I first came across MC Lars as a visiting student in England listening to university radio at 1am, and was immediately inspired to jump into an impromptu dance party. Lars had matriculated as a fellow foreign student a few years prior, and it was there that he started seriously working on his mic skills. He returned to promote his debut Laptop EP and was finishing his first LP The Graduate, creating a new kind of hip hop in the process. Six years later, he’s coined the term iGeneration, engineered post-punk laptop rock, and is the early Weezer-cum-nerdie Beastie Boy critic/chronicler of hipster self-consciousness. John Mayer has been singing his praises for years, but you totally shouldn’t hold that against him. His live shows are fun, energetic and if you come to his performance at the Knitting Factory this week, probably filled with the same awkward dance moves from half-a-decade ago (come say hi!). Tickets are $10 advance, $12 at the door, and available here. –-V.R.
