BUZZ BANDS

Vintage sounds, tech spin

The electronic down-tempo revival sparked by Washington, D.C.’s Thievery Corporation has swept the West Coast like a Pacific breeze. The Los Angeles duo Projections releases its debut CD, “Between Here and Now,” on Chicago’s Guidance Recordings next month. Simon James, 29, and partner Dan Hastie, 27, have produced a pastiche of digital soul, cool jazz and gangsta funk that kicks up the beats-per-minute and feeds the tech appetite, all with vintage analog keyboards (Rhodes, Hammond, Juno) and vinyl samples (“Anything on wax from ’73 to ’82 in the funk-soul-jazz department,” says James). Then, using sound-editing software, tunes such as the delicate, Mia Doi Todd-sung “Luminate” are deconstructed and rewoven into live-sounding jams. “We try to cross the live elements of the ‘70s sound with today’s technology,” says the U.K.-born James. The result squeezes Antonio Carlos Jobim, Chet Baker and King Tubby into e-music your father could dig (tell us he wouldn’t like the barbershop loops of “Backbone”). Projections performs at the Monday Social at Las Palmas Restaurant in Hollywood.

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Adding Willie’s touch

L.A. singer Carla Bozulich finished recording her radical remake of Willie Nelson’s classic 1975 concept album, “Red-Headed Stranger,” way back in May, but she was happy to make room for another voice when word came that Nelson himself wanted to get in on the fun. Bozulich flew to Austin, Texas, this week and supervised as Nelson added his vocals to her recordings of “Hands on the Wheel” and “Can I Sleep in Your Arms.” Says Bozulich: “I think our voices had a remarkable relationship, because he has that crisp edge in his voice, and I have sort of that warm fatness in my voice. There was something really cool and romantic about it.” Nelson had heard the album through an employee at his label who’s a friend of Bozulich and her musical partner, guitarist Nels Cline. Bozulich is looking for a label to handle the project, which she describes as “exploratory,” “atmospheric” and “cinematic.”

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Crowded house

It could be a tight fit on stage tonight at the Echo when the 11-piece Future Pigeon stirs up some live dub. Masterminded by Eddie Ruscha and Jason Mason, the Echo Park stalwarts who also spin reggae at the Short Stop on Wednesday nights, the collective will offer up its twist on the laconic psychedelia of dub pioneers King Tubby and Scientist, the latter of which will be joining the fray tonight.

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Briefly

Irvine high-speed rocker Thrice, whose February release, “The Illusion of Safety,” took off on Van Nuys-based label Sub City, rolls into town Sunday and Monday with sold-out shows at the Troubadour. Signed by Island Records in April, the group is aiming for a major-label debut album next summer....

Veteran pop outfit the Jigsaw Seen releases “Songs Mama Used to Sing” in early December while member David Nolte tours as David Gray’s keyboardist ....

Upstate New York transplant Four Side Letter continues to polish its melodic guitar rock with dates Nov. 8 at the Cat Club and Nov. 13 at the Joint.

-- Compiled by Kevin Bronson, with Richard Cromelin, Dennis Romero and Susan Carpenter