We've got a really cool giveaway this week. Everyone knows who Rufus Wainwright is, right? Please, tell us that you do. He's still crooning luxuriously behind the piano, wearing fabulously tailored suits and hasn't aged a day since his auspicious self-titled debut nearly ten years ago. His brand new record, Release the Stars, is hot off the presses and he's coming to play a special show at Nob Hill Masonic Center with Sean Lennon and A Fine Frenzy on Friday, August 3rd. Tickets are on sale this Sunday, and we're giving away a pair of tickets to one lucky SFist reader. Enter to win below (Contest ends June 6th; winner will be notified via email.)

Last Thursday night we squeezed into 330 Ritch to see Spoon, one of our favorite bands of all time. We'd just helped celebrate former SFist Eve's birthday at Tempest Bar and picked up our friend after her fire dancing class at Temple of Poi, and thankfully got to the venue just as Spoon hit the stage. Spoon were the consummate professionals as always, delivering a tight set without much banter or bullshit. We love them for playing a diverse set of songs from across their many releases. The opening riff of "Fitted Shirt" gave us a rush of excitement and nostalgia especially; such a great song about such an unlikely subject. The title of Spoon's new record has us puzzled, and hearing Britt's pronounce it like machine gun fire - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - was interesting to hear, but, yeah, we still don't get it. Speaking of Spoon, we're headed to their (and our) old hometown of Austin this week for a sunny vacation. The bad news is that we picked a week with no less than four shows that we're crushed to miss: Chris Garneau at the Hemlock tonight, Arcade Fire at the Greek on Friday and Saturday, Laura Veirs at Cafe Du Nord on Tuesday and Client at Amoeba on Wednesday. Watch Chris Garneau's video for "Relief", off of Music For Tourists and then read this week's show recommendations below.

Tonight there's that must-see show at the Hemlock with Chris Garneau, Liam Carey and Laura Weinbach. As you saw from the video, singer-songwriter Garneau sings torch songs with a reserved passion (think Sufjan Stevens' quiet voice). This is a show we're dying to see, but we're on vacation in Austin, remember! Also tonight, our friends at The Bay Bridged present Social Studies, Tempo No Tempo and The Lovely Public at Rickshaw Stop. Popscene presents a record release party for the locals in Scissors For Lefty and Brakes Brakes Brakes at 330 Ritch. There's a note on the website that tells us Brakes Brakes Brakes was formerly known as The Brakes, and this just makes us laugh. Are there any "The" names that haven't been taken? The Bougainvilleas? The Dodecahedrons?

We would've gotten this up sooner, but we've been busy playing nursemaid all week!

We parked in the hay last Saturday evening and were told by one of Shoreline Amphitheater's parking attendants, "Watch out for that big hole. We're right on the fault line!" Then, after walking for what seemed like a mile, we were finally able to hear the faint strumming of Joanna Newsom's harp and her signature, endearingly quivering voice. It had probably been ten years since we had last been to an amphitheater, and we realized upon entering the event that they all look the same, for the most part.

We had unfortunately missed Ghostdigital, the first opener of the night (we admit it, we had to stop at In 'N' Out on the way down), but were lucky enough to catch several songs of Joanna Newsom's set. It was exciting to see her at such a huge venue. Her presence and performance filled the whole space, and her impressively long legs filled the whole length of the giant screens. We could see in huge detail the various expressions of intense concentration on her face as she plucked her harp. We were all so very proud.

Then, Bjork came on and further blew off the proverbial roof (made of flags). Her costumes were sufficiently strange and elaborate and her performance spot-on, backed up by an awesome horn section, vibraphone, and a crazy midi-sampler that almost looked mystical. Engulfed in color, lights, and love, all of us on the lawn could feel the vibe through the grass and the airwaves. (We're sure those closer to the stage had an even better time.) It was a gorgeous night to boot, with a sliver of a moon — as Bjork pointed out.

We were equally impressed when we later checked out the amount of content on Bjork's site. Fans are encouraged to post reviews and photos of her shows, and Bjork is currently having a contest in which "Madwebcarpenters" can create a video for her "Innocence" track. The song can be heard on her MySpace page, and the contest runs through the beginning of August. So, get to it!

It's another music giveaway bonanza this week! First up is a prize pack from Sea Wolf. They've been touring with Silversun Pickups (see a few SSPU members in the video for "You're A Wolf"), but they're a far more mellow outfit: Alex Church's vocals and melodies are gentle, strummy and soothing. Sea Wolf open for Devotchka on Friday night at the Grand Ballroom Bimbo's, and we have a pair of tickets for the winner plus a copy of their new EP Get To The River Before It Runs Too Low. Watch the video and download the mp3 for "You're A Wolf" and enter to win (Contest ends at 11am tomorrow! Winner will be notified via email.)

