It's ladies' afternoon at El Rio

 Junior Boys ' This Is Goodbye buoyed existential lyrics with soft-focus rock and diffused disco details. That 2006 album — displaying influences ranging from OMD to Scritti Politti, Frank Sinatra to Japan — acknowledged mainstream tastes while musing on the smaller scenes. Now, with the duo's Dead Horse remix EP, Jeremy Greenspan and Matt Didemus have tapped contemporaries including Hot Chip, Carl Craig, and Tensnake to add scuffed, prismatic counterpoints to mannered downbeats. Live, Junior Boys take the midtempo moodiness of fop-pop and tack on live instrumentation to celebrate the genre's frays and release some pressure. Check out the woozy watercolors of Junior Boys — alongside San Serac, Omar, and Kelly B — on Wednesday, April 25, at Mezzanine at 9 p.m. Admission is $12 adv.; call 625-8880 or visit www.mezzaninesf.com for more info. — Tony Ware

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Movies may be Ice Cube 's bread and butter these days, but music remains his first love — or, at the very least, he still certainly puts on a convincing live show of it. With the nimble assistance of rapper WC, his former partner in the trio Westside Connection, Cube tackles his greatest hits (and the should-be hits from his most recent album Laugh Now, Cry Later). The entertainer may be pushing 40, but his harnessed energy could power a small city — and a big stage. Hear for yourself when Ice Cube comes to town on Friday, April 27, at the Fillmore at 9 p.m. Admission is $40; call 346-6000 or visit www.thefillmore.com for more info. — Tamara Palmer

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Certain electrohaus producers use melodies to tickle your fancy while the undulating bass teases your taint. There's a touch of those qualities in Hamburg duo Digitalism 's previously released singles. But for much of Idealism, the pair's upcoming album, Digitalism punches you square in the scrotum with unrelenting, skuzzy loops that leave the balls swinging like one of those perpetual-motion office chachkas. These filter freqs — known for their acid-etched, Cure-sampling jam "Digitalism in Cairo" — make like regurgitating robots, their corkscrew tracks gagging on bombastic synth torrents. Meanwhile, pneumatic songs such as "Pogo" and "I Want I Want," show the pair riding the hi-hat like a dance-punk couple on a Viagra-Ecstasy cocktail. Submit to Digitalism's sticky manipulations on Saturday, April 28, at Mezzanine at 9 p.m. Admission is $13 adv.; call 625-8880 or visit www.mezzaninesf.com for more info. — T.W.

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Do local lesbian club nights have a problem sticking around because dykes aren't interested in getting shit-faced every night (a la their gay male counterparts), or because outside of hipster-heavy parties, the Sapphic nightlife scene isn't diverse enough to support multiple events? Who knows. As the age-old debate continues, one place that boasts both diversity and longevity is " Mango ." DJs Edaj and La Niche bring hip hop, dancehall, and Latin-rich beats to this monthly afternoon girl-on-girl dance that brightens one Saturday a month at El Rio. The fete goes on this Saturday, April 28, from 3 p.m. — 8:30 p.m. Admission is $8; call 282-3325 or visit www.elriosf.com for more info. — Brock Keeling