Wendy just wrote in with the following:

“My nakashi surf rock band Dzian! is playing at The Bridge tonight. We will join forces with a few other performers playing on the theme of summer. We will literally turn the gallery space into a warm summer night. See the message below for details. Our set is scheduled to start at 9pm. We will play for 30-45 minutes. Please come celebrate the coming of spring and the end of the long winter with us. Wear a t-shirt, bring a lawn chair and some sun tan lotion.

Peter’s full write-up of the event reads:

“If you’re in town over the break and looking for a little fun this Wednesday night, please join us for “Chirp! : playing summer in winter” at the Bridge at 6:30 pm. $5 suggested donation at the door. Chirp! is an experiment in effecting seasonal disorder. We will raise the temperature inside the Bridge’s main gallery space so that we can wear T-shirts. We will even try to add a little humidity. We will have music performances, art, and sound installation that invoke memories of (and anticipation for) deep summer. We will have lawn chairs. Chirp! is not a serious evening, but a reason to have fun, wear short sleeves, and get a little bit of summer in the air after this very snowy winter.

Our performers currently include Cathy Monnes (playing lap steel and ukulele), New Loft from Richmond playing tiny instruments inspired by birds and insects, and Dzian!, Charlottesville’s best-known 60s Taiwanese surf rock band. There will also be video projection courtesy of Aaron Henderson, and I will provide a sound installation surrounding the space, “Freesound Summer”, as well as a 660 watt “sun”. Bring lawn/beach chairs if you can, and summery food if you desire.”

This sounds really fun! I’m on my way to WTJU for the evening, but I’m definitely gonna come back to check out Dzian! and whatever else I arrive in time to see/hear.

Good lord, it’s been a while since I posted anything here! Forgive me if this is a little sloppy.

There’s a pretty compelling set of touring talent hitting the Tea Bazaar tomorrow night. In no set order:

There’s Family Portrait, a DC/Jersey based garage-rock band, who are foundational members of the Underwater Peoples label and you may also recognize from a recent split 7″ with Andrew Cedermark. Family Portrait is similarly loose and spacy but with a bit more of a disposition towards sing-along-able choruses.

Next is Dust From 1000 Years, from Bloomington, IN, whose set that I caught at The Garage last spring/summer was totally captivating. They played a very drony spaced-out set to just a handful of people packed into the Garage during a rainshower. Definitely one of the more entrancing/relaxing/gorgeous live shows I’ve seen in some time. Really good stuff. They were a 2-piece when they played last year and it looks like they’ll be a 4-piece tomorrow, so I’m excited to see what the new lineup sounds like!

Lastly, there’s one of my favorite off-the-wall touring dudes: Emperor X. Maybe ya’ll caught his show at The Bridge last June which was amazing or have seen him on previous trips through town over the years. (I first discovered Emperor X in the basement of Summit House years ago! Blast from the past, right?) This is sixth or so show I’ve set up for Chad over the years and he never fails to impress/surprise/entertain. Really excited to see what kind of wildness he brings this time. Oh, and click that link there: You can download all his recordings for free/donation on his website. Also, listen up for Chad to be guest-DJing on 91.1 WTJU tomorrow (Tuesday) from 2-4pm.

All this for $5. 8:30PM.

There’s an audio workshop at The Bridge this afternoon which sounds really fun; Jesse says: “in the spirit of the surrealist games. We give you 10 sounds and you have 30 minutes to mash those into a one-minute piece.” 

The workshop begins at 2pm, for those who have their own means of editing digital audio; (Jesse also adds: If you want to participate but don’t have a workstation, please contact Jesse or Erik and we’ll do our best to find you a loaner.)  Or if you just want to show up and hear the results, the pieces will all be played in a concert at 3:15pm. I’m fairly certain that performance is Free.

Later on tonight, there’s a show at the Tea Bazaar; I’ve just found out minutes ago that The Invisible Hand has been added to this bill, making this Adam & Thomas’ third gig in as many days! (after just getting back from tour, no less.) I missed the Hand’s appearance at SERP on Thursday due to illness, so I’m excited to hear them tonight! They’re the best band in town, so it’s always unwise to pass up an opportunity to see those guys kick some musical ass.

