Nocturnal Missions

By Tomm Carroll

Friday, October 5-Thursday, October 11—She threw in the towel on her acclaimed alternative rock band Throwing Muses years ago, but singer-songwriter-guitarist Kristin Hersh has never stopped creating music, much of it tortured yet fragile – and always brutally honest.

Hersh’s latest solo album, last year’s deceptively titled Sunny Border Blue, is an all-acoustic affair, but it’s certainly not a light-hearted one. So it makes perfect sense for Hersh to exercise her muse – and wrestle with her demons – at Santa Monica’s premiere acoustic showcase, McCabe’s Guitar Shop. She plays two shows, 8:00 and 10:00 p.m., Saturday night.

Tuesday is Blues Day for a couple of blues babes this week. Both singers are highly recommended, but unfortunately, they’re only playing that one night and at separate clubs. So you’ll have to choose your blues...

Santa Monica’s own Home of the Blues, Harvelle’s, welcomes the magnificent Janiva Magness, who’s been performing locally for years with her stylized take on the genre. Also, Teresa James, a longtime fixture at Rusty’s, has a new name for her band, The Rhythm Champs, and they’re playing 14 Below in Santa Monica.

Pop-folkies Eddie From Ohio (who actually hail from Virginia; go figure) return to McCabe’s for 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. shows.

The World Mosaic Music series at the Skirball Cultural Center in the Sepulveda Pass features Indian musicians Shankar, Zakim Hussain and T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram & Gingger.

The legendary Watts Prophets team up with The Los Angeles Hip-Hop Poetry Choir for some serious rapping at UCLA’s Royce Hall in Westwood.

Siberian surfabillies The Red Elvises just refuse to leave the building. They’re back at Rusty’s Surf Ranch on the Santa Monica Pier with opening act The Shamus Twins.

Bluesman par excellence James Harman brings his band to Harvelle’s for a night of searing R&B.

Uberschall (featuring members of the Blue Man Group) and Eyedentity team up for a double bill at Temple Bar in Santa Monica.

Modern philosopher Ram Dass joins forces with yoga chanter Krishna Das (who has a new Rick Rubin-produced album out) for who knows what at the Westwood United Methodist Church.

Maria Kostelas brings 100 flutes to Santa Monica Public library for her free performance of world music at 2 p.m.

Mike "Trombone" Barone takes his Big Band to the Jazz Bakery in Culver City for a one-nighter.

Minus Linus gigs at The West End in Santa Monica.

Swing is the thing for Conrad Janis and The Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band every Tuesday at Lunaria in Century City.

14 Below welcomes Faction Jackson, 2 for Junior and Glider to its stage.

The weekly gig of the rock ‘n soul group The Samurai Homeboys features Savage Henry as the opening act at 14 Below.

There’s more to Icelandic rock music than pop diva Björk and the electronic collective Gus Gus. The latest import from the frozen north is Sigur Rós, a Reykjavik quartet which took its name (it means "Victory Rose") from the sister of one its members. It’s the hottest cold-climate band around these days.

The group’s third and most recent album, Agaetis Byrjun, loosely translates as "a new beginning." It’s an appropriate title as it’s the first release to break the band internationally. In fact, Agaetis Byrjun was just named to The Short List, a new U.S. honor that singles out ten of the most innovative albums released in this country over the past year, and is similar to the U.K.’s prestigious Mercury Prize.

The band consists of lead singer/guitarist Jõn Thor Birgisson, bassist Georg Holm, keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson and drummer Orri Páll Durason, and their mesmerizing music veers from ambient electronica to ballads with strings to experimental post-punk to grandiose soundscapes. That hypnotic sound will fill the Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills for two nights this weekend. Friday night’s opener is Damien Jurado, while The Album Leaf has the honors on Saturday.