Post-Vocal Symphonies

Reggae? How ‘bout three shows the same night? Friday Indigo Lounge has Jamaican dancehall from Norrisman, Jah Thunder and Stevie Culture. Meanwhile locals Juce mix reggae and hip hop at Six Rivers, and the Red Fox brings in Cali reggae, a band called Rebelution from Santa Barbara. Saturday at the Red Fox: Soul Majestic, a white dread band from Santa Cruz who played RotR a few years back. Not bad as I recall.

It doesn’t sound possible, but a note from Afromassive bassist Aaron Bortz confirms it: The truly massive band will crowd onto the stage of Muddy’s Hot Cup Friday night to blast some killer Afrobeat. Last time I saw Afromassive they filled the huge stage at the KBR with a line of horns, many percussionists and some seriously funky dudes from various local outfits, all of them laying into tunes from the Fela Kuti songbook or similar fare creating a really big, really funky sound. Incidentally, this is the second Muddy show that night: Touring Americana-ish songwriters Mike Press (from San Diego) and Jeremy Moses Curtis (from Rhode Island) play earlier.

Also at Muddy’s, a Tuesday, Nov. 20, show featuring Scottish singer/guitarist Alasdair Roberts, who plays something you might call alt. Celtic. The roots are evident, but his songs tend toward skewed dirges. He records for Drag City, and has worked with Jason Molina and Will Oldham, facts that mean little to the Celtic folks, but speak volumes to the alt. crowd. Also on the bill, Charalambides, one of those alt. guitar duos that came to town in the past to play with the Starving Weirdos.

Hey, turns out there is a band coming from Canada: Montreal noise rockers AIDS Wolf play a Wednesday, Thanksgiving eve show at the Vista with thelittlestillnotbigenough opening. You can get an idea where A-Wolf is coming from by studying their “9 Principals.” The last one: No. 9. “Become the Weird Punks. Remember when punk was weird and when weird was punk. Destroy genre straight jackets and move out of the comfortable. Confrontation with norms and expectations is where the AIDS Wolf family is most at home.”

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