Also sharing the bill are two bands from Athens; Quiet Hooves and Bubbly Mommy Gun.  Although I’ve never seen Quiet Hooves play, I have heard them before; if I’m not mistaken, I somehow drunkenly woke up with a CD-R of theirs in my pocket after the first time Dark Meat played here, so I’m assuming that the band is DM-related in some way (there were a lot of people in Dark Meat back then…) However, their material, judging by the contents of the CD-R, is much more mellow and sensitive. The other band on tonight’s bill is also from Athens, so one could assume they’re traveling in similar circles; on the other hand, the band does have the rather unfortunate band name of Bubbly Mommy Gun; (I’m tempted to accuse them of using that random-word-generator that a lot of bands seem to be using to pick their names these days, but even that might be a little too generous.)

Then again, all the bands that Dark Meat has brought here before (including Mouser and One Man Machine) have both been exceptionally great, so its more likely that all three of tonight’s bands will also be socks-knockingly excellent and I’ll have to eat my words (although preferably not any of the words in that band name). Apparently some of these guys run a venue in Athens called the Secret Squirrel, which I’m told is the place to play in Athens, so they seem to know what they’re doing. It should be really interesting and worthwhile; doors at 8:30, music around 9:30ish, and the cover should be cheap ($5-ish).

Plenty of stuff happening tonight; first at The Bridge, it’s the inaugural event of their third annual Audio March program. Renowned sound artist Gregory Whitehead was supposed to perform tonight, but unfortunately he’s sick and won’t be able to make it (The Bridge says: “We are working to reschedule Gregory Whitehead’s appearance at the Bridge for early April. “); instead Scott Ritchie and Mark Fulton (aka the rhythm section of the Raquellos) will “perform live soundtracks to science fiction radio stories at 8pm instead of 10.”  There’s also a general reception starting at 6:00 and a sort of open-mic thing by the Audio March organizers afterwards.

At the Jefferson tonight, there’s some great local acts: the always-excellent Jim Waive and the Young Divorcees, as well as the much-beloved Shannon Worrell. This is a great opportunity to see both those acts in a place that’s not a crowded bar… (although, you know, some of us kind of prefer it that way.)  Also on the bill: Carleigh Nesbit, and I’m told the Acorn Sisters will be providing a little bit of backup (presumably during Jim’s set). Doors are at 7:30(ish), Shannon is supposed to start around 8:30, tickets are $12 at the door.

Later on tonight, Lunatic and the Rascal, aka Thomas Dean and Adam Smith (both iof Invisible Hand / Order / Articulate Chewbacca / etc fame) will be DJing at the Box. That starts at 10:30 and ends at last call. Their set is always a fun dance party, definitely a solid way to cap off the evening. That one’s free and it’s 21+.

There’s a show at Random Row Books tonight that looks pretty interesting; the headliners are White Suns from Brooklyn, who initially got in touch with me through former Cville resident / awesome drummer / all-around nice guy Matthew Clark, which is already a pretty high recommendation in my book. The show is also gonna feature Richmond Charlottesville band Comparative Anatomy; that band includes a guy named Stan, from whom I get occasional informative emails about noise stuff happening in the VA area, so I’m excited to check them out (Stan also insists that we stop referring to Comparative Anatomy as a “metal band,” although I’m 99% sure we’ve never written about them before… [actually, it turns out we mentioned this Outback show last Oct.] however, he does say the band features “grind influence,” two bass guitars, animal sound effects, etc, so fans of “extreme” music may be interested.)

Tonight’s bill will also feature cville’s own Rhythm Bandit (whom I believe will be making his recorded debut on a compilation on Stan’s Mind Flare Media label in the near future…) There’s also a band called Nurse Beach who were added to the bill too late to get their name on the flyer (They seem to be from Charlottesville but I’ve never heard of them before.) Doors are at 8pm, bands start at 9:30, and the cover is $5.

I’d really like to go check that out, but unfortunately I’m stuck at home with some pretty nasty food poisoning, so you’ll have to investigate on my behalf and let me know how it goes.

