FRI 3/5: Music & Film

I was a boy scout for about a year based on a technicality, but I want to raise my fingers and pledge that I won't screw up this weekend's posts like last week...

Yes, I mentioned the Harvard Divinity Buddhist presentation yesterday. I still wanted to let you know there's a Haitian "vodou" service tonight for those who passed on last month. The requested donation is $15 which benefits Partners in Health's Haiti relief, but I think you'll find it eye-opening yet still mysterious.

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FRI 3/5

7pm
Pretty & Nice, Title Tracks, Gary B & the Notions
at Middle East - Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$10 / 18+

It's rare to get this much outstanding powerpop at this hour of the night. I really believe it's going to start close to 7pm. I've been a fan of Pretty & Nice from the first time I heard that juiced-up powerpop, and they've expanded the sound while still keeping it awesome. Title Tracks pretty damn close to what I hear in my head when thinking about powerpop in the abstract -- the vocals just right, the guitars just right, the songs appropriately melodic but with some grit. There's a bit more grit in tunes of Gary B & the Notions, but I like it.

FRI 3/5

7:30pm
"The Age of Stupid": Screening
at First Parish Church, 3 Church St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
$5 suggested donation

Watch a different approach to the environmental documentary. The film is framed by actor Pete Postlethwaite portraying a lone surviving archivist in 2055 looking back at the inaction of "the past". The filmmakers spent 3 years filming different personal stories from around the world, which is buffered by other clips and interviews.

I imagine there will be a discussion as well, since the First Parish Climate Justice Task Force has organized the screening.

FRI 3/5

8pm
Barrence Whitfield & the Monkey Hips, Jenny Dee & the Dee-linquents, Jordan Valentine & the Sunday Sinners, Gene Dante & the Future Starlets, The Blizzard of 78, Jed Parish
at TT the Bear's Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$10

Schedule:

12:10am -- Barrence Whitfield & the Monkey Hips
11:05pm -- Jenny Dee & the Deelinquents
10:30pm -- Jordan Valentine & the Sunday Saints
10pm -- Gene Dante & the Future Starlets
9:30pm -- The Blizzard of 78
9pm -- Jed Parish
8pm -- Eli Reed & Soul-Le-Lujah DJ's spin soul

When I was in high school, I remember watching concert films called the TAMI & TNT shows. They put on shows back in the '60s where The Rolling Stones and Beach Boys would play on the same bill as The Supremes and James Brown -- or The Lovin' Spoonful and The Byrds with The Ronettes and Ike & Tina Turner.

It's Soul and Rock explosion with too many damn good bands in one night. The night is capped by the amazing soul/R&B/ rock shouter Barrence Whitfield and one of his savage backing bands of local music ninjas The Monkey Hips. Jenny Dee & the Deelinquents are celebrating their CD release of 10 original, your-new-favorites of soul revival and a reimagining of "Shake Some Action" that songwriter Cyril Jordan called "fantastic" and gave him insight on his own song. It's a double-shot of big group soul thanks to the Memphis/NOLA vibe of Jordan Valentine & the Sunday Saints.

That could've been enough for mind-blowing show, but they had to include glamtastic Gene Dante and top-rocking Blizzard of '78. I don't know what Jed Parish (ex-Gravel Pit) will play, but it will be great. Get there early and get in the mood with DJ's Eli "Paperboy" Reed & Soul-Le-Lujah.

FRI 3/5

9:30pm
The Big Big Bucks, Babydriver, The Diamond Mines, Four Eyes
at O'Brien's, 3 Harvard St, Allston
$7 / 21+

I'd love to give this gig two big thumbs up; because I really dig The Diamond Mines, and The Big Big Bucks rock out too. Unfortunately I couldn't listen to Babydriver or Four Eyes due to technical issues. I'm pissed off at the internet and am taking it out on these guys. But I'm guessing their good... I wanted to offer some good cheap rock on the other side of the river.

THUR 3/4: Talks, Film, Metal, Dance

I forgot to mention that I discovered how to get into the downstairs performance space at the Garage in Harvard Sq, because I went to the open rehearsal of "Othello" on Saturday.

After walking through the lower level and around the outside then back through the interior, I saw the door with a sign. It's on the JFK St side between the Garage entrance and 7-11. Watching the process did pique my interest to see the production at Villa Victoria. Nice work, Actors' Shakespeare Project!

I did notice that there are some lousy seats in this space, so be careful about sitting in the back corner.

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THUR 3/4

5pm
Jane Kamensky & Jill Lepore, "Blindspot": Conversation w/ Christopher Lydon
at Upstairs on the Square, 91 Winthrop St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
FREE

Two history professors have collaborated on a novel that takes place in Boston right before the Revolution. Since the authors are history/lit professors (Harvard & Brandeis), they blend the fiction into actual events. It should be interesting to hear them give greater context to the witty tale.

