Cape music picks: September 2 2011

A who’s who of Cape Town DJs, soundboys, producers and creative collectives come together to open the valves of Cape Town’s state-of-the-art sound system this weekend.

■ Celebrating the core of club culture, Maximum Signal Control promises to be a roller-coaster ride of contemporary underground electronic music.

Friday’s line-up sees phat ‘n funky beat master Sibot, dirty electro raver Haezer, Richard the Third, Narch, Bteam, Shane “Card on Spokes” Cooper, Steven “Audiophile 021” Elsworth, O’ltak and Liver reroute the hardcore electro continuum. British producer Sian joins deep-house hero Jullian Gomes, retro-future tech architects Killer Robot and Thibo Tazz, Kid Fonque, Leighton Moody, Me & My Machine, Lapse, Magnum Hi Fi and DJ MX rocking the gigantic Red Bull Music Academy with a kaleidoscope of sound.

The Assembly, 61 Harrington Street, Cape Town, September 2 and 3 at 9pm. Entrance is R60 before 10.30pm, R80 thereafter. Tel: 021 461 2519. Website: www.theassembly.co.za. Book at www.webtickets.co.za.

■ “People say we sound a bit like Owl City, Mew and Muse—even Backstreet Boys—because Franco is such a pretty boy,” says Isochronous’ lead vocalist and guitarist Richard Brokensha.

During the past three years, Pretoria’s “progressive” rock posterboys have earned a reputation for sculpting a shape-shifting soundtrack of moody, mathematical arena rock, leavened by a contagious indie pop sensibility. Expect a cocktail that channels influences from Mew, Muse and Mars Volta to Deftones, Rachmaninov, Hans Zimmer and Jeff Buckley when they perform songs from their latest album, Inscape.

Mercury Live & Lounge, 43 De Villiers Street, Zonnebloem, Cape Town, September 2 at 9pm. Entrance is R40.