Weekly Music Picks: Cooling it Down

The debacle that was Hot Stove, Cool Music last week has made us ready for a week of good music. The debacle in that it poured so hard they had to move the whole thing under the bleachers (inside). The sound quality was poor and James Taylor pulled a rock star move and only made the stage for a single song because he didn't have enough space. This week we're looking forward to cooler temperatures cool music from some great acts coming through Boston as well as residents of the Hub. If you're struggling through today and tomorrow, rejoice in the fact that there is air conditioning in these venues – once we get to the hump things should be better weather-wise and it might just be time to get your Mozart on at the Esplanade. Keep cool, listen up.

Monday 7/17
Diplo
Florida raised, Philly based Diplo, the legendary Hollertronix DJ, is giving DJ Shadow a run for his money in the "damn that DJ made my day" category. In addition to his Hollertronix mixtpaes and critically acclaimed album Florida, Diplo is best know for his amazing mix CDs – check AEIOU, Favela On Blast, and Piracy Funds Terrorism (w/ (former?) main squeeze M.I.A.). Plus our man Diplo has remixed everyone from Gwen Stefani and Le Tigre to Bloc Party and Yeah Yeah Yeahs to DJ Shadow and 3rd Base. And he loves Miami Bass, Dirty South and Crunk, not to mention Brazilian Baile Funk. And he's brought a couple Brazilian gems along for this tour: Cansei de Ser Sexy (CCC) and Bonde do Role. Show of the summer. But if you don't already have tix, you're out of luck.
Great Scott
18+, $15 SOLD OUT
Diplo: website | myspace | wikipedia | purchase | Kanye Charles - i got a gold digger.mp3 (Diplo remix) | 3rd base--shut your mouth (Diplo remix)
Cansei de Ser Sexy: website | myspace | this month day 10.mp3
Bonde do Role: myspace

Tuesday 7/18
Read Yellow, Blanks., Tiny Whales, The Minus Scale
After a show at Bill's Bar a few months ago, New Hampshire's Tiny Whales told Bostonist they had a total of "maybe four fans." We think any band with two synthesizers (one of them a Moog) and some good shouting deserves at least a dozen, especially if their "Love Will Tear Us Apart" cover is prefaced with a "Fuck you if you don't like this song!"
Middle East Upstairs
18+, 9 pm, $9
Read Yellow: myspace | web site | Bigmouth Strikes Again
Blanks. ("Blanks, period" not the "The Blanks"): myspace | web site | stream album
Tiny Whales: myspace | shaky live footage
The Minus Scale: web site | Automatic Girls .mov

Wednesday 7/19
Boston Landmarks Orchestra (also Friday 7/21)
Mozart's Requiem hasn't always fared well, en plein air. When the composer's manuscript of the piece was displayed at the 1958 World's Fair, an unseen fairgoer managed to tear off the bottom of the last page and scurry off with the last thing Wolfgang ever wrote. Two free performances by the Boston Landmarks Orchestra may well reverse the curse, though. The first is in a bucolic Boston setting, the second indoors in Cambridge, and both feature the extraordinary local tenor Charles Blandy. In the first half of the programme, Mozart's 39th Symphony stands alone.
The Hatch Shell (Wednesday) and Sanders Theatre (Friday)
7:30 p.m. (Wednesday) and 8 p.m. (Friday), Free
Boston Landmarks Orchestra: website
A 1996 discussion in which two trombonists discuss trombone parts in Mozart's Requiem: Learn