Our second offering of prizes comes from two great bands playing on Tuesday night at the Independent: Great Northern and Loney, Dear. For a long time we had an irrational aversion to the name "Loney, Dear" because our internal copy editor (who never shuts off) kept recoiling at the misspelling of "lonely". Once we accepted the strange stage name of Swedish singer-songwriter Emil Svanängen, we listened to the record with an open mind and really liked it. The music on Loney, Noir is upbeat, dreamy and moody and Emil has an exuberant falsetto that reminds us a little of Sigur Rós. Opening the show is Great Northern, a band that mixes things up from grandiose and glum to cheery and bright, first the boys singing and then the girls. Two winners will receive Loney, Dear's Loney, Noir album, and one winner gets a Great Northern T-shirt and a copy of their brand new album Trading Twilight For Daylight. Enter to win below (Contest ends 5/30; winner will be notified via email.):

We saw several great shows last week. On Thursday night we headed to Hotel Utah to see Birds & Batteries for the first time, and thankfully they lived up to our hopes that they could pull things off live. The digital/analog, organic/synthetic (birds/batteries) themes made total sense as the guitar, bass and drums were enveloped in samples and synths. Saturday night we saw The Knitters once again at Great American where the packed audience danced and hooted all night. We wrapped up the weekend at the Mission Creek Music Festival closing party at Thee Parkside on Sunday afternoon. Things started off slowly, perhaps because the afternoon show competed with the aftermath of Bay to Breakers. We came to see Birds & Batteries again, but stayed to hang out with our friends Dan from the Rickshaw Stop and Will from New & Used Records, and some new friends including the guys behind The Bay Bridged. Check out The Bay Bridged's massive coverage of the Mission Creek Fest.

On to this week's show recommendations! Tonight Popscene presents a special performance by the one and only Spoon at 330 Ritch. The longstanding show series rarely lands such seasoned artists - usually it's up and comers or buzz bands - but Spoon seem to be on a warmup west coast jaunt leading up to the Sasquatch Festival this weekend. And of course any buzz on their forthcoming record, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga out July 10th, can't hurt.

SFist loves High Fidelity. There’s something about music geeks and a sense that the spirit of a town can be captured by its music scene that appeals to us. And apparently to people who actually make music as well. James Elkington is a transplant to Chicago (setting of HF) from England. He went there to make music, and by all accounts is doing fabulously well at winning over the locals. Elkington’s band, The Zincs, are currently opening for the Sea and Cake. In advance of their show tonight at Bimbo’s Elkington made time at an internet café in Portland to answer our questions about his adopted home.

Best show you've played and what made it great?
Vienna in Austria - I broke the PA with my classical guitar.

The best fans are:
Zincs fans.

Favorite Venue?
The Doug Fir Lounge in Portland - its like playing in the Black Lodge from Twin Peaks.

Lamest crowd request?
Our audience asks nothing of us...as far as I can tell.

Fri. May 18 The Sea and Cake & The Zincs @ Bimbo's

Did you miss us last week? Here are our excuses: we caught a cold, had a birthday, and were up to here with work at our dayjob, for real. We're back now and anxiously awaiting a copy of Or, the Whale's brand new CD Light Poles and Pines to arrive in our mailbox. The few songs we've previewed on their site offer up banjo, steel guitar, and a chorus of male and female vocals that make us nostalgic, melancholy and hopeful all at once (we consider this is a good thing). The band's celebrating the release of their CD this weekend with a free show at Amoeba on Saturday afternoon followed by a performance at Cafe Du Nord on Sunday. We're giving away a copy of Light Poles and Pines to one lucky winner! (Contest ends 5/23; winner will be notified via email.)

The Mission Creek Music Festival is still going strong and shows continue through Sunday. Although MCMF's press folks hadn't ever heard of SFist ("Is this a radio station? We're only giving tickets to radio stations.") we're big fans of this festival that's presenting tons of great music over ten days, much of which is from our best local artists. We salute founder Jeff Ray for keeping it going into its eleventh year.

On to this week's show recommendations: Tonight we're really excited to see Birds & Batteries at the Hotel Utah. Their album Selections from Nature vs. Nature has been on heavy rotation for us, and we can't wait to hear the new record they've been working on. They play tonight with Sky Pilots, Low Red Land and Conrad Ford. Over at 330 Ritch, Popscene presents Midnight Movies followed by Popscene prom at midnight. Mission Creek presents a show with the velvety vocals of Petracovich at Make-Out Room. Petracovich's Jessica Peters reminds us a bit of The Cardigans' Nina Persson's gentler, folkier moments.

