WEDNESDAY 1
FILM
“Oskar Fischinger Classics”
That one of cinema’s greatest modernists should have worked in animation is perhaps not so surprising — it’s the mode of film production most easily bent by a singular vision, in which aesthetic achievement is inextricable from mechanical innovation. Still, there’s no accounting for a genius like Oskar Fischinger, who channeled his knowledge of engineering, architectural design, and organ-building into his dense visual symphonies. Like many intellectual émigrés who fled Nazi Germany for Southern California, Fischinger found L.A.’s bottom-line culture inhospitable to his working methods. But a career-spanning program at the Pacific Film Archive reveals a master artisan who devised countless fresh ways to impress the rigor of form with sheer delight. (Max Goldberg)
7:30 p.m., $5.50–$9.50
Pacific Film Archive
2575 Bancroft, Berk.
(510) 642-1412
EVENT
Ending Mountaintop Removal: Appalachian Activists in San Francisco
Another talk on humankind’s crusade to beat our planet to a bloody pulp is coming to town. But be forewarned: this ain’t no Sierra Club meeting. To save the last remaining mountaintop in their home from removal by coal mining corporations, the Appalachian community in Coal River Valley, W.V., (the name alone implies environmental havoc) has gone rogue — tree sittings, road blockades, and protests, leading to more than 150 arrests and exorbitant bail fees. Key activists from their group Climate Ground Zero have taken to the road to share the underreported story of their struggle. Raise a nonviolent fist in solidarity. (Caitlin Donohue)
7–9 p.m., $5–$10 donation suggested
Station 40
3030B 16th St., SF
(415) 235-0596
THURSDAY 2
MUSIC
“On Land Festival”
Noise-waffle diehards, aural experimentalists, and, yes, Mills College students, have a world of ear-tugging wonder in store when Jefre Cantu-Ledesma’s and Maxwell Croy’s Root Strata label throws its second annual On Land music festival. “What I felt most happy about was the fact that the musicians thought it was really great,” Cantu-Ledesma said. “Not ‘blah, blah, blah,’ but a good response that really made it worth doing it another year.” This time they unearth a veritable treasure trove of juicy, internationally recognized undergroundlings, including some past residents of the Bay like Charalambides’ Tom Carter, Grouper’s Liz Harris, and Yellow Swans’ Pete Swanson. Top it off with the first West Coast appearance by New York’ Citys Oneohtrix Point Never (which put out the stirring Returnal not long ago and performs with live video by local artist Nate Boyce) and Zelienople, and you have something you might dub “must-see sounds” for the serious follower of well-grounded, out-there sounds. (Kimberly Chun)
Through Sun/5
7:30 p.m. (Sun/5 show at 6:30 p.m.), $10–$20 (four-show pass, $45)
Café du Nord and Swedish American Hall
2170 Market, SF
(415) 861-5016
EVENT
Arts Market SF
The Tenderloin-Civic Center neighborhood takes its knocks, but its rough exterior belies an urban work of art. Even historically speaking: Miles Davis blew his horn at the Blackhawk nightclub at the corner of Turk and Hyde streets and the Grateful Dead recorded American Beauty here. Today it’s one of the last remaining places in the city a real boho can afford to hunker down and throw paint at a canvas. So it makes perfect sense the hood hosts the city’s newest arts bazaar. Participating locals include T-shirt company the loin (which screens its wares in a nearby basement), plus jewelry artists, painters, and printers. Go to grow the artist network in our city’s hard knocks hub. (Donohue) Noon–8 p.m., free
U.N. Plaza
Market and Seventh, SF
FRIDAY 3
MUSIC
Terry Riley
At 75, “In C” composer Terry Riley is still capable of guiding several thousand souls in devotional listening. His caterwauling piano figures are anything but immobile, so it’s a dream to be able to move around during one of his concerts. Circling the Berkeley Art Museum during his last performance there, I came upon several unexpected pockets of resonance; for his part, Riley seemed perfectly calm, as if playing in his own private den (or geodesic dome, as the case may be). He returns for an encore performance tonight, again accompanied by his son Gyan on guitar, and once again for a bargain price. (Goldberg)
