Weekly Music Agenda
MONDAY
>> Start out this lovely spring week right by taking in local group Deleted Scenes (***) and their particular brand of you-name-it-they've-play-it-surf/rockabilly/garage/punk rock at the Red and the Black. Hero Cycle, Hot Lava and Paper Airplanes open. $8, 9 p.m.
TUESDAY
>> Quirky and fantastical sister-duo CocoRosie play the Rock and Roll Hotel. One half of the duo sings and plays guitar and flute, while the other sings and covers percussion ("rattles things, makes things squeak, shakes a gold chain belt" etc.). Their latest endevour The Adventures of Ghosthorse & Stillborn is a concept album which "follows CocoRosie and their crew of miscreants through the Mechanical Forest of Feelings." $15 in advance, $18 at the door. 9 p.m.. According to the Rock and Roll Hotel website the show has, in fact, been cancelled (apparently due to some legal trouble); they tell us to stay tuned for refund information.
>> British four-some The Clientele may have been around since 1997, but their music harkens back to 1960's pop-psych and surrealist literature. While we don't make too much of the fact that one of their songs was featured in Keanu Reeve's movie The Lake House, we do take note that their album God Save the Clientele will be released the day of this show — so its bound to be a great performance. The Ladybug Transistor (how can you not love this name?) and The Positions open. $13, Black Cat mainstage, 8 p.m.
WEDNEDSAY
>> The Rock and Roll Hotel brings you a night of accessible and fun rock with a trio of "C" named bands. Headliners Glasgow popsters The Cinematics bring us "melodic guitar music of the emotional variety." Opening for them are Chicago-based The Changes and locals Cedars. $8 in advance, $10 at the door. 9 p.m.
>>Air may be a French duo known throughout the world for their sophisticated yet playful lounge-pop-house music, but D.C. can at least claim their song "Cherry Blossom Girl" as our own. Check them out at the 9:30 club, and hope that some of the landings upstairs are open for some intense lounging/spacing out — their latest endeavor Pocket Symphony returns to the more atmospheric stylings of their first album, Moon Safari, with less of the pop influences of their more recent albums. Kate Havnevik opens. $40, 7 p.m. doors.
THURSDAY
>> Ben Gibbard – the singer/guitarist/songwriter behind Death Cab for Cutie and the Postal Service plays the 9:30 Club with David Bazan (of Pedro the Lion) & Johnathan Rice. He plays both the early show (6:30 p.m.) and the late show (10:30 p.m.). The tickets are sold out, but with two shows on the same night, there are bound to be a few popping up on craigslist or at the venue. Good luck we say!
>> Given that DCist has interviewed and reviewed both The Alphabetical Order and and Two if by Sea (***) before, we think we've done more than enough convincing for you to check them out at Iota tonight. They play with Paul Michel. $10, 9 p.m.
>> DC9's serving up the cream of the alt country touring band crop, with Missouri's Viking Moses!, Castanets who seem to hail from both coasts, and Brooklyn's Phosphorescent. $8 will get you in, and if you get there early you could catch a solo set from an old friend of DCist's.
FRIDAY
>> D.C. native, DJ extraordinaire, renowned multimedia artist, author, pundit, we could go on, but without further ado — DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid (aka Paul D. Miller), returns to D.C. and plays at the Black Cat. Audio/visual performance by Optical Grooves. $12 mainstage 9:00 p.m.
>> The Album Leaf, with help from a projection artist and a live strings section, will bring their lush and melodic soundscapes to the Rock and Roll Hotel. Their palatable, soundtrack-esque music almost lets us forget the pretension that characterizes much of the post-rock music scene. Belong and Parlor Scouts open. Doors 8:30, Show 9:30 p.m.
>> Uncle Q Presents The Collector's Edition at Felix/Spy Lounge — bringing us everything from soul, funk, R&B, reggae, hip-hop to house and progressive. Local reggae and dancehall DJ/connoisseur/blogger Zach Pleasant will be one of the 5 DJs, along with DJ Dredd, DJ Harry Hotter, DJ Stylus, Huck Finn. $10.
>> Puerto Rican reggaeton duo Wisin y Yandel have not crossed over to the pop charts like Daddy Yankee, but they have Spanish-speaking listeners captivated. Wisin raps to girls and Yandel sings to 'em, with both performers accompanied by speedy keyboard generated dance rhythms. Look for them to be moving backsides and engaging the crowd at the George Mason University Patriot Center.
SATURDAY
>> Voted America's favorite house DJ of 2006, Bad Boy Bill comes to Glow at FUR. A consistently innovative DJ, Bad Boy Bill is known to often play on more than 6 turntables at once. Email glowlist@districtignition.com for guestlist and more information.
>> Philly's finest purveyors of retro-rock, Dr. Dog, return to the District with a lot of gleeful harmonies, fuzzy guitars, tasteful drum fills, and a new album (We All Belong) in tow. Rock and Roll Hotel, with The Teeth and Hoots and Hellmouth. $12, doors 8:30 p.m., show 9:30 p.m.
>> Mosey on upstairs at the Rock and Roll Hotel and you will find DJ s Will Eastman (***) and Brian Billion hosting "Room Service: Hip Hop, electrofunk, and club classics." 9:30 p.m. -2:30 a.m. Free.
>> Local group LeJeune have their CD release party at Iota tonight. They play with guests The Antiques and Julie Ocean. $10.
SUNDAY
>> Sloan's recent album, Never Hear the End of It, is a 30 song, nearly 80 minute cycle of carefully crafted, Brit-inspired pop-rock. There are plenty of peaks – and few valleys – on the Canadian veterans' eighth proper full length, and with a back catalog as thoroughly consistent as theirs, it's bound to be an excellent set at the Black Cat. With the Small Sins. $14, 8 p.m.
>> It's hard to even think about LCD Soundsystem without hearing their intensely fun single "Daft Punk Is Playing in My House" interminably in your head. Hopefully you got tickets in advance to catch this super-producer (with four musicians on the road) play extremely catchy and highly danceable music at the 9:30 Club. Yacht opens. The show is sold out.
Photo of CocoRosie via their MySpace page. Photo of AIR via their MySpace page. Photo of DJ Spooky from his website, taken by Tamar Levine. Steve Kiviat, DCist Graham and DCist Amanda contributed to this week's agenda.