Download Petracovich's "Telephone" and "Summer Trees"

On Friday, Death Cab's Ben Gibbard, Pedro the Lion's David Bazan and Johnathan Rice strip songs down to their bare essentials at the Fillmore. On Saturday at 2pm head to Amoeba to see a free show by San Francisco's Or, the Whale. That night, we recommend either of these two great Mission Creek shows: Lavender Diamond and The Watson Twins with Winter Flowers at the Independent, or over at the Hemlock catch King Kong and Port O'Brien. We'll be at Great American to see our friends in The Knitters.

Watch The Knitters perform "Burnin' House of Love" on Letterman.

There was a time in our lives when we were convinced the Smashing Pumpkins were going to save rock n' roll. There was also a time in our lives when we were convinced Billy somehow plugged into our subconscious and in "Gish" captured the sound we dreamed of in the middle of the night. That was a long time ago.

So we're not sure what to think of the announcement today that the Pumpkins 2.0 are going to play eight shows at the Fillmore from July 22 to August 1. On the one hand, the sound of Billy stepping on the fuzz box and creating a huge pillow of sound still makes our hair stand up. On the other hand, the sound of a bald goth Billy twiddling with drum machines makes us want to listen to something, anything else. We are also not quite convinced that the word "reunion" fits a band in which two original members will not be there and probably two unknowns will be taking their place. Yes, Billy played all the guitar and bass on "Siamese Dreams" but Iha was the sh--.

Anyways, tickets for the eight shows go on sale Sunday for only $25. According to Live 105, the show will be all Grateful Dead like (in a good way) and will have different set lists each night, consisting of whatever the hell the band feels like playing. And if you want to hear a snippet of what the new Pumpkins sounds is like, go here. Meh.

Japanese arts are known for their minimalism and depth. One could spend years trying to unravel the deeper meaning of haiku. Since we don’t personally speak Japanese, we’ve had to read haiku in translation. Which has prepared us well for the task at hand today—deciphering the deep inner meaning of David Best’s mini-view (yah, cute term, we’re quite proud of it). Best is the guitarist for Fujiya & Miyagi, which, we’re pretty sure is meaningless in Japanese (our confidence is boosted by Babel Fish’s agreement with us, but feel free to set the record straight if we're missing something). But, since the name sounds Japanese, we like to think these guys are going for a Japanese aesthetic.

So, witty and erudite readers, this one is up to you. We’re pretty sure that you could win commenter of the week by interpreting the cryptic responses below. What is Best not saying? Is this just beautiful prose, or is meaning hidden between the lines. For you advance interpreters, you can give yourself a leg up by checking out F&M during their two nights of support (tonight and Wed.)for Peter, Bjorn, and John at Bimbo’s. And never fear, their music is much easier to love.

Best show you've played and what made it great?
Berlin last week was good. We played well

The best fans are:
In Ireland

Favorite Venue?
They all look the same

Lamest crowd request?
F*** off

Where can we see you next?
Supporting Peter, Bjorn and John at Bimbos 365 club

What do you attribute your longevity as a band to?
Having nothing better to do.

Any advice to aspiring musicians out there?
Nope

What's your favorite song to perform?
Cassettesingle

It's an SOS from The Tubes: Michael Cotten, one of the the founders of the awesomely odd local band, is cutting together a documentary. But he needs footage and pictures -- so that's where you come in. Were you around in the late 70s and 80s? Do you have any Tube-related media? Michael's looking for photos and super-8 of his band's performances. You can get in touch with them via the documentary's website; then sigh dreamily and relive the glory days by watching their appearance in the "Dancin'" number in Xanadu.

After the jump: video of The Tubes' appearance at Bimbo's, here in SF in 1976; and another surprising interpretation of "Dancin'."

Bay Area pianist Jon Nakamatsu was the last American to win the Van Cliburn prize, the Nobel prize for classical concert pianists. We would have said the Presidential Medal of Freedom for pianists, but Van Cliburn himself actually received that award in 2003 from fellow Texan George W. Bush, even though, unlike other Bush nominees, Van Cliburn did deserve it. Jon won the Van Cliburn gold medal in 1997 and that was the kick-off of a career as a world class soloist and recording artist which took him on every big stage, and with every orchestra, an especially impressive feat since he was until then a German language teacher in a Mountain View high school! Go Lancers!

