Kaleidoscope

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Published: Jun 1, 2010

Right now, blissful Montreal indie poppers Stars are doing everything right. They're tweeting homage to ?uestlove, boycotting Arizona (zose aczents will get you locked up tout suite), and putting out the prettiest, spookiest release of the summer. The otherworldly Five Ghosts (Vagrant) set puts six colored vinyl records and 13 freaky pieces of art in a little wooden box. It doesn't come out till June 22, but Stars is playing First Unitarian Sanctuary on Thursday (June 3, r5productions.com).

For all the spectral synth and operatics on Grey Oceans, CocoRosie's fourth full-length and their first for Sub Pop, they're still at their unsettling best in the spots that angels and machines can't reach: Sierra Casady at the piano, her sister Bianca practically cracking in voice and verse and, on "Undertaker," their mother showing them how it's done. CocoRosie plays the Troc on Wednesday (June 9, thetroc.com).

Atlanta singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur is quickly becoming known outside his usual troubadour/Peter Gabriel circles. He's got his online poetry thing, that 2008 documentary about him, a couple of acting credits and, why not, he's an award-winning painter, too. Look for Arthur's dreamy, hazy ink/mixed media masterpieces on the walls at Ven and Vaida Gallery in Old City (June 4-29, venandvaida.com). The reception is Friday at 6 p.m., and word is he'll play a song or two.

Before blasting off with new-Spock and co., Chris Pine made one last film as an under-the-radar actor — Small Town Saturday Night , directed by former Philly denizen Ryan Craig and out now on DVD. Pine plays Rhett, a country singer taking stock of his life the day before he moves to Nashville to make it big. The lives of other townsfolk intertwine with Rhett's, including an affecting turn by John Hawkes (Deadwood, Me and You and Everyone We Know) as an ex-con on the edge.

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