5pm to 6pm -- Wine Hour
6pm to 6:45pm -- Reading & Conversation

It appears that PEN New England has moved their reading series from Hotel Marlowe where they did have a complimentary wine hour. Will there be free wine tonight? Maybe, maybe not...

As someone who simply enjoys new sights and experiences, it's still a chance to hear about the book and hang out at this vibrantly decorated restaurant without paying for dinner or going during Restaurant Week.

THUR 3/4

5:15pm to 7pm
"Q and A With the Buddha"
at Common Room, World Religions Center, 42 Francis Ave, Cambridge (Harvard campus)
FREE

I'm pretty sure that Siddhartha Gautama of the 6th-century BC* won't be attending. From my understanding, enlightenment is also known as Buddhahood.

Tonight's speaker looks more like your average, affable American executive rather than a pot-belly statue. Thanissaro Bhikkhu grew up in the US as Geoffrey DeGraff and converted to Buddhism in high school over 40 years ago. After college, he studied in Thailand and became a monk. He is now the abbot of Metta Forest Monastery near San Diego.

Interested in Buddhism? Go ask a question.

* I'm reminded of one of earliest chat-room fights was with a guy who said the Buddha copied Jesus...

THUR 3/4

7pm
"Collecting Interviews of Witnesses, Collaborators, and Perpetrators of the Holocaust"
at Rabb Lecture Hall, Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston St, Boston (Copley Sq)
FREE

As inconceivable as it may seem, there are people that think the Holocaust didn't happen. This isn't the only genocide that ever occurred, but most are accepted to be factual history. (I'm talking to you, Turkey.)

Scott Miller of the US Holocaust Museum will discuss the program of collecting interviews of non-Jews to further corroborate the records. It also sheds a light on the behavior of bystanders and those who were involved.

THUR 3/4

7pm
"Terribly Happy": Sneak Preview
at Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville
FREE w/ Flyer [PDF]

Okay, I f---ed up yesterday. There was a free screening of "The Art of the Steal" last night, and the info was sitting in my email inbox. Hey, it's another night and another cool new movie to see.

This dark, wry mystery about a big city cop who gets reassigned to a very strange town pretty much swept the Danish Oscars. It's opening in local theatres tomorrow, but you could watch it before other Bostonian foreign film fans.

Print the PDF flyer and arrive early. "Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis and is not guaranteed."

THUR 3/4

8pm
Born of Fire! w/ Blacktail (11pm), Whitey (10pm)
at O'Brien's, 3 Harvard St, Allston
$5 / 21+

Since last month, metal fans have a place congregate on every first and third Thursday night. The doors open at 8pm for DJ'ed metal & hardcore with horror flicks and other crazy stuff on the TV's. Two bands are scheduled to play each time, so it's all-killer and no-filler.

I was amused by the yin-yang of this week's band names: Blacktail and Whitey. Blacktail generally has that loud, fast, chugging thing going on that will get the blood and fists pumping. For further balance, Whitey leans towards heavy, sludgy, bluesy noise. This could definitely be the soundtrack for a nightmare, and I mean that in a good way.

THUR 3/4

9pm
Throwed!
at Middle East - Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$10 / 18+

Feat: DJ E-Marce, The Chinese Stars, Small Talk, Gregory James

When you're young or feel young, sometimes you want to go out on a Thursday dance. It could happen any week at the Middle East's "indie/electro dance party". Besides the DJs, three bands are playing as well with the intention of keeping the party going.

I've listened to The Chinese Stars, and I can see people dancing to their cocky disco-punk. Small Talk has the look that I think some girls scream about. Singer-songwriter Gregory James is also on the bill.

WED 3/3: Med School, Horror, Classical, World

Although he wasn't born (or died) in Boston, today is Alexander Graham Bell's birthday. While I was walking to the MIT campus, I saw this plaque and was reminded that the first telephone call was made from Boston to Cambridge. Pretty cool...

It's also Robyn Hitchcock's birthday, and he's friggin' awesome!

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WED 3/3

6pm to 7:30pm
"Not So Elementary: The Doctor as Detective": Lecture
at Martin Conference Center, New Research Bldg, 77 Ave Louis Pasteur, Boston (Longwood Medical Area)
FREE

Harvard Medical School is beginning another round of lectures for the layperson. They describe it as the same faculty and lecture halls without the tuition, exams or any need of science knowledge.

If you enjoy TV doctor shows, tonight's program includes the discussion of real-life medical mysteries. Doctors will speak about the diagnosis process and how the patient can assist. You'll hear a comprehensive review of the topic, but there is reading materials on the website. There is a chance to ask questions, so be prepared.

