E-Mail This Article to a Friend Natural Blondie Blondie returns to their new-wave/disco roots, plus a Magnetic performance at Berklee and more

Blondie’s blessing: a Curse

Could there have been a better time for Blondie to return to their new-wave/disco roots? Their new single, "Good Boys," is rubbery and danceable and frosty enough to hold its own with the various knockoffs that’ve been on the airwaves of late — the Rapture, No Doubt, and the Sounds, to name just a few. There’s even a Latin house mix banging on the doors of dance clubs. The Blondie Web site is begging folks to request the track on TRL, and though that sounds like a longshot, we’re sure a few of you will want to pick up the phone to get tickets to Blondie’s gig at Avalon, 15 Lansdowne Street in Boston, on May 8 — by which time their new album, The Curse of Blondie, will be in stores. Note to Deborah Harry: uttering the name of this album within 50 yards of the Green Monster (i.e., on stage) could be fatal. Call (617) 423-NEXT.

Pops, Art

Anyone who saw last year’s Simon & Garfunkel reunion probably had an inkling that the chemistry wasn’t taking. So though it’s no surprise that Art is heading his own way, did anyone think his next partner would be . . . Keith Lockhart? Yes, Mr. Garfunkel will be on hand to help the Boston Pops kick off the spring-fling debut of its summer season at Symphony Hall on May 11; other guests this season include Michael McDonald and Natalie MacMaster (May 28 and 29), Vanessa Williams (June 5 and 7), and American Repertory Theatre dude Will LeBow (reading "Casey at the Bat" for a sports-themed program on June 6). Tickets for May 11’s opening-night gala are $90 to $185; everything else is $16 to $69. Call (617) 266-1200.

Around the world in 40 days

Who says you have to go to Cambridge or the MFA for your world cinema? Next Friday, the Studio Cinema in Belmont kicks off its third annual International Film Series, a weekend of kids’ stuff followed by six weeks of features and documentaries from Europe, Scandinavia, Africa, and Asia. Following a "Family Festival" of animation for children (March 26, 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.) and Japanese anime for teens (March 28, 1 p.m.), the fest proper begins with French director Philippe Muyl’s Le papillon/The Butterfly (2002) on March 28 at 7 p.m. and Fernando León de Aranoa’s Los lunes al sol/Mondays in the Sun (2002) on March 29 at 7:30 p.m. Other screenings include Ann Hu’s Shadow Magic (2000; April 4), Iranian director Rassul Sadr-Ameli’s I Am Taraneh, I Am Fifteen Years Old (2002; April 12), the documentaries My Terrorist (2002) and Gacaca, Living Together Again in Rwanda? (2002; both April 25), and Deepa Mehta’s Bollywood/Hollywood (2002; May 3). The Studio Cinema is at 376 Trapelo Road in Belmont, and tickets are $6, $3 for the children’s programs, or $30 for a "Film Passport" good for any six screenings; call (617) 484-3980.

The i’s have it

Nearly four years have passed since the Magnetic Fields released their last studio effort — the sprawling, alphabetized, three-disc magnum opus 69 Love Songs (Merge). For the historically prolific Stephin Merritt, that’s practically an eternity, and even though he’s released a number of songs in the interim under other names (a few stray Gothic Archies tunes on Lemony Snicket’s audio books; some movie-soundtrack work; a Future Bible Heroes album), we’d begun to wonder whether the next Mag Fields release would have to be another boxed set. As it happens, Merritt has whittled his output to a mere 14 songs — but only, after great deliberation, by restricting the album to those compositions whose titles begin with the ninth letter of the alphabet. Due May 9 on Nonesuch, the new disc is titled, yes, i. If you’re keeping track: a mere eight of the 69 Love Songs began with the letter i, and of those, five began with the first-person I. (Merritt is nothing if not self-possessed.) We expect the loneliest letter will get its due when the Magnetic Fields show up at the Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, on May 22; call (617) 931-2000.