Sept. 8-15, 2004

BUCKLE UP THAT trench coat, skulk past the nearest streetlight, and start talkin' tough, punk: the Parkway's sixth annual Film Noir Fest rolls into Oakland this week, filling the rest of September with a deliciously cold-blooded selection of crooks, cops, dames, and double-crossers. Thrillville residents Will "the Thrill" Viharo and Monica Tiki Goddess, along with author Eddie Muller (Dark City, The Art of Noir), are on hand at several screenings to guide newbies and aficionados alike through the sinister and stylized world of noir cinema. A clever bit of programming kicks off the fest with a pair of "dirty" pictures – 1938 James Cagney gangster yarn Angels with Dirty Faces and 1971 San Francisco-set, neo-noir Clint Eastwood classic Dirty Harry – and the gritty tales just keep on coming. Along with the noir standard-bearer, Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity (still as entertaining as hell, and eminently quotable, after all these years), the fest also covers killer couples (Gun Crazy, Born to Kill), the essential dose of Bogart (Dead Reckoning), lesser-seen treasures (The Mob, Five Against the House), an eyeful of eye-popper Jayne Mansfield (The Burglar), and multiple episodes of pulp serial The Shadow. Through Sept. 30. This week: Angels with Dirty Faces Fri/10, 6:30 p.m.; Sat/11-Sun/12, 6 p.m.; Dirty Harry Mon/13, 9:15 p.m.; Sept. 14-15, 6:30 p.m., Parkway, 1834 Park, Oakl. $5-$6. (510) 814-2400, www.picturepubpizza.com. (Cheryl Eddy)

Sept. 8

Wednesday

Dreamo The rare crossover appeal of Weezer's odd blend of KISS-inspired power chords and basement-nerd culture has long been the gold standard for cheering up the mainstream radio crowd and the glummest of emo rockers alike. But eight years after Pinkerton, the kids are crying out for a new generation of power pop. Enter io. After a summer touring the East Coast, these transplanted North Carolinians and masters of the angst-ridden "whoa whoa whoa" bring it on home to San Francisco for a welcome-back show. Shifting seamlessly between rampaging guitar licks and dreamy vocal harmonies, io may give the smallest of shows the stadium treatment, but they also know how to take a break from rocking out to expose their big ol' mushy hearts. Broken Dolls also perform. 9:30 p.m., Cafe du Nord, 2170 Market, S.F. $7. (415) 861-5016. (Leah Freeman)

Sept. 9

Thursday

Road rage Reports of four-piece noise act 16 Bitch Pile-Up may be exaggerated, but all signs point to a promising collision of sounds. The Columbus, Ohio, girl gang reputedly cleared out a Ladyfest show with a 15-minute set of keyboard, turntable, bass, and vocal assault, gaining a few converts and rupturing eardrums along the way. Fellow post-Wolf Eyed Columbians Sword Heaven lay it on heavy, while locals Le Flange du Mal mix dark disco shenanigans with trumpets, keyboards, and guerrilla cuisine. Members of Zeek Sheck and Monopause open with their latest offering, Rut-ro and the Logs. 9 p.m., Edinburgh Castle Pub, 950 Geary, S.F. Call for price. (415) 885-4074. (George Chen)

Shattered glass There's a fine line between abstraction and annoyance, and Sixtoo manages to work it on Chewing on Broken Glass and Other Distractions (Ninja Tune), his recent album of dark, shattered hip-hop that references Joy Division and Jam Master Jay. Tonight he teams up with DJ Signify (Lex Records), Kid Koala touring partner P-Love, and his studiomate Matt Kelly for a live performance that promises to use the ubiquitous Technics 1200s and the often overlooked shaker egg. Fellow Ninja Tune artist Blockhead gets things started with a turntables-versus-laptop set. 9:30 p.m., Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., S.F. $8. (415) 621-4455. (Peter Nicholson)

Blue wail Sporting one of the best titles of recent memory, 2003's Thickfreakness was the Black Keys' second album and their first with the blues purveyors at Fat Possum Records. The label, home to rustic gutbucket heroes such as Junior Kimbraugh and R.L. Burnside, heard the same raw, authentic intensity in these twentysomething white boys from Akron, Ohio, as they did in those Mississippi hill-country legends. Check out their recent Fat Possum follow-up, Rubber Factory, and you will too: guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney channel the hard-living grit of their influences through their own ragged Midwestern funnel of vintage gear and dirty-hands dedication. Carney's furious drumming hammers Auerbach's bearish voice and roaring guitar into ironclad juggernauts, and their heavy, soulful delivery is earnestly unpretentious. This is the new, true blues, straight from the Delta through an Ohio garage and into your ears. The Black Keys play a free in-store at Amoeba Music and later perform at the Fillmore with the Cuts. 5:30 p.m., Amoeba Music, 1855 Haight, S.F. Free. (415) 831-1200. (Also 8 p.m., Fillmore, 1805 Geary, S.F. $16.50. 415-346-6000.) (Jonathan Zwickel)