Online registration for the 2010 Longwood Seminars is no longer available. If you would like to register for any of this year's seminars, please call (617) 432-3038.

They may not turn you away if you didn't register, but it wouldn't kill you to follow the rules... You can earn a "mini–med school" certificate of completion if you go to 3 classes, and public school teachers can earn "10 PDPs" by attending all four...

Three more lectures/discussions follow in the 7 weeks that cover: "Body Building: When Engineering Meets Medicine", "To Screen or Not to Screen: Telling Fact from Fiction in Health News", "A Visible Spectrum: Understanding Autism".

WED 3/3

7pm to 9pm
All Things Horror Presents:
"Pig Hunt" w/ "How My Dad Killed Dracula", "Attackazoids Deploy", "Gun Barista"
at Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville
$5 / 17+

The beginning of the month should now be a time where you think about horror movies. Not only is All Things Horror a good site to find out about horror, but they also curate a night of yet-to-be-released horror films in the Somerville Theatre screening room.

This is the third installment and -- based on the trailer -- "Pig Hunt" may be the best feature-length so far (trailer on YouTube). It’s a solid production with all the right elements: a mix of action & violence, humor, weirdness, and a few scantily-clad women. Add in a little bit of "Deliverance" and a little bit of "Jaws" except it's a killer pig! Les Claypool makes a cameo as well as providing the score, and I also noticed blues harp great Charlie Musselwhite in the cast.

This showcase can only get more popular, so check it out before everyone reads about it in the Phoenix or Weekly Dig. Buy a beer at the concession stand, and you're spending about the same as a movie ticket elsewhere...

As usual it looks like the shorts are heavier on laughs than shrieks, but I could be wrong...

WED 3/3

7:30pm
Muir String Quartet, "The Beethoven Cycle, Part 5"
at Tsai Performance Center, 685 Comm Ave, Boston (BU campus)
FREE

One of the most respected string quartets has participated in an annual residence at BU for more than 25 years, so you get longtime pros playing masterful material for free. There will be one more recital in the Beethoven cycle.

The program will likely be:

Quartet in A Major, Op. 18, No. 5
Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 130

WED 3/3

9:30pm
Full Tang, The Rex Complex, Baby States
at Lizard Lounge/Cambridge Common, 1667 Mass Ave, Cambridge (between Harvard Sq & Porter Sq)
$8 / 21+

Among the bands I hear facets of roots, rock, world-beat, and jazz muddled together in different colors and flavors. Not exactly for everyone, but you'll hear some good atypical sounds.

What initially seemed pretty straightforward rootsy band with Irish influence when I first heard them, The Rex Complex have exploded the boundaries of their sound in the years since to include African sounds, skewed rock with shards of Tom Waits and Beck, and wild live performances.

It appears that among the many bands that each musician plays in, the Baby States have also played together in the larger chamber-folk ensemble Cuddle Magic. This group is geared towards approaching American folk from their own peculiar angle. I had a difficult time hearing any horns, and I usually think of Alec Spiegelman as a saxophonist.

When the Boston Afrobeat Society moved to New York, they changed their name to The Superpowers which seems to be inactive at this point. Some of the guys are together in a less funkier, jazzy world-rock thang as Full Tang.

TUES 3/2: Talks, Comedy, Rock, Blues

I don't have much to say today. I do think some positive changes may be coming this week (i.e. getting caught up and organized). Fingers crossed...

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TUES 3/2

6pm
John Heilemann & Mark Halperin, "Game Change": Conversation
at JFK Forum, Belfer Center, 79 JFK St, Cambridge (Kennedy School of Govt)
FREE

I can't get excited about this book (full name: "Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime"), because it is mainly noteworthy for passing on juicy tidbits about both sides of the 2008 presidential campaign. From a couple articles I read, they may have also stretched the bounds of sourcing.

Maybe moderator Susan Milligan (Boston Globe) or someone in the audience will call them on some of this; they seemed to avoid the issue in the interview I saw.

TUES 3/2

7pm
Noam Chomsky on Palestine
at Sleeper Auditorium, 871 Comm Ave, Boston (BU campus)
FREE

This is one event that might stir things up on the BU campus this week where Students for Justice In Palestine are holding "Israel Apartheid Week" with movie screenings and this lecture by Prof. Chomsky. Whether or not you agree with him on any issue, it's difficult to deny he's brilliant. Though he was born Jewish, it hasn't stopped him from criticizing Israel on various topics. I'm guessing it's 50-50 that someone in the audience will stand up and start screaming.

