THURSDAY
Fuxa/All in the Golden Afternoon (Good Records): Free show at 6 pm.
“Soul Function” (The Foundry): Featuring Wanz Dover and Gabe Mendoza. I caught part of Mr. Dover’s set last night at Bryan Street Tavern and he was playing everything from Delta 5 to Cybotron to future bass.
Wanz was also nominated for multiple Dallas Observer Music Awards including acknowledgement for his work as both a DJ, and for his band, The Black Dotz. Now if only he could retroactively get an achievement award for “Best Music Festival, 2008.” If that day comes, I’ll present the award myself and attend my first Observer ceremony since 2006, don’t worry. Oh, you’re already more than welcome.
Breathing Problem/Public Health/J. Orion/Stoned to Death (Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios): A rare and welcome live music event for the “Discipline” weekly, with Breathing Problem being the one out-of-town act from what I can tell. Breathing Problem is the project featuring Rusty Kelley of Austin’s Total Abuse. Their sound is described as power electronics, so it should be far less accessible than his usual work as an unruly singer with a backing band. Would that more rockers would experiment in such a manner.
FRIDAY
Index Fest (Trees): Easily the biggest music event of the weekend, and possibly this month, Spune has put together a very strong lineup of acts featuring “something for everyone,” even though I have a distinct hatred for the “poetry of commerce,” to paraphrase Herzog. But it’s true, this is an expert mix of everything from one of the best rappers of all time (GZA) to one of the industry’s most currently fascinating singers (Grimes), to a variety of smaller and local acts spread throughout. This is basically affording the opportunity to relive some of the best music fest moments of the past few years in a parking lot in Deep Ellum, strange as that may be at this point. More info here.
Flobots/Astronautilus/GalleryCat (Granada): Flobots mix a variety of especially dangerous elements in the hip hop setting: violins, rock instruments, and the fact that they are from Denver. So, this is a tough one. That “Handlebars” track is supposed to be inspiring but I get the feeling I’ve seen it used and abused in various botched Vimeo attempts promoting Kickstarters for live printmaking. That’s just what comes to mind when you hear that track. But here’s the important question: Are they your generation’s Crazy Town?
SATURDAY
Big F***ing Anniversary Party (Bryan Street Tavern): The partially dodgy quality of this lineup suggests some pandering to local commercial constituencies (or worse, a strong affection for lackluster but well-marketed national acts) but there are enough good to great acts to make up for it.
Earlier in the week, one of the show’s organizers thanked me for my work and called my commentary “backhanded.” I don’t quite get that, but I’ll take the appreciation. On an unrelated note, hats off to Turbo Fruits for covering “Teenage Kicks” by The Undertones. It takes a lot of guts to cover the one song that every band just like yours completely rips off on a regular basis.
It’s free, so the price is right, and you have to take the good with the bad when it comes to festival-strength lineups. I would not look down my nose at a friend choosing to spend their evening here. Lineup as follows:
Spookeasy
Hormones
The Black Dotz
The O’s
Labretta Suede and the Motel 6
Those Darlin’s
Royal Bangs
White Mystery
Turbo Fruits
Rayon Beach
Fungi Girls
El Paso Hot Button
More info available here.
“Away From The Numbers” (Texas Theatre): Guest DJs tonight are Laureen and Nicole, and I will forever hate the fact that the dance and record-spinning community hates the use of last names so much. But it’s their world; we just talk loudly over their sets in it.
Sh*t Robot/Magic 8 ball/Myles Francis (Brooklyn Live): As if there weren’t enough happening around town this evening, local sleeping giant of a self-described “entertainment entity,” Fresco, puts on a show with a DFA artist in a venue only occasionally used by the underground elite. I found the following sentence, plucked from the group’s mission statement, interesting:
Fresco was founded on the belief that the music and fashion communities are the greatest communicators of emerging tastes.
Do you agree? Apparently this will be the go-to place for similar shows in the future, and people still talk about the legendary Alexander Robotnick show that took place here in the Summer of 2010.
Dinosaur Jr/Shearwater (The Prophet Bar): As big as Dinosaur Jr is, it’s almost just as much of a story that Shearwater is performing, at least as far as local interests are concerned. More info, including a description, in our Events section.
SUNDAY
“Poor Vida Sunday Sesssions” (Green Elephant): This packed hip hop bill will act as a continuation of the charity event, “Can I Kick It?,” which takes place earlier in the day. Featuring Leon the Professional, Jackrabbit James, Adot, and about a dozen other artists. All proceeds go to the victors of the kickball exposition.
Def Rain/Gravies and the Main Dish Sauce/Know Nothing Party/Cool Womb (Macaroni Island): Have you heard the good news? House shows in Denton are back, and oddly enough I had to read about this in a corporate-owned paper. Where have all the good blogs gone?
David Byrne and St. Vincent (McFarlin Auditorium): See our event description here.
Photo: Gza (courtesy image)
