Pic Hits for the week

thursday
july 18
Kim Abeles: The work of this talented Californian gives new meaning to the term "environmental art." Best known for her "smog" series--which utilizes man's pollutants to comment on mankind's folly--Abeles is also adept at assemblage, drawing and welding, and her creations are generally knockouts whether they're bite-size or room-size. Her small pieces in "Between Reality and Abstraction: California Art at the End of the Century" at Scottsdale Center for the Arts (see the Art Exhibits listing) are installation highlights. Abeles hosts a career-retrospective lecture/slide presentation at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 18, in the Cinema at the center, 7380 East Second Street. Admission is free. For details call 994-2787.

Nico-Icon: Director Susanne Ofteringer's documentary tells tales on the late, Berlin-born Nico (real name: Christa Paffgen), model, actress, Teutonic chanteuse, Andy Warhol cohort, short-lived Velvet Undergrounder and, in the bitter end, a star-crossed junkie who embodied the Velvets' tune "Black Angel's Death Song." The unrated film screens daily, through Thursday, July 25, at Valley Art Theatre, 509 South Mill in Tempe. For details call 829-6668.

White Zombie, and Pantera: The trashy, thrashy Zombie, led by Robert Straker (stage name: Rob Zombie) and Sean Yseult, makes a return visit to Chandler's Compton Terrace on Thursday, July 18, as a follow-up to the group's successful March show at the Terrace. Sharing the bill are those cowboys from hell--Dallas, Texas, really--in Pantera (see the story on page 89). Eye Hate God opens at 8 p.m. The venue is located at I-10 and Riggs Road. Tickets are $25.50, available at Dillard's; call 678-2222.

Here in America: Performance artist Robert Post, a deft physical comedian, sends up philosophy, politics, the media, basketball, ballet school and a bunch of other frankly indescribable stuff in his solo touring show, billed as "an evening of illegitimate theatre." Final performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday, July 18; 8 p.m. Friday, July 19; 8 p.m. Saturday, July 20; and 2 p.m. Sunday, July 21, in Stage West at Herberger Theater Center, 222 East Monroe. For reservations and details, call 252-8497.

"La Phoeniquera XVI": MARS Artspace, located at 126 South Central, in Luhrs Office Center, celebrates the art and artists of Arizona with its annual summer-season blowout. This year's exhibition, juried by Phoenix Art Museum's curator of 20th-century art, David Rubin, features works by Tina Sotis, Frank Ybarra, Nancy Scheer, Linda K. Foss-Asakawa, Brent Bond and many others. It continues through Friday, August 9. Viewing hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. Admission is free. For details call 253-3541.

friday
july 19
godheadSilo, and Doo Rag: This duo duet happens Friday, July 19, at Hollywood Alley, 2610 West Baseline in Mesa. Opener 'Silo is, in essence, a rhythm section, consisting of a drummer and a bassist whose oeuvre falls closer to performance art than to alt. rock; see the story on page 90. The headliner, Tucson's gutter-blues twosome Doo Rag, is like They Might Be Giants with rabies. Front man Bob Log and beat guy Thermos Malling play what Champion Jack Dupree termed the nasty boogie-woogie on "found"--as in "found in a thrift store"--instruments like vacuum tubes, metal buckets and cardboard boxes. The all-ages show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $8, available at Alternatix. For details call 820-7117 or 244-8444.

Sister Machine Gun: The Chicago group is a rarity: an industrial band that doesn't offend the ears, and doesn't try to. Chris Randall, who heads the conglomeration of musicians culled from defunct acts like Die Warzau, Skinny Puppy, and the Final Cut, labels the Sister's sound "a postmodern soup of popular music," and he's right. Burn, SMG's third disc for Wax Trax!/TVT, makes for a foot-stomping good time--damnable synths, Moogs, MIDIs and all. The album's a throwback, featuring a solid set of rockin', accessible songs ("Hole in the Ground" is the best), which makes it a small step forward for the stale industrial genre. Chemlab, and Drill share the all-ages bill. Showtime is 9 p.m. Friday, July 19, at the Mason Jar, 2303 East Indian School. Tickets are $11 in advance, $13 the day of the show, available at Ticketmaster. For details call 956-6271 or 784-4444.

"Young Virtuosos": Three promising Valley classical students--16-year-old Sarah Porter, 17-year-old Maria Dastrup and 19-year-old Carl Gales--perform at this public recital, which continues the "Summer Classical Series" at Scottsdale Center for the Arts, 7380 East Second Street. The program includes works by Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, Chopin, Liszt and Gounod. Showtime is 8 p.m. Friday, July 19. Tickets are $12, available at the center and Ticketmaster. For more information, call 994-2787 or 784-4444.

Voodoo Glow Skulls: The brothers Casillas--Frank, Eddie and Jorge--lead this self-proclaimed "nerd-core" septet with the snappy name and the hot fusion of punk, ska and Latino beats. The Riverside, California, group performs on Friday, July 19, at Nile Theater, 105 West Main in Mesa. Youth Brigade, and Plinko share the stage. The all-ages show starts at 8 p.m. For details call 649-2766.

Here in America: See Thursday.
"La Phoeniquera XVI": See Thursday.
Nico-Icon: See Thursday.

saturday
july 20
Man . . . or Astroman?: It may be a joke, but what a punch line: MOA? is an Alabama surf band masquerading as a group of grounded space aliens masquerading as an Alabama surf band--or something like that. The Astromen (CoCo the Electronic Monkey Wizard, Starcrunch, Birdstuff, and Dexter X From Planet Q) play "Philip K. Dick in the Pet Section of Wal-Mart," "Sadie Hawkins Atom Bomb" and the rest of their smashing nonhits on Saturday, July 20, at Boston's, 910 North McClintock in Tempe. The Subsonics, and the Quadrajets share the all-ages bill. Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets are $8 in advance, $10 the day of the show, available at Alternatix. For details call 921-7343 or 244-8444.