Kárin Tatoyan reaches for a new sound

Meet Kárin Tatoyan. She's the one who started her set Monday night at Spaceland on her knees, not so much launching into song as breaking into an incantation. Who jammed virtually breathlessly for the first 10 minutes, teetering between hysteria and rapture. Who commanded your attention despite the fact the faces of her otherwise nattily attired sidemen were streaked with glitter paint. Who had you believing, straightaway.

Think of Tatoyan as a baroque Bjork. If her haunting vocals don't dazzle you, her odd music will -- counterposing, as it does, weird electronics, sound effects and loops with the very organic tones of a French horn and cello. Seeing her is like watching an Escher come to life. Almost-mathematical repetition gives way to chaos; melodies build and build yet resist payoff, like stairways to nowhere. On Monday, she started one number with an innocent comment that rang fairly large: "I'm gonna make a new sound." (It referred to a noise she was trying to loop.)

Her opening set for the Pity Party's residency was only the 10th live performance for Tatoyan, a 24-year-old of Syrian-Armenian descent who studied experimental music at Mills College. It was as distinctive (and almost improvisational) as anything you'll see in an L.A. club. She has only one DIY release, "The History of Stains" EP (which sounds a bit restrained compared to the stage show), but there are some labels snooping around. Stay tuned.

||| Download: "Fit In."

Photo by Kevin Bronson / LAT

Highlights for Tuesday, Feb. 12

Low Vs Diamond checks in at the Viper Room. ... She's Your Sister plays the Silverlake Lounge. ... It's Aushua and Moris Tepper at the Echo, and Talkdemonic at Spaceland. ... And in the Alterknit Lounge at the Knitting Factory, Ride on Rides performs.