Be sure to check out our constantly updated concert calendar!

Monday, September 29

Sam Smith
GREEK THEATRE
Disclosure and Naughty Boy tapped into Sam Smith early on, featuring the blue-eyed soul singer on the smashes “Latch” and “La La La,” respectively. On his solo debut, In the Lonely Hour, Smith’s smooth falsetto tones are the centerpiece, lending themselves to the unrequited love that is the album’s theme. Ripping opener “Money on My Mind” follows neither the yearning air nor the midrange tempo of the rest of the record. “Like I Can” bridges that effervescence with the rest of the album’s wounded elegance, illustrated by the sophisticated piano and escalating strings on “I’m Not the Only One” and the Adele-like heartbreak of “I’ve Told You Now.” The deluxe edition has an acoustic cover of “Latch,” which in one fell swoop eradicates the original. Also on Tuesday, Sept. 30. —Lily Moayeri

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Tuesday, September 30

Cibo Matto
THE ROXY
When Cibo Matto first surfaced in the mid-’90s, at the height of grunge and alternative rock, their mix of quirky, food-themed lyrics and noise-rock/avant-pop music caught on not only in their native New York’s underground scene but worldwide. After two albums, Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori decided to take a break in 2002 to pursue other interests, but they reunited in 2011. In February, the duo released their third album, Hotel Valentine, which retains the blend of trip-hop, world music and acid punk. The self-produced record demonstrated that not only have Cibo Matto not lost their fastball but they’re still capable of producing music true to their legacy. ?—Daniel Kohn

Wednesday, October 1

Dub Club Meets Subsuelo
THE ECHO AND ECHOPLEX
Two rooms, two floors and untold levels of global bass take over the Echo and Echoplex for this meeting of two of L.A.’s most crushing club nights. Dub Club does just what you’d think but with even more enthusiasm and precision, delivering reggae and its many descendents with various contributors on the mic. Boyle Heights’ storied Subsuelo outfit (which won a Best Eastside Club Night from this very paper) deploys speaker-bursting, pan-Latin selections spanning several genres, generations and continents. The occasional nights when these two crews come together mean that you’ve got the best musical production from probably half the planet in play all at once — dub, reggae, dancehall, funk, cumbia, hip-hop, soul and more. Prepare to go past the unexpected toward the simply unprecedented. —Chris Ziegler

Thursday, October 2

Rosanne Cash
ROYCE HALL
Rosanne Cash is coming to town, touring on her first album of original material in more than six years, and she brings a formidable load of heritage and artistry. The new record, The River & the Thread, characterized by minor keys, Southern Gothic grooves and deftly wrought lyrics, is an engrossing set, which ably showcases her deliberate, expressive style. It’s a hard-earned sound, too, one she’s been developing since she first joined her daddy’s roadshow back in 1978 (oh, did we not mention she’s Johnny’s daughter?). But the decades have been rewarding, commercially and creatively, with dozens of Top 40 and No. 1 country hits, a shelf full of awards and, more recently, a respectable literary pedigree. Long story short, she brings more class and contemplative craft than you’d get out of a dozen Faith Hills. —Jonny Whiteside

Brother Ali
TROUBADOUR
Brother Ali’s grooves may float like a butterfly, but his incisively caustic words sting like a full hive of bees. “No, I’m not a prophet, nor am I proselytizing,” the Minneapolis rapper explains on his recent EP, Left in the Deck. “My assignment: to take my little light and shine it. They cannot define it, so they want to water it down.” He decries our digital age of gossip and falsification (“Each new innovation puts us deeper in a case”) and replaces it with his own form of empowering spirituality (“Embrace the awesome, all-seeing author of nature”). As ever, Ali decries poverty, war and injustice in all its manifestations: “Lost in the haze of the forced occupation/Cradled by the love of oppressed people’s pain.” The world may be a mess, but Ali reminds us that we’re all in it together. —Falling James

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