NOW's final program delves into the darkly evocative worlds of three decidedly different projects. Fjellestad's sonic abstractions are delicate compositions of noise. Kelly & David's mini-epic, three-act opera of cursed wanders warps American folk. And Iova-Koga's exquisite post-butoh performance stares deeply into the void that precedes birth.

Hans Fjellestad: SLIMSPOR

Performing on a custom array of analog synthesizers and vacuum-tube processors, Fjellestad generates a dark, lush sonic environment of improvised music that is both firmly ensconced in L.A.'s noise scene, yet veers toward 1970s Krautrock, Japanoise assaults, Sun Ra synth bursts and Heavy Metal flourishes.

"A truly daring and sonically dangerous artiste." International DJ Magazine

Shinichi Iova-Koga: Milk Traces

As founder for the collaborative company inkBoat, based in San Francisco and Berlin, Iova-Koga has forged new territory in the world of post-butoh performance. For this new solo he combines Eastern European theater traditions with the impulses of butoh and exquisite stagecraft to create an exploration of birth and its attendant periods of isolation, incubation and longing.

"Shinichi Iova-Koga is a third-generation butoh artist whose psychological insights reach right into the deepest, scariest parts of your brain." San Francisco Chronicle

Kelly Marie Martin and David Jones: Contraption Spell

Known to fans as Kelly and David, these interdisciplinary artists fuse music-theater, performance art and "baroque blues" with scenic design that is artfully artificial and wistfully hand-made. This modern American folk opera weaves soaring harmonies, frenzied movement and melancholy song into a wry tale of cursed nomads in search of the source of their possession.

"These two have learned the devilishly subtle art of listening to each other … well-wrought folk music is still standing thanks to Kelly and David." Performer Magazine