PepperAlley

Tuesday Dec 9 (7:30pm)

After garnering multiple Academy Awards, occupying a spot in the top 100 grossing movies of all time, and being selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid shows no sign of surrendering its classic status. Based on a true story, the western chronicles the crime-loving lives of its title characters (Robert Redford and the late, great Paul Newman), with Katharine Ross as their female support. David Fincher – music video director and auteur of such modern-day classics as Se7en and Fight Club – appears tongiht to introduce this screening of the archetypal cowboy buddy flick.

Tuesday Dec 9 (8pm)

Heralded as a pioneer of electronic and avant-garde music, German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen may not be a household name (despite his mug making the cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's) but he is one of the 20th century's greatest artistic visionaries. Tonight's Green Umbrella celebrates the German rocker/revolutionary with a performance of his 1952 composition Kontra-Punkte, as well as a tribute to selected pieces that celebrate "music of the future." Scheduled to appear: mezzo-soprano Mary Nessinger, soprano Keira Duffy, baritone Eugene Chan, trombonist James Miller, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado.

Tuesday Dec 9 (8pm)

Tangier Lounge's monthly Digital Cabaret event redefines the concept of modern dinner theater, updating classic nightclub entertainment for contemporary audiences. In its December edition, contenders submit videos, skits, and other numbers on the theme "Make It Funny." Performances are complemented by live music in true modern cabaret fashion, and the entrant amassing the most laughs wins.

Tuesday Dec 9 (8:30pm)

The members of Florida-cum-Baltimore-based band Wilderness have been working together for 11 years, and it shows in the maturity of their sound. James Johnson's plaintive, cerebral musings about capitalism are mostly lost without a lyric sheet, but live, his vocals act like another instrument, adding more satisfying tones and textures. Released earlier this month, the band's new Jagjaguwar record, (k)no(w)here, offers a strong follow-up to 2006's popular Vessel States. Tearing through a set of similar tunes, Johnson is as emotionally engaged as it gets; at times, it almost sounds like he's crying. And who's to say he isn't?

Monday Dec 8 (7pm)

American print mogul William Randolph Hearst may be the inspiration for the cold, withdrawn title character in Citizen Kane, but that doesn't mean he didn't have a collector's eye. His lavish arts collection is the focus of LACMA's current Hearst the Collector exhibition. The magnate favored arms and armor, silver, paintings, and tapestries, all of which are on view in this, the first major display of his estate. In tandem with LACMA's show, author and Hearst historian Victoria Kastner investigates the San Simeon treasures, zeroing in on its decorative arts components as well as its hyperbolic architecture.

Monday Dec 8 (8pm)

New music impresario Justin Urcis kicks off another fascinating, cutting-edge season of the acclaimed Monday Evening Concerts series with a brief history of the concert-hall avant-garde. The performance features accordion virtuoso Teodoro Anzellotti, along with a collection of extraordinary local musicians, in a concert of works juxtaposing late medieval/Renaissance compositions by such composers as Ciconia, Solage, and Vaillant with the new century's progressive edge. The latter is represented in works by Luciano Berio, and Michael Maierhof and with US premieres by Vinko Globokar and Keiko Harada.

Monday Dec 8 (8:30pm)

Joan Jonas has been producing video and performance art for more than 30 years, and this evening appears in person alongside two recent works. Interpreting the literature of two seemingly very different writers — epic poet Dante Alighieri and art historian Aby Warburg — Jonas uncovers their hidden poetic and philosophical similarities. Footage of a forest, a European performance, and New York at night comprise Reading Dante, inspired by The Divine Comedy. The Shape, the Scent, the Feel of Things is a visual reflection on Aby Warburg's 1923 lecture regarding the Pueblo Indian snake ritual. By drawing from literary sources, both works move past being visual stagings of the written word, and become texts in their own right.

Monday Dec 8 (9pm)

Last time we heard from Oakland rap crew the Coup, it was when mastermind MC Boots Riley called in a nasty case of police profiling in San Francisco over Memorial Day weekend. The politics-with-your-party group has experienced controversy before, most infamously when their album Party Music (slated for a release on 9/11, 2001) had to be pulled for its cover shot of Boots and DJ Pam the Funkstress blowing up the World Trade Center. On their last release, Pick a Bigger Weapon, the Coup edged their healthy politicking with vintage P-Funk cosmic grooves. Tonight, they open for bassist extraordinaire Me'shell Ndegeocello, who knows a thing or two about socially conscious funk.

Sunday Dec 7 (12:30pm)

The Natural History Museum's Sustainable Sundays series sets out to unpack the current wealth of environmental data in order to help museumgoers understand how being green fits into their daily lives. NHM's Grand Foyer offers talks, booths, interactive activities, and direct access to specialists.  Meanwhile, museum scientists and guest researchers hold informative panels. Today's experts include advocate James Rojas, who discusses the sustainability of US Latino neighborhoods. Conservation International officer Robin Moore then considers the state of the global amphibian population, and what it means for humans.

Sunday Dec 7 (8pm)

A self-proclaimed "experiment in sound recycling," Secondhand Sureshots follows four Dublab DJs as they embark on a mellifluous odyssey across Los Angeles in search of obscure albums. Daedalus, J. Rocc, Nobody, and Ras G set out to unearth vinyl buried in the bins of the city's thrift stores with a collective goal: they plan to create original turntable-based orchestrations with discarded and overlooked albums. Tonight's screening is preceded by tunes and drinks on the Silent Movie Theater's scenic back patio, and is followed by a music-video screening and live performances by Dublab's own.

