Weekender

FRIDAY

Girl Talk/Busdriver/Daedelus (Palladium Loft): As I sit here writing this, I'm listening to Girl Talk's demo mix CD he did for Vice Records a couple years back, and I think it serves as a decent example of what this guy does, even though it is nothing compared to his live show. Some of the We Shot J.R. crew caught his performance at Pitchfork's Day Party during SXSW last year, and even though it took place at like 4 in the afternoon, the guy completely owned the crowd the entire time, mixing everything from Doug E. Fresh to Night Ranger into a set that provided the only good argument I've ever heard in favor of mash ups. Girl Talk fans who have yet to see him perform will NOT be disappointed, trust me. I saw Busdriver a couple years ago at SXSW as well, and I thought the guy was a dork even though he's got an incredible technical flow that is worth witnessing for sure. AND LET ME KICK A SHOUT OUT TO RADIO UTD FOR ALLOWING US TO GIVE AWAY AN EXTRA PAIR OF TICKETS TO THIS SHOW.

Witchcraft/Saviours/Vorvadoss (Doublewide): Parade of Flesh has put together a nice little metal show this evening featuring Sweden's Witchcraft, a band that seems to draw from classic metal influences in a highly effective manner that should please any of the random metal dudes at Doublewide despite the fact that at least one of their songs features a flute. Really melodic and loud and good. Kemado's Saviours have a harder edge to them although they seem to be influenced by the same early days of metal, albeit with more of a Motorhead (meets Jesus Lizard) thing happening. I bet they'll be pretty brutal live.

Don Caballero/Jay Reatard/Maaster Gaiden/Magnets (Rubber Gloves)


Final Fantasy/Cadence Weapon (Hailey's): Final Fantasy I can really take or leave, but Cadence Weapon is so fucking good that you'll never even think about the fact that dude was a hip hop critic for Pitchfork.

Frightened Rabbit (The Cavern): Frightened Rabbit might be the lamest new bands I like. I'd be willing to bet that most people who share similar musical tastes will think I'm a major pussy for putting this show on the list, but I really dig their Britpop/poppunk tracks, which is a sentence I didn't think I'd ever write.

Life-Death Continuum ( Nine Eyes Studio, 130 N. Peak at Peak and Elm): LDC will play a set at 11pm at this free party that will include free food and drinks. You'd be dumb if you were in Dallas and didn't stop by.

Spoon/New Pornographers/Emma Pollock (House of Blues SOLD OUT): Whenever I saw that Spoon was playing in town this weekend, I decided to listen to a little bit of Goo Ga Ga or whatever its called in order to determine whether I was at all interested in going to this show. And despite the obligatory 8 point something Pitchfork review and the other general praise it has received, listening to Spoon's new album really made me wonder when these guys started being so boring. Or maybe I just got more exciting. Everything is fine enough on it I suppose, but over the past couple of years, I've become totally Spooned out. New Pornographers' anthemic indie pop is much more enjoyable than it should be, but hey, this is sold out anyway, so if you're going you're going, and if you're not, you're not. I'm not.

SATURDAY

Celebration/Fog/Dragons of Zynth (Rubber Gloves): For me, Celebration's Modern Tribe is one of the most pleasant surprises of 2007. The band's sound has been built up and refined considerably since their last release in 2005, and the extra layers of noise and melody, brought to you by some great organ synths and increasingly sophisticated songwriting, help push the band to new, if slightly less rhythmic heights. You can stream their entire album on their Myspace page if you want to, and you do. Fog sounds pretty interesting as well. Do the same with them.

Tim Sweeney (Minc): I guess you could say that Tim Sweeney is the Chad Hugo of hip American electro dance, but if you did, you would be as big of a jackass as I am for thinking of it in the first place. But Sweeney, one of the founding members of DFA, doesn't need my dorky Neptunes references to attract interest, as he has played a major role in one of the most important movements in American underground music in the past decade. He doesn't have a project that reaches the height's of partner James Murphy's LCD Soundsystem, but I'm guessing it would be quite difficult to find a more choice DJ set anywhere than the one he'll play on Saturday. Respect to Stereo on Strike for putting this show together.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists/Birds of Avalon/Headlights (Hailey's)

Lil Tedly/Drink to Victory/Douche/Daniel Francis Doyle/Nouns Group (Strawberry Fields): Starts at 9pm.

Dixie Witch/Record Hop/Mescalero (Dan's Sliverleaf): Too bad this rockin's show won't be rockin Secret Headquarters.

1919 Halloween Show with Dead Ramones as Descendents/Shortest Distance as Woody Guthrie/Koji Kondo as Flipper (1919 Hemphill): A slightly untimely Halloween party featuring local bands dressing up and playing as other bands. Usually not my favorite theme for a show, but at least they picked some good ones, especially Koji Kondo as Flipper.

Robbers on High Street (Good Records, 3pm): These guys are also playing later this evening at the Cavern, but I'm only interested in them to the point that I'd watch them if I happened to be in a record store on a Saturday afternoon and it was free. So there you go. At least they don't sound exactly like Spoon anymore. And in fact, I think I might like their new material a little better than Spoon's. It's kind of like how Stone Temple Pilots were better than Pearl Jam.

SUNDAY

M.I.A./The Cool Kids (House of Blues): Now here's a show that's a must see despite the fact that it's on a Sunday at House of Blues. I'd be shocked if I had to tell anyone reading this what M.I.A. sounds like, but I will tell you that 1) her new album is really good, and 2) Cool Kids are honestly one of the more exciting hip hop groups to emerge in the last few years. A lot has been made about their stylistic shout outs to the glory days of mid to late 80's east coast hip hop, but they also seem to have incorporated many of the best aspects of everyone from Jay Z to Jurassic 5 to Spank Rock to Clipse in both production and flow. Go listen to some of their tracks on Myspace and tell me you aren't planning on show up early for this one. And by the way, MIA is doing an autograph signing at Good Records at 4pm. I'd get there early too.

Of Montreal/MGMT/Grand Buffet (Granada): Too bad this show is going on the same night as MIA. I hope that the Granada's recently improved sound situation helps to make this performance better than the last Of Montreal appearance at the Granada, which found the group sounding very small. If the sound issues are all worked out, this will be a good one.

Scout Niblett/Chris Garver/Ashley Cromeens (Rubber Gloves)