Huzzah, it's Friday! Listen to this new jam from Mary J. Blige and Disclosure and check out our list of the five best things you can do with your weekend:
Fuzic
Every fourth Friday, DJ Fuze — best known for being a member of seminal Oakland hip-hop group Digital Underground — takes over the sound system at Era Art Bar. He knows his stuff — he produced for Tupac and worked with artists like The Luniz, Goapele, and Dave Chappelle. And although Fuze’s background is in hip-hop, he also spins R&B, soul, disco, and funk. At his monthly party at Era, he incorporates sounds from the Caribbean, Latin America, and Africa into his set as well. With such a diverse array of music, you won’t be bored. Friday, Jan. 24. 9 p.m., $10. OaklandEra.com — Madeleine Key
CompostCon
An estimated 40 percent of the American food supply is wasted every year, creating greenhouse gas emissions, blocking up our landfills, and costing us $165 billion annually. So while composting isn’t mandatory for East Bay residents, it’s clearly a good idea to do so. On that note, the first ever CompostCon, held at the Oakland Convention Center on Saturday, will teach you everything you’ve wanted to know about composting, and more: Workshops for kids and adults will touch on topics such as the uses of compost, edible gardens and urban gardening, reducing food waste, and sustainable landscaping practices using drought-friendly plants. Humboldt County bluegrass band the Compost Mountain Boys will supply tunes throughout the day, and a contest will award attendees in the best garden-, compost-, or food-related costume. Saturday, Jan. 25. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., $5-$20 suggested donation, free for those in costume. HealthySoil.org/compostcon.html — Zaineb Mohammed
Matt Montgomery and Van Dyke Parks with Awesöme Orchestra
Supergroups are, by nature, logistical nightmares. Those incorporating living legends are even less sustainable. Which is why you should head to the Malonga Casquelourd Center this weekend, when composer, arranger, producer extraordinaire Van Dyke Parks’ ornate, panoramic Americana — as heard in his lyrics for Brian Wilson’s fabled Smile project, and in his sweeping arrangements for Joanna Newsom’s Ys — will collide with Oakland singer-songwriter Matt Montgomery’s Sir Paul-indebted pop delivery and the genre-busting approach of the Bay Area’s own Awesöme Orchestra. Sunday’s show celebrates the release of Petty Troubles: an album of Montgomery-penned songs, recorded live with an ensemble of 28 local musicians over a single day, and will be accompanied by a documentary film chronicling the zippy creative process. Few singer-songwriters, let alone a modest, low-key figure like Montgomery, are ever lucky enough to assemble such a dream-team onstage, making this improbable, one-off collaboration all the more exciting. Sunday, Jan. 26. 4-6 p.m., $14-$5. PettyTroubles.BrownPaperTickets.com — Taylor Kaplan