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Some shows that should be great over the next couple months:

• The Slackers, an excellent third-wave ska band that is keeping the roots ska sound alive, will be playing at the Middle East Downstairs on Wednesday, March 8th. (Wed Mar 8th, Middle East, $10).
• The Greyboy Allstars, a jazz/funk band that I really dig, are playing at Avalon on Wednesday, April 5th. I’m not a huge jazz fan (other than listening to jazz while sipping some cocktails) but this is band that is easy to get into. (Wed Apr 5th, Avalon, $20).

Here are a couple other shows that I don’t know too much about, but that could also be worth checking out:

• Gregory Isaacs with Pressure Cooker (Wed Mar 1st, Paradise Rock Club, $20)
• Gza/Genius of Wu-Tang Clan and DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill (Tue Mar 7th, Paradise Rock Club, $18)

Back in December, we stopped by the Other Side Cafe to meet up with some friends. We weren’t there long, but happened to notice the DJ, as he was spinning some really good stuff. It turns out he (DJ Makko) plays at the Enormous Room (warning — autoplay music) on alternate Thursday nights, so we made a note to head there at some point to check him out.

Last Thursday, a small group of us met up and kicked back with some beers and salmon skewers, and listened to DJ Makko do his thing. His website says he “blends dub, club + ignorant music”, which might be hard to make sense of without hearing him. Once you do, you realize it’s an accurate statement, and you realize it’s kick ass.

I definitely recommend checking him out when you get a chance. The Enormous Room is a cool spot to hear him spin, although sitting Indian-style on the rug-covered platforms was too much for my creaky knees… next time I’ll keep my eyes open for a couch.

A couple shows happening in the next month or so that are worth checking out:

• Wack Ass Egyptians are playing at TT the Bears on Saturday, February 4th. The first band kicks off at 10:15pm, with Wack Ass rocking it at 11:15pm, according to the TT the Bears site. (Sat Feb 4th, TT the Bears, $8)
• The Toasters, a great third wave ska band from NYC, are playing next Monday (the 23rd) at the Middle East Upstairs. Doors are at 8pm. Definitely psyched to randomly have checked out Boston Ska today, otherwise I might have missed this show. (Mon Jan 23rd, Middle East, $10)

When checking out Beatallica at the Middle East in Cambridge, I happened to catch a band called Wack Ass Egyptians. This band is FUN. If I had to name a band they most remind me of, it’d be 311. With sillier lyrics involving turbans and camels.

I definitely recommend going to their site and clicking the Music link to check out some of their tracks (it opens a popup window that plays their tracks via a Flash application). Also, if you’re in the Boston area, and looking for a fun show you can go to, check out the Middle East calendar, as they play once or twice a month there.

Last Friday I got a chance to check out my favorite punk mambo/hardcore juju band, Babaloo. As they are the only such band I know, that might not be giving them enough credit (they also invented the genre). Suffice it to say, this band rocks, their songs turn up quite frequently in my playlists.

Babaloo fuses together a whole host of different music styles… mambo, reggae, bossa nova and samba to name a few. They’re a lot of fun to listen to on CD; listening to them live takes that to another level. The band brings excellent energy to the stage, with lead singer El Presidente al Dente rocking the beat with an improvised percussion instrument, a 20 oz soda bottle filled with beans. The combination of the layering of percussion (5 members of the band played percussion instruments over the course of the show) and their infectious melodies results in a sound that you just can’t help but move to.

This web page gives a short introduction along with some reviews they’ve received.

I’d definitely recommend checking out their songs (their site has a link to samples on cdbaby) and if you ever get a chance to see them live, don’t even think twice about getting tickets.