MICHAEL SWAN: OH HAPPY DAY >>>

The computer-science freaks and geeks at FiveThirtyEight have Obama leading in the polls. Check it here.

SUZY STUMP: DO I REALLY WANT TO SEE THIS? >>>

The multi-media kiosk Tollbooth Gallery has a new installation that features Baltimore artist Brian Nicholson â€" frame by frame â€" lighting himself on fire.

Whoa.

OK, not real thankfully.

The video is a self-portrait juxtaposing live action and animation. Check it at Broadway and 11th in Tacoma’s Theater District.

MATT DRISCOLL: REVIEWS SONGS OF LOVE, DEATH, AND TRAINS >>>

This review is late.

It’s supposed to go something like this: Thursday rolls around. High off of the excitement of putting yet another kick ass issue of the Weekly Volcano on the street, I arrive at the office, dig â€" with glee - through my promotional pile of free CDs sent by bands near and far, and then pound out 600 words in the form of a CD review for all to read on the Volcano’s website.

Here’s how it’s been going lately: Thursday rolls around. Mentally drained and exhausted from putting yet another kick ass issue of the Weekly Volcano on the street, I arrive at the office, fumble â€" with trepidation â€" through my promotional pile of free CDs sent by bands near and far, and then â€" after getting caught up doing about a zillion other things throughout the day â€" finally tie myself down in front of the computer and pound out 600 words in the form of a CD review for all to read on the Volcano’s website.

This week, though, was as bad as it’s been. Not only is this CD review a little late â€" it’s a day and a half late. These reviews are supposed to hit the website on Thursdays. By my count it’s now Friday night, around 5:45 p.m., and I’m just now getting to it.

But enough about poor little me.

This week’s lucky CD from my pile is www.myspace.com/davidbavas ">David Bavas’s Songs of Love, Death, and Trains. While it’s an album that’s been out for almost a year, Bavas was kind enough to contact me through Myspace not long ago and offer to send it my way. I figured I’d reciprocate the kindness. There’s at least a decent chance many of you out there in Volcano Land haven’t heard of Bavas yet (though I do believe he recently played in town), and I figured that was as good a reason as any to give Songs of Love, Death, and Trains a spin.

Today was gray. The office was quiet and the mood was sleepy. The entire pace of life seemed slowed, which made for a perfect backdrop to Bavas’s Songs of Love, Death, and Trains. 

While it’s not quite wrist-slitting, Songs of Love, Death, and Trains is definitely a sad record. Made up of creeping, pitter-pat indie-alt country numbers that rarely speed past a waltzing pace, Songs of Love is porch sitting music, seemingly made for remorseful recollections of past pain.

As is evident from the very beginning, and especially on the disc’s best track, “Cigarettes and Bourbon,” the subject matter isn’t the only thing that’s dark on this album. Bavas’s voice is equally as shadowy â€" lying in the reaches of these songs - and his humble, Appalachian born demeanor adds an engaging edge that takes some of the sting out of the heartbreak he sings of.

Bavas’s songs may all be similarly paced, and â€" for the most part â€" similarly mired in sorrow, and they might all be built on Bavas’s unassuming voice, the no-hurry beat of country drums and the slow, steady strum of an acoustic guitar, but www.myspace.com/travishartnett ">Travis Hartnett does add some electric guitar swagger to the mix. It’s the rarest of musical tag-teams, as both artists seem to lift each other to a new level. Without Hartnett, Bavas’s music would be noteworthy. With Hartnett, Bavas â€" and his CD â€" are the full package.

Songs of Love, Death, and Trains captures a day like today perfectly. It may have been out since last year, but it’s definitely worth your attention right now.

SUZY STUMP: CALENDAR GIRL >>>

Oasis: Western Dreams of the Ottoman Empire
Tacoma, for all its glories, does have its little shortages here and there. We are, in particular, not exactly flush in the ethnicity department. Aside from Lakewood’s Korean Town and the International District, Tacoma lacks the distinctive scent of ethnic potpourri that billows in most great metropolis.

Get off your ottoman and check out the Ottoman!

The Tacoma Art Museum hosts a survey of 19th century Western Artists’ views of the diverse cultures of the former Ottoman Empire: Turkey, Greece, North Africa and the Middle East. The Dahesh Museum in New York organized this fascinating historic and cultural brain swell. Hookah yourself up to diversity. 