Thursday 7/20
Prince Paul (Handsome Boy Modeling School, De La Soul) and Lovebug Starski
Prince Paul helped redefine hip hop in 1989 with De La Soul's sampadelic masterpiece Three Feet High and Rising. In addition to his solo projects and busy production schedule, Prince Paul found a partner in crime in Dan the Automator. Sharing production genius and a warped sense of humor (how many hip hop heads are Chris Elliot and Father Guido Sarducci fans? well, at least two), the pair concocted The Handsome Boy Modeling School, whose White People and So . . . How's Your Girl? are Bostonist favorites. Paul is joined by Lovebug Starski, the old school DJ and MC who is credited with coining the term hip hop. The two legends are in town for the monthly Scion Metro Series. Brought to you by the folks who sponsor the Free Up Your Mix national DJ contest (2004 winners: the Oakland Faders). Ok, sure, it promotes Toyota's Scion, but the Metro events have done a great deal for indie hip hop, electronica, underground DJs, and local scenes. With Boston's DJ Kon, Tone B. Nimble, and DJ Big (Scion Metro's resident DJs at AXIS).
AXIS
21+, 9pm - 2am, FREE admission, but you must RSVP to gain entry
Prince Paul: wikipedia | sucker for love.mp3 | purchase
Lovebug Starski: wikipedia | discogs
DJ Kon: David Day's (sQuare Productions) Boston Phoenix article

Ledisi
Ledisi (which means "bring forth" in Nigerian) is a powerful singer (she sang with the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra at age 8) who mixes jazz, R&B, hip-hop, funk and neo-soul into a steamy gumbo. In addition to working with the likes of The Roots, Meshell N'degeocello, Chaka Khan, Poncho Sanchez, and Moby, Ledisi released two well received albums (Soulsinger and Feeling Orange but Sometimes Blue) on her own label. She just signed to Verve Records so this is your last chance to see her as an indie artist.
Regattabar
$20, 7:30
website

Friday 7/21
DJ Josh Wink
If you didn't get tickets to see Diplo you can dance to fellow Philly DJ Josh Wink. Over the past 10 years, Josh has made big splashes in house, techno, drum 'n' bass, IDM, and experimental dance music, including his own Profound Sound CD series (tonight's gig is a Profound Sounds Vol. 3 CD release party). He's also a major producer and remixer. He my not be Diplo, but he's big, y'all. And he's an ardent supporter of Final Scratch technology, not that that makes a heck of a lot of difference to mosta y'all.
With Soul Clap opening upstairs and Jay Prouty downstairs.
RISE, 306 Stewart Street
Afterhours (1:30am - 6:00am), $15 (RISE club members) $25 guests
Josh Wink: website | myspace | info | wikipedia

Saturday 7/22
Los Amigos Invisibles
Los Amigos Invisibles, the disco funk darlings of David Byrne's Luaka Bop label, mix a "carnival of sexed up lyrics, wah-wah guitar riffs, and hot conga rhythms" with the "booty shaking of disco, the deep rhythms of house, the sass of salsa, and the plush-sofa vibe of electronic lounge." The band's The Venezuelan Zinga Son (produced by Masters at Work Kenny Dope and Louie Vega) has been melting turntables for a couple years now. And has it really been six years since Los Amigos took us on A Venezuelan Journey into Space (Arepa 3000)? Damn, time flies when your dancing your ass off. Of course the boys have been busy remixing Basement Jaxx, Beastie Boys and others as of late. Saturday finds Los Amigos surrounded by the surprisingly sedate trappings of the Regattabar. Get a table up front and you can dance face-to-face with this Typical and Autoctonal Venezuelean Dance Band.
Regattabar
$20, 7:30pm & 10pm
website | purchase

Jens Lekman
It's another sweet summer's night in Central Square, but the indiepop Swede doesn't get on stage until the wee hours of Sunday morning, after Frida Hyvonen, Tom Thumb & The Latter Day Saints, and Indian Style.
TT the Bear's
9:15 pm, $10 (advance tickets sold out)
Jens Lekman: myspace | website

Blue Heron Renaissance Choir
In New Hampshire, a music festival quietly flowers. Monadnock Music puts on a beautifully-curated show nearly every weekend during the summer months, as well as several during the week. This Saturday, Scott Metcalfe brings members of his Blue Heron Choir to sing songs of Guillaume Du Fay in Peterborough, which is about an hour and a half from Boston (directions abound, below).
Peterborough Town House
8 p.m., $32, $26, $21
Monadnock Music: website
Blue Heron Renaissance Choir: website

C. Fernsebner, Matt Durutti, Erin Anguish, Victoria Daskal, and Christina Linklater contributed to this list.