It List: Thursday

First things first, here is a little primer from Robert Reich regarding the utter stupidity of the Tea Bagger protests from yesterday. Hey, Billy Bob-- you know your taxes actually went DOWN recently, right? And that we pay LOWER taxes than any country in the industrialized world, right? Ok, go back to your NASCAR now.

Second things second, our beloved Dallas Mavericks will be playing the hated San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs starting Saturday. I have to admit that I've been something of a fair weather fan this year, but man, this has the makings of a great playoff series. The Mavs are playing their best basketball of the season, and the Ginobli-less Spurs aren't looking so hot. There's nothing sweeter than sticking it to Spurs fans either, and I'm saying Mavericks in 6. Don't hate me if I'm wrong. Now for music shows ya'll (and sorry I'm so late... sometimes you have to work, you know?):

Amon Amarth/Goat Whore/Skeleton Witch/Lazarus AD (Granada): Long time Swedish "melodic death metal" band Amon Amarth headlines a show this evening that certainly has the potential to inspire a much tougher and less good looking riot than Crystal Castles. Much more interesting is New Orleans black metal group Goat Whore, who seem to take a lot of inspiration from black metal legends Emperor, albeit with much better production values.... same goes with Skeleton Witch.

Sun Club with Fizzy Dino Pop/VJ Jibu/ OPS ESPONJA w/ XIAOCHUAN LI (Rubber Gloves): Interesting line up at Rubber Gloves this evening, put together by Thursday residents Sun Club. I'm not 100% sure about this, but I believe Fizzy Dino Pop is a former Dentonite who has relocated to Austin, which is a shame because his chip-tune/electro-pop tracks are quite invigorating and almost all rather catchy-- sure, a lot of it is pretty standard chiptune stuff, and the material is certainly influenced by artists operating outside of what you might call the chiptune underground, such as Mr. Quintron, Dan Deacon and the Death Set, but most of this stuff is poppier than the first two and decidedly more dancefloor oriented (not to mention stranger) than Death Set's stuff, and quite frankly, Fizzy Dino Pop is a lot more approachable and enjoyable than a lot of similar artists who are supposed to be "good" or whatever. Elsewhere, Jibu does original video productions, and Ops Esponja performs some sort of "down tempo," although we haven't had a chance to hear any of it.

Billingham's Defense System/Genova (Fallout Lounge)

Keith P/Disqo Disco (The Lounge)

Top Notch with Sober (The Cavern)

80's Night with DJ G (Hailey's)