Happy Hump Day. It's that time again. That middle of the week time, when you need something, anything, to get you through the day. You know you deserve a study break. Dinner and showering don't count. Here are some real options:

There's another great-sounding concert in the CC main lounge tonight at 8 as part of the awesome concert series. Calvin Johnson, Little Wings, and the Blow (all on Johnson's K Records) are performing.
      + You may not know it, but Calvin Johnson is fucking huge. He has been in a couple of bands over the past twenty years (including Beat Happening, The Halo Benders and Dub Narcotic Sound System), created the highly kickass K Records, founded the International Pop Underground Festival (featuring Fugazi, Bikini Kill, and others), and worked with Beck, Built To Spill, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and countless others. This dude's sure got that sought-after "indie cred." With all those accomplishments, he had not released any solo material until this past summer, with What Was Me. Now it's back to basics: a guy and his guitar (and sometimes not even a guitar). One review of his new album makes reference to The Smiths in describing one song, and an "avant-Guthrie" in describing another. Another reviewer writes that in this new solo album, Johnson is "in torch singer-/campfire balladeer-mode, leaving the funky struts and giddiness of his other groups aside in favor of more stately, refined singing in the tradition of the jazz and pop vocalists of yesteryear." As for content, the same reviewer writes: "There's always powerful, real emotions in the songs, along with nice melodies and lyrical non-sequitors."
      + Little Wings, an alt-country band in the vein of Will Oldham, has released two vaguely conceptually-linked trilogies since their formation in 1998, the much-lauded Wonder Trilogy plus their new one, Light Green Leaves. An article in The Olympian says that the most recent Wonder Trilogy album, Woderue, "brings to mind the hazy, country-styled leanings of acts such as Mercury Rev and Grandaddy filtered through the intimacy of Will Oldham." The rather harsh Pitchfork reviewer writes of Little Green Leaves: "Unfortunately, the record gives more indications of stagnation than of progress, asking the listener to marvel at how many disingenuous folk songs one man can author."
      + The Blow, a.k.a. Khaela Maricich, formerly known as "Get the Hell Out of the Way of the Volcano," has toured with the lovely Mirah and is the new not-so-angry girl in town, perhaps a tamer and more juvenile Liz Phair. (Pitchfork describes her as "Phair's little sister doing anatomically correct crayon drawings for you to hang on the fridge.") The press release makes a stab at describing The Blow's first album, Bonus Album: "These songs have a playground feel; some are made-up for entertaining oneself while leaning against the chain link at the far edge of the field, others are singing games where the notes get woven between a pair of singers or a roomful." Whatever that means.

Ghanaian poet, scholar and educator Kofi Anyidoho is giving a reading at Swat tonight at 7, in the Scheuer Room in Kohlberg. Anyidoho has been credited with "returning written African poetry to its dramatic oral roots." Some of his poetry can be found online here.

Did you miss Rennie Harris PureMovement when they took BMC by storm last week? Fear not, they're at Swat tonight, performing with Zakir Hussain and Spoken Hand, in a dance and percussion concert entitled "Flammable Contents." The show (which seems like it's going to rock pretty hard, in my humble opinion) is in the Pearson Hall Theatre in the Lang Performing Arts Center at 8pm.

If the cool bands here aren't enough for you, there are also some indie rockouts at Temple tonight, though these ones you have to pay $8 to see. Common Rider, The Pattern ("flailing spazzy rock and roll"), Hot Hot Heat ("danceable pop oddities combining ¡®60s mod rock, ¡®70s prog and ¡®80s new wave/punk"), Planes Mistaken For Stars ("loud and abrasive but extremely melodic screaming and singy type hardcore"), and Armor For Sleep perform at 7pm at the Owl Cove (on Temple's campus, in Mitten Hall, on 1913 N. Broad Street). Check out some sound clips from all of the bands here.

Of course, if you really want to break it down, it's 18 & up night at Woody's (13th between Walnut & Locust). It goes from 9pm to 2am, $5 if you're underage, FREE if you ain't.

Now go out tonight and give yourself a break. You deserve one. Wink.