Aug. 25-Sept. 1, 2004

A YEAR AGO piano pop princess Jenny Choi, along with Asian Man Records owner and singer-songwriter Mike Park, had an idea for an all-Asian rock tour dedicated to broadening the visibility of Asian American bands and to breaking the stereotype of Asian performers as classical or conservative musicians. Brought up in a traditional Korean household, Choi was discouraged by her parents from creating pop music. She not only had to fight against her cultural upbringing to play the music she loved, but also against some of her peers who didn't want to be associated with, or labeled as, "Asian musicians." In its third season, the Asians in Rock Tour visits 11 cities across the country – switching its lineup in each city. The tour is making headway for its diverse casting, with innovative bands such as post-core San Francisco natives From Monument to Masses playing next to sweet indie pop artists like Scrabbel. At their Slim's show, Choi and Park are joined by musical performers Clarendon Hills, the Skyflakes, Whysall Lane, and Sanawon and comic book artists Derek Kirk Kim, Hellen Jo, and others. Wed/25, 8 p.m., Slim's, 333 11th St., S.F. $11. (415) 255-0333. (Stephanie Laemoa)

Aug. 25

Wednesday

Welcome back Brooklyn's dirty-pop phenomenon Mob Stereo left their hearts in San Francisco when they moved from the Bay Area in spring 2002. And now they're back to retrieve them and steal yours along the way. Singer Noor Jahan (a.k.a. NJ) balances the four-piece with her downright dreamy voice, directing the tight, rough rhythms with a Bikini Kill-like punch, a Breeders-ish levity, and a Blondie-esque bubbly pop. This show is the band's first homecoming and precedes their full-length release, Too Young to Go Steady, on Bay Area-based Dollar Record Records. NJ hopes tonight will be like coming back to high school at the end of the summer after having had a rad fling, showing off hickies and a new air of sass. Bring confetti and champagne and prepare to crush out on our East Coast friends. Nagg headline. 10 p.m., Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, S.F. $5. (415) 923-0923. (Also with SLA and Light Sleepers Fri/27, 9 p.m., Parkside, 1600 17th St., S.F. Call for price. 415-503-0393.) (Eve Ekman)

Aug. 26

Thursday

Beach punks Equally at home at a pro-surf contest or sharing the Warped Tour stage with other pop-metal acts are Kona, Hawaii-bred, now San Diego-based trio Pepper. Building on Hawaii's reggae influence, the band incorporate dub, rock, and even SoCal ska elements to create a sound that's closer in style to Sublime's and No Doubt's than to Bob Marley's and Peter Moon's. Though Pepper's music won't unite a country, their melodies are still infectious, catchy, and great with a mai tai while dreaming of a perfect wave. Alternative rock outfit Lola Ray also take the stage. 8 p.m., Slim's, 333 11th St., S.F. $15. (415) 255-0333. (Stephanie Laemoa)

Bewitching hour Bay Area band the Court and Spark make country rock meant for dreaming. The young, restless, and smitten with Gram Parsons fell hard for the spacious sonics and personalized songcraft of their second album, 2001's Bless You. And it looks like the same might happen with the creamy, leisurely, but thankfully very different Witch Season (both albums are on Absolutely Kosher). This time, under the guidance of veteran C and S producer Scott Solter, they leave in all the rough edges (the boozy French horn and teetering organ of "Steeplechasing") and the comforting California country and western they do so well (the title track and "Sundowner, You"). Some might slate this type of grounded, historically conscious roots writing as the twangy stuff of an era long passed. Not necessarily – someone give these guys work scoring something as rich, textured, and strangely contemporary as Deadwood and watch them ride. Call and Response and Mystic Chords of Memory also play. 9 p.m., Great American Music Hall, 859 O'Farrell, S.F. $11. (415) 885-0750. (Kimberly Chun)

Aug. 27

Friday

Beautiful choosers For all those who missed the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts' opening extravaganza for street art and culture show "Beautiful Losers," fear not – tonight's 'Submission: A Group Show' enables us to revel once again in a delirious evening of arts and raucousness. San Francisco-based art and culture magazine Juxtapoz, the familiar turf of many prominent artists featured in Yerba Buena Center's show, has paved a path for underground unknowns to rub shoulders, show, and sell in the international art world. To celebrate its 10th year of being "a new art magazine for a new art movement," Juxtapoz held parties at 111 Minna Gallery every third Thursday to lure submissions from local artists. After six months of these wildly successful shows, the difficult task of choosing from the hundreds of submissions has been completed. More than 30 local talents are featured in "Submission" at OnSix Gallery, the veritable Yerba Buena Center of Sixth Street, which also includes live music by Dead to Me and Miss Derringer with Liz McGrath and DJs. 8 p.m.-3 a.m., OnSix Gallery, Club Six, 60 Sixth St., S.F. $5 (free before 9:30 p.m.). www.onsixgallery.com. (Ekman)

Holiday in Oakland Hot on the heels of Portland, Ore.'s Tropix, a four-day summertime music festival featuring experimental, noise and noise rock, and other outsider-art music, is Oakland Tropics, its smaller Bay Area sister show. This evening's program, titled "Trouble in Tropics," showcases underground electronic acts who specialize in fucked-up beats and breaks: Trouble Club DJs Mochipet and Sindri, San Francisco electro-noise sweethearts Eats Tapes, Brooklyn break-bombers Drop the Lime, Cleveland, Ohio's punk-tronic Hearts of Darknesses, sample-happy Girl Talk, and drill 'n' bassers So Red. Tropics continues Sat/28 with Nice Nice, Death Sentence: Panda!, Gerritt, Badgerlore, and others; for location go to spockmorgue.com/tropics510.htm. 8 p.m., 21 Grand, 449B 23rd St., Oakl. $6-$10. (510) 444-7263. (Sarah Han)

