Thursday Happenings

Music

-- Reid Paley, who specializes in gravelly, shouty rock-blues, is doing a solo show. Plough and Stars, 912 Mass Ave, Cambridge, 10:00 pm. $5. (CR)

-- Stars of the Lid make the kind of drone that does not rock in any way. Rhythm, for the Austin, TX duo, is secondary. Instead, they offer undulating swells of music that you could probably play in an airport. Museum of Fine Arts, 7:30pm. $15/$12.

The First Rule of Beer Club

-- As far as Bostonist can tell, Jacob Wirth's monthly Beer Club is a couple hours of sampling a few brews, having some munchies, and maybe winning one of the prizes. You might not get drunk on the samples, but it's a good start. This month's featured brewers: Stella Artois, Leffe, and Hoegaarden. Jacob Wirth Restaurant, 33 Stuart St, Theatre District, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Free, 21+. (RV)

Contemporary Percussion

-- Percussion music had a renaissance in the West during the 20th century. The Boston Conservatory Percussion Ensemble presents a crash course: Satie through Xenakis with stops at Schnittke and Scelsi. The group also performs a recent work by Boston Conservatory faculty member Nancy Zeltsman. Boston Conservatory Theatre, 31 Hemenway St., 8:00pm. Free.

Books

-- Popular memoirist Augusten Burroughs, who has already described his bizarre childhood and adulthood struggles with alcoholism reads from his latest, A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father. Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Cambridge, 6:00pm. Presented by Harvard Coop.

Movies

-- "Big Screen Boston" screenings continue with Billy in the Lowlands (1979), an independent Boston film that the Brattle improbably describes both as "unpretentious" and "influenced by the French New Wave." Director Jan Egleson will discuss the film with Paul Sherman, the author of Big Screen Boston. Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Cambridge, 8:00pm. $9.50.

Caroline Roberts and Rob Vassegh contributed to this post.

Twin Peaks Stars of the Lid promotional photo from Myspace.