Drifting aimlessly amid the holiday chaos? Tell me all about it. There’s nothing like seasonal activity disarray (SAD) when it comes feeling sorry for yourself, grumpy, and liable to purchase the first bright shiny object to obliterate the pain.
So if you’re feeling listless and confused, there’s a few shows to check in lieu of pouting in front of the boob toob: The Powerful PWRFL (a.k.a., Kazu Nomura, who has been compared to Syd Barrett) will be here, riding a wave of cold air from Japan via Seattle. I dug the eclectic noise-maker’s CD – but don’t ask me to cough up the title of it. A big kid in a crazy red and white costume swiped it. But you can hear the sounds tonight, Dec. 20, at 21 Grand (with Liz Albee and George Cremaschi, the Norman Conquest, and darwinsbitch) and tomorrow, Dec. 21, at Stork Club, both in O-city. Word – well, if you consider PWRFL a word. Txt cltre scks.
Also up: the Winter Solstice Celebration at the lovely and creepy Chapel of the Chimes Mausoleum in Oakland.
“From the Darkness, Solace” is the theme for the event, tomorrow, Dec. 21, 7-11 p.m. More than 30 artists will kick out the original music throughout the columbarium in honor of the darkest day of the year. Dress warmly. Flashlights encouraged. $10-$20.
The lineup goes a little like this:
STAGE 1
SoRiah (throat singer)
Garth Powell (percussion)
Sarah Wilson (piano)
LX Rudis (synth)
Eric Glick Rieman (piano)
STAGE 2
Jeff Stott (oud)
Kanoko Nishi (koto)
Ernesto Diaz Infante (guitar)
Devin Hoff (Bass)
STAGE 3
Bob Marsh (cello)
Tako Oda (countertenor)
John Raskin (saxaphone)
Jen Baker (trombone)
STAGE 4
Tim Perkins (elec)
Johnathon Segal (multi)
Danielle Degruttola (cello)
Jess Roland (multi)
Lance Grabmiller (elec)
STAGE 5
Mike Perlmutter (reeds)
Stephen Kent (didgeridoo)
Sameer Gupta (tabla)
Shoko Hikage (koto)