Gigs upcoming: more serious weirdness

A brief note for those looking for entry points into our exciting experimental music scene... First off, you need to know about Fake Jazz Friday at the Western Front, the next installment of which happens on Friday; it's a chance to see some really adventuresome young performers without inhaling the pungent fumes of the Cobalt. It's bound to be a great night, tho' it looks to be a bit "punkier" than the usual; I've been emphatically told to see Nu Sensae, and I'm past ready to see the Shearing Pinx again. Alas, I'm almost on overload - too much music, too much film - and may not be able to do this evening; feelin' a strong impulse to just stay home. Sonic Playground, the free circuit bending workshop put on the afternoon of Nov. 9th by Vancouver New Music, also sounds great, but I don't have any Speak and Spells handy; drop by a thrift store and pick up a toy to bring with you and mutilate, if you go. Two other appealing shows, later in the month, involve Anju of the Her Jazz Noise Collective and i/i; she plays with Ahna on Nov. 21st at Blim (which evening sounds like a fine follow-up to Sonic Playground, promising music made with "homemade electronics ranging from circuit bent old pedals, DIY built circuits, mutilated electronics, and any other altered or destroyed electronic equipment"); and then again on the 29th with Set Sail to Sea (who do not appear to have their own Myspace page). The latter, the one time I saw them at the Cobalt, involved a duet between Anju and Erin of Her Jazz and Shearing Pinx, and sounded quite surprisingly heavy - it was the most formal evocation of "stoner music" I've heard any of these gals do (in that there was an identifiable lineage with, oh, I dunno, Black Sabbath or some fuckin' thing). Emergency Room heavy guitar-drone guy (the one time I saw him, anyhow) V. Vecker will also perform at that show; I dunno the rest of the bands, but you can always look them up yourself! Unfortunately there's a conflict for that gig that is irreconcilable for me, since the 29th is the evening for Diamanda Galas at St. Andrew's Wesley, doing her bluesy piano stuff (yay!)... but I will definitely be catching the Hanson Brothers on Nov 27 at the Anza, tho' (okay, so they don't count as "serious weirdness;" so?).

Did someone say Vancouver was boring?

Anju Singh with i/i, photo by Femke van Delft