As the year enters week two, organizations are programming newer music, that which was composed in the last century. This weekend, the Los Angeles Philharmonic began their Concrete Frequency series to an excellent start wth Aaron Copland's "The City" played to film and Edgard Varèse's "Amériques." After the concert, hip-hop violinist duo Paul Dateh and inka one (we interviewed Paul him this summer) played in the lobby by the cafe while Breakestra funked up the BP Hall.

This week, there are five more concerts in the series with this Tuesday's singer/songwriter night, Song of the City, featuring Marc Bianchi (Her Space Holiday; xoxo, panda), Biirdie, Franklin Bruno, Zooey Deschanel, John Doe (from X), Inara George (The Bird and the Bee), Stevie Jackson (Belle and Sebastian), Sondre Lerche, Kyp Malone (TV on the Radio), Bob Mould, Zach Rogue (Rogue Wave), Daniel Rossen (Grizzly Bear).

At Monday Evening Concerts, tomorrow night, you will find the most hardcore contemporary music you'll ever hear. XTET (the number of players in the ensemble varies, hence the X rather than quartet or quintet) will play Exercises en Route, a program of exciting music 99.9% of Los Angeles has never heard of or heard before. The last concert in December proved to classical music aficionados that this series is not to be missed.

Finally, the Pasadena Presbyterian Church's Music at Noon Concert Series has a Wednesday concert entitled, Eclectic Collections: 20th-Century Chamber Music. The program is not announced, but if you work in the neighborhood (Colorado/Madison), it will be worth checking out.

Photo by ionushi ia Flickr