Moonraker

Fusing the furious whir-and-bleep machine pulse of electronic music with live instrumentation and topping it off with one sultry, soulful voice, the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based quintet Moonraker creates music that is as innovative as it is listenable.

The band will bring its self-described “livetronica” sound to the Unity College student center at 9:30 tonight. Sure, Unity is a bit out of the way for Bangorians, as well as being the most unlikely place to find anything with the suffix “-tronica,” but Moonraker just might be worth the effort. Its eclectic, innovative sound won over fans and critics in its former hometown of Boston. In 2003, the band was named “Best New Band in Boston” at the Boston Music Awards.

On Moonraker’s self-titled, full-length debut from Immergent Records, the band’s sound recalls the best work by such groups as Portishead and Massive Attack, while successfully blending in elements of rock, pop, jazz and funk. But above all, the music has a heartbeat, thanks to solid songwriting and the band’s organic core of real, live musicians: vocalist Kelli Scarr, guitarist David Moltz, keyboard player Dan Chen, bassist Kody Akhavi, drummer Dan Mintzer and Nate Greenburg adding sonic textures from behind the turntables.

For more about Moonraker, visit www.moonrakermusic.com.

Also this weekend, the acoustic guitar-driven pop group Common Rotation will bring its Living Room Tour to a Bangor home on Sunday. This L.A. quartet is headlined by singer-songwriter-guitarist Eric Kufs and vocalist Adam Busch, known for playing Warren on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and supported by bassist Mike Uhler and drummer Ken Beck. For more on the group, access commonrotation.com. For more on the Bangor show, call Ginger at 942-4272.

George Bragdon can be reached at gbragdon@bangordailynews.net.