Oh, and after that show you’re probably going to want to go check out the Rock Show at the SERP House (no kidding) which Gary just let me know about… if you’re at RR you’re probably gonna miss the first two bands (the “Boom Orangutangs” at 10pm and the High Fives at 11),  but you can probably still catch the Caninos at midnight and the Invisible Hand at 1:00am. The last time the Hand played a frat party, I guess it was sort of a dubiously crazy success … (I mean, I had a lot of fun; not sure how many actual frat dudes were enjoying it, but at least they weren’t as openly hostile as they sometimes can be); Gary says: “This one is in the basement, which I prefer over upstairs shows in every way (it’s less weird this way too)” and I’m strongly inclined to agree.

SERP is the one between the A-school at the Art Museum, facing the mud bowl and flanked by two fraternities with significantly lesser reputations in Charlottesville music history. Traditionally, I believe one has to get someone to “vouch” for them at the Frat Party, but last time I just showed up with the band and said I knew the Caninos and all was kosher. Have fun!

I have both a known love for Chris Knox and a known failure to keep up with new releases. But I am lucky to have savvy friends who keep me informed. One of these friends recently made me aware of Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox, which came out on Merge late last year. The two disc compilation consists of Chris Knox covers by everyone from Jeff Mangum to Jay Reatard with Bill Callahan, Stephin Merritt, Yo La Tengo, Lou Barlow, et al in between. All proceeds will be used to mitigate the rehabilitation costs of the crippling stroke Knox suffered last June. It is locally available at Sidetracks for something steep like $18 but you can sample and buy it a little more cheaply at the Merge site here. Accidentally forgot to mention earlier it’s cheaper on Merge in mp3 form and the physical cds are hard to remove from the case without damaging them so you should buy the collection in digital form.And today on this sunny first day of March, you MIGHT be able to attend the kickoff party for the Charlottesville Chapter of the Virginia Production Alliance but you have to R.S.V.P. and I’m not sure if it’s too late to do that. The event is invite-only and a guest list will be checked at the door.  To R.S.V.P., you have to email vicechaircvpa@filmva.org, including your name, phone number and profession in the email. I understand this organization aspires to bring lots of film jobs to the area, which reminds me of the Connecticut Film and Digital Media Workforce. The party is from 6-9 at Random Row Books.Late night: DJ Hummingbird Feeder presents an excellent repertoire of hits for your listening and dancing pleasure at The Box from 10:30-last call. That is of course no cover and 21+.

Tonight’s Tea Bazaar show looks pretty damn spectacular, with a stunning four-band line-up, each of which I’m intensely excited to hear. It’s presented by WTJU, it starts at 8:30pm, and the cover is a wholly reasonable $8.

First up is Cville wünderkind Dylan Mulshine, with his Rhythm Bandit project; Dylan does  improv loop-pedal / drum-pad / keyboard stuff, with a mic and a live snare drum; it’s raw, it’s energetic, it’s really fun, and it gets better every time I see him. That kid will be going places, if he doesn’t get a big head or anything. (His past-last-call set-closer with Gull last Monday was pretty spectacular.)

Next up is Andrew Cedermark; he’s the current music guy at the C-Ville Weekly, an occasional Nailgun contributor, former guitarist for Titus Andronicus, and all-around nice guy. I’ve been singing his praises in these pages ever since a killer one-off set at Dust in 2008; the most recent revelatory moment was a throat-shredding cover of Neil Young’s “Don’t Be Denied” a few weeks ago, which pretty much blew my mind. He’s playing with a two-piece backing band, consisting of Nailgun co-author / local Booking dude Jacob Wolf on bass/keyboards, and this guy whose name I can never remember Kevin Haney on drums. They’re a pretty great trio, and their sturdy yet unobtrusive backing is a pretty solid platform for Andrew to do his understated delivery / brilliant guitar mess thing.

After that is a band called JEFF the Brotherhood, from Tennessee; I saw them play with the Invisible Hand down at SpeakerTree Records in Lynchburg a while ago, and they were fucking awesome; I’m pretty sure most of the cville crowd who made it down for that show felt the same way. They’re a duo of brothers (both not named Jeff) who do energetic garage rock; an easy comparison might be Wavves or Video Hippos, but their stuff is heavier, groovier, and also catchier; my brain was jumping from analogies to Mötorhead to the Beach Boys to the Melvins to the J&MC to Jan&Dean. They are seriously not to be missed; WTJU was asked to sponsor a show of their in Harrisonburg a week ago, but we got so excited about it we had to book them here instead. Their insanely catchy and awesome single can be heard here.