Sunday Dec 7 (8pm)

If the Strokes is the tree, Fabrizio Moretti's new side project, Little Joy, doesn't fall far from it. Rodrigo Amarante's (Los Hermanos) croon recalls Julian Casablancas, but where Fab's other band cultivated an energetic angst, these bouncy tunes drift over you like the sound of the surf crashing in the distance. Maybe it's the beach influence. Moretti and Amarente met in Lisbon and moved into a house in Echo Park with Binki Shapiro to record their first album, named after the cocktail bar down the street. It's cute and cuddly — even a little Motown at times — but with enough texture to hold interest.

Sunday Dec 7 (8pm–2am)

Cementing its reputation as the loudest, most debauched new-music weekly on the West Side, Venice Rocks' fierce Sunday line-ups feature everything from punk, funk, and psych rock to big hair and dancing girls. This week pixie-fronted, speed-obsessed punk outfit Soccermom, plus headliner Stevie Starlight, a 70s-minded arena-style rocker with a taste for harmonic power anthems, fleet flurries of guitar riffs, and a flair for the dramatic.

Sunday Dec 7 (8:30pm)

Following in the footsteps of new-millennium electro/rock hybrids like MGMT and LCD Soundsystem, UK-bred popsters Friendly Fires combine the frantic beats of vintage disco with wiry rock riffage. Their huge chorus swells and ensemble falsetto vocals mimic the radio-courting antics of fellow buzz bands like Franz Ferdinand and the Killers, while their breakdowns flirt with funky island rhythms. Whether they're built to last like DFA or end up here today, gone tommorow is anyone's guess, but one's things for sure: Friendly Fires are this week's number-one fix for the indie-dance craving.

Saturday Dec 6 (10am–5:30pm)

Today's conference examines how professionals have been adjusting to the pronounced modifications in design resulting from computer technology, and what developments are in store for the future. Featured speakers include senior editor of Dwell, Geoff Manaugh; product designer and entrepreneur, Stuart Karten; artist and chair of UCLA's Department of Design/Media Arts, C.E.B. Reas; and architect Saffet Bekiroglu. Moderated by KCRW's Frances Anderton and LA correspondent for the Architect's Newspaper, Sam Lubell, panels are comprised of architects, engineers, design directors, software developers, writers and publishers. Their goal is singular: to locate a streamlined design process that synthesizes creativity and technology.

Saturday Dec 6 (11am–6pm)

BUST has been cranking out its bimonthly neo-feminist rag for 15 years, granting brainy babes an outlet where they're free to read, rant, rave, and recreate. Today, fans, crafters, and shoppers alike are invited to BUST's third (and LA's first) Holiday Craftacular, where approximately 50 vendors of the handmade are gathering to peddle their wares. Trinkets, garments, and gifts are available for purchase from the designers and crafters themselves. And when the browsing becomes taxing, buyers are encouraged to turn to the wealth of DJs and refreshments on hand, all of which are sure to beat a trip to the mall.

Opens Saturday Dec 6 (6–9pm)

Dec 6 – Jan 4, 2009

Saturdays–Sundays (1–5pm)

Nomad is a visual and creative opportunist: the multimedia artist wanders the globe making art that not only responds to the locales in which he finds himself, but is almost always made of materials on hand. Whether a piece is installation-based, wheat-pasted, painted, sculpted, or acted out, Nomad remains a subject of circumstance; for inspiration and tools, he always gives into his impulses and impressions. His new series at Found represents a literal and metaphoric homecoming, embodying the visual culture-shock of the transition from Berlin back to LA.

Saturday Dec 6 (7pm–2am)

After seven years spent promoting the arts in Los Angeles with innovative programs supporting emerging artists, youth, and art-appreciation, Create:Fixate is throwing itself a much-deserved birthday party. In addition to an exhibition highlighting local artists like Anne Carmak, Erin Allen, and Tony Hong, the Lucky 7 event features Create:Fixate's signature blend of multimedia arts — including fashion, live painting, jewelry, and video projections — set to a diverse soundtrack courtesy of both spun and live music. Chock full of goodies from almost every medium, this fête has all the ingredients to satiate even the most discerning art lover.

Saturday Dec 6 (7pm–5am)

The Winterfresh Festival hosts 40 world-class performers in four winter-themed rooms, complete with snow-bunny dancers, photo booths, snow-making machines, and Christmas trees. The masterminds of Fresh LA events also ferry in Spain's DJ Sammy, San Francisco's Dave Dresden (of Gabriel and Dresden), the UK's Andy Moor, Chicago's Gene Farris, Hong Kong's Ricky Stone, New York's Victor Dinaire and Noel Sanger, and local up-and-comer Kristina Sky.

Opens Saturday Dec 6 (7–9pm)

Dec 7 – Mar 1, 2009

Tuesdays–Sundays (noon–5pm)

With At the Brewery Project: 1993-2007: the Finale, the Armory pays its respects to an LA art mainstay. For the past 15 years, Edison Electric Building #3 in the Brewery complex has hosted more artists than IHOP has pancakes. At the Brewery Project and its previous incarnation, the M*Y*T*H* exhibition series, focus on contemporary artists from the southland. Over four-dozen artists take part in the Armory's tribute to this downtown beacon, including Shirley Tse, Jamison Carter, and Wendy Heldman.

Saturday Dec 6 (8:30pm)

Dressy Bessy, quite simply, are all about having a good time. The playful tone this Denver-based collective adopts has bubbled over into a few mediums; most notably, DB were featured on the soundtrack of the gay-friendly comedy But I'm a Cheerleader! (1999), starring Natasha Lyon as a sexually confused high school student. The band blends catchy pop hooks with bouncy guitar, mixing in upbeat tempos that lead singer Tammy Ealom pulls together with bassist Rob Greene and drummer Darren Albert. Tonight, Dressy Bessy pump up the fun at Spaceland alongside international crooner-core crew Colourmusic.