Roboto has ADD

• Trouble with hyperactivity? Have we got a show for you ...

ADD Fest #12 at Roboto in Wilkinsburg gives you 10 (or so) bands playing 10 minutes and then submitting the stage to the next one. No fussing, no downtime at all.

This year's lineup is Forest Dweller, Cottonballman, Broken Neck, Secret Tombs, Ragweed Season, Dire Wolves, Tay-Sach, Virgin Birth, Heartless and Coal Miner. Never heard of them? Some are just starting out, others are combos of different bands like Tusk Lord, Allies and Science Is Dead. The common denominator will be a crazy DIY/punk/indie/hardcore aesthetic.

Coal Miner will bang out "heavy math influenced punk stuff." Secret Tombs promises "2112-styled operettas in less than 15 minutes," which means they'll have to play a little faster.

Ten years ago, almost to the day, Roboto was christened with the second ADD Fest, so this is an anniversary at 722 Wood St. However, the buzz is that a move might be in the works, so this could be the last one there.

It begins at 7 p.m. Friday.

Circle of songs

• On the gentler side, the Pittsburgh Songwriters Circle will celebrate its fifth annual CD with a release party Saturday at 7 p.m. at Moondog's in Blawnox.

The Circle, an independent program of Calliope: the Pittsburgh Folk Music Society, meets the first Tuesday of each month at the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern and also releases a yearly CD. Over five years, 38 singer-songwriters have contributed. The 2010 Collection features 17 artists, including Sam Flesher, Mike Strasser, Peter Donovan, Bobbie Townsend, Bruce Hoffman, Christopher Jones, Kate Snow and David Graham.

Sue Gartland says, "My contribution to the album is a song I wrote called 'Blue Dress,' about how my grandparents were married in their car. Crazy but true!"

You can hear a sampling at www.myspace.com/pittsburghsongwriterscircle. Admission to the release show is free.

Zero rock

• If Pat Benatar fronted Pearl Jam it might sound a little like Pittsburgh band Rainstation Zero, which releases its second record with a show at the Hard Rock Cafe Friday night.

The band has undergone a major change since the last one, with Sarah Jane Edinger replacing Bethany Berkstresser on vocals, but bringing a similarly aggressive approach. Anthony "Ant" Morelli continues to shred on guitar and the rhythm section of Greg Damjanovic and Shawn Dalverny churns and quakes on the 13-track "Glisten Through the Wave."

The show is at 9:30 p.m. with Cat Gut Tonic and Crashing Metropolis. For more details, go to www.myspace.com/rainstationzero.

Merry Zoot-mas

• Swing band Dr. Zoot releases a new holiday CD, "How the Groove Stole Christmas!," with a show at the Wightman Center in Squirrel Hill on Saturday at 9 p.m. The CD opens with a jazzy instrumental of "Sleigh Ride" and goes on to mix such standards as "Let it Snow" and "Winter Wonderland" with Sal Ventura originals like the doo-wop "Christmastime Is Here" and a funny reggae workout called "Rudolph's Jamaican Vacation." It's available at www.drzoot.com.

Carolina Shining

• Back in June, the Allman-like Carolina Shine won the second annual Pittsburgh Rocks contest at post-gazette.com. The top prize, a video produced by Steve Mellon and Matt Freed, debuts today on the Web site, along with an interview with the band. Carolina Shine can also be found in full Steelers gear on the Western Concourse at Heinz Field Sunday before the game at 11:30 a.m.

More shows!

• Kepi Ghoulie, lead singer of the Groovie Ghoulies, brings his solo tour to Most Wanted Fine Art, 5015 Penn Ave., Garfield, Saturday at 8 p.m. It's Ramones-style garage/pop-punk, which will be played acoustic. Opening will be The Shuttlecocks with The Marnees (new local band with members of Undercover Saints). It's at 8 p.m. $6.

• Cave (not to be confused with Cave In or Cavo) is a Chicago psych-groove band that might pose the danger of hypnosis. Cave joins the equally cosmic Centipede Eest at The Nerve, 500 Dargan St., Bloomfield at 8 p.m. Friday. It's all ages. 412-951-0622.

• Bang! Bang! Eche!, a dance-punk band (think The Rapture) all the way from New Zealand, rocks the house at the Thunderbird Cafe in Lawrenceville tonight.

• Frenetic post-rockers Motion Turns It On will make your head spin Saturday at the Smiling Moose on the South Side. The Houston band's debut, "Kaleidoscopic Equinox," is described as "a kick-you-in-the-throat, French-kiss-your-mom, take-your-Xbox-and-pawn-it affair." If music can make you do that, it's best to avoid it. Just a warning. The show is at 8 p.m.

-- Scott Mervis, smervis@post-gazette.com

Critics Andrew Druckenbrod and Scott Mervis talk about music on "The Beat," available exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.