The weekly Pop & Hiss rundown of the weekend's most recommended shows continues. This week it's four nights and four gigs.Will there be more picks next week? Maybe. See you next Thursday. 

Thursday

Sean Wheeler & Zander Schloss @ the Bootleg Theater. More often than not, it's a treat when old punks get all reminiscent. Battle scars are readily apparent, usually in the form of fading tattoos, and voices stained with nicotine and whiskey are usually surefire signs of a decent storyteller. Schloss has played with just about a who's who of punk rock, most notably with the Circle Jerks and Joe Strummer. But if we forgive him for whatever role he had in Strummer's "Earthquake Weather," his pairing with Throw Rag's Sean Wheeler should be worth the price of a pint. The two drop much of the rock 'n' roll scruff in favor of country-influenced barroom comfort. The Bootleg Theater, 2220 Beverly Blvd. Tickets are $5.

The weekly Pop & Hiss rundown of the weekend's top concerts, once again arriving significantly later than it should have been posted. Sorry -- the main writer's cat needed to visit the vet today. Pop & Hiss apologizes for the delay. 

Thursday

Gary Lucas' Captain Beefheart Symposium @ the Echoplex. The late Don Van Vliet, best known in rock circles as Captain Beefheart, would have turned 70 on Saturday. To celebrate the legendary iconoclastic artist's art and influence, former Magic Band guitarist Gary Lucas will offer something that serves as a tribute as well as an educational event. Lucas will play unreleased Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band tracks, show slides of Van Vliet's art, screen unseen footage of the band at work, and demonstrate some of the odd techniques that the notoriously demanding band leader developed to convey ideas to his musicians. The Echoplex, 1822 Sunset Blvd. Tickets are $15 in advance; $17 at the door. Read the Pop & Hiss interview with Gary Lucas. 

Champagne Champagne @ the Silverlake Lounge. Seattle's experimental hip-hop trio seem to have been on the verge of something for the last two years. If a bit too weird for wide acceptance, Champagne Champagne's punk-influenced rap psychedelics surely have a place in this Kid Cudi and Drake world that's the bigger than the cozy Silver Lake Lounge.  Just sample the mischievously tripper "Molly Ringwald." The Silverlake Lounge, 2906 Sunset Blvd. Tickets are $8.

The weekly Pop & Hiss rundown of the weekend's top concerts has resumed with the conclusion of the holiday season, albeit significantly later than it should have been posted.Pop & Hiss apologizes for the delay. Don't hate.

Thursday

Peter & the Wolf @ the Smell. The bill says Peter & the Wolf, but the low-fi folk-pop project of Red Hunter will likely be on hiatus tonight. Instead, expect Hunter's latest project, Traffique, a sort of dream-within-a-dream "Inception"-like art-music-experimentation. The songs follow a gay man who cross-dresses in his sleep, which appears to awaken the closeted lesbian inside him. Fine, but songs like "Nora" and "Get Weird" are electro-pop with a dash of funkiness, re-imagining Prince as an art-house bohemian who composes music on a laptop. The Smell, 247 S. Main St. Admission is $5. 

Because not everyone can afford to see Roger Waters.

Thursday

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Os Mutantes @ the Music Box. The off-kilter pop of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti can, admittedly, be an acquired taste. While there's a gentleness through much of the weirdness, there's plenty of Syd Barrett-like jaggedness to keep the audience off balance. Yet the locals aren't even the reason to attend this show. The opportunity to see Os Mutantes is not one that should be passed up. Brazil's psychedelic trailblazers helped define an avant-musical landscape in which an act like Ariel Pink could thrive, manipulating and twisting long-held traditions into something wholly unfamiliar. Heavily political, the act was characterized as rebels in the '60s, and has only recently reunited. The Music Box, 6126 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles. Tickets are $22.50, not including surcharges.  

Hosannas @ Spaceland. Los Angeles knows a thing or two about noise rock of late, with the likes of No Age and Health becoming two of the city's acts most deserving of bragging. Similarly, Portland, Ore.'s Hosannas lay the reverb on thick, but the young band's layers of fuzz are made for blissing out, not rocking out. Low-fi guitars are sweetened with synths, and Hosannas lives in a tug-of-war between experimentation and melodicism. Spaceland, 1717 Silver Lake Blvd., Los Angeles. Tickets are $8.

As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, rock 'n' roll touring schedules get a little lighter. Nevertheless, Pop & Hiss is back to highlight some of this weekend's top shows.

Thursday

Pepper Rabbit @ the Echo. Catch the rising local pop duo in this headliner at the Echo, as their next planned gig in town will be as an opening act for the electronic-pop act Passion Pit in December. For a two-piece that sometimes leads with an ukulele, Pepper Rabbit have a rather expansive, atmospheric sound. Live, the band adds a member, but clever instrument swapping and a use of loops and samples makes the whispy act feel as if it's armed with an orchestra. The Echo, 1822 Sunset Blvd., Tickets are $8.

With Best Coast's Saturday and Sunday gigs loooong sold-out, Pop & Hiss looks at some of this weekend's other top shows.

Thursday

Tim Kasher @ the Bootleg Theater. Perhaps it was the pained vocals, or the deliberately choppy collision of guitars, but Tim Kasher's Cursive was often the Saddle Creek act that received second billing to the label's emo hero of Bright Eyes. A shame, as Cursive albums such as "Happy Hollow" turned a sharp and caustic eye toward suburban life, and did so with increasingly complex and ornate orchestrations. On his own with "The Game of Monogamy," the concept has turned to a shredding of societal's view of relationships. The worldview is smaller, but the sound is bigger, as Kasher slows things down to give his pop ambitions time to breathe. The Bootleg Theater, 2220 Beverly Blvd. Tickets are $15.