August 14-20, 2003

musicpicks

Asians In Rock

Rock/pop

Lazy listeners might liken Jenny Choi to Sarah McLachlan, but the comparison isn't that far off. Like the Lilith Fair matriarch, Choi leads a revolving crew of itinerant musicians. As if she weren't busy enough readying her third album, Postcard Stories (Double Zero), the girlish-voiced pianist/guitarist planned the Asians In Rock (AIR) tour. The similarities between Chicagoan Choi and the bill's three indie duos are only skin deep. In the band Panda Panda, Miss Mia and Sarah C. make bratty punk as cute as their name implies. Chiyoko Yoshida plays dreamy guitar rock with her former Squash Blossom bandmate Jeff Carleton. Satski Ohtake and Nicole Pinto of New York's Crème Blush make pretty synth-pop with an attitude problem. (Their token boy actually makes them a trio, but you won't notice him.) Limiting the show to four acts means leaving spacy Suntan in D.C. and hooking up with bluesy Kevin So in Cambridge. Like Lilith Fair, one go-round just won't be enough for Asians In Rock.

Thu., Aug. 14, 8 p.m., free, all ages, The Rotunda, 4012 Walnut St., 215-573-3234.

—M.J. Fine