At 3 PM on Saturday, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Janis Ian will be at the Borders in Oak Brook to sign and discuss Society's Child: My Autobiography and the new compilation CD The Best of Janis Ian: The Autobiography Collection. The event is free.

Ian became a star on the strength of her 1975 single "At Seventeen" but later withdrew from the music business to study ballet and acting. She returned with a new album in '93 and continues to record and tour; she plays the Old Town School on Friday night at 8 PM. Tickets are $25, $23 for Old Town School members, $21 for seniors and kids.

Have you seen the totally insane video for Radiohead's "House of Cards" that they shot with lasers instead of cameras?

The major difference between this type of 3D-plotting setup and a traditional optical setup is that while a camera basically just absorbs the light coming into it, the lasers digitize a whole bunch of information that can be visually represented in any medium the data will fit. The band's made that data public, and one of their fans--presumably one with a glut of free time and an inhuman level of patience--has undertaken the insane task of converting part of it to Lego.

Between this and issuing the isolated "stem" tracks to "Nude" for a remix concert, Radiohead is leading the pack of bands turning themselves into public open-source projects. If only some other band would take them on, so I can write geeky technical blog posts without the word "Radiohead" in them.

The "hard mod" collective the Organisation, formed to push back against what it calls the "Austin Powers-isation" of mod (please note the British spelling), hosts its first weekender, A Harder Way of Life, beginning Thursday night at 9 PM with a free event at the Globe Pub that features a Circuits reunion (celebrating the northwest-side club that was vital to the scene in the 80s and 90s) and multiple DJs spinning soul, early R & B, ska, and reggae.

The party moves to Phyllis' Musical Inn (1800 W. Division) on Friday with more DJs, including Philthy Phil of New York oi band the Templars, and live acts the Irving Parkas and the Stone Lightning Band ($5).

Beginning Saturday morning at 9 AM the Bottom Lounge hosts a Moto Show and Jumble Sale, where you can swap parts for scooters, cycles, and cars, buy vintage clothes and vinyl, or get a haircut or tattoo; admission is free. That night DJs including the East of Edens Soul Express and live bands the Deccas (no, not the UK one) and JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound play the club's Volcano Room ($10).

Capping the weekend is a Sunday brunch at Uptown's Holiday Club, 4000 N. Sheridan.

Image from nualabugeye's Flickr stream.

I'm fairly certain that the casting call for VH1's Rock of Love Bus with Bret Michaels doesn't involve Bret Michaels actually rolling into town on a bus to steal our city's (trashiest) women, but in this crazy mixed-up world of ours, who knows? If the idea of spending quality time on a bus with Bret Michaels appeals to you, be at the Mansion tomorrow at 11:30 PM. Or get to the center of things and go see a therapist.

(Disclaimer: I actually love Poison and was once moved to tears at a Poison concert by the potent blend of "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," half a fifth of Jim Beam, and getting punched in the back of the head by an angry hillbilly.)

As you've probably noticed if you watch the MP Shows listings pages, South Union Arts has packed it in, at least for now--the last show of the season was Saturday. It's apparently just as impractical to keep a church cool in the middle of summer as it is to keep it warm in the middle of winter. 

The folks at MP plan to reopen the venue when the weather gets more manageable in September, but they're also looking for a new space that would allow them to quit South Union Arts for good.

Just in case you thought Tim Kinsella had a lock on the title of Most Audience-Alienating Kinsella, here's a report from a recent Owen show in Seattle from the Stranger's Line Out blog:

People yell out songs for him to play, and they are of course ignored. "These guys came from Utah and asked me to play like six songs, and I'm not going to play any of them," he shrugs. Someone yells out, "Fade to Black!" That sparks his attention. At the end of his set, Kinsella announces, "Okay, now I'm going to play every riff I know from 'Fade to Black.'" He knows most of the 7 minute Metallica epic, and goes from riff to riff for about three minutes, adding the occasional guitar solo with his mouth. When he's done with that he announces, "Now I'm going to play all the other Metallica riffs I know," and proceeds to toss out random sections of different songs. The crowd starts to get restless. Someone yells something at him, he responds, "Fuck you dude, I'm playing Metallica." After several minutes he walks off stage saying, "You don't want to hear this? These are the highest selling riffs of all time! I'll save them for an audience who cares." There is scattered applause. Outside I hear a girl tell her friends, "That was the shittiest performance I've ever seen, and I'm from Montana."

