The exalted Elvis Costello once opined “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” With all due respect, anyone who’d fail to recognize that his given name of Declan McManus is light years cooler than any other moniker he could muster clearly doesn’t have all the answers. Moreover, Mr. CostelloMcManus has probably never had the pleasure of hearing Kevin “KJ” Sawka play drums.

I first became familiar with KJ Sawka in 2001 when he was playing in a superb trio called Siamese. It’s easy to oversell a performer and render the experience of seeing them for yourself anti-climactic. Nevertheless, I immediately came to realize that what my friends were telling me was absolutely true -- the things that Sawka can do with (and to) a drum set are nothing short of amazing. I can still recall thinking of a memorable line from the propaganda-fest known as Rocky IV: “He’s not a machine -- he’s a man!!”

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If you've read Erik's review of Amon Tobin's new album Foley Room, you've already been convinced that tonight you should head to Neumo's for the night of DJ-i-licious beat fun.

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