Sept. 10

Friday

Irresistible Mark the anniversary of 9/11 at San Francisco's Center for Political Education, which presents 'Memory and Resistance: 9/11 Three Years After,' "a cultural night in memory of the people's resistance from Chile to Iraq." Artists, MCs, poets, and filmmakers offer, among other things, a screening of Ariel Lopez's Two September 11ths in a Lifetime, about Chile's deadly U.S.-backed coup on Sept. 11, 1973. Also screening is an excerpt from the new film About Baghdad, chronicling Iraqi poet Sinan Antoon's recent return to his beloved, beleaguered city after 12 years of exile – a rare, surprising, and provocative glimpse into the lives and thoughts of a wide spectrum of Baghdadis at this crucial moment. This is a fundraiser for the center, which was formed in 1998 as a democratic collective of activists dedicated to strengthening the Bay Area's left through education and discussion – and with some home-cooking, radical art, and open minds. 7 p.m., Center for Political Education, 522 Valencia, S.F. $5-$10. (415) 431-1918. (Robert Avila)

Land of the free Fight for your right to overthrow the party in power when breaks master Adam Freeland rolls out the beats tonight on his "We Want Your Vote" tour. Like countless other foreign artists, the British DJ and producer sees this U.S. election as vital and hopes to encourage voter turnout by renaming his recent breakbeat single, changing "We Want Your Soul" to "We Want Your Vote." Sure, it's a little contrived, but Freeland has some serious skills, and he's joined by the equally talented (and prodigiously dreadlocked) Freq Nasty. DJs Tipper, Lorin, Adam Ohana, Brother, Laird, Ooah, Neptune, Jocelyn, and Rena also perform. 10 p.m., Mighty, 119 Utah, S.F. Call for price. (415) 626-7001. (Peter Nicholson)

Sept. 11

Saturday

The omen Aren't we all looking for a little release? With drunken walkouts in the middles of tours, as many broken hearts as broken guitar strings, and lyrics about "blood on the honky-tonk floor," the Devil's Own might've taken the whole thing about art imitating life a little too seriously. Or is it life imitating art? Ah, hell, who said anything about art? Pull on your shit-kickers and cart your bad habits down to the Hotel Utah Saloon to celebrate the release of the Devil's Own's first CD, the happy-go-lucky Everything Is Broken Always (Passafist). As if that weren't enough, Los Angeles's Graffiti Death Threat and Madera Road also play. 9 p.m., Hotel Utah Saloon, 500 Fourth St., S.F. $6. (415) 546-6300. (Duncan Scott Davidson)

Gift of Gibb The man who brought the problematic word butthole to a generation of radio jocks' lips has some candy for you, little girl. Pop rocks, to be precise, because though Gibby Haynes has retained his monotone Manson's-baby-brother vocals, his latest solo CD, Gibby Haynes and the Problem (Surfdog), finds him mellowed considerably, in contrast to his bad ol' days as the bare-chested, greasy longhair – Tex Watson's grunt-and-shout soul brother – deep-throating the mic with the dual-drum, deep-fried psycho-punk Butthole Surfers. Accompanied by Texas toasts like guitarists Nathan Calhoun and Kyle Ellison, bassist Abby Travis, and drummer Shandon Sahm (son of Doug Sahm), recent New York City transplant Haynes still apparently has that memorable, badass way with words (witness the syrup-thick, weirdly infectious croak-along "Redneck Sex") – the same one that floated such ditties as "Bar-B-Q Pope" and "The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey's Grave." Lot Six also play. 10 p.m., Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., S.F. $12. (415) 474-0365. (Kimberly Chun)

Bush walking DJs from New York City and San Francisco team up to raise money for anti-Bush group MoveOn.org at an event featuring speakers, a silent auction, voter registration, and a performance by Ming and FS. The NYC duo, who flawlessly re-create onstage the intensity and precision of their studio releases, protest the current administration with a barrage of genre-defying hip-hop, breakbeats, and jungle. MC Napoleon Solo, featured prominently on their new album, Back to One (Spun), provides the verbal assault. Fellow New Yorker Miss Honey Dijon warms up the decks, and S.F. DJs M3, Dano, Michael Tello, Andrew Kelsey, Ren the Vinyl Archaeologist, Sammy D., and Justin Martin round out the night. 10 p.m., DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., S.F. $5. (415) 626-1409. (Paul Smith)

Sept. 12

Sunday

Elf powered You can chalk it up to heat, dehydration, or magic mushrooms, but surely you've glimpsed those elfin folk frolicking in the golden grass of Mt. Tamalpais, just out of the corner of your eye? Sure, it may be a trick of the shadows or a stray ray of light, but Zrmzlina and Radius leader Jeff Ray knows better, and he's determined to flush out those natural spirits as part of his latest project. The Mission Creek Music Festival force broke away from his urban riverbed stomping grounds, bolted for Marin, and settled into one of those enviable Headlands Center for the Arts studios as an artist in residence. Now check out the fruits of his woodland labors. This art, music, and multimedia performance includes music by Radius, his folktronica group with Mark Edwards; contributions by Extraordinary Forest, Ray's multimedia collective; and excerpts from the musician and artist's documentary on pixies, sprites, and other magical critters. Hey, much like the Lorax, Ray wants to speak for the trees – and the wee forest folk. So listen up. 4 p.m., Headlands Center for the Arts, Bldg. 952, Gym, 944 Fort Barry, Sausalito. $8-$10. (415) 331-2787, www.headlands.org. (Chun)

