Regina Spektor – Nov. 5, 8 p.m. – Canes (21+), $12.50

Matching the solo female prowess of oddball performers Fiona Apple and Cat Power, Regina Spektor adds a little Russian-American warble and jig to the girl-with-her-piano/guitar formula, with a squeaky accent piercing the flow for eerie exoticism not unlike Bjork’s.

The simple angst and minimal keys of Spektor’s first two albums, with hard-edged, Russian-bitch cover art, gave way to disappointingly glossy overproduction on Spektor’s latest, Begin to Hope. The bare stage at Canes and a couple shots of in-her-blood vodka will hopefully peel the most recent work from within its smooth shell to set free a rough-edged songbird. (SW)

From the Vaults: Recent Acquisitions – MCASD La Jolla, $6

Resign yourself to an early morning bus ride through South African apartheid, acquaint yourself with Larry Summer’s documentation of adult films in the San Fernando Valley and explore the surreal yet eloquent black-and-white portraits of Roger Ballen and Melanie Smith’s aerial abstractions of Mexico City. “From the Vaults: Recent Acquisition,” the newest photographic and paper acquisitionos at the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, covers a range of contemporary and emerging artists who explore issues and politics through the visible skin. (JG)