Aug. 28

Saturday

Mix masters The artists profiled in local filmmaker Michelle Blair's new doc in progress, Inventing Tradition: New Jewish Performance, are about as varied as a human beatbox, a chanteuse, a theater veteran, and a classically trained musician can be. But they all view their Jewish heritage through a similar creative lens, blending culturally rich stories and traditions with highly contemporary forms of performance. Help Blair (Inside Out: Stories of Bulimia) fund her intriguing new work at a benefit featuring her subjects in action. Yuri Lane presents an excerpt from his hip-hop-infused From Tel Aviv to Ramallah; cabaret crooner Amy Tobin rocks the Old Testament; Traveling Jewish Theatre cofounder Naomi Newman presents portions of her recent solo show; and Davka violinist Daniel Hoffman demonstrates the mix of "old-world, new-style melodies" that so inspired Blair as she began her new film. The event also features a clip screening, a discussion with the artists, and a reception. 7:30 p.m., Traveling Jewish Theatre, 470 Florida, S.F. $25. (415) 695-2909, michelle@insideoutfilms.com. (Cheryl Eddy)

Aug. 29

Sunday

Xiu-in I'm pretty bummed that I didn't see Xiu Xiu more when they were based in San Jose and often played Bay Area shows. It just took me a while to catch on to and understand their emotionally confrontational and awkwardly forceful music, I guess. I fell in love with Xiu Xiu because of their latest release, Fabulous Muscles (5 Rue Christine), after the original lineup had dissolved and a new cast of rotating musicians had formed around the very singular Jamie Stewart, who now resides in Seattle. Xiu Xiu can clear a room (I've seen it), but if you stick around, you can feel every single word – weighted down with feeling and honesty – escape Stewart's mouth, slam onto the floor, and wallow at your feet, where your jaw has dropped. The experience is uncomfortably beautiful, or maybe beautifully uncomfortable. Whatever it is, you should definitely give Xiu Xiu a chance. Tara Jane O'Neill and Thee More Shallows also play. 9 p.m., Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., S.F. $8. (415) 621-4455. (Han)

Aug. 30

Monday

Bring out your dead During my senior year of high school, I attended a field trip with my physiology class to see real "live" corpses at a chiropractic school. Dissected and covered at the head, the bodies, used for anatomical studies, were doll-like and unreal. My classmates and I delved into the blood-and-guts wonderlands – probing inside the insides we all have but almost never see. It was fascinating and revolting all at once! Mary Roach, the author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, understands this intrigue with and revulsion to dead bodies. Today, as a part of Canvas Gallery's "Ask a Scientist" series, she speaks about "101 Things You Can Do with a Corpse," including how cadavers are used to make progress in crime solving and plastic surgery, cannibalism, and "human composting." Who knew we could do so much when we're dead? 7-9 p.m., Canvas Gallery, 1200 Ninth Ave., S.F. Free. (415) 831-5620. (Han)

Aug. 31

Tuesday

Minds wide open The timing couldn't be better for the Eastenders Repertory Company's fifth annual festival of short plays, 'One Hundred Years of Political Theatre.' The six plays in the fest are presented in chronological order, starting off with Vladimir Mayakovsky's 1929 satire of Communism, The Bedbug. Other thought-provoking topics under the microscope: Nazis, in Bertolt Brecht's 1938 The Informer, about parents terrified of their Hitler Youth member son; apartheid, in South African playwright Athol Fugard's 1972 Statements after an Arrest under the Immorality Act; and the first Gulf War – from the viewpoint of a young Iraqi soldier – in Naomi Wallace's 2002 The Retreating World. See Stage listings for a complete festival lineup. Through Sept. 26. Series A: previews Tues/31, 8 p.m. Opens Sept. 3, 8 p.m. Runs Sept. 8, 11, 16, and 24, 8 p.m.; Sept. 19, 3 p.m. Series B: previews Sept. 1, 8 p.m. Opens Sept. 4, 8 p.m. Runs Sept. 9, 17, 22, and 25, 8 p.m.; Sept. 12, 3 p.m. Series C: previews Sept. 2, 8 p.m. Opens Sept. 5, 3 p.m. Runs Sept. 10, 15, 18, and 23, 8 p.m.; Sept. 26, 3 p.m., Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson, S.F. $10-$20. (510) 568-4118, www.ticketweb.com. (Eddy)

Sept. 1

Wednesday

Metal edge Paintings, photos, and other 2-D art forms not your thing? Swing by the Oakland Museum of California's Collectors Gallery for 'MAG 2004,' an exhibit of works by 73 members of the Metal Arts Guild. Works both wearable (stunning jewelry) and ornamental (unusual sculpture) highlight the show. Metalheads take note: later this month a group of MAG artists speak at "Diversity," a slide presentation and discussion about their work. Through Oct. 31. Museum hours Wed.-Fri., 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 1:30-4:30 p.m. (slide presentation Sept. 18, 1-2 p.m.; reception Sept. 18, 2-5 p.m.), Oakland Museum of California, Collectors Gallery, 1000 Oak, Oakl. Call for price. (510) 834-2296, www.metalartsguildsf.org. (Eddy)

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