What now? I will not be updating the BMCB (that's this thing, kid) over October break (from 10/11 - 10/20 as far as I'm concerned). If you are going to be around over October break, please remember that you can still post here. If you haven't joined yet, what are you waiting for? Start posting today.

When I return, look for helpful new sections and features on the BMCB such as: concert calendar, search tools, MawrterWeb, guestbook/tagboard, TriCo/Philly link list, venue listings, and automated update alerts. Please note that none of these ideas are promised by any date, they're only plans. If you have any ideas, you will let me know, won't you?

Enjoy your break!

If you're in the mood for some live music tonight's a good night. Oh, go ahead... you deserve it. Screw that midterm tomorrow and check out:


Hot Water Music. Hot Water Music (HWM), classified as punk by normal people and "post-hardcore" by pretentious music snobs, are reputed to give quite an awesome live show. Interpunk.com describes their latest release as "heartfelt punk, guttural rock, and explorative neo-hardcore." I've never seen them, so I can't stamp them with my personal approval, but I hear what I hear. 8pm at the sucky no-smoking Troc (1003 Arch at 10th). Tickets are $12, and you can buy them here if you don't mind paying $4.50 extra in Ticketmaster fees.

Tarbox Ramblers. This country blues quartet from Boston has intrumentation that includes guitar, violin, bass fiddle, and a variety of percussion. According to Citysearch, they mix "Delta blues, rockabilly, white gospel, country and bluegrass...with hints of early jazz and jug band sounds." The hoedown commences at 8:30pm at the Tin Angel (20 S. 2nd off Market). Tickets are $8, snag 'em here. 21+, sorry.

Departure Lounge, The Sunshine Fix, and The Glands. My not-so-qualified self would classify all these bands as playing some form of jangle indie pop. Departure Lounge, a quartet from the UK, has been compared to and influenced by a wide range of bands/artists including Primal Scream, Biff Bang Pow, Leonard Cohen, Morrissey, Gomez, and the Beta Band. (Hear them here.) The Sunshine Fix, signed to my darling Kindercore, is the latest project from Bill Doss, one of the founding members of the legendary Elephant Six pioneers The Olivia Tremor Control. They have been described as blending elements of psychedlic pop, acid, bubblegum, mid-period Beatles, and the Beach Boys. (Hear their song "Age of the Sun" here.) The Glands, who have toured with Modest Mouse, glide back and forth easily from pure, classic pop to moody, brooding soundscapes to straight ahead rock. Some Joe described them as a wackier Guided by Voices. The Austin Chronicle's review, which also compares them to Sparklehorse, says that The Glands "have stolen from the same sources available to everyone else, yet reassembled them into something catchy but not cold." (Hear them here.) Show starts at 10pm at the North Star Bar (2639 Poplar off 27th). (I have this funny feeling that Sunshine Fix & Departure Lounge are opening and therefore play earlier. Check this.) Get tickets here. 21+, don't kill the messenger.

Okay, that's enough for now. Go hear some good new music.

As if you didn't already know...

BITCH & ANIMAL!
tonight at 8
CCML

Be there. I'd get there early if I were thou, because they've got quite a devoted fan base. And bring your ID, because otherwise it's $10. There will also be "booty olympics," but I'm a little frightened to find out just what that entails.

Mondays don't have to suck, even when you realize at 5:30am that you will be getting only two hours of sleep anyway so you might as well update the blog now.


I'm going to make a major plug for Dorothy Allison (click here for a bio / click here for an interview), who is doing a reading at Giovanni's Room (345 S. 12th St) at 5:30pm. While she's best known for books such as Bastard Out of Carolina, Two or Three Things I Know For Sure, and, if you're in my Thinking Sex class, Skin, she'll be reading from her racy and supposedly "shocking" collection of short stories, Trash. (Many of these stories were incoroporated into Bastard, but they are apparently more "raw" in Trash.)


There are a few other options which are less cool, but valid options all the same.


Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a classic, for sure, is showing at Swat. The screening begins at 10pm, in the Kirby Lecture Hall in Martin.


The Kelly Writers House (3805 Locust Walk - don't worry, you'll find it on a map once you're on campus) at Penn is playing host to a Songwriting Workshop Group's inaugural meeting, which starts at 5pm. Bring your instrument if you have one. Any genre welcome. The group plans to focus on the needs of its members, so come with ideas for what you think the group should do. Email Dan Fishback for more info.


If it's another nice day, you might feel motivated enough to go cheer on our tennis team (but SHHH! - no shouting on the tennis court) when they play Cedar Crest at 3:30pm. At the tennis courts, duh.


For some reason, the fact that I'm in the mood for a low-key night leads me to believe that you are too. If this is not the case, feel free to check the archives for past "Mondays Don't Have to Suck" features, which list plenty of options to unleash boogie in you.