Weekender

FRIDAY

Hands UP with DJ Craze/Dave Nada/The Party/Keith P (the Loft): Pretty big time show at the Loft tonight for anyone who knows shit about shit. Dj Craze has made quite a name for himself over his ten year career (he was even named "Best DJ of the Year" by TIME FUCKING magazine for God's sake) , but his most high profile gig came earlier this year when he began working as Kanye West's touring DJ. Aside from these claims to fame, this Miami based DJ has been running a record label and producing drum n bass tracks for a number of years, as well as working with the heavy blogged about A-Trak. Craze's remix work certainly leans heavily towards early Euro electro, classic house, 80's synth dance and Miami bass, and it's all very solid and well worth checking out. Although I hear the guy plays a lot of hip hop during his sets, I really hope he sticks with stuff similar to his remixes this evening, because Dallas could use a dose of it. Dave Nada is another highly respected DJ who recently joined the Am Only Roster along with Crookers, Richie Hawtin and MSTRKRFT, and he's considered one of the main figures on the Baltimore dance scene. Congrats to Central Booking for a very solid show.

Dub Assembly with Southern/Mundo/Royal Highnuss/ Soy Capaz and Dragonman (Green Elephant): Another strong Texas centered line up at Dub Assembly that will surely be highlighted by Mundo. How do I know this? Well, we attended Dub Assembly's 2 year anniversary with a pretty big group of people, and pretty much everyone I was with remarked seperately that while it was a thrill to see Hatcha, it was actually Mundo's set that stole the show. I think they were right actually. Maybe it was just the fact that dude was playing in front of his home crowd, but the audience was completely into what he was doing, and I bet a lot of them would agree with my earlier statement. And oh yeah, Hatcha was great... if that tells you anything. It's also nice to see that the Dallas Observer finally heard about this dubstep thing and did a little interview with Mundo and gang some two years after the first Dub Assembly. Too little too late? Probably. Next week in the Observer: so what's the deal with this electroclash stuff everyone's been talking about lately? (side note, check out some of the insane stuff on Dragonman's Myspace)

Television City/The Scandals/Warcola/Youth Aggression (Eisenberg's Skatepark, Plano): I don't know much about this lineup, besides I think that Warcola is cool and seeing a hardcore show at Eisenberg's is cooler. What's more punk than the suburbs, right guys? You have no idea how serious I'm being. Note: This show is right next to a court house and Police Station. Tread LIGHTLY.

SATURDAY

Darktown Strutters, Possibly (Amsterdam Bar): So the big show at Amsterdam with Frenz, etc. was canceled due to double booking. However, Darktown Strutters want to play so bad that they are going to go down there and try to do so anyway. If you're interested in seeing if they can pull it off, check back with us before Saturday night and we'll provide you with any updates we may have.

Yellow Tears/Ahlzagailzehguh/Black Leather Jesus/Concrete Violin/Aphonic Curtains /GOAT(House of Tinnitus): If you caught the Halflings show at HOT last year, you could certainly understand why Yellow Tears will probably be an intimidatingly devastating show. This promises to be less structured than that laptop duo with a sound that is more guitar-based resulting in a freer, sludgier sound. AHLZAGAILZEGUH takes a stab at making a name harder to pronounce than a black metal logo is to read, and have released records on Prurient's respected Hospital Productions label. This project continues (as does the entire lineup) down the darker, more aggressive path of noise, lots of feedback, house leveling rumble, tape cutups and all other manner of sonic chaos. Black Leather Jesus is the project of Houston's venerable Richard Ramirez, considered to be a pioneer of Harsh Noise music for embracing the largely Japanese aesthetic way ahead of the curve in North America. Leave it to a fucked up musician to give you some Texas pride. Maybe the obvious respect Thurston Moore has for him will bring out a couple extra chin scratchers tonight, of the sort that used to infect the staff of 33 Degrees. The rest of the lineup is a rough collection of other Lone Star noisemakers who we have mentioned and enjoyed before. PS-- Just kidding, I really miss 33 Degrees.

Unit 21/Tolar/Resigned to Fate (Competition Music, Ft. Worth)

SUNDAY

Cex/Best Fwends/Stove Blow (Rubber Gloves): Cex is a pretty strange dude to say the least. One of the founders of the Tigerbeat6 record label (along with Kid 606), the guy ventures into all kinds of strange places with his avant hip hop and broken down beats. We caught him a while back around town, and the only thing stranger than his music was the mystery of how someone could smell as bad as he did without wanting to clean up a little. OMG take a bith or something! Just kidding, he really did fucking stink. None the less, I wouldn't worry about it too much, especially if you're into see Best Fwends piss everyone off in an entirely different way than they ever have before. I'm into it. Seriously, this band might be the least likely Texas music success story of the decade. Don't believe me? Just as go to a party and ask Bacardi.

For Your Pleasure with DJ G and Gabriel (Hailey's): New weekly featuring glam, funk, krautrock, and dancefloor jazz.