Destiny’s Children
BORN AGAIN: Lyrics Born (aka Tom Shimura) is a hugely influential rapper in the underground community. His work more than 10 years ago with Lateef in the Latyrx duo was one of the myriad achievements of the Bay Area hip-hop collective known as SoleSides, which also included DJ Shadow and Blackalicious. In 2003, Born released his first solo LP Later That Day, which was preceded by the single “Callin’ Out,” a massively successful and infectious track that made its way onto MTV and into various television commercials
In October of last year, Born released Overnite Encore, a live album recorded in Australia. The album showcases Born’s dynamic emceeing, consummate showmanship, and crack backing band, all very compelling reasons to check him out at UCSB’s Hub on Saturday, March 10. Aloe Blacc (of L.A.’s fabulous Stones Throw records) and Blu will also appear. -Max Burke
INSPIREING: A Ventura-based two-piece who play soulful, shimmering pop music, The Spires melancholy has drawn comparisons to British guitar acts such as Belle & Sebastian and Felt. The twosome just released a new EP, Sky Sky, on Beehouse Records. The record provides just the right dose of K Records-influenced twee bedroom pop and jangly, shimmering guitar rock to be a comfort on gray, rainy days and a welcome retreat on those too-sunny summer days. The beautifully depressing Spires will be at The Mercury Lounge this Friday, March 9, with opening sets from The Western States Motel and KCSB’s DJ Mark. The miserably good times begin at 8 p.m. -MB
A NUMBERS GAME: Automatic:Automatic is an S.B.-based group who play an extremely appealing, but currently unfashionable, style of post-hardcore that veers into the territory of “math rock”-a rather lazy term for a group of rock stylists ranging from Slint to Drive Like Jehu to Shellac. Although genuinely underground in their time, these musicians went on to influence current rockers with their unusual time signatures and willingness to push the boundaries of punk music. Automatic: Automatic is a completely convincing heir to the throne of math rock and its thrilling dynamics are not to be missed by anyone tired of the standard overly sensitive singer/songwriters and mediocre bro-bands. Check them out tonight, Thursday, March 8, at Muddy Waters. -MB
HYPNOTIC: DJ Colette is something of a misnomer. Not only does Colette spin impeccable house beats, she also sings over her own tunes, taking full advantage of her gorgeous mezzo soprano voice. Colette came up in the venerable Chicago dance music scene but relocated to Los Angeles a few years ago. She released Hypnotized, her solo artist debut on Om Records in 2005, and it quickly became the number-one dance record on iTunes. The S.B. Therapy series of world-class dance music headliners at the Wildcat Lounge continues with a performance by Colette on Thursday, March 15. -MB
FIDDLER ON THE MOVE: The Song Tree Concert Series is back to life to bring some spunk back into yours. This time, bluegrass and western swing band the Byron Berline Band plays the Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Congregation on Thursday, March 15. One of the great American fiddlers, Berline is no newbie, either. He has been active on the music scene for quite some time, earning his band two Grammy nominations and adding the Rolling Stones, Elton John, and Bob Dylan to his already impressive list of collaborators. Named a master of the banjo, John Hickman, guitarist Jim Fish, bassist Richard Sharp, and drummer Steve Short complete the package. The show goes down at 7:30 p.m. Call 403-2639 for more info. -Sheyla Molho
HIP HARP: The Unitarian Universalist Congregation (try and say that three times fast) presents harpist Jeanne Martin this Sunday, March 11 at 3 p.m. And, according to Martin herself, the heavenly harp is moving into the 21st century. Though Martin does play Celtic and classical tunes, she can also get down with the folk pop, playing stringed versions of the Beatles, Eric Clapton, and Neil Young. How’s that for a hip harp? -Sarah Hammil
THE ROUNDUP: If therapeutic harping isn’t your thing, head down to Velvet Jones on Saturday night for a little Ghetto Therapy. The Reyes Brothers-including Mellow Man Ace and founding Cypress Hill member Sen Dog-are touring their recently released album and, knowing Velvet’s take on time, probably won’t take the stage until the early hours of Sunday morning. For entertainment a bit earlier, Friday night’s got it. Red-headed country wonder Wynonna, no longer going by the Judd moniker, steps onto the Chumash stage at 8 p.m. Also on Friday, Les Gendarmes du Swing will play the Cold Spring Tavern. Known for transporting listeners to Django Reinhardt’s 1930s Paris-I’ll give 5 bucks to anyone who can tell me what that means-the band takes the stage at 6 p.m. (And I was just kidding about that whole 5 bucks thing). -Sarah Hammil
