good news/bad news

Good news: there are a bunch of shows coming up.

Bad news: they're all in Davis!

I copied all this show news from Brandan's post on the DIY list. I will totally be at the Josephine Foster/Born Heller show on monday at Delta of Venus, but it bums me out that I will still have to go to Davis on my monday off. I guess I shouldn't bitch because no one's making me go. Maybe I will get a ride? Here's the rest of the information:

Josephine Foster's Born Heller on Monday!
- a free Dead Science and Craig Wedren (ex- Shudder to Think) show this Sunday
-Zdrastvootie, Scott Rosenberg, and Antlers this Sat. (I've heard Zdrastvootie's live show is phenomenal)
- Sean Hayes (who recently sold out the Great American in Sf) at the DOV this Fri. for free
- oh yeah- and a fresh Dance Party at the KDVS is My Life House, 1114 Cypress Ln., this Friday night
Wednesday, February 15 th
Dance Party with the Flower Vato at the G St. Pub, Free, 21+
-"the flower vato excels at thumpin' asses with extreme bass. Also known as Larry Rodriguez, the vato grew up listening to low rider jams and James Brown. After years of searching dumpsters for mint condition 45s, Arabic cassettes, and food, Larry has now reached his peak. He will throw down jam after jam, completely nonchalant, and will leave you beggin' for the sweet chariot to let you ride towards funky salvation when the lights turn on and the beef yell at you to leave." (Brendan Boyle)

Thursday, February 16th
Down at the Delta of Venus, 122 B St.
Free, All Ages, 8:30 p.m.

Two Sheds
Heather the Kindergarten teacher

-How many sheds? Two. Caitlin, John and Rusty are on the brink of releasing their new album and we welcome them back with open arms. They've invited Heather the "K" Teacher to open-what a voice and pretty little songs to make your heart pitter-patter...ahh...

Friday, February 17th
Down at the Delta of Venus, 122 B St.
Free, All Ages, 8:30 p.m.

Sean Hayes
Etienne de Rocher

-Born in NYC and raised in North Carolina, Sean Hayes is the real thing: A songwriter and performer who penetrates your brain and body so deeply that you quickly forget who you are and what you're doing. His songs are beautiful worlds unto themselves. Sean's performances are full sensory experiences -- sensual, elastic and thick with rich colors. A gorgeous place to live. Etienne DeRocher has been performing in SF for many years and has just released his first album and also produced and played on the new Sean Hayes cd. Critics say...."He's got one of the sweetest voices around—a high, clear-as-a-bell croon that glides easily through a song… he crafts songs that rustle with bittersweet echoes of the past without becoming pastiches. What's most appealing is the sense of wonder that fills his songs, as if he can't believe how pretty a melody can be, even amid a barrage of samples or a churning rhythm section." --Sylvia W. Chan (San Francisco Bay Guardian) "As if Beck had made a record with Peter Gabriel." --Paul Bradshaw (Mod Lang), speaking of de Rocher's self-titled album

Saturday, February 18th

Zdrastvootie will be performing live on "Shining Mountain Hours" on KDVS, from 5-7pm.

KDVS Presents at the Delta of Venus, 122 B St.
All Ages, $4. 8pm

Zdrastvootie (Santa Cruz; Holy Mountain records)
- Zdrastvootie is a skronk-rock, avant-whatsit group out of Santa Cruz that revolves around the core trio of drummer Sean Adams and guitarists Scott Stobbe and Drew Adams.The three guys are currently playing live with a female saxophonist. The band creates complex compositions veering from spazz-jazz to intricate indie guitar-rock and more ethereal atmospheric stuff, sometimes all within the same song. You could compare them to anyone from French prog monsters Magma to the Minutemen. People doing math and calling it music can be tedious, but Zdrastvootie's members manage to sidestep that tar pit by injecting some feeling into their compositions. Plus, there's a subtle sense of fun: The band's name is a mutant pronunciation of the Russian word for "hello".