Last up is These Are Powers, a seriously amazing trio from New York. For some of you they need no introduction; for the rest: trust me, their live show is totally incredible. They played at the Tea House before, back in the fall of 2007 (when I was the sound guy); as they were setting up, I kept thinking that they made the most unlikely trio; “how did these three people even meet each other, much less start a band together?”  Then the started playing and I was instantly transported to 1981 New York, as they brought some seriously raw and solid No-Wave shit to Charlottesville. To be honest I have some mixed feelings about a lot of their albums (although the guy who produced all their early EPs, recent Cville transplant and good dude Chris Beam, was nice enough to point me towards this collection of their early OOP stuff), but their live show is definitely a thing to see; anyone who was at their last gig in town will surely attest to its brilliance.

Once again; 8:30pm at the Tea Bazaar, with an $8 cover, which is a mere $2 for each amazing band that you will be glad to have seen. See you there!

Before I get to blogging about tonight’s big show, here’s a few other things happening this weekend, each of which was just a little too long to fit into a twit:

Although it’s not technically the first of the month yet, there’s a few art-opening type things going on this weekend;  that art show at the Garage which has been up all month, with photos by Sebastijan Jemec and Megan O’Hearn, will finally have its snow-delayed reception tonight, from 6 to 8pm.  I still haven’t actually seen the show, so I’m excited to check it out.  Sam says there’s lots of cool shows coming up at The Garage this Spring, both visual and musical, so I’ll try to get those on our calendar when I know about them.

Also, The Bridge’s collaborative project with the Westhaven After-School Program had it’s opening last night; not sure how long it’ll be up. {oops, looks like it was just last night, as The Bridge is soon starting their Audio March program; more on that soon.}

Also, Community Bikes is moving locations, and they’re having an Open House in their new spot this Sunday, from 3-6pm; the new spot is off of Preston Ave, basically behind Reid’s and/or where Try&Make used to be (if I’m looking at this map right…)  I’ve been meaning to get a new bike since the end of November, but it hasn’t stopped snowing since then; now that the weather’s warming up (a little), maybe the time is right? Either way I wanna stop by their open-house and offer my support; and you should too! Community Bikes is great!

The most recent issue of the New Yorker features an article in the food section entitled Where’s Chang?, which covers the exploits and legend of a Szechuan chef named Peter Chang, who’s somewhat notorious among food enthusiasts, both for his ability to cook amazing food and also for the fact that he has a habit of completely disappearing every few months before popping up again as the head chef at another location — he’s been hopping around the American Southeast for the past few years, it sounds like. Well, his most recent spot is actually right here in Charlottesville (or rather, just outside the city limits on 29N.)  Has anyone eaten at A Taste of China?

I’d actually heard about this place already; several people, both Chinese-born and Caucasian, had assured me it was the best Chinese food in town. Oddly enough, several people have told me they’ve eaten there in the past few days, and that the food was terrible — I wonder if Chang has already moved on, due to the attention from the New Yorker article — or perhaps, as Coogan mentions, it’s due to the fact that the restaurant has both a Szechuan menu and a regular American-Chinese-food menu?

I haven’t eaten there myself, but I was planning on doing so even before I got this article in the mail yesterday afternoon. Now I’m just worried about getting over there before the guy disappears again, if he hasn’t already…  (actually, since at least one person in the article theorizes that Chang’s restlessness has to do with his follower’s ability to track him on the internet, I considered not writing this up until I got to chance to eat there myself; but considering the New Yorker has a much larger readership than Nailgun, I guess the cat’s already out of the bag.)

A friend of mine from high school recently launched Pitchforked, a utility that generates a random playlist based on Pitchfork’s Best New Music section. I think it’s a great idea, sort of in the vein of Pandora. It’s only about a week old so there are still a few technical kinks. Ch-ch-check it out.

Speaking of Pitchfork picks, The Jefferson hosts St.Vincent tonight. St. Vincent is Annie Clark, an accomplished musician who previously played with The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens prior to striking out on her own successful solo career. I believe this is The Jeff’s first show featuring an indie artist. Doors are at 8 with a $15 cover.