Weekend Music Picks

Fri 5/12 - The Bellrays @ Safari Sam’s ($10) – This is a great opportunity to see Riverside’s The Bellrays play a new venue with great sound. There are plans to modify the stage to give soulful singer Lisa Kekaula even more room to strut around. With her huge voice, stage presence and the tight rock band, it promises to be a high energy night. Congratulations to the winner of our ticket giveaway. If you prefer country-rock, go see Mike Stinson @ the Mint. If you want to keep up on rock bands that the bloggers love, go see Birdmonster @ Spaceland.

Sat 5/13 - Elf Power @ Spaceland ($10) – They're an Athens, GA band that's part of the Elephant 6 collective. They also run their own 150 acre land conservation commune. While their eight albums can be a little inconsistent, there are a lot of gems sprinkled throughout. “Old Tyme Waves” from 1999’s A Dream in Sound is one you should definitely seek out. Listen to some of their more recent songs on Myspace. If you prefer cantankerous, British legends, go see The Fall at the Knitting Factory.

Sun 5/14 - Stay in for once, it's Mother's Day. How about some music? Yesterday we found the four-disc Phil Spector Back to Mono box set at CostCo for $15. Amazon's selling it for $67.48. Of course some of our moms prefer Eddie Rabbit, but what are you going to do?

Photo: The Bellrays / Elf Power