Music Forecast 1.23-1.29: Twista, Patty Griffin, Cate Le Bon, and more
Twista, the Abnorm
Twista, the man who held the “Fastest Rapper in the World” Guinness World Record in 1992, speedily ricochets verses off the Riot Room’s walls Thursday. In November, the master MC turned 40. In hip-hop years, that would be regarded by many as retirement age. But Twista hasn’t slowed down during his two-decade career. The title of his upcoming album, The Dark Horse, is a subtle reference to his underdog status in the rap game. Local up-and-coming rapper the Abnorm opens.
Thursday, January 23, at the Riot Room (4048 Broadway, 816-442-8179)
Super Nerd Night
The Bottleneck and Astrokitty invite you to unleash your inner Dungeons & Dragons and get nerdy Friday night. Really nerdy. So nerdy that you sing your own version of a “geek anthem” during Geekaraoke or you play SINemascope, a drinking game in which you take a swig every time you witness one of the seven deadly sins in one of the films screened throughout the evening. Eight monitors will feature old-school video games and a whole mess of other things to enchant the secret Pokemon card collector within you. Music fans should pay attention to the local lineup, which includes the Sluts, CS Luxem, Five Dream Guns and Haunt Ananta. Super Nerd Night might convince you to start dressing up as Princess Leia, even if you didn’t as a kid.
Friday, January 24, at the Bottleneck (737 New Hampshire, Lawrence, 785-841-5483)
Patty Griffin
Once upon a time, the modern music industry tried to ruin Patty Griffin. The roots-rocker had recorded Silver Bell in 1999, but Universal Music’s takeover of Griffin’s then-label A&M Records ended with the new suits discarding her album in a storage basement. Fifteen years, multiple albums and a Grammy later, Griffin’s long-lost gem has finally surfaced. With its crafty, confrontational lyrics and jagged-edge guitar, Silver Bell might have been a game-changing album for Griffin had it been released in 2000. No matter. It’s out of the vault and no less enjoyable now. Folk singer-songwriter Anais Mitchell opens.
Saturday, January 25, at the Bottleneck (737 New Hampshire, Lawrence, 785-841-5483)
Cate Le Bon
The majority of the music world is a little bit in love with Cate Le Bon. The Welsh singer-songwriter has a low and lulling voice that sulks across records like dark velvet. Comparisons with Nico are as inevitable as they are accurate. Le Bon’s latest full-length, Mug Museum, was inspired largely by the death of her maternal grandmother, and many of the songs on that album explore — in fairly ambiguous language — the delicate and obscure nuances of relationships, familial roles and loss. But Mug Museum is not a eulogy. Le Bon’s themes may be gloomy, but she brings light into the songs with an interesting vocal trick here, a jangly guitar note there. The album sometimes has the feel of a distorted carnival soundtrack, playful and eerie at the same time. This show may just lighten your Monday blues.
Monday, January 27, at RecordBar (1020 Westport Road, 816-753-5207)
England in 1819
When the great English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote his “England in 1819,” he was condemning the “leechlike” nobility and hoping for a revolution against a lawless government. Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s England in 1819 shares little in common with its namesake, aside from brothers Andrew and Dan Callaway spending some of their childhood in the English countryside. The trio makes quiet, moody, electronic-driven music most suited for hipster funerals. They seem like they could maybe give Bon Iver a lesson in being more like Bon Iver. If you romanticize being sad, you’ll probably like this band.
Sunday, January 26, at RecordBar (1020 Westport Road, 816-753-5207)
