MON 11/16: Food, Spanish, Rock

Yes, most of my music picks are around Central Square...

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MON 11/16

7pm to 8pm
Barbara Lynch, "Stir": Signing & Tasting
at Barnes and Noble, 5th Floor, 660 Beacon St, Boston (Kenmore Sq)
FREE

Another delicious Barbara Lynch food product is in bookstores. Not long ago, she opened a cookbook library / demo kitchen called "Stir" near two of her restaurants, The Butcher Shop and B&G Oysters. The cookbook of the same name includes recipes of some of her most-loved dishes geared to home cook.

Some sound easy, others require more effort. I bet it would be inspirational to hear her talk about it, and you might get to taste something.

MON 11/16

8pm
Berklee Canta en Español Showcase
at Cafe 939, 939 Boylston St, Boston (Back Bay)
FREE

As part of Berklee's month-long Latin Culture Celebration, tonight's free performance features one of the winners and other competitors of Berklee Canta en Español, their Spanish-language songwriting contest.

The majority of the stuff is pretty mellow, well-constructed music like co-winner Joel Waldman and fellow Colombian Juliana Ronderos. It gains a bit more toughness with rock band Tornasol and Pablo Latapi, but the musicianship is all top-notch.

MON 11/16

10pm
Pants Yell!, Reversing Falls
at ZuZu!, 474 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$3 / 21+.

Wow, this is a whole lot of jangly indie-pop that buzzes around the room with a relaxed yet incessant gusto. One of the aspects that I also admire about Pants Yell is the short 'n sweet songs. The new album has 9 songs in 26 minutes. Reversing Falls, musical kindred spirits from Montreal, join the relase party which will be over at the T-friendly time of midnight.

MON 11/16

10pm
Viva Viva, Doomstar!
at Middlesex Lounge, 315 Mass Ave, Cambridge (near Central Sq)
$5 / 21+

When I first heard Viva Viva, they seemed to chug along like a more straightforward rock locomotive. It seems like they've taken a turn towards a lo-fi, rootsy indie-rock vibe. The intensity is still there, and the stage presence is as strong as you'd expect from guys who've led a bunch of excellent bands (The Lot Six, Officer May, The Beat Awfuls, etc).

Doomstar! is out there in a punchy, up-tempo way that scrambles my brain a bit on continued listening. There is a lot of interesting melodic ideas and herky-jerky rhythms.

I also like seeing shows in rooms where they don't usually host a lot of rock shows like Middlesex Lounge (although Viva Viva has done quite a few there).

MON 11/16

007 Hundred Club (Midnight), Blood Vessels (11pm), The Varmints (10pm)
at Charlie's Kitchen, 10 Eliot St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
$5 / 21+

This is a pretty damn cool punk rock night, especially since there's a good variety of approaches beyond what I think of as the Boston street-punk style. I don't think that applies to any of the bands tonight. Good, honest, hardcore stuff. Get there early for the Varmints led by Billy Borgioli (The Real Kids, Classic Ruins).