Arts DEVO

Dusting off my abacus An awful lot of math rock has come through Chico during the last decade or so, and an awful lot of it made me want to nod off under the nearest table (so much sound, sans the fury, signifying snoring). But there have been times, when the pocket protectors were pinned proudly to the chest and the scientific calculators lay naked alongside effects pedals, when the odd band has forgone mere obtuse wankery and instead energetically filled up the chalkboard with an insane equation that overloaded my brain without wearying my spirit. What I’ve heard of Seattle’s Wah Wah Exit Wound is promising in this regard. Hyperkinetic songs like “Big Night” from the band’s previous album Vibrational Osmosis or “Baroque” from the brand-new 3 Woodpeckers are the kind of head-scratching workouts that make you say “Wait, wait … what’s going on here?” If space jams are kept to a minimum, and R = Rawk, then in the live setting of Monstros Pizza this Friday, Oct. 8, the opportunity to be amazed and confused would appear have a probability of R(beer + slice) = : ).

Chico loves rap music? What’s going on in the 530 these days? In the last month Chico has hosted two Rhymesayers artists (Brother Ali at Chico State, and Atmosphere at the Senator Theatre) plus K.C.’s Tech N9ne, also at the Senator. This week we get Chico’s Moonshine joint celebrating the release of TyBox’s new disc at Café Coda Friday, Oct. 8, and local heavy-hitters The Resonators first being joined by Mantra at Café Culture on Saturday, Oct. 9, then joining Brooklyn MC Joel Ortiz (of super group Slaughterhouse, on Eminem’s Shady Records) at the 1078 Gallery Thursday, Oct. 14.

And November highlights include another 1078 show with Def Squad member Keith Murray (Nov. 8), plus a couple of Bay Area visitors with JMax Productions bringing S.F.’s Andre Nickatina to the Senator (Nov. 13) and Chico State’s AS Live hosting East Bay duo Zion I at the BMU Auditorium (Nov. 16). Word, Chico.

In the museum with a lead pipe The only clue detectives could decipher revealed that the objects were hidden in plain sight spread among the displays in a number of Chico’s museums. Your mission is to find the missing items, discover the whereabouts of Francis Pickney and identify his accomplice. Good luck! Visit each museum and find a note that holds a piece of the codex containing the clues.

To take part in Mystery, Museums and Mayhem, an Artoberfest Adventure, find the clues at the 10 museums where Pickney and his accomplice hid their loot: Chico Museum, Bidwell Mansion, Gateway Science Museum, Stansbury House, Patrick Ranch, Janet Turner Print Museum, Valene L. Smith Museum of Anthropology (at Chico State), Colman Museum, Chico Creek Nature Center, Gold Nugget Museum and the Ehmann Home. For more info, go to www.thewritingloft.com.

DEVOtions

• Gordy DVD shoot: Be in the audience for Gordy “The Banjo-ologist” Ohliger’s performance this Saturday, Oct. 9, 4-6:30 p.m, at The Birdhouse and be a part of a video shoot for a live DVD to be broadcast on PBS in 2011.

• Coming out for art: Art show and benefit for Chico Stonewall Alliance Monday, Oct. 11, 6 p.m., at RAYRAY Gallery.

P.S. More of the Best It’s a mystery to us how this one readers’ picks category didn’t make it into our Best of Chico issue, but you did vote and winners were determined: Blue Room Theatre won first place, followed by Chico Cabaret in second and Chico Theater Company in third. Congrats!