Friday, Dec. 14: Angelo Spencer

Northern

By Rev. Adam McKinney on December 12, 2012

K Records artist Angelo Spencer is a globetrotting pop collagist who specializes in incorporating tongues and rhythms from various cultures into one cohesive mélange of sounds and textures. If that sounds pretentious and weighty, it isn't. Spencer brings a deftness of touch and execution to his music that belies the denseness and difficulty at work. Unlike Arrington De Dionysio (with whom Spencer shares a label, as well as space on this bill), whose similarly worldly work can be almost oppressively experimental, Spencer has a playfulness that lends a little more fun to his songs - like "Tanger, Tanger," with its sprightly guitars and tongue-in-cheek autotune. Also on the bill, along with the previously mentioned Arrington De Dionysio, are Mtns, an experimental guitar-and-drums duo that finds inspiration in dissonance. I'm betting you already know if this show is your thing. - Rev. Adam McKinney

NORTHERN, W/ ARRINGTON DE DIONYSIO, MTNS, 9 P.M., $6, 414 1/2 LEGION WAY, OLYMPIA