TUES 3/2

7pm
Kyle Kinane, Dan Boulger, Sean Sullivan, Tim McIntire, Rob Crean
at Middlesex Lounge, 315 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$5 / 21+

Besides other regular gigs around town, Anderson Comedy also do comedy nights at Middlesex on a semi-regular basis. Kyle Kinane is in town to promote his new comedy album "Death of the Party" (think about it for a second). The very funny Patton Oswalt has a lot of good things to say about him:

This guy Kyle Kinane that I have open up for me. He’s gotten so good now that I don’t really know if I want him opening up. He's getting hard to follow -- but in a way that’s good because it makes me work harder.

Four very funny local guys are also appearing.

[Facebook]

TUES 3/2

7:30pm
Bill Barclay, "Muse on Fire: Shakespeare & The Music of the Spheres"
at Plaza Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont St, Boston (South End)
FREE

This sounds like it will be a heavy-duty talk about the history, science and philosophy of music by Bill Barclay who is in charge of sound design for the Orfeo Group's production of "The Island Of Slaves" currently playing at the BCA (and music director of Shakespeare & Company). The lecture is on the set of the play, which is supposed to be a pretty cool sight itself.

TUES 3/2

9:30pm
Surfer Blood, Turbo Fruits, Doomstar!
at Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston
$10 / 18+

When you have two buzz bands hitting town with a local band that's been gaining momentum lately, this club should be hopping to the sounds of the musical present!

From what I can tell, some of the guys from Be Your Own Pet has gotten together with a different singer-guitarist as Turbo Fruits. The tunes are still fun, little catchy nuggets of punky-pop. Surfer Blood from Florida made a big splash last year in some bloggy circles, and why not -- they make a sunny, surfy indie-rock. Doomstar! gets a little trippy here and a little noisy there while keeping the melodies important. Brag about being this show if you get in...

TUES 3/2

10:30pm
Erin Harpe & the Delta Swingers
at Plough & Stars, 912 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
FREE / 21+

Erin Harpe plays the hell out of the acoustic-fingerstyle blues of the early 1900's, and now she has a band joining her two sets tonight, which includes the bassist from her electro-funk band Lovewhip as well as a mandolinist and drummer. Good stuff!

MON 3/1: Film & Music

Sometimes there are littel connections that I find in the listings. Two screenings at colleges... Two music gigs... Two Japan-related items...

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MON 3/1

6:30pm
"Comfort and Joy": Screening & Ice Cream
at Adams House Pool Theatre, 29 Bow St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
FREE

Without appreciation for the film, I like the idea of some free ice cream.

A feud between between two ice cream companies in Glasgow ostensibly provides the action in the film, but it's the dry humor found in the British Isles that is the treat. It's not close to slapstick, but the laughs come steadily if you're paying attention.

Gus Rancatore of Toscanini's Ice Cream will introduce the film, and maybe he'll dish on the dark side of Boston's frozen dessert biz.

Screening begins at 6:30pm; doors close at 6:45pm.

MON 3/1

7pm to 9:30pm
"Summer Wars": Screening & Discussion
at Room 100, Bldg 26, 60 Vassar St, Cambridge (MIT Campus)
FREE

The Cool Japan Project doesn't lie. One may not be interested in the events they present, but they're almost always cool exports from the Land of the Rising Sun. Tonight's audience members will be the first in New England to see director Mamoru Hosoda's latest anime. From the reviews I've read, it's considered even better than his previous "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" which was one of the few in the genre to get US theatrical attention.

Mamoru Hosoda will participate the post-film discussion. (I wouldn't be surprised if the room will be full.)

MON 3/1

9:30pm
Peelander-Z, Math The Band, Anamanaguchi, Starscream
at Middle East - Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$10 / 18+

Oh, I bet I know where the Cool Japan people are going after "Summer Wars"... The Peelander-Z tunes sound good, however the real attraction is the spectacle of the "Japanese Action Comic Punk" performance. When three guys dress in wacky outfits and go crazy while dancing, wrestling, and human bowling...

The warm-up party includes fun-loving, cheap-keyboard rock from Math the Band and couple 8-bit videogame synth bands from NYC. Not my thing, but...

MON 3/1

10pm
Gibby & the Buzzkills, Cutthroat Society, Kermits Finger, Tex Railers Doomtown
at Charlies Kitchen, 10 Eliot St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
$5 / 21+

Charlies is rocking again like most Monday nights. Cutthroat Society and Kermits Finger are a couple Boston punk trios that deliver the goods. With a name like Tex Railers Doomtown, these psychobilly guys must be fans of a certain Boston TV cowboy. Gibby & The Buzzkills make some tough, garagey powerpop with a female singer and guitars that clang more than jangle. Good stuff all the way through.