Soft parade Rarely do electronic and organic come together with such a comfortable, tactile sheen as on Blue Cotton Skin (Red Buttons), the gorgeous debut from San Rafael's Petracovich. With subdued, lo-fi grandeur, Jessica Peters-Malmberg, the band's creative force, weaves hazy lullabies for tucking in wistful androids and sunrise soundtracks for unhurried birds flying south to warmer vistas. Her silky, filtered vocals are reminiscent of Portishead's Beth Gibbons's, while the music's minimalist shimmer comes across like that of a Californian Sparklehorse. Bolstering a terrific lineup of atmospheric dream pop are local chanteuses Lisa Dewey, Odessa Chen, and Amy Cooper. A glass of wine, a close friend, and the velvety musical blanket these women throw over your shoulders ought to keep you in a slow, tender sway all night. Sounds like the perfect Sunday comedown to me. 8 p.m., Cafe du Nord, 2170 Market, S.F. $6. (415) 861-5016. (Zwickel)

Sept. 13

Monday

Oh my goddess! The New Yorker once dubbed Catie Curtis a "folk-rock goddess," and no doubt her legions of devotees would agree. However, the songs on her latest album, Dreaming in Romance Languages (Vanguard), suggest the Boston-based Curtis – an out-and-proud new mom, pug owner, and former college hoops player – is entirely human, singing about all-too-earthbound topics like romantic longing and acute frustration with life. Curtis's tunes are so easy to relate to that they've been used to add emotional heft to certain WB and Fox dramas, including a recent episode of North Shore. But the goddess theory is supported by Curtis's heavenly vocals; described by Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange as "completely engaging and uniquely different," her pipes have kept her fan base steadily growing throughout her 15-year career. 8 p.m., Freight and Salvage Coffee House, 1111 Addison, Berk. $18.50. (510) 548-1761. (Cheryl Eddy)

Sept. 14

Tuesday

Dissolving disabilities Curb cuts in sidewalks were installed as tools to make life easier for wheelchair users, but they immediately became a benefit to people pushing strollers and delivery dollies. The same philosophy toward access to the virtual landscape of computers and the Internet is explored in Freedom Machines, a PBS P.O.V. documentary on accessible technology for people with disabilities. Viewers have the opportunity to meet users of alternative data-entry and interpretation technologies, as well as explore universal design – a protocol for designing products intelligent enough to adapt to users with any physical or mental disability. Furthermore, the documentary questions why these tools aren't more widely available to the public. Narrated by Station Agent star Peter Dinklage, this isn't a sob story or an Olympic triumph tale, but rather a factual representation of the tools available and a prescription for how they can benefit society as a whole. 10 p.m., (also Sept. 15, 5 a.m.), KQED, channel 9, www.kqed.org. (Karen Solomon)

Brand Nu you Older, perhaps wiser, and still fired up years after such classic golden-age hip-hop discs as 1990's All for One (Elektra), Brand Nubian want to drop a bomb on your complacency. Hence their unrepentant stance, 1998 reformation, and new album, Fire in the Hole (Babygrande). The full-length finds the politicized crew trying out suave, slow jamz like "Where Are You Now?," "Still Livin' in the Ghetto," and "Ooh Child," which sees the trio kicking back to the Five Stairsteps' comforting strains. Tracks like "Soldier's Story" present Grand Puba (Maxwell Dixon), Sadat X (a.k.a. Derek X, otherwise known as Derek Murphy), and Lord Jamar (Lorenzo DeChalus, last seen on the well-loved, grit-packed Oz) reeling off fighting names like Biko and Biggie, Marley and Malcolm, Huey Newton and Nat Turner before launching into a battle cry in the name of freedom, analog sound, and – guess what? – peace. Still livin' in the ghetto? At least their eyes are still on a prize beyond real estate. Crown City Rockers and DJ Sharkey also perform. 9 p.m., Independent, 628 Divisadero, S.F. $17. (415) 771-1421, www.ticketweb.com. (Chun)

Sept. 15

Wednesday

Frisky with 'Whiskey' Hoisting a new album recorded, live and kicking, with fellow guitarist Jimmy Thackery, Whiskey Store Live (Telarc), Tab Benoit rolls solo into one of his favorite venues, setting up the grain-alcohol one-stop shop on Fillmore Street. Is he still drunk on the blues? The Louisiana singer, songwriter, and guitarist gets the respect of traditionalists for his down-home, unpretentious journeyman approach to the form. On Live he goes his 2002 Whiskey Store album one or two better with, for instance, a 15-minute version of Percy Mayfield's "Strange Things Happen." Stranger things have happened, but blues-guitar maniacs say the unassuming Benoit could hit it as big as Stevie Ray Vaughan. 10 p.m., Boom Boom Room, 1601 Fillmore, S.F. $12-$15. (415) 673-8040. (Chun)

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