Highlights from Thursday's Live Music Calendar 9/27/07

The Broken West Play the Echoplex Tonight

After a very long day, I stopped into Spaceland last night for Maps. They were good and quite capable of pulling off their dense recorded material on the live stage. With a five piece touring band, it was their first trip to the States. They looked like regular suburban guys; the lead singer even sported an In'N'Out t-shirt. If you're a fan of dense, shoegazey rock with electronic touches check them out. They've got a couple of shows this weekend in New York....

Tivo Alert: Bjork on Conan

Thursday's Pick:

The Broken West / The Parson Red Heads / Bodies of Water / Henry Clay People @ Echoplex ($10) – All around good guys, The Broken West put out one of my favorite records of the year last January on Merge. After not seeing them for about six months, I was stunned by how much they’ve evolved as a live band since their Spaceland residency earlier this year. They’re heading out on the road again in a couple of weeks, so hopefully my friends in Austin, Madison, Cambridge, Washington DC, Nashville, Chicago and Minneapolis will show these guys some love. The Parson Red Heads are a local band that’s a lot of fun to see live. Bodies of Water have been getting some good national blog love recently.

Well worth the cash:

Ladytron / Great Northern @ Hollywood and Highland (Free but you need to take the bus or train to the show and flash your ticket) – I’ve yet to see a show at the mall at Hollywood and Highland, but you probably should get there early if you want to see these guys. Ladytron probably would rather been playing at the Hollywood Bowl tonight, but the Pet Shop Boys canceled.

Other Options:

Sleeping States @ Bordello ($8) – Electric folk from the UK with a new album out on Misra. Pitchfork gave it a very respectable 7.9/10.

Sam Sparro / Voxhaul Broadcast @ the Echo (Free for 21+ / $5 under 21)

The Headcat (with Lemmy) @ Safari Sam’s ($15)

James Blunt @ Spaceland (Limited tix available at the door) – If you’re a fan, this will probably be the smallest place you’ll ever see this dude again.

Thee LA Gentleman Callers @ Silverlake Lounge ($7)

Princeton @ Hotel Café

Upsilon Acrux @ the Smell

Lez Zeppelin @ El Rey ($19)

A++ / Ing @ Land [366 E. 2nd Street in Little Tokyo] ($3)

Photo from my Sunset Junction Flickr Set