. His 10th studio album, MC Chris is Good Music, was released last year, hot on the heels of his second children’s album Marshmellow Campground. The guy is an all-rounder then — able to entertain adults with his goofy tunes, and then dial down the sexual humor for the kids. Either way, his shows are a riot. Sorry About Everything (featuring Dino Stamatopoulos from Adult Swim), Shubzilla, DJ Bill Beats and Andy Merrill (Adult Swim) also perform. —Brett Callwood

mon 12/16

Elizaveta 

HOTEL CAFE

Born in New York and raised in Moscow, Elizaveta Khripounova has been crossing cultures before she knew what that meant. Her music is an entrancing blend of pop, jazz and opera, resulting in a gentle, easy listening experience. Recent song “Black Cat Emergency” is more on the pop side of things, proving that Elizaveta can do pretty much whatever she sets her mind to. The song is the most important thing, and this rising star has songs by the bucketload. Emotional and stirring, she’s currently based in Japan and working on an album in Mandarin. It’ll be fascinating to see what her set includes at the Hotel Cafe. —Brett Callwood

tue 12/17

SiR 

NOVO

While being signed to TDE (home to Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, ScHoolboy Q) has its perks, R&B singer SiR’s music speaks for itself. It was his 2016 single “Cadillac Dreams” from Big K.R.I.T. that put him on the map, combining the likes of old school soul with modern-day R&B. Fast forward to 2019, SiR release of his second studio album titled Chasing Summers, spearheaded by standout single “Hair Down” featuring labelmate K Dot. The project also features appearances from Lil Wayne, Jill Scott, Smino, Kadhja Bonet, Sabrina Claudio and Zacari. At the end of the day, real name Sir Darryl Farris loves music and that’s all that matters. Plus, hometown shows are always the most lit! —Shirley Ju

Rooney 

THE TROUBADOUR

L.A. indie power-pop band Rooney have now been around for two full decades, having formed in 1999. That said, when the band took a break in 2011 following the tour for the Eureka album, then returned in 2016 with Washed Away, frontman and singer/songwriter Robert Schwartzman assembled a whole new lineup. This is, after all, his baby. As far as we can make out, Rooney currently consists of Schwartzman plus guitarist Boaz Roberts, bassist Sean Sobash, drummer Maxwell Flanders and keyboardist Matthew Jordan, though that lineup has been rotating. More importantly, the new stuff sounds great and whoever is in the band plays the old material fantastically well. This 20th anniversary show will be special. —Brett Callwood

wed 12/18

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Kiefer Sutherland (Mumpi Kuenster)

Kiefer Sutherland 

THE TROUBADOUR

A comprehensive overview of the cultural landscape of the greater metropolitan Los Angeles area wouldn’t be complete without Kiefer Sutherland. His music, it must be argued, is just as worthwhile as the most mangled of the avant-garde and the most dulcet of the philharmonic. In fact, the music of a personage such as Mr. Sutherland — whose BMG-released diary of corroded country crooning Reckless & Me incarnated this past April — makes music that demands the kind of attentive listening that occurs only when eyes are shut so that it may more more thoroughly be heard. You have to look past the celebrity. Well, we mean, don’t actually look — your eyes are supposed to be closed, dummy. But that’s how Elvis used to listen to music. And everyone deserves to be heard. Sutherland gives you a golden opportunity to listen deeply. —David Cotner

thu 12/19

Plaid & John Tejada 

1720

Plaid is a celebrated British electronic music duo comprised of Ed Handley and Andy Turner, both formerly of IDM (intelligent dance music; not to be confused with EDM) pioneer the Black Dog. The pair is touring in support of its latest album, Polymer, which came out on the venerable, London-based Warp Records in June. Opening for Plaid is Los Angeles techno mainstay John Tejada — who recently remixed the  Polymer album cut “Maru” and records for the German label Kompakt, as well as his own Palette Recordings — and Nordic Soul, also known as Sean Horton, who founded Seattle’s former, highly regarded Decibel Festival and now resides in L.A. —Matt Miner 

Death Angel 

WHISKY A GO GO

Bay Area thrash band Death Angel rose up in the same scene that produced Exodus, Testament and of course Metallica. They formed in ’82 but took a break for a decade between ’91 and 2001. Since then, the band has been firing on all cylinders and the lineup has remained remarkable stable. “It’s amazing even by normal standards, not just us,” Rob Cavestany said recently. “Not many people get that situation going. It’s been great for us. We’ve had amazing experiences with that team and that’s why we did it, we went back for four servings. It’s been working out really well.” Those four servings are the four most recent albums, with the excellent Humanicide coming out this year. We’ll get a career-spanning set at the Whisky. Exmortus, Hellfire, GraveDanger, Bury Them Deep and XMethod also play. —Brett Callwood

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