THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

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FRIDAY | 1.26.07

Concert(s). After a little while of relative quiet, with shows seemingly scattered here and there, the Roadside Graves are gearing up for a new album release in April. They've got an EP, What Happened to Him Could Happen to Anyone, coming out Tuesday, and they're playing on two fantastic bills this weekend in New Brunswick. Tonight, they're playing a show put on by 90.3 FM at the Court Tavern, along with Where's Alaska?, Know Think,  and the Carpetbaggers -- New Brunswick bands, one and all. It all starts around 9/9:30 or so. Tomorrow night, they're part of a fantastic basement show at The Parlor, aka 233 Hamilton St. -- also on the bill are some of central Jersey's most interesting bands: Fun Machine, Calamity Menagerie, and Thunder Kids. This one starts up 'round 6/6:30. So you've got your pick -- Friday's bill is a little more straightforward indie rock, possibly a little mellower too (with the exception of the Carpetbaggers); Saturday's is artier, weirder, and will most definitely involve more analog synthesizers. It just goes to show how robust the indie scene in the Hub City and surrounding areas is these days.

Film. Katherine Hepburn would turn 100 on May 12. That is, if she hadn't died in 2003. Anyway, after hosting Beck and Yo La Tengo, the Loew's Jersey Theatre is back to more traditional fare this weekend -- classic films. (Though keep an eye for the Decemberists at the Loew's -- March 21 and 22 -- tickets are on sale today at noon.) Back to Hepburn -- the Loew's has got a stellar lineup of three classic Hepburn films this weekend. Tonight at 8 pm, it's The Philadelphia Story; tomorrow is a double-double -- Woman of the Year at 4 pm, and The African Queen at 8 pm. Could be a good weekend to huddle in a dark theater watching films made decades ago, forgetting about what all those TV weathermen, with sheer terror in their voices, call THE COLDEST DAY OF THE YEAR!!!!

Concert. The part of me that yearns for Boston certainly counts Somerville as part of what I miss most, up there with Central Sq. Cambridge, Fenway Park, and this lil' thing called history. The Somerville of my time is probably pretty different now -- it was already changing for what seemed like the worse by the time I was leaving (can only hope Redbone's is still kickin'). In many ways, The Charms represent that idyllic Somerville -- full of poppy garage rock, booze, and good people.  Red Bank's excellent garage rockers The Ribeye Brothers open for them, tonight at Maxwell's.

SATURDAY | 1.27.07

Concert. The Rock Soup folks bring some 'Serious Reggae' to Jersey City tonight at the 001 Gallery, with Ken Serious & Friends.  It should be a great time, so come on out and dance. Work up a sweat, close your eyes, and will yourself to be island-bound. It works, really -- mindtricks and all that. Anyway, it all starts at 9:30 pm, so stop by.

Concert. In a different basement in New Brunswick tonight, another excellent show is going down -- the stripped-down earnest (in a good way) lefty folk-punkers Button are playing with indie-poppers Tin Kitchen and two solo acts -- Brian Bond and King Darves. That's at 331 Somerset St. at 8 pm.

SUNDAY | 1.28.07

Film. It's been said many times, especially once 9/11 woke America's majority out of it's self-absorbed stupor (at least for a few days), that part of the problem with us as a country is that we're arrogant, and our arrogance shows through in how little we know about the rest of the world. I mean, when you've got a celebrity that shall remained unnamed thinking -- and stating out loud on national TV (Jeopardy!, to be exact) -- that Africa is a country, there are some issues there. So, whether you count yourself among the worldly and well-educated, or you think you really should be more engaged and more knowledgeable about the world's other cultures, the film screening and discussion today at the Newark Museum is worth checking out. In Living Memory: Six Sketches of Mali Today, Susan Vogel, the founder of the Museum for African Art in NYC, examines Mali's ancient culture, and this culture's position in the country  today. She'll be on hand to discuss the film after the 2:30 pm screening.

WEDNESDAY | 1.31.07

Festival/Benefit. As we mentioned last week, a great -- and fun -- way to help the HudCo homeless is by going to tonight's MusicFest for the Homeless, being produced by BrightMoment Meetup. It's a feast of music and art -- there are musical performances by the Bryan Beninghove Band, Damian Catera, Ed Saultz (Liscuna), Chimene Petitt & "Let's Dance" Band, Ariel, the Christine Santelli Band, and a Middle Eastern Dancer with "Doumbekchi" on Doumbek and Congas, plus an art exhibit titled "Reverence for All Living Creatures." I'm sure there will be more details and more performers coming out of the woodwork in the coming days, but either way, it's a great event that merges Jersey City's flourishing arts and music scenes with some good old fashioned local community activism. It's at Victory Hall, starting at 7 pm -- admission is $20, or $10 if you bring a blanket to donate. All proceeds go to the Hudson Alliance to End Homelessness in Hudson County. (Disclosure time!: City Belt is one of many co-sponsors of the MusicFest.)

THURSDAY | 2.1.07

Art Opening. Newark's City Without Walls gallery hosts an opening reception tonight for a new, multi-site exhibition, "Landscape Revisited," which promises to "treat the landscape as experience rather than mere pictures of places," through "conceptual works that are neither specifically literal nor descriptive." The exhibit is curated by Peter Homitzky, and features work from a slew of artists: Hilario Alonso, Lauren Biancardi, Montserrat Daubon, Jose del Solar, Robin Feld, Yunny Han, E. Jan Kounitz, Richard Leon, Louise Lieber, JoAnne Lobotsky, Roberta Melzl, Michael Tyson Murphy, Gail Nicholson, Valerie Phillips, Marne Rizika, Eric Soll, Carlo Vialu, and Charles Wilcoxen. (Pictured work is Rhythm of Industry (detail) by Eric Soll.)