8 p.m., $7
Berkeley Art Museum
2626 Bancroft, Berk.
(510) 642-0808
MUSIC
Miami Horror
Australian producer Benjamin Plant started out just a few short years ago as a remix artist and DJ in Melbourne, Australia, creating dance music inspired by ’70s disco and electronic soundtracks. The name said it all, really — Miami Horror. Since then, his quickly rising profile has sent Plant branching out (natch) into pop and making the inspired decision to tour with a live band. Having added the pizzazz of on-stage guitar and drums to the shimmery synths, Miami Horror isn’t just referencing the past any longer, it’s challenging contemporary dance acts to pick up the pace. (Peter Galvin)
With Parallels, Pance Party, and Eli Glad
9 p.m., $15
Mezzanine
444 Jessie, SF
(415) 625-8880
SATURDAY 4
DANCE
RAWDance
Lots of people, apparently, like watching dance in an almost-hidden space spawned from a ballroom hooking up with a bowling alley. RAWdance’s biannual Concept series has been smash hit ever since the first one in 2007. The idea is to informally present in-progress or excerpts from recent works on a pay-as-you-can, free-popcorn-and-coffee-and-snacks basis. Unfortunately, the current lineup — Holly Johnston, Lisa Townsend, Kelly Kemp, RAWdance, Catherine Galasso, and Laura Bernasconi/Carlos Ventura — may be one of the last. The James Howell Studio is on the market. Any suggestions for a new home for this nicely curated, always intriguing, and ever-so-welcoming dance series? (Rita Felciano)
Through Sun/5
8 p.m. (also Sun/5, 3 p.m.), pay what you can
James Howell Studio
66 Sanchez, SF
(415) 686-0728
SUNDAY 5
MUSIC
Abe Vigoda
Once you get over the initial disappointment that this is not the actor Abe Vigoda opening for Cold Cave, I think you’ll be pleased to find an L.A. punk crew that plays a distinctly Caribbean style of punk — a lot of steel drums and reverbed guitars — and sounds like fellow Smell bands No Age and HEALTH while maintaining a personality very much their own. Abe Vigoda also exhibits something slightly unusual in the punk industry: a willingness to grow. Each subsequent record release has introduced new ideas into the band’s sound, from changes in tempo to exploring electronic textures. With a seemingly bright future, it’s possible that someday the band might even overtake the actor in popularity. Tell Abe it was only business; I always liked him. (Galvin)
With Cold Cave
9 p.m., $16
Great American Music Hall
859 O’Farrell, SF
(415) 885-0750
MONDAY 6
MUSIC
Panda Bear
One of the many mysteries of the intentionally mysterious Animal Collective is how the group’s later albums manage to make indie music so danceable. The man behind that particular mystery is Panda Bear (a.k.a. Noah Lennox), co-singer and sampling man, who seems to draw as much inspiration from electronic music as the ’70s psychedelia that is the Collective’s bread and butter. In his solo incarnation, Lennox tones down the grandiosity of his day job, drawing inspiration from the Beach Boys, R&B, and the widely eulogized hip-hop producer extraordinaire J Dilla to create a slower and more laid back atmosphere. Currently residing in Lisbon, which Lennox calls “the European California,” Panda Bear’s music is a clear reflection of a sunnier, sweeter lifestyle than we normally see here in Fogland. (Galvin)
With Nite Jewel
8 p.m., $25
Fox Theatre
1807 Telegraph, Oakl.
1-800-745-3000
MUSIC
“Cowgirl Palooza”
Saddle up, buttercup. It’s Labor Day weekend, all your pals are on the Playa, and you don’t know what to do with your dog day afternoon but head out for some honky-tonkin’. And sugar, El Rio’s got you covered. At the eighth annual Cowgirl Palooza, you can drown your sorrows with one of its signature margaritas, eat your fill of free BBQ (while supplies last), and scoot your boots to the cheekily country-fried tunage of one of San Francisco’s finest, most underrated bar bands, 77 El Deora. When Jenn Courtney dominates the mic, demanding a bad boy to do her good, poison for her heartbreak, and someone to please change the record, which sucks because it reminds her of “you,” you’ll be glad you skipped that silly little party in the desert after all. What’s it called again? (Nicole Gluckstern)
With Wicked Mercies, Bootcuts, Evangenitals, and Los Train Wrecks
3 p.m., $10
El Rio
3158 Mission, SF
(415) 282-3325
TUESDAY 7
MUSIC
Extreme Animals
The Extreme Animals are difficult to pin down. The band’s website describes its sound as “No Doubt + Linkin Park + New Red Hot Chili Peppers,” and Jacob Ciocci, TEA’s spasmodic, pepperoni-pizza-eating leader, tries to pinpoint it further with this recent tweet: “If anyone ever asks, ‘What is Extreme Animals the band?’ say ‘it’s like Lady Gaga — it’s music AND art!'” Far from some self-effacing ironic gesture, these descriptors are entirely genuine and accurate. If anything, they leave out a smorgasbord of equally embarrassing acts and kitsch culture destined to be forgotten if not for zealous karaoke bars and garage sales. In other words, TEA doesn’t shy from absorbing and acknowledging its influences; it binges on anything and everything the pop entertainment world dishes out, then it shits and pukes it out on stage in phantasmagoric pixelated form. (Spencer Young)
9 p.m., free
Southern Exposure
3030 20th St., SF
(415) 863-2141
MUSIC
Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions
Hope Sandoval’s voice remains a seductive study in contrast, sounding at once near and far, with a hollowed core and warm edges, always lingering. The darks shadows of that voice flicker over a whole generation of younger singers — male and female — woozy bedroom-pop types, and psych-folk melancholy cases. Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You” is still a classic slow-burn ballad, but she’s recorded several fine, less remarked-upon albums since. In any case, you don’t forget a voice like hers. Sandoval doesn’t play out much. Jim Jarmusch talked her into his All Tomorrow’s Parties dream bill in New York City, but that’s her only other show in the States on this “tour” — so expect the Great American to be packed to sway. (Goldberg)
8 p.m., $26
Great American Music Hall
859 O’Farrell, SF
(415) 885-0750
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