It's not easy to make sense of L.A. musician Daedelus, a.k.a. Alfred Darlington.

He plays modern electronica while dressed in Victorian-era clothes, he creates his sounds with a simple box despite being classically- and jazz-trained in several instruments, and he describes his live shows as revelrous dance parties even though his albums are mellow.

But for the mutton-chopped producer/instrumentalist, it's all logical.

Daedelus, who named himself after a great inventor from Greek mythology, will get feet moving at the Pawn Shop tonight with James Pants warming up the stage.

His unique approach relies largely on a box called a monome, which was given to him as a prototype six years ago.

Coming in a range of sizes and resembling a Lite Brite, the monome contains an open-source set of light-up buttons that allows Darlington to improvise using a large collection of electronic source material.

"It's really revolutionary and really simple," Darlington says. "The electronic music world can be pretty rigid at times. It can be pretty hard to be reactive to an audience because it's like, 'This is my set of complicated sounds and it's all pre-made and pre-done and predestined, basically.'

"This machine allows for the possibility of huge changes on the press of a button."

Switching things up dramatically is key for Darlington, who likes to add spice to his laid-back, dreamy electronic grooves in live settings.

"I try to flip it live. I really like the idea that records are made for home listening and deep listening and the live show is made for revelry," he says. The monome requires nimble fingers, but that's no problem for Darlington, who was trained in jazz and classical music from age six, specializing in double-bass and bass clarinet.

He also rocked the guitar and electric bass in various bands as a teen, moving from grunge to ska and then onto surf and rockabilly.

"And then somehow in the mix, electronic music won," he says.

His early works drew on avant-garde artists like John Cage, boogie and funk like Parliament Funkadelic (he met George Clinton, a family acquaintance, at a young age), and rave music pioneer Acen.

He composes using live instruments as well as the monome, but when it comes to sampling, he has a soft spot for old-school sounds.

"I love the fact that when you're sampling a record you're not only sampling melodies and harmonies and stuff, but you're also sampling all the beautiful (equipment) people were using," he says.

"If you sample from jazz records from the '50s or something, you're getting some of the best studios ever created, some of the best sonic qualities ever put onto vinyl or acetate or whatever you're sampling from. And it's incredible the kind of power you have then to get the best mics, the best amps, the best everything."

Aside from promoting his latest full-length Love to Make Music To and working on two new records, the prolific musician is also running a label called Magical Properties and playing in a group called Adventure Time as well as a duo with his wife Laura dubbed The Long Lost.

"I think (making music) must be similar to the inventive process. I hope so, or else I'm lying to myself with my alias and with my intention," he laughs. "But I've never really invented anything, so I can't say for sure."