Thursday, May 18
Live Wire!: Stephen Malkmus, Robbie Fulks, Danny Barnes and more
Aladdin Theater, 7 p.m., $10 adv. or $12 DOS, all ages
Hate him or love him, Stephen Malkmus has yet to make a bad solo album. Granted, none of his albums can touch Pavement’s Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain or Wowee Zowee, but few albums can. I’ve never seen him live, but I’ve heard the man loves his extended guitar codas. Robbie Fulks plays traditional country music that often has an ironic bent; he’s the guy who said he’d pay out a cash prize for anyone willing to request “Summer of ’69” at another Ryan Adams concert. Both men (and others) will be on hand at the Aladdin Theater for another in a series of live shows recorded for the OPB radio show Live Wire!
Lyrics Born, Prefuse 73, and Edan with Dagha
Crystal Ballroom, 9 p.m., $16 adv. or $18 DOS, all ages
If you’re going to this show just for Prefuse, I suggest you reconsider. Due to illness, he’s dropped off the tour. However, Lyrics Born and Edan will still be on hand to give you your avant-rap fix. Lyrics Born is a member of Quannum, a group of MCs and DJs including Latryx and DJ Shadow who make the kind of progressive hip-hop people who hate mainstream rap just eat up. Edan is a weird white dude whose last album mixed rap and psychedelic rock.
Friday, May 19
Excepter, Ocrilim/Octis, The Punks, and Better to See You With
Towne Lounge, 9:30 p.m., $7, 21+
When I want to write up a band I’ve never heard of, like Olympia, Wash.’s The Punks, I usually go to their MySpace page to hear the songs they’ve posted there. The first track posted is called “12306 Living Room Jam” and it is awful. Not only is it recorded badly (which I tend to forgive because mixing music is a bitch), but the first 90 seconds are just the band and their friends laughing at inaudible jokes. Who is going to appreciate that except the band and their friends? I don’t mind bands being self-indulgent, but when they’re self-indulgent and they suck? That’s a no-go.
Tech N9ne, Big Krizz Kalico and Kutt Calhoun, Critical Bill, Potluck, and Cool Nut
Roseland Theater, 8 p.m., $20, all ages
Despite using a lot of horror-core imagery, Kansas City’s Tech N9ne is basically a gangsta rapper at heart. He raps about strippers, guns and 24-inch rims, and I bet you can catch one of his videos featuring wall-to-wall strippers on BET’s Uncut. For many Midwest and Southern rappers, getting their songs played in strip clubs is the only way they can get exposure. That’s why so many new songs on the radio feature huge synth stabs and big drums, the producers responsible having learned their trade making songs for girls to work the pole to.