TUES 6/1: Film, Folk, Hip-Hop

I saw a post about the fishweir in Boston Common. If that guy hasn't seen it yet, I walked by last week. The reason why there haven't been any mentions about it may be connected to its unimpressive presence.

It's kind of cool to think the coastline of the Charles used be there, but the construct isn't very big. It's going to be set up on the Charles Street side of the Common for another week, if you want to see it for yourselves.

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TUES 6/1 (to THUR 6/3)

Double Feature:
"Fantastic Mr. Fox" (7:30pm), "A Town Called Panic" (5:45pm, 9:30pm)
at Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
$9.75

It's my firm belief that no matter how big and awesome a home entertainment system can be, it doesn't beat the experience of watching a film in a theatre. Most selections at the Brattle are worth the price of admission, and it's even better when you get a double-feature offer.

There are quite a few double-features in the upcoming weeks, but this is one of the few that are being screened over multiple nights if you don't feel like going tonight. I really wanted to see "Fantastic Mr. Fox" when it came out last year, so hopefully I'll be able to catch the beauty of Wes Anderson's stop-motion animated feature this week. Throw in the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, etc; and it has to be a fun cinematic ride.

If you can stand it, "A Town Called Panic" is a Belgian take on stop-motion animation. The budget is obviously lower than "...Fox", but the creativity is undeniably fantastic. As the other film traces its origin in a children's novel, "Panic" is based on a popular children's series in Belgium.

TUES 6/1

7:30pm
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Wheel, JBM, David Wax Museum
at Middle East - Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$10 / 18+

This early show is stacked with bands on the rootsy/acoustic tip that you will want to know about, if you don't already. Nathaniel Rateliff & The Wheel seem to have a lot of momentum in the the last year. Rateliff was raised deep in rural Missouri where he soaked in the genuine earthiness that adds gravity to his songs. Now based in Denver where the band seems to be a big deal, and they signed to our local record company last year around the time they impressed folks at the CMJ Music Marathon. He may remind one of Martin Sexton or Iron & Wine with a full band to take it up a notch.

JBM seems to be mainly one guy singing in a deep voice and playing quiet songs with some keyboard augmentation. I'm guessing it'll be him on acoustic guitar doing his modern Nick Drake thing, which is not a bad thing. (Interesting tidbit: Some sites mentioned he used to go out with Amanda Seyfried.) If you haven't gotten hip to the good-time Mexican/American folk brew (Can we call it "Meximericana"?) of David Wax Museum, I think they may be on the cusp of wider exposure with gigs like touring with The Old 97's later this year... Yes, that's a donkey's jawbone when the fiddler is playing percussion.

TUES 6/1

9:30pm
Da'Rayia, Agari Crew
at House of Blues - Front Room, 15 Lansdowne St, Boston (Kenmore Sq)
FREE / 21+

It's still happening, folks. A major venue is giving a (smallish) space to providing free original music almost every night. This may be my favorite thing about the new House of Blues, and let's hope it lasts for a long time.

Of course, that depends on enough people going to Kenmore Square to support the performers. Another month of free music begins with a couple hip-hop acts.

Da'Rayia's tracks sound more sonically appealing to me, and I like the seemingly natural and brash flow. It is a bit peculiar to watch Agari Crew's Boston-Tokyo axis in action. I get the feeling that, like Da'Rayia, there's a Berklee connection. I'm not sure if I'd be into listening to a whole CD by the group, but I like the positive message -- and they might win me over in person...