Weekly Music Agenda
MONDAY
>> They put it pretty well themselves, and since it's all about them anyway, we're just going to repeat what the Black Cat had to say about their anniversary party tonight: "After 14 years of pouring you guys drinks, then picking up the glasses, working the doors, and sweeping the floors, we've decided that it's time to dedicate a night to ourselves. Black Cat staff bands, staff DJs, and staffers will be hanging out and reflecting on 14 years well spent. You can come too." Free, backstage, 8 p.m.
>> Indie rap's man of the moment, Aesop Rock, is taking over the 9:30 Club this evening, brining his dense verbosity and slick beats right along with him. $20
>> D.C.'s Stewart Lupton and his band, The Child Ballads, are sharing the Rock & Roll Hotel's stage tonight with psychedelic rockers Silver Apples and The Moon Upstairs. $10, 8:30 p.m.
>> The Velvet Lounge is hosting Not Bullshit, "the DJ night for people who hate DJ nights, curated by mem. of The Points and Kohoutek." Judging by the comments on last week's WMA, that describes several of you out there.
>> Lil' Brian and the Travelers used to be known as Lil’ Brian and the Zydeco Travelers but since these Texans blend funk with zydeco they’ve decided to shorten the name. Their music will make you move no matter what they call themselves. At Iota, $10, 8:30 p.m.
TUESDAY
>> What we've heard of her new album hasn't really convinced us of anything in the way of musical maturity, but we can't help it. We love Mandy Moore. The actress, the spokesperson, the celebrity, the singer, the reality TV star, we love it all. Apparently, we're not alone, because her show at the Birchmere is sold out.
>> The Noisettes at the Rock & Roll Hotel this week has been canceled. Check out their website for refund information.
>> DC9's got a great indie rock lineup tonight, with locals The Daybreak Line and The Beanstalk Library, who we recently profiled in a Three Stars piece, and Athens, GA's The Winter Sounds. $8
>> Brazilian college kids Bonde de Role’s blend of baile funk, schlock metal guitar riffs, techno and rap with sleezy Portuguese lyrics over top has some folks raving that they’re fun and others sneering that they’re a bad gimmick. Love ‘em or hate ‘em at the Black Cat. With the uncategorizable local wonder that is Edie Sedgewick. $12, 8 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
>> Local hip hop hero and former Three Stars, Flex Mathews, is hosting his monthly producer's night at the Velvet Lounge this Wednesday. If you haven't been before, it's definitely something worth seeing.
>> Toto la Momposina is a longtime Afro-Columbian singer who blends her country’s traditional folk melodies with funky Cuban polyrhythms. You do not need to speak Spanish or be an ethnomusicologist to enjoy her lively sound when she and her band perform for free at 6 p.m. at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage.
FRIDAY
>> Is it just us, or is Afrobeat on the rise? From Femi Kuti to Antibalas, the city's concert halls have been lousy with Nigerian-inspired music in recent months. Our city's own representation of the genre, Chopteeth, are playing the Black Cat this week, so put on your dancing shoes and get ready for a horn-fueled party. $10, 9 p.m.
>> Legendary salsa trombonist and singer Willie Colon and his band wowed me and others jammed into H20 in 2006 with a late night show full of raw energy. Hope he will bring the same vitality to an early evening, outdoor free gig with Orquesta Ashe from 7 to 9 p.m. at Woodrow Wilson Plaza, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.
SATURDAY
>> Do you like dancing, fun, smiling, and music? If so, head to Right Round, the Black Cat's '80s alt pop dance night. If not, you've probably got bigger problems to work on. At the back stage, 9:30 p.m., $6.
>> Garutachi is hosting their sixth Underwear Party at the Rock & Roll Hotel this weekend. You can pay $10 to lurk and gawk, or get in for free if you check your clothes and your inhibitions at the door.
>> From what we understand, the only thing with the potential for more of a bacchanalia atmosphere than the Garutachi party this Saturday night is The Black Lips show at the Black Cat. The band's known for their unpredictable behavior, including everything from vomiting to making out to disrobing and more. With The Points, $12, 9 p.m.
>> We're suckers around here for anybody who pulls off a good cover of "Many Rivers to Cross." That includes Austin's Ian Moore, who's hosting a CD release party tonight at DC9. $8, 8:30 p.m.
>> Louisiana’s Rosie Ledet will be bringing her sultry voice, double entendre lyrics, and rural zydeco rhythms when she and her band play a dance at Glen Echo Park from 9 p.m. to midnight.
SUNDAY
>> We're just gonna put it out there: Hanson at the 9:30 Club, $30.
>> Sixty-something Chicago resident Otis Clay still sings soul and gospel in the same booming, powerhouse style he utilized back in the 1960s and ‘70s. This fave of Japanese R&B fans headlines the annual Bluebird Festival, which also features Hardway Connection, Bobby Parker, KJ James, Terry Bean, Cephas and Wiggins, The Jewels, and Deanna Bogart from 12:30 to 6 p.m. at Prince George's Community College, 301 Largo Rd., Largo, Md.
Steve Kiviat contributed to this week's agenda. Aesop Rock photo (of him "thinking of some ill shit, like space or math,") from his MySpace page