THE SHOWDOWN: They'll make a great dessert

POSTED: Monday, August 23, 2010, 10:34 PM

Filed Under: Music The Showdown

Monday: Yes, we know. It's sold out. But we still thought it worth highlighting local favorite Scott McMicken. That's the singer/guitarist of West Philly psych-tinged rock-pop fivesome, Dr. Dog, who'll be playing one of a batch of solo shows tonight. According to the Dr. Dog website, money from the shows will go towards McMicken producing an album by friend Mike Vissar. w/ Springs, 8 p.m., $12 (sold out), Tin Angel, 20 S. 2nd St., 215-928-0770. Tuesday: Soothing vocals, reverb-soaked guitar and electronic flourishes combine to make local duo Eat Your Birthday Cake a true pop confection — that and their delicious name. They'll make a great dessert, but you might enjoy the appetizers too; in the spirit of all things Dr. Dog, you can catch former drummer Justin Sten backed by his band The Get Real Gang. w/ Justins Stens and The Get Real Gang, TV Torso & The Makes. 8 p.m., $8, North Star Bar, 2639 Poplar St., 215-787-0488. Wednesday: Trip-hoppy beats from Asheville, N.C.? We'll take it. The MySpace page of hip-hop/electronic group Flesh Epic only features a few eerie and awesome instrumentals as of yet, but apparently there are words to be sung and/or rhymes to be spit (?) over these dark, eccentric beats. w/Rap Dragons & Teenage Souls, 8-11 p.m., $5-10 suggested donation, Danger Danger Gallery, 5013 Baltimore Ave. Thursday: The story behind Life's A Problem, the latest offering in the long and storied career of local indie/alt-country stalwarts Marah, is an alluring one. The band's current line-up took some roadside and fleamarket finds — a rusty bass, an old drum set and church piano, a "funeral organ" from an Amish store — into a farmhouse in PA to self-record, welcoming all the environmental accents the space had to offer. 9 p.m., $15, Johnny Brenda's,1201 N. Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684. Friday: Iggy Pop remains an icon of the raucous '70s rock that fueled the punk movement, and he's still raring to go. Iggy and the surviving members of The Stooges — subjects of a somewhere-in-the-making Jim Jarmusch rock doc — are bringing their unbridled energy down the shore this weekend. 8 p.m., $47.50-60.00, House of Blues, 801 Boardwalk, Atlantic, City, N.J. 609-343-4077. Saturday: Looking for something uplifting and free? Try this: check out the Sounds of Gospel Concert on Penn's Landing featuring Grammy-winner Fred Hammond and several regional choirs. 3-9 p.m., free, Great Plaza, Columbus Blvd. at Chestnut St., 610-784-5400. Sunday: If you've never seen My Morning Jacket live, you're missing out. Known for combining of a taut, yet woozy Southern-tinged rock with a hint of jamming, they can really play for hours. In addition to their own catalog of reverb-soaked rockers, MMJ are known to break amazing and sometimes unexpected covers — like Erykah Badu's "Tyrone." And if you missed Scott McMicken earlier in the week, you can catch him in the opening slot for MMJ — the very band that helped launch Dr. Dog's career outside of Philly. w/ Scott McMicken of Dr. Dog, 7:30 p.m.. $39.50, Great Plaza, Columbus Blvd. at Chestnut St., 610-784-5400.

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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