The Girls Rock! Chicago camp, now in its third summer, gives girls ages 9 through 16 a week to form a band and write a song (and in some cases learn their instruments). Every year the organization has thrown a send-off party for departing campers--an afternoon concert where all the bands get to take the stage at a proper rock club and play their songs. Back in 2006 it was at Schubas, but this year, like last year, it'll be at Metro. (It's a hell of a first gig, if you ask me--I've been playing in bands in Chicago for 12 years and would probably still get the jitters on that stage.)

The show's Saturday at 3:30 PM (doors at 3) and should wrap up by 5:30. It's all-ages, natch. The six-dollar cover benefits the Girls Rock! Chicago camp, of course, and all 17 camper bands will play. None of this year's girls have quite matched the strangest band name to come out of the 2007 camp--that'd be Contagious Love (of Chicken and Potatoes)--but you will get to hear Toe Jam Football, Day Beard Knife, and my personal favorite, Time's Up, Tuna.

Despite what the official schedule says, experienced Lollapalooza-goers and Chicagoans know that once you include off-site festivities the Lolla "weekend" runs pretty much from Thursday until Monday or so. Things are getting off to a strong start tonight with a number of kickoff parties.

Most people know DJ Jazzy Jeff from the lightweight pop hip-hop beats he put down behind Will Smith back when Smith was still the Fresh Prince--and for providing The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's best moments with his cameos as the always-hustling Jazz. DJs and trainspotters, on the other hand, know Jeff has a more serious side. By popularizing the game-changing "transformer" scratch technique he helped lay the foundation for the technically intense turntablist movement, and for the past decade he's been dropping surprisingly subtle soul/hip-hop hybrid mixes. He's spinning at Lumen tonight. Details and an RSVP form are available here.

Husband-and-wife indie-pop duo Mates of State are known more for kicking out romantic bubblegum jams than spinning club bangers, but they'll be manning the decks at Debonair Social Club tonight (as well as playing live) at a party set up by Venus magazine. Local DJs Zebo and Jordan Z--who are known for rocking parties--will provide backup. The $10 cover goes to benefit Girls Rock! Chicago (which is throwing an end-of-camp party at Metro on Saturday afternoon).

Diesel's sponsoring a show at Schubas tonight featuring Brooklyn-based disco-fiers Tigercity and psychedelicists Violens as part of their U:Music thing. If you RSVP (rsvp@enpriseentertainment.com) Diesel will buy your first drink. For a seasoned afterparty ninja, it should be only the first of the weekend's many free drinks.

And if you're willing to line up right about now, you can check out the Kills, the Black Kids, and Foals at the Apple Store downtown. As a bonus, Kid Sister will be handling emcee duties throughout the performance. The show's free, if you don't count the mental and emotional stress of the inevitable line/crowding issues.

Author Joe Carducci, who's built a career out of eloquent curmudgeonhood and the sort of I-was-there vehemence usually associated with Vietnam vets, has written a book I'm finding to be an even bigger challenge than Rock and the Pop Narcotic. Last year's Enter Naomi: SST, L.A. and All That . . . is in some respects a biography of and tribute to Naomi Petersen (pictured), a photographer whose images of Black Flag, the Meat Puppets, the Minutemen, Saint Vitus, and countless others capture the vibrancy and scary energy of the 80s LA scene. But Petersen died alone in 2003 of liver failure at age 38, and Carducci didn't hear until two years later.

The book clearly reflects his anger with himself about that, but Carducci also displays an apparent inability to truly focus on Petersen, his nominal subject. She hovers around the edges of the book, a deliberately mysterious figure among the more lionized male artists who often find it to their advantage--or just a lot easier--to remain self-absorbed and oblivious. The author deserves props for the unusual candor of his self-examination, but speaking as a female reader, let me just say that Petersen's loneliness--as Carducci describes it, anyway--doesn't seem odd or surprising in the least. It's a frustrating, moving, and mostly honest book.

Carducci will read from his new one and discuss his work in general at Quimby's, 1854 W. North, at 7 PM on Saturday--his first appearance there since 1995. It's free.