The Little Ones, who lost their U.S. record deal with EMI/Astralwerks early this year, have been signed to Chop Shop Records, the year-old imprint that was spun off Chop Shop Music, the music supervision company that has curated the soundtracks to television shows such as “The O.C.,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Gossip Girl” and “Boston Public,” among others. Look for the Little Ones’ debut album, “Morning Tide,” to finally be released in September — more than two years after their “Sing Song” EP marked the L.A. outfit as a band to watch.

“They’re growing and we’re growing,” singer-guitarist Ed Reyes says. “It’s back to basics for us — it’s great to deal with a group of people who are enthusiastic about our music.”

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On Tuesday night, James Hunter is bringing his unique variety of soul to the Troubadour. Unique, you may well question? Yes, unique.

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I first met The 88 more than five years ago. Picking my way through the post-show crowd outside Spaceland, keyboardist Adam Merrin was among three or four people fliering to promote their bands. Only Merrin was handing out sampler CDs with The 88’s fliers.

“I used to hate passing out fliers, but the idea of handing out music made sense,” Merrin says of the tack that helped build the band a strong L.A. following. “We did that a long time.”

No overnight sensations, these guys. After two DIY albums and more than 40 song placements in films, television shows and commericals, the 88 signed with Island and are releasing their major-label debut in August, and kicking off the campaign with a show as part of the Sunset Strip Music Festival. When I talked to them last week, they were pretty much the same dudes I’d run into pounding the pavement outside local clubs.

||| Stream: “Coming Home”

||| Live: The 88 plays the Roxy on Saturday night.

After the jump, check out my story from today’s print edition of The Guide.

–Kevin Bronson

Photo: Keith Slettedahl, left, Adam Merrin and Anthony Zimmitti of the 88 by Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times

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In a show of civic pride that may have some locals rolling their eyes with memories of riots, parking nightmares and noise violations, the Sunset Strip Business Assn., Sunset Strip club owners and West Hollywood have collaborated to honor the clubs of the Sunset Strip and its music history with a three-day festival. The Sunset Strip Music Festival will run Thursday through Saturday and promoters are expecting up to 9,000 attendees. The festivities will include performances at the House of Blues, the Key Club, the Roxy, the Whisky A Go Go, the Viper Room and the Cat Club.

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Nigerian singer Fela Kuti is most known for ushering Afrobeat rhythms and socially conscious messages onto the world stage. Tonight and tomorrow, his son Seun (pronounced shi-oon) embarks on his first ever tour to promote his album “Many Things,” which features his father’s 15-piece funk and jazz orchestra, Egypt 80.

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On “Black Covers,” one of the sylvan gems on L.A. quintet Everest’s debut album, “Ghost Notes,” frontman Russell Pollard sings, “Sometimes you’ve gotta step out of line to be seen.” Ain’t it the truth.

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Wu-Tang Clan’s abbot and resident chess master, RZA, is starting to look more like a neo-soul singer instead of the ruckus-bringer from the early ’90s. I guess that’s what becoming a Hollywood composer and actor will do to you. The change has actually brought him a fair amount of flack from his brethren for his softened, more focused beat production on the Wu’s recent “8 Diagrams” album.

But fear not, RZA loyalists: Superhero hedonist alter ego Bobby Digital is back.

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Two turntables and a full drum kit.

That’s the lean artillery deployed by the team of DJ AM and Travis Barker, who will bring their beat happening to the Roxy for a three-show residency starting Wednesday and continuing July 30 and Aug. 27.

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Hip-hop culture, as it was formed in the ’70s in the Bronx, New York, owes a lot to Germany. The group Kraftwerk’s bass-driven electro music would influence countless musical styles, but so did a group of pioneering DJs that included Afrika Bambaataa. In his 50s, the founder of the Universal Zulu Nation still tours as a DJ and member of Soulsonic Force and he’s up again for possible induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Bambaataa is referred to as the godfather of hip-hop, but in a recent chat with Soundboard he says he prefers the title “Amen Ra of Universal Hiphop Culture.” The Amen Ra is the headlining DJ tonight at Crash Mansion. We caught up with him as he lounged in his hotel suite downtown before a Friday performance.

