Weekend Tunes 'n' Flicks

Some cool stuff going on this weekend: Southpaw is in the middle of a fest celebrating power pop, a vague musical genre that's always caused me a bit of confusion. Wikipedia says key players include the Raspberries, Cheap Trick, Weezer, Nick Lowe and Big Star. Those band sound nothing alike to me, but I guess that means you count on some serious diversity at the Southpaw shows. Over at Union Hall on Monday Night are the Long Winters (pictured), a melodic, strummy band from Seattle that I always thought was pretty underrated. On the flick front, BAM's hosting Creatively Speaking, a film series representing artists of color, which includes Bling: A Planet Rock, about the intersection of hip hop and the diamond trade in Africa, and a cool-ass-sounding sci-fi movie directed by Greg Tate, one of my favorite music journalists.