Rugby s Sonic Boom used to be known as Pete Kember, singer-guitarist of Spacemen 3 along with future-Spiritualized man Jason Pierce. Sonic s subsequent Spectrum unit and overlapping E.A.

R. (Experimental Audio Research) took off in pursuit of Boom s more investigational impulses. E.

A.R. in particular is a framework housing a loosely organized group (which has included My Bloody Valentine s Kevin Shields) for studio and live explorations in highly disciplined improvisation and interaction performed on custom analog electronic equipment such as theremin, modular synths and insect- and human-voice generators.

Sonic has said that E.A.R.

s emphasis on form/shape and the close attention paid to the impact of the whole while not bogging down in highbrow concept takes inspiration from Stockhausen and Cage as much as Joe Meek and Kraftwerk, where preconceptions and prejudice can be left outside and sounds can exist for their intrinsic values. (John Payne)
plus, Fuxa, LSD the Search for God

Some folks really want Carina Round to be the new PJ Harvey, if only because both singers are English and because they each rely on a non-divalike curiosity and independence as they travel down similarly mysterious and unexpected byways. Other than that, though, they really don t have much in common.

Round, from Wolverhampton, has a melodic pop side, but she also rocks out expansively with cleverly layered arrangements, such as the glittery strut of Lacuna and the stormy, violin-laced clangor of Monument, both from 2004 s The Disconnection. Last year s Slow Motion Addict is even more bewitching, as Round gets seductively dangerous in a Stolen Car, peels back the skin to deconstruct a relationship on the eerie Gravity Lies and slinks through majestic pillars of looming, chiming guitars on the haunting title track. This elusive songbird appears to have settled down here for the winter, playing frequently around town at intimate clubs like this.

Catch her while you can. (Falling James) Tenor saxist Big Jay McNeely, one of Los Angeles' R B trailblazers, wielded his honking, squalling, drastically rocking horn with such tremendous, riot-inducing effect that by the mid-'50s, the LAPD routinely shut down any McNeely appearance inside the county; with a trove of classics like "Deacon's Hop" (a record that helped ignite a rhythm blues revolution), the indescribably frantic "3-D" and the peerless ballad "There Is Something on Your Mind," tonight's romp, with local jump R B fetishists Hollywood Combo, should be one mutha of a soulful, savage session.
Cinderella Choreographer Sarah Harkness crafts moves to match her dancers' abilities, and somehow what emerges is always an engaging and entertaining terpsichorean retelling of classic stories like last year's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Harkness and her troupe launch the new year with another classic reconsidered, Cinderella, with Brenda Stevens in the title role.
with Junior Brown, The Legendary Shack Shakers Something new in revivalism: The rockabilly reverend, who s playing all over town this week, claims that he discovered a top secret new guitar lick, which was first revealed on his Revival CD.
Expect a motherlode of funkification with Soulive, Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

In the lounge: Stuart Davis, 8 p.m.; then, it's Underground Orchestra, 9 p.

m
Authors Kevin Roderick and J. Eric Lynxwiler present their recent book on the famous street, which sometimes has famous traffic.
A Pedro Almod var/Antonio Banderas double feature.

First, Law of Desire (1987), about a conflicted homosexual brother and his transsexual man-hating sister. Plus, Matador (1986), a black comedy about an ex-bullfighter with the thrill for the kill. Featuring the Beatles at 6 p.

m., Dark Side of the Moon at 8 p.m.

and Led Zeppelin at 10 p.m. Resv.

required; email laserium@earthlink.net or call
A suspense thriller double feature. First, Mirage (1965, Edward Dmytryk), a Memento-esque mystery that starts with a horrible blackout in Manhattan, starring Gregory Peck as an accountant who loses 90 percent of his memory and asks private eye Walter Matthau to help him remember his life.

Plus, Return From the Ashes (1965, J. Lee Thompson), a psychological mind game from the director of The Guns of Navarone, about a doctor who emerges from a Nazi concentration camp to discover that her daughter is the mistress of her husband. Neither film is on DVD.

The Wizard of Oz (1939, Victor Fleming). Following the yellow brick road is indeed trippy, man.