[Tacoma Art Museum, through Jan. 4, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. third Thursday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, $6.50-$7.50, 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.4258]

Foot Falls
A dance performance in an intimate, tiny space is sure to be interesting. OK â€" and a little complicated. But one thing’s for sure: It’s gonna be good. Tacoma choreographers and dancers Katharine M. Stricker and Stephanie Kriege, who worked for three years with the defunct Barefoot Studios, kick off their version, Barefoot Collective, with original works under the title, Foot Falls. I hope that their feet don’t fall in my face in the intimate studio. Or do I? I might miss the juice and cookie reception after â€" so I wish to skip the foot.

[Barefoot Collective, Sept. 19-20 8 p.m., Sept. 21 2 p.m., $17-$20, 1604 Center St., Tacoma, 253.627.2273]

LINK: ViVA South Sound arts and entertainment calendar

THREE AMIGOS: LIVER THAN YOU’LL EVER BE >>>

9 Pound Hammer
A better band title for 9 Pound Hammer might have been When Happy Rock Attacks. This acoustic rock trio from Tacoma, led by guitarist Dan Lafferty, dances around vaudeville but with one foot cemented in Dickey Betts’ driveway. The songs are tongue-in-cheek â€" many Tacoma-centered in context; Gregg Allman in style. Get hammered at The Hub, Hoochie Coochie Man. â€" Ron Swarner
[The Hub, Saturday, Sept. 20, 9 p.m., 203 Tacoma Ave. S., Tacoma, 253.683.4606]   

Berkeley Heights
Brothers Chris and Cody Groom â€" who collectively make up the two-piece band Berkeley Heights â€" will be at Le Voyeur in Olympia tonight. According to the band’s Web site, “If you are afraid of pop music the band might not be for you, but don’t be surprised if you catch yourself humming along.”

Sounds to me like a challenge, and if Berkeley Heights’ musical meanderings are any indication (or at least the meanderings available at www.berkeleyheightsmusic.com), it’s a challenge you’re likely to lose. Based on time-tested songwriting aesthetics from yesteryear and the instruments and computer enhancements of today, Berkeley Heights â€" for all the brothers Groom’s pop leanings and candy flavored choruses â€" are skilled at what they do. â€" Matt Driscoll
[Le Voyeur, with The Freehands and Bacon Moon, 10 p.m., no cover, 404 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia, 360.943.5710]

Albino!
Bobble Tiki used to kick off his parties with the late Afrobeat great Fela Kuti heckling African dictators with epic jams that bridged the lithe, sweat-stained funk of James Brown and the heavily percussive strains of his native Yoruba folk music. Today, Bobble Tiki pumps up the volume with funk-fueled juggernauts Albino! who’ve adapted Kuti-inspired Afrobeat for 21st-century America.  Bobble Tiki finds comfort in Albino!’s desire to hug its audience. Community! â€" Bobble Tiki
[The Eastside Tavern, 10 p.m., $6, 410 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia, 360.357.9985]

LINK: Mom’s Rocket rocks Hell’s Kitchen tonight
LINK: Live music and DJs tonight

MATT DRISCOLL: GET DRUNK, FALL DOWN, ROCK OUT >>>

Tonight at Bob's Java Jive, Sub Pop super rock group Kinski will be laying down the heavy-as-all-hell riffs as part of the very first "Lava Show." In case you're wondering, the Lava Show is a monthly tag team effort between the Weekly Volcano and the Java Jive to put on a kick ass show and invite everyone out to get loaded with us. I wrote all about it in my column this week.

It's something you should get used to, and needless to say, an event you really don't want to miss.

See you there?

TONY ENGELHART: JUNKYARD JANE >>>

As the saying goes, “Time flies when you’re having fun,” and for Junkyard Jane it’s been a barrel of monkeys for the past 11 years as Billy Stoops and Leanne Trevalyan have been hosts to a non-stop party. 

Junkyard Jane was formed in 1997 out of stragglers from three different bands with a common vision: to have fun with music. The ensemble of first class musicians has changed over the years, but Stoops and Trevalyan have remained the glue that has kept the Northwest’s number one party band together. 

With a funky mix of blues, twang and rock and roll, the band defied labels and created music on their own terms, which they dubbed “swampabilly roots.” Stoops’ nasty mastery of the Strat coupled with his powerfully rich voice is complimented by Trevalyan’s whimsical vocals and the occasional kazoo solo.

[The Spar, Sunday, Sept. 21, 7 p.m., 2121 N. 30th St., Tacoma, 253.272.2122]