Antlers (Davis)
- Antlers are an upcoming Davis outift embracing post-psychedelic, three guitar interplay. Featuring many of the members of the former band Narwhal, Antlers are one of the most exciting rock bands coming out of Davis today.


P.A.F. solo (Scott Rosenberg; Barely Auditable records)
- Scott Rosenberg will be performing solo material from his avant-country rock trio P.A.F. Rosenberg has played with many free jazz greats, such as Anthony Braxton. P.A.F. is a high-powered alt-country outfit that can quickly breakdown into highly technical "free" space.
Sunday, February 19th

Sunday, February 19th
KDVS Presents at the Delta of Venus, 122 B St.
All Ages, 8p.m., $Donations requested

Dead Science (Seattle) (http://www.thedeadscience.com/index.html)
- http://www.threeimaginarygirls.com/deadscience05oct.asp

Craig Wedren (ex- Shudder to Think)
- (review of Shudder to Think- s/t- from Aquarius Records): "First time ever on CD, after being out of print for over a decade! Before"emo" was a noun, it was an adjective used to describe the sensitive,post-hardcore stylings of artistic DC punkers, who weren't afraid to cry inpublic and dedicate songs to trees. Some say Rites of Spring's 1986self-titled debut album (Dischord Records) is the holy grail of emo.However, this album may well be that genre's defining document. The operaticwailings of Craig Wedren's falsetto -- not unlike Pere Ubu's David Thomas --were a peculiar contrast to the band's more aggressive punk leanings. SaysCraig of this era: "I joined a 'hardcore' group, we did not like eachother's sound, they banged, I screeched ... [it] came out sounding, a littlelike, Ozzy?" From a time when "US hardcore" was mired in socio-politicalaggression and macho posturing, STT were perhaps a reaction -- ironicallyfrom within the ranks of DC bands that were so influential to that movementin the first place. This is a beautiful and enthralling album, impossiblymelancholic, with perplexing lyrics from someone who's "heart is filled with'All May Rise' and 'X Ray Eyes'". Lots of people know Shudder to Think'sbizarre, dramatic alt-rock material from subsequent recordings for Dischordand later, Epic, from which most of their fan base is likely drawn. But thisrecord -- while technically inferior and unpolished from a productionstandpoint -- is still many fans' favorite STT release. Reissue includesfour bonus tracks from their first 7"

Monday, February 20th

Born Heller and Mi and La'u perform live on KDVS during the "Faint of Heart" show, 2:30-4:30 p.m.

Special Monday night show at the DOV, 122 B St.!
All Ages, Free!

Born Heller (Locust Music; featuring Josephine Foster)

- Josephine Foster is the best. That's all I have to say.

Mi and La'u

Mi and L'au are Michael Gira¹s latest discovery and signing. First Devendra Banhart, then Akron/Family and now Mi & Lau is his next amazing signing. from Young God records website... The music is austere, but simultaneously warm. Picture a glacier with a red ember glowing in its center. Mi and L'au met in Paris a few years back. Mi is Finnish and was working as a model to make ends meet and L'au (who's French) was working in the music industry (soundtracks, I think). They fell deeply and immediately in love, and after a short period of moving from apartment to apartment in Paris, they gave everything up and decided to move to the woods in Finland, so they could be alone together in peace and to spend their time discovering each other and their music. They live in a small cabin in complete isolation with the barest of essentials and they spend virtually all their time making music together in solitude. They are pure and gentle souls (Devendra's song, from Oh Me Oh MY... "Gentle Soul" was written for L'au ­ the two had met in Paris when Devendra was wandering there, and L'au took him in, and they also made music together). Their music is bare, delicate, and made with simple instrumentation - voice, acoustic guitars, and other very sparse orchestrations. I wouldn't say it compares at all to the current crop of neo-hippy "weird folk" etc. though. It has the naked quality of certain early Nico recordings, or Chet Baker (I don't mean there's a stylistic similarity by any means - just a sense of space)...soulful and elegant, without being touchy-feely or confessional. Their music reminds me of how one might imagine a winter Finnish landscape - haunting and pure.