Live music highlights for the week of Oct. 10, 2018.
WEDNESDAY 10/10
ALT-ROCK
MONKS OF DOOM
Monks of Doom, an offshoot of Santa Cruz darlings Camper Van Beethoven, debuted The Brontë Pin this year, their first collection of all-new material in 25 years. Most songs are instrumental and improvisational; the heavy bass guitar is reminiscent of ’90s rock, artfully keeping things deep and dark, while King Crimson-esque drums flirt with psychedelia and guitars play coy with prog rock. There’s enough familiarity to make each jam sound almost like your favorite song from decades past. AMY BEE
INFO: 8:30 p.m., Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $12/adv, $15/door. 479-1854.
THURSDAY 10/11
PSYCHEDELIC
KIKAGAKU MOYO
Kikagaku Moyo’s music pierces illusions, goes straight for your innermost being, and expands it. That psychedelic expansiveness is baked into every moment of the band’s four albums. Songs morph organically from ethereal sitar ragas to propulsive krautrock to extended tone passages. In an interview with It’s Psychedelic Baby, drummer Go Kurosawa describes his view of music as separate from art, seeing it as “something more primitive and impulsive, something that brings pleasure to the body and soul.” MIKE HUGUENOR
INFO: 8:30 p.m. Flynn’s Cabaret & Steakhouse, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $15/adv, $20/door. 335-2800
THURSDAY 10/11
JAZZ
ETHAN IVERSON—MARK TURNER DUO
Pianist/composer Ethan Iverson continues his post-Bad Plus reinvention with his only California date featuring his duo collaboration with tenor saxophonist Mark Turner. Known for spinning long, captivating lines that dart and twist in unexpected directions, Turner is one of the pervasively influential saxophonists of the past quarter-century, a supremely inventive player who has developed a sound and harmonic vocabulary deeply informed by the tradition but unlike any player before him. ANDREW GILBERT
INFO: 7 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $26.25/adv, $31.50/door. 427-2227.
FRIDAY 10/12
POP
BASIA
Did you know Polish singer Basia has an impressive three-octave vocal range? Basia who, you say? Oh, you remember that singer. She had a string of easy-listening, Latin-grooving, jazz vocaling, New Age-y pop hits in the late ’80s and early ’90s (“New Day For You,” “Cruising For Bruising,” “Drunk on Love”). The hits dried up stateside in the mid-’90s, but she’s continued to chart in Poland, including the 2018 hit “Matteo,” which made it to No. 20. But is she still churning out feel-good, romantic earworms, you ask? You better believe it. AARON CARNES
INFO: 8 p.m. Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $45. 423-8209
SATURDAY 10/13
METAL
TERROR CÓSMICO
This two-piece melodic doom metal band has been sending listeners into the depths of warped-out audio intensity since 2012. On Oct. 13, long-haired heshers have the special pleasure of not only seeing the duo in a room as intimate as the Blue Lagoon, but Terror Cósmico will have some new tunes for hungry ears. Their newest album, III, was recently released in May and contains a myriad of twists and turns to delight any metalhead who enjoys an epic adventure told through heavy riffs and thunderous drums. MAT WEIR
INFO: 9 p.m. Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz, $8/door. 423-7117.
SATURDAY 10/13
POP
ADA VOX
Ada Vox broke into the mainstream when she made it to the Top 10 of American Idol this season. What many don’t know is she originally was featured on season 12, appearing as her born personality Adam Sanders. With fabulous style, bouffant hair and the pipes of an angel, Vox charmed audience and judges alike. She will be performing at Hotel Paradox for the Diversity Center’s Moulin Rouge-themed 2018 Gala After Party. The Gala is the Diversity Center’s annual fundraiser for LGBTQ+ programs, and the After Party will also include a drag show, dance floor and performances by Pussycat Doll and Carmit Bachar. MW
INFO: 8:30 p.m. Paradox Hotel, 611 Ocean St., Santa Cruz, $45/adv. 425-7100.
SUNDAY 10/14
FUNK/BIG BAND
ORCHESTRA GOLD
African pop music in the ’60s was a revelatory mix of funk, soul, pop, and psychedelia. Modern Bay Area band Orchestra Gold, led by Malian singer Mariam Diakite, aims to keep this tradition alive, bringing the revolutionary sounds of electric Africa to modern audiences. Orchestra Gold revives the big-band movement from Mali, a time when rock instruments mingled with saxophones, wood flutes and shekeres, vocalizing the sound of a recently liberated nation. OG keep the politics of liberation at the heart of its sound, and this debut performance by the groups is sure to be a stunning one. MH
INFO: 8:30 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Drive, Santa Cruz. $8/adv, $12/door. 479-1854
MONDAY 10/15
ALT-HIP-HOP
HOBO JOHNSON & THE LOVEMAKERS
“I love the thought of being with you/Or maybe it’s the thought of not being so alone,” screams Frank Lopes (aka Hobo Johnson) with every ounce of his emotions on full display. This line from his now-viral “Peach Scone” falls somewhere between spoken-word, rap, emo and stumbling folk-punk. Before shooting the video in his friend’s backyard for the NPR Tiny Desk contest this year, maybe a handful of people outside of Sacramento knew who he was. But the success of this one video literally created his career. Now he’s toured the world and sold out everywhere he’s gone. His approach to rap or folk or indie-rock or whatever the hell he does is extremely creative and more emotionally honest than anything else you’re listening to right now. AC
INFO: 9 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $20/adv, $22/door. 423-1338
MONDAY 10/15
INDIE ROCK
MADELINE KENNEY
Let go of harsh reality and immerse yourself in Madeline Kenney’s fuzzy, buzzy, synthy dreamscapes. Her songs are thick with sonic layers building upon themselves in a kind of structured experimentation. Kenney’s high-pitched, keening vocals cut through the dreamy haze with melodic clear-sightedness, finding secret crevices of wounds and healing them with lyrics imbued with the salve of sweet reflection. Kinney deftly turns the hard, sharp turns of adulthood into the softer beauty of the ethereal. AB
INFO: 9 p.m., Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $10. 429-6994.
