THURSDAY 11/15

ARGENTA FILM SERIES: ’THE INVISIBLE WAR’

Advertisement

7 p.m. Argenta Community Theater. Free.

“The Invisible War” is a documentary about the long-overlooked epidemic of rape within the U.S. armed forces. The film screened last month at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival. Times contributor Matt Rowe praised the film and said its stories “are heartbreaking, sickening and should not be ignored.” Rowe also pointed out that the film “is not just about the problem in the military. Confronting rape and sexual assault is a discussion many people do not want to have because it is uncomfortable. By seeing these men and women come forward, by bravely showing their faces, anyone can begin to empathize with others dealing with the trauma following sexual assault, and the hard steps that must be taken to regain some sense of normalcy.” Director Kirby Dick will attend the screening and will speak at the Clinton School of Public Service at noon Thursday. If you can’t make Thursday’s screening, the film is also playing at UALR’s EIT building at 6 p.m. Wednesday. All of the events are free. RB

Advertisement

THURSDAY 11/15

DR. DOG

Advertisement

8:30 p.m. Revolution. $18 adv., $20 day of.

Back in the spring and summer of 2005, Dr. Dog’s “Easybeat” was near inescapable among my crowd. It seemed like it was playing at every get-together or dinner party or after-party or pre-party or wherever you were, there it was. “Easybeat” is one of the best examples of the type of shaggy, classic rock-informed pop that’s not trying to take over the world nor reinvent the wheel. It’s just fun. That is unless you’re of those joyless, cynical, stick-in-the-mud types who can’t admit to digging something unless it’s super obscure and you knew about it first and can thus lord your superior tastes over everyone. Though I suppose if you just flat-out don’t like rock music, you’re probably not going to like Dr. Dog. The Philly five-piece has released several albums over the years, including this year’s “Be the Void.” While their subsequent records aren’t carbon copies of “Easybeat,” they never stray too far from the Beatles/Beach Boys blueprint. But so what? What Dr. Dog does, the band does really well. Opening the 18-and-older show is whimsical psych purveyor Cotton Jones. RB

Advertisement

FRIDAY 11/16

JUNIOR BROWN

Advertisement

8 p.m. Revolution. $15.

Man, if you don’t know the name Junior Brown by now, lemme just run this by you: The Jimi Hendrix of Country. Yes. Now, I mean no disrespect in the least to all-time greats like Chet Atkins or James Burton or any of the 1,352 guitar pickers in Nashville, but Brown is not only an innovative, incredibly versatile badass on the guitar: In addition to the fret-board fireworks, he also writes great songs and sings them in a baritone that’s as deep and clear as a country well. Brown plays a hybrid double-neck guitar called the “guit-steel,” named for its combination of standard six-string and lap steel in one convenient package. And he shreds on both of them. A few years back, I was talking to an acquaintance who’s a huge music buff and also a gifted guitar player about the best concerts we’d seen. I’d never known him to dig country at all, but he said that hands-down the best concert he’d ever seen was Junior Brown. He didn’t hesitate or qualify the statement or get down to genre specifics or anything: “What’s the best show you ever saw?” “Junior Brown.” Just like that. The Salty Dogs, Arkansas’s premier classic country act, open the all-ages show. RB

Advertisement

SATURDAY 11/17

CANNIBAL CORPSE

9 p.m. Juanita’s. $17 adv., $20 day of.

Ah Cannibal Corpse, one of the longest-running and most successful death metal bands ever. Besides earning the enmity of Sen. Bob Dole and a cameo in “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” the pioneering New York-based death metal group is probably best known outside of metal circles for its gruesome, controversial album covers, nearly every one of which has required some toned-down version to pass muster with The Man and make its way to record store shelves, tucked somewhere in between Candlebox and The Carpenters. I’ve got to say, though, that its album covers don’t seem quite as shocking here in 2012, in the wake of years of generic, gory network procedurals and AMC’s “The Walking Dead.” On second thought, the cover for “Butchered at Birth” is still pretty foul by nearly any standard. The band’s song titles, too, aren’t exactly dinner table conversation: “Meat Hook Sodomy,” “Hacksaw Decapitation,” “A Skull Full of Maggots” and trust me, those are some of the tamer ones. The band’s latest, the simply titled “Torture,” is another chapter in the ongoing story of Cannibal Corpse, one of death metal’s true survivors. Also performing are Cannibal Corpse tour mates Misery Index and Hour of Penance, and Arkansas’s best death metal act, Vore. RB

Advertisement

SATURDAY 11/17

607, BEAR COLONY

9 p.m. Revolution. $6.

All right, Adrian Tillman, a.k.a. 607, is back with “YIK3LIF3! The Lord and The Duchess,” his follow-up to last year’s “YIK3S!” It’s been out since Halloween, 19 tracks with the kind of lines that further cement Tillman’s status as one of the sharpest and funniest rappers around, and not just in Arkansas. Exhibit A, from the foreboding, awesome “AK-47 Percent” (with guest Yk) “I pledge allegiance to my flag and my clique / Promise I won’t act like Romney when I’m rich / He don’t know no poor folks, so you can tell Mitt bitch-ass that this the AK-47 percent.” This is a co-record release show with Little Rock’s Bear Colony, whose “Soft Eyes” was released Tuesday on Esperanza Plantation. The 13-track album is a bit of a departure from the band’s last record, 2007’s “We Came Here to Die.” Band leader Vincent Griffin is still essentially crafting hazy bedroom pop that happens to be recorded with a full band, but this time around, the guitars are often pushed out of the foreground by an array of electronic sounds and buzzing washes of synthesizer. You can get 607’s new album at iam607.com. Bear Colony’s new album is on Spotify or you can pick up the limited edition vinyl at the show. RB

SATURDAY 11/17

TIMOTHY K. MOORE

11 a.m.-1 p.m. Pyramid Art, Books & Custom Framing. Free.

BIANCA PHILLIPS

Noon-3 p.m. Green Corner Store. Free.

For 364 days a year, it pretty much sucks being vegan in Little Rock. But this Saturday, those of us who take our veggies sans bacon and/or butter are in for a double feature from two vegan chefs. From 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Arkansas native Timothy K. Moore will be at Pyramid Art, Books & Custom Framing, answering questions and signing his two books “47 Tips to Reverse Your Diabetes” (through eating plant-based foods, we assume, since this is his whole schtick) and “Vegans Eat What?” After vegging out at Pyramid, head over to the Green Corner Store, where another Arkansas native and vegan, Bianca Phillips, will be signing copies of her book “Cookin’ Crunk: Eating Vegan in the Dirty South,” from noon till 3 p.m. Moore and Phillips have different M.O.’s — Moore more straightforwardly wants to keep us healthy, and Phillips, with her meat-free take on family specials and the sugary fare such as a peanut butter and banana Elvis cupcake, wants to keep us happy. But really, both author/chefs have the same goal — to create dishes free of animal-derived products that nourish both body and soul. CF

MONDAY 11/19

‘AN EVENING WITH JEFF NICHOLS’

7 p.m., Trinity United Methodist Church. Free.

How’s this for glamour? Little Rock filmmaker Jeff Nichols is flying to Little Rock from Rome, where he’s presiding over the jury at the Rome Film Festival. He’s coming to his hometown instead of Austin, where he now lives, because his mom, Joan Nichols, asked him to speak at her church as part of its regular Trinity Presents Performance Series. The program will cover the arc of his career, with Nichols talking about how he got into film and how he came to make his three highly regarded features — “Shotgun Stories,” “Take Shelter” and “Mud.” There’ll be clips of each shown. I’m moderating the discussion, which should be mandatory for aspiring filmmakers. No one in Arkansas and few in the broader film world have received the sort of critical praise Nichols has at such a young age (he’s 33). LM

Help to Keep Great Journalism Alive in Arkansas

Join the fight for truth and become a subscriber of the Arkansas Times. We've been battling powerful forces for 50 years through our tough, determined, and feisty journalism. With over 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 daily email blasts, our readers value great journalism. But we need your help to do even more. By subscribing and supporting our efforts, you'll not only have access to all of our articles, but you'll also be helping us hire more writers to expand our coverage. Together, we can continue to hold the powerful accountable and bring important stories to light. Subscribe now or donate for as little as $1 and be a part of the Arkansas Times community.

Previous article The Tuesday night line Next article The morning report: Abortion, lottery, bonuses for elected officials