– Camilo Smith

For those who think the terms are synonymous, can you explain the difference between “hip-hop” and “rap”?

Well, rap is part of hip-hop. Hip-hop is really a whole culture, it deals with all the five elements and then the plus elements. So, if you deal with DJ, B-boys, graffiti art, emceeing and that fifth element that holds it all together, the knowledge, you’re dealing with hip-hop as a culture. And then you deal with all the other, plus that deals with fashion and all that. When you say “rap,” you’re just dealing with only one little aspect of hip-hop.

You’re called the “Godfather” of hip-hop. Do you see things coming full circle now in hip-hop music?

It’s still got some more to go. When I see that coming full circle is when we become galactic humans and head to these different planets, which I know they’re getting ready to take you… it’s going beyond the planet Earth.

It seems like for a while hip-hop lost the use of electro beats and electro funk that you pioneered. Only recently does it seem that a lot of popular rappers and hip-hop artists have veered more toward that sound again.

Well, it never got lost. It’s always been there. The people who didn’t hear it, and other DJs playing it, was because their minds were so closed to one style of hip-hop music. Electro’s always been there; in fact, that’s one of the biggest styles of music in the world, is the electro and the techno. The biggest festival of all is the Love Parade, where you have over 3 million people coming to hear DJs playing electro.
You have the breakbeat DJs from Miami, bass and all that with Uncle Luke; and you have the music out of Rio de Janeiro… so it never went anywhere. The only people who think it disappeared is because they don’t understand hip-hop as a culture. They only understand what the radio plays, so, if they tell you it’s gangster, then that’s all the people who listen to radio heard, while the other people were listening to all the other styles of hip-hop culture, whether it’s hip-house or jungle, or drum and bass, or Ragga-hop; different styles of music but also made up of hip-hop.

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Nearly everything in Irvine closes at 10 p.m. Basically, if you’re a student or enjoy some sort of nightlife, you’re pretty much out of luck. Irvine is like a frozen tundra when it comes to some sort of music scene: Epic jam sessions cannot survive. Dance parties wither and die. Everyone listens to Jack Johnson.

But there’s now a ray of light in our fair corporate metropolis. Since late January, the student-run DIY group Acrobatics Everyday has been bringing local and touring indie bands to the UC Irvine campus. But wait, doesn’t Chain Reaction in Anaheim already provide this? That’s somewhat true, except the bands that play there are all emo-pop outfits from your little sister’s iPod.

AE founder Sam Farzin, a UC Irvine student and music director of KUCI-FM (88.9), felt the city needed more variety and, let’s face it, better bands: “Why not start by attempting to introduce wonderful, palatable sounds to a whole new audience that would never otherwise know they existed? My main goal is to get people in the area excited about music. Off of their computers and into classrooms, restaurants, lecture halls, conference rooms — watching music … wherever we can fit a PA.”

Also, because all the money that Acrobatics Everyday generates goes directly to the bands, there is no commercial agenda.

The ever-expanding list of bands that have played at Acrobatics Everyday include spazz-tastic Dan Deacon, heartfelt indie pop band Mount Eerie (formerly the Microphones), the stream-of-consciousness stylings of BARR and Mount Righteous, pictured above.

This Saturday, Acrobatics Everyday celebrates the beginning of summer and its six-month anniversary with the Bright Tomorrow Festival. The lineup include Devon Williams (formerly of Osker), Infinite Body, Glasser (with the BodyCity dance troupe), Rafter, Red Pony Clock, Talkdemonic, and Lloyd & Michael (formerly of Dear Nora). The fest starts at 3 p.m., costs $8 and, like every AE show, is all-ages.

“I hope people will come to an Acrobatics Everyday show,” Farzin says, “and leave happy, excited about life, and looking forward to the next show.”

Perhaps Irvine doesn’t suck anymore.

– post and photo by Vivian Lee

Future events include Bird Names and Wummin (June 25) and Thao with the Get Down Stay Down and Da Bears (Aug. 1).

For more information and the full calendar, click here.