Classical music has nearly been relegated to soundtrack status; it’s often playing while something else is happening. Few of us spend quality headphone time with Bartok. Amazing classical music in movies or TV gets used as a backdrop or part of the staging, thereby chaining it to pop culture. Most people can't hear Liszt's “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2” without thinking of Tom and Jerry. Other times a movie is lifted by the music beyond its small budget and toward the heavens, as Star Wars was elevated by John Williams’ soundtrack.

Tokyo doom metal band Church of Misery (チャーチ・オブ・ミザリー) headlines at the Launchpad on Sunday, June 3. Also playing this sabbath show are fellow purveyors of doom/sludge/thrash Hail!Hornet from North Carolina, The Gates of Slumber from Indiana and New Mexico’s own Skulldron. Admission is $10, and the shredding begins at 7 p.m. (JCC)