Still, he keeps coming back to his roots here in the Bay, and will perform this Friday, May 11 at 8pm at the Florence Gould theater and the day after, Saturday, May 12 at 8pm at the Dinkelspiel Auditorium at Stanford. Both concerts are with the Stanford Woodwind Quintet in a program of piano sextets by Ludwig Thuille and Francis Poulenc. So we caught up via email with Jon, who was so gracious to answer our questions -- after the jump.

A bunch of stuff formerly belonging to a longtime road manager of the Grateful Dead's, Lawrence "Ram Rod" Shurtliff, will be up for auction starting today. Rudson Shurtliff is selling his father's guitars, gold records, and more at auction house Bonhams Butterfields -- the auction will be held online starting at 10 a.m.

Doesn't look too cheap, but estimates for some items are in the $300-$500 range -- others are estimated to sell at nearly 100 times that.Yeah.

But, in any case, fans may be interested to see history laid out in years worth of accumulated memorabilia, even if only on a Web site. It's a pretty cool little history lesson.

See a full floor plans of both stories at Sotheby's Realtor Mark Allen Levinson's site

Playing the role of Shawn Fanning, minus the curls, the real estate retraction appears to be stealing theoretical dollars from the pockets of a member of Metallica. According to The Wall Street Journal guitarist Kirk Hammett has cut the asking price of his Pacific Heights mansion to a mere $10.5 million from the $12.5 million he'd been seeking since 2005.

The real tragedy? No little Wall Street Journal-style drawing of Hammett's head (a.k.a. a "hedcut") is anywhere to be found! Dammit! We love those things . . .

Everybody cheer! The locals in Thee More Shallows are releasing a new record this week! They're playing a free set at Amoeba Records tonight at 7pm and the big record release party is on Friday at Cafe Du Nord. Listen to their adventurous song structures, buzzy and fuzzy keyboard sounds and strangely mesmerizing lyrics ("at the night school, night school" has been running through our head all day). Enter to win a copy of their brand new album Book of Bad Breaks out now on Anticon Records. (Winner will be notified via email.)

We had a grand old time at the Warfield last night seeing our friends in Cursive. They played second in the lineup of four testosterone-filled bands and were done with their set by around 8:45pm, which was pretty surreal. Against Me! impressed us with their energy and synchronicity and we were completely traumatized by the sheer volume of Mastodon. Their sound shook the hairs on our head and made our chest hurt. For real. We retreated to the quiet calm of Cursive's tour bus parked on Turk and Taylor and laughed when the guys claimed it was the most dangerous street corner they'd ever seen ("I literally saw someone smoking crack"). Welcome to San Francisco!

On to this week's show recommendations: Tonight the Old 97's bring their jangly, clever rock to the Fillmore. Elvis Costello & The Imposters are at the Warfield. Popscene presents a DJ set by Jimmy Tamborello (The Postal Service, Dntel) in celebration of his new record out now on Sub Pop, along with a set by the UK's The Apartment, all at 330 Ritch. Cloud Cult, Music For Animals and Amateurs are at Bottom of the Hill, and Great American has Minus The Bear, The Honorary Title and Chin Up Chin Up. Watch the video for The Honorary Title's "Frame by Frame":

Let’s spend a few graphs on Hans Graf. He is music director at the Houston Symphony, and guest conducting the SF Symphony this week, Thursday till Saturday. Now whatever you may say about Texas, consider that he earlier had the same job at the Iraq National Symphony Orchestra, and all of a sudden, Houston sounds much more, well, inviting (truth be told, it was in pre-Saddam Baghdad in 1975-76, when it was actually a nicer place to be). The guy has extensive experience with top tier orchestras, like LA or Boston, and will conduct ours for the first time.

Friday will be a farewell: it is the last "Friday 6.5 show" of the season, a last dance of sorts, if only to make sense of our title. The performance is at 6:30pm, so people can go straight from work in their Friday casual attire. Gosh, do they wear shorts? We don’t know, we try to go earlier in the run so as to share our opinion as quickly as possible. We are very partial to the Thursday matinees, the little old ladies are so sweet. Anyhow, the show being about 2 hours long typically, you get out just in time for dinner at Zuni, Hayes Street Grill or Citizen Cake, and the night is still young and full of fun ahead. Being artsy and classy early in the evening gives you a good excuse to do the dumb things you’d do on a Friday night anyway. It all evens out.

This week’s series features an eclectic mix of old and new, challenging and pleasing. A Beethoven symphony (not the ta-ta-ta-tum one, not the keeping score one and not the ode to joy one, another one), and his Romance for violin.

Picture of Hans Graf courtesy of Houston Symphony