Music critics' picks
POP. The term "power pop" often suggests music so light and bubbly it could float away. On his super-fine third album, "Misadventures in Stereo," out Tuesday, genre master Jim Boggia does keep the music wonderfully airy and sweet, but his brew is grounded and organic, with stripped-to-the-essence arrangements and a dark lyric core, as most of the songs are about loss.
POP.
The term "power pop" often suggests music so light and bubbly it could float away. On his super-fine third album, "Misadventures in Stereo," out Tuesday, genre master Jim Boggia does keep the music wonderfully airy and sweet, but his brew is grounded and organic, with stripped-to-the-essence arrangements and a dark lyric core, as most of the songs are about loss.
End result: These pop nuggets always feel honest, durable and, yes, important. Clearly, this Philadelphia-based talent has learned from the greats. (He mastered this set at Abbey Road - 'nuff said?) But that honeyed, earnest voice and polished tune sense are ever his own, celebrated in the dour tarantella "To and Fro" and brass-bound music-hall shuffler "No Way Out," with the snappy, bonding-through-music "8-Track" and "Listening To NRBQ" (guitar solo by the name-checked group's Al Anderson), wispy/baroque "On Your Birthday" and soulful farewell to a soldier taken "Three Weeks Shy" of his homecoming. Come celebrate as Boggia and band deliver the goods live at his album release party.
World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St., 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, $16, 215-222-1400, www.worldcafelive.com.
- Jonathan Takiff
HIP-HOP
With the possible exception of Morgan Heritage and Buju Banton, Maxi Priest is the most internationally well-known reggae artist, helped by his amazing crossover 1990 single, "Close to You."
The British-bred musician - here as part of the African Cultural Alliance of North America's African Festival - may have lost a handful of reggae purists with his breezy, R&B-influenced style, but that broad style and the romantic themes his songs favor gained him many more fans. Priest collaborated with reggae star Shabba Ranks on the 1991 hit, "House Call," and released albums "Man With the Fun," "CombiNation," and "2 the Max." More recently, Priest has taken a hiatus from album recording to build his UK-based label, Dugout Records.
Liberian singer/guitarist Gebah Swaray opens. Expect cuts off his albums "We Want Peace" and "Mass Exodus."
ACANA African Festival, Great Plaza at Penn's Landing, Columbus Boulevard at Market Street, noon-8 p.m. tomorrow, free, 215-928-8801, pennslandingcorp.com.
- Damon C. Williams
ALTERNATIVE
The music of Brazilian electro-rock band CSS is perfect for dancing on a hot summer night. The Sao Paulo quintet, along with Diplo's Mad Decent signee Bondo De Role, turned eyes and ears to the country's burgeoning scene with their 2006 debut, "Cansei De Ser Sexy," which earned them a chart hit, "Music is My Hot, Hot Sex," thanks to an iPod ad. Their full, fleshed-out "Donkey" still has CSS fighting for the right to party - and winning. Opening up are the Go! Team, who just released a new single, "Milk Crisis," and frequent visitors Matt + Kim.
Trocadero, 10th and Arch streets, 7 p.m. Thursday, $20, all ages, 215-922-LIVE, www.thetroc.com.
- Sara Sherr
JAZZ
Bowerbird, the experimental music-presenting organization, offers a triple-bill of intriguing, percussion-centered collaborations. First is the duo of vibraphonist Ashley Deekus and trumpeter Dawn Webster, both of whom collaborate with musicians who crisscross genres from jazz to improv, classical to rock. Next is the local all-percussion trio of Dan Capecchi, drummer of avant-jazz quartet Shot x Shot, and recent Curtis Institute grads Gabe Globus-Hoenich and Patty Franceschy. Last up is a trio led by Japanese-born, Easton-based percussion master Tatsuya Nakatani, who will be joined by the unusual tandem of Houston trombonist Dave Dove and NYC-based trumpeter and MC Jawwaad Taylor.
University City Arts League, 4226 Spruce St., 8 p.m. tomorrow, $5-$10, www.bowerbird.org.
- Shaun Brady
CLASSICAL
"Cav" and "Pag" - that's operatic shorthand for two famous one-act melodramas often paired in a sizzlingly theatrical evening. "Cavalleria Rusticana," the tragic story of a Sicilian woman abandoned by a selfish lover, and "I Pagliacci," the play-within-a-play of an eventually deadly love triangle, exemplify the 1890s operatic revolution toward real-life characters called verismo. The Delaware Valley Opera Company wraps its summer shows with this classic pairing, sung in the original Italian. Piano accompaniment is by music director Ben Blozan, with stage direction by the company's longtime collaborator Sandra Hartman.
Roxborough High School Theater, 6498 Ridge Ave., 8 p.m. tomorrow, Wednesday and Aug. 9, $20, 215-725-4171, www.dvopera.org.
- Tom Di Nardo