By Rhome Anderson and David Malitz
washingtonpost.com Staff Writers
Thursday, December 7, 2006 12:01 AM

Thursday, Dec. 7
The first of two hip-hop and drum 'n' bass fusion events this week jumps off at Five tonight. Although this kind of combo was quite common when Nation was still active, the jungalistas and b-boys don't often get to play together around town anymore. On the higher BPM side, the Urban Renewal Project features MC Mecha rocking with DJs John Tab, Telemetrik, Inflictz and Isobaric in the main room. Originally from South Dakota, Washington's friendliest street corner rapper Flex Matthews holds down hip-hop on the roof with K-Beta and 13th Floor. Perhaps Flex will be able to get in on that legal busking hustle if Metro allows him and partner DJ Damu to bring their guitar amp, beat machine and microphones from random sidewalks outside of shows into the subway stations.

We're big fans of the local Federal Reserve collective, which is home to some of this town's best alt-country/folk-pop/whatever you want to call it bands like Kitty Hawk, These United States and Revival. Holding up the rock wing of the Reserve is Let's French, a quartet that will probably get the Interpol treatment due to singer Randy Chugh's dramatic, deep baritone, but that plays songs that are punchier and less mopey than those fashionable New Yorkers. More recent New York buzz band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah might be a better reference point, and you can even hear a bit of treadmill power-poppers OK Go in the group's songs. Let's French takes the stage at Wonderland Ballroom as part of the the Federal Reserve's monthly first Thursday takeover.

Friday, Dec. 8
Phish Tea Cafe has promise as a West Indian restaurant and even more potential as a performance space. Perhaps that's what the promoters of Konkrete Jungle saw when they planned to diversify the current rock offerings on H Street with a hip-hop and drum 'n' bass night. Since you'll never find an underpowered system anywhere that reggae, dancehall and soca is played, maybe the restaurant has plans to bring in Caribbean music to go along with its cuisine. The bass bins and speaker arrays that I spied on a scouting mission definitely support this theory. Konkrete Jungle had a long pedigree as a New York drum 'n' bass party before it became an international brand. Tonight's D.C. installment features J-Smooth, Ackshun Jackson and Know 1. K-Beta shows up again for the hip-hop side along with Target Squad and Brianna Colette.

The First Lady of Rock 'n Roll, the Queen of Rockabilly ... whatever you want to call her, Wanda Jackson is certainly some sort of royalty. Like many early country stars she got her start when she was still in her teens and was a music industry veteran at an age when most folks now are still deciding on their major. She toured with Elvis in the mid-'50s and managed to have country and rockabilly hits while bringing a rock 'n' roll attitude to her work. You can listen to one of her career highlights, "Fujiyama Mama," on the latest edition of the Nightlife Agenda podcast, and hear us marvel at the majesty of her voice. Of course, she recorded that nearly 50 years ago, so her pipes aren't in quite the same shape. But we're sure that, given the chance, just about everyone in attendance would still trade vocal chords with her today. Jackson plays at the Black Cat.

Saturday, Dec. 9
13th Floor's name has been seen on fliers around town on the hip-hop circuit, but I'd never sampled their work until I came across a posse cut called "Mercy" that also features local vets O.U.O. and Virginia hip-hop heavyweight Skillz. It's a really blue-collar underground cut with battle lyrics over a vaguely RZA-esque beat. You can catch the rest of these collaborators -- minus Skillz who happens to be touring with DJ Jazzy Jeff now -- at Andalu tonight for 13th Floor's album release party.

Every town needs a garage rock scene, and a pretty fine one is emerging in D.C. Who needs Little Steven Van Zandt to bring his past-their-prime relics to town when we've got fine bands like the Hall Monitors? The quartet plays fuzzy, bluesy garage rock that sounds like it came straight off the "Nuggets" box set. Or at least one of those dozens of "Pebbles" compilations that soon followed. Garage rock is a genre in which originality is about the 43rd most important trait for a band to have; it's much more important to get those guitars just right and to be able to convincingly pull off the retro sound. And the Hall Monitors do that with ease. Catch them at the Velvet Lounge with the Fishnet Stalkers and the rockabilly-flavored Have Mercys, another fairly new local garage entity.

Tuesday, Dec. 12
Fritz is out of the country this week so I can get away with dissing one of his favorite bands, We Are Scientists. It takes all of my self-control not to get into arguments with him whenever he sports his "Trust We Are Scientists" shirt in the office, although I suppose it's better than his "Local Celebrity" one. Anyway, give We Are Scientists credit for at least having good taste in opening acts. The Oxford Collapse shares a hometown and some '80s influences with WAS, but it does a much better job at crafting memorable, nonderivative songs. The trio hit its stride on this year's "Remember the Night Parties," its Sub Pop debut, which keeps the nervous energy of its post-punk forebearers while injecting the tunes with catchy, multipart vocals and some big guitars. Search around your favorite MP3 blogs for "Please Visit Your National Parks" and "Lady Lawyers," two of the most fun indie rock songs of 2006.

Wednesday, Dec. 13
If you need your space/drone rock fix -- admit it, you know you do -- head down to the Red and the Black tonight for New York's Psychic Ills. It always seems like this group is on the verge of breaking into Spaceman 3's "Revolution," but that's a good thing. The band likes to find a groove and stick with it, often using rumbling, marching drums as the foundation while the guitars alternately shimmer and screech.

"I hope to someday live in a world where a person could tell a hilarious AIDS joke. It's one of my dreams." So said Michael Scott (Steve Carrell -- duh) on a recent episode of "The Office," and while his dream may not yet be a reality (unless you write for "South Park") tonight you can at least hear jokes that will help fight AIDS. Dr. Dremo's is hosting an AIDS Marathon Fundraiser Standup Comedy Show with proceeds supporting the Whitman-Walker Clinic, where 12 local standups get seven minutes each to make you laugh. After that, audience members will get a chance to tell a joke and the best one wins $25 and a free beer, bringing the grand total of that prize package to ... $27. Hey, at least there are $2 beers.