>> The Rock and Roll Hotel welcomes the country's first deaf hip-hop group, locals Helix Boyz. Prince Darius and Sho Roc bring an energetic following from nearby Gallaudet University and fun beats that, as you might imagine, you can feel thumping in your body through the speakers. Doors at 8 p.m., $10.

>> Daniel Levitin will be at Politics and Prose to discuss his latest book This is Your Brain on Music in conversation with with Jeffrey Brown from NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. The book examines the neuroscience behind how certain songs get stuck in your head. I currently have "Holiday" by Madonna stuck in my head. Does me even mentioning that cause it to get stuck in your head? Show up at 8 p.m. and ask Levitin all about it.

>> Three Stars alum and former Monopoli front man Alfonso Velez joins in on Ali Eskandarian's August residency at the Red and the Black. Doors at 9 p.m. $8.

>> The American City Diner and Cafe's flash-heavy web site is finally loading for us again, revealing (through the same old annoying pdf) that tonight they're screening Carlito's Way at 8:30 p.m., an often overlooked but fantastically over-the-top gangster flick by Brian De Palma starring Al Pacino, Sean Penn and Penelope Anne Miller, and which contains the line: "You think you're big time? You gonna fuckin' die -- big time."

Photo by Kyle Walton