Weekender

The other writers were really good about turning their work in on time. I was not. This is so late, I know. I just want to tell any and all of my pretentious friends that no, I will not go see Where The Wild Things Are with you this weekend. I'm taking my two little cousins, aged six and ten respectively. We are seeing it first thing tomorrow morning, simply because I can not bear the thought of having to hear you talk about how great Dave Eggers is or even worse, what a "crazy genius manchild" Spike Jonze is for shooting at his house-guests with a BB gun or whatever, when I'm just trying to enjoy myself at a film adaptation of a storybook for children. I want to to make it through this thing without being overloaded with the hip analytical babble you'll be breathlessly whispering from all the way up from the parking garage and back down to the lobby. This goes double for the upcoming Wes Anderson film. In that case, I'll have to take a newborn baby if I want to avoid hearing that shit. The six year old already told me that Roald Dahl's original novel, Fantastic Mr. Fox, was "overrated." -DL
(written by DL, Frank Phosphate and Nite Maus)

FRIDAY

Javelina/Kill The Client/Vorvadoss/Maleveller (Phoenix Project): I caught the tail end of a show here last weekend, and it was a great space, even in its incomplete state. I would actually fear for the structural integrity of the place tonight, considering that Kill The Client is easily one of the most physical bands I've ever seen. BRUTAL.-(DL)

William Elliott Whitmore/Hoots And Hellmouth (Rubber Gloves)

Schwasanova (Schwa and Genova)/Blake Ward (The Cavern)

Mono/Maserati (Hailey's)

Power Trip/Dark Forces/Backtrack/Coin Return (Lion's Den located at 22 N. Austin Street in Denton) We heard of this hardcore house show at the very last minute, and it looks like a good one. Still really want to make a Lion's Den show.-(DL)

The Takeover with Select and AV (Zubar):

Atomic Party With Royal Highnuss/TomB/Blixaboy/Tommy L33 Jon3z/New Fumes (Fallout Lounge): Featuring "Dubstep, Techno, Nu Electro, IDM and other electronic weirdness."

Har Mar Superstar/Best Fwends/My Jerusalem (The Lounge): It's tough to have a sense of humor when you are a musician. The occasional sly non sequitur not withstanding, most attempts at humor in music I find to be very unsatisfying. I can't stand half of Frank Zappa's catalog due to his pompous holier-than-thou hippie prankster persona. Weird Al Yankovic makes me want to put a bullet in my head. Every once and a while an artist can marry tongue-in-cheek satire with a musical persona while also possessing the chops to back it up. Peaches has been successful and so has Sean Tillman aka Har Mar Superstar. Har Mar is a send up all things cliche and trite about modern R&B, or what's disgusting about popular music in general. Sean Tillman is a balding, overweight every man with a looking glass eye on popular culture. Har Mar Superstar is a rhyme-spewing sexual vagrant with enough gravitas to seduce 100 Betty Drapers.

Beyond what ever grand concept Tillman is projecting, the music itself is catchy and a lot of fun. Dude knows to how to write an absolutely ridiculous pop song. That pretty boy Justin Timberlake ain't got nothing on this guy. While I wouldn't recommended his catalog to anyone outside the most kitsch-friendly connoisseurs, the live show should not be missed. Tillman's Kaufman-level character devotion ensures you will always be treated to a sweaty, roof raising groove-fest. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he will play the cover of The Association's "Never my Love" featured in the Ellen Paige's movie Whip It. Not that I saw it of course.

If you are looking for something with a little more... substance from Tillman you should check one of his other personas, Sean Na Na. More or less the same deal; satirical lyrics and solid song writing, but with power-pop in the place of Superstar's R&B. I'm not sure what to make of the announcement that Tillman and the aforementioned Ellen Paige are writing a series for HBO centering around "two painfully cool hipster girls." Tillman has shown that his pop sensibilities can be marketable, writing songs for the likes of Jennifer Lopez and others, so maybe the transition to mainstream TV will be successful. Gotta have something to take the place of Flight of the Concords I guess.-(FP)

The Paper Chase/Great Tyrant/Personal Victories With George Quartz (Lola's Sixth)

David Cross (Lakewood Theater): I was parked in a car in the middle of some decrepit strip mall when I first heard David Cross. One of my friends swore that I'd love Shut Up You Fucking Baby (and that we had to listen to it in a car), and as it happens most of the times someone tells me "you'll just loooove this CD of stand-up comedy," it took all my strength to ignore the impulse to throw up all over the leather interior. Comedy clubs are my idea of hell, and paying someone to make you laugh is akin to joining a frat, but this night of hanging out in a parking lot was different. Because listening to David Cross is actually fun.

There's some sort of animal magnetism that happens between a certain crowd and David Cross. Mostly known from his stint as Tobias in Arrested Development and from the amazing Mr. Show, David Cross is a total asshole. And there's a large group of people, myself included, who are terribly attracted to assholes. He doesn't try to be hilarious, he doesn't write punch lines, he probably doesn't even care that there are other people in the room; he's just smart and a pleasure to listen to (if you don't care about him insulting everything you care about and believe in). I'm not only interested in seeing what kind of crowd this show attracts and how many people will thrilled and enthralled, but also how many people will end up not going home with whomever took them to this show, simply because they'll be so appalled and enraged.-(NM)

The Hand Combine (Art Six)




SATURDAY

Daniel Folmer/Dust Congress/Glen Farris/Sabra Laval (J&J's Pizza): Excellent review of the new Daniel Folmer disc here, the release of which this show is celebrating. Though I'm not sure if a "subdued Ben Folds" (