Editor’s Note: Welcome to V3 Weekend, a new Vanyaland series where we help you sort out your weekend entertainment with curated selections and recommendations across our three pillars of Music, Comedy, and Film/TV. It’s what you should know about, where you need to be, and where you’ll be going, with us riding shotgun along the way.
Music: ‘Looking Backward’ by Melody’s Echo Chamber
New music from Melody’s Echo Chamber is like having an old friend come over for dinner, and that friend somehow knows all your problems and how to solve them. The dreamy French psych-pop project from Melody Prochet returned this week with a floating warm-hug of a single called “Looking Backward,” the first taste of third studio album Emotional Eternal, set for April release via Domino. That means we now have a clear path forward out of winter and into the blissful majesty of spring, with Prochet pulling us along with her usual sonic ease.
“’Looking Backward’ is a vivid, nonchalant, poetic march to the Unknown,” says Prochet. “I wrote the lyrics on my way to Stockholm, in transit at the airport, there was a man creating light reflections with his watch and playing with light on the floors and walls. It felt like an act coming from a source of pure creativity, it made me happy to catch it and inspired me to write the song.”
Let it console and comfort below, either via Spotify or the weirdly awesome CGI music video, and begin the countdown to warmer times.
Comedy: Chris Redd at The Crystal Ballroom
At a time when news of venue closings are rampant and unforgiving, late last year the area was treated to a rare venue opening: The Crystal Ballroom at the Somerville Theatre. And while music bookings like Gang of Four (March 6), Cannons (March 22), and Hatchie (May 6) have caught our attention, the room is also poised to be a destination for live comedy as well. This Sunday (January 23), Chris Redd hits the Davis Square stage.
As Jason Greenough noted in Mic’d Up: “Live from Somerville, it’s Sunday night! While Redd brings an invaluable comedic force to Studio 8H week after week, what he brings to the stand-up mustn’t be overlooked. Offering up the upbeat attitude that has made him a fan favorite on SNL, along with a brilliantly sharp tongue that sets his stand-up apart from his primary gig, Redd’s rare trip to the area is highly recommended.”
Film/TV: Old Henry
It’s a tale as old as time: An old dude with a terrible past has made a new life for himself out in the middle of nowhere in order to shield his son from his violent past. In Potsy Ponciroli’s action Western Old Henry, that dude is Tim Blake Nelson’s title character, and that middle of nowhere is Oklahoma in the early 1900s.
Henry’s quiet farm life is interrupted one day when he stumbles upon a wounded man with a satchel full of cash, and when Henry takes him into his home to recover, the man warns that three bad apples pretending to be lawmen will soon come knocking. We’re not sure of anyone’s intentions here, or if these lawmen are actually who they say they are, and it all culminates into one heated standoff.
The small cast is pretty great, including Stephen Dorff as the alleged sheriff and Crazy Eights from Breaking Bad and Better Call Soul as his henchman, and Tim Blake Nelson is wonderfully full of grit, grime, and dirty fucking looks. It’s probably not an all-time classic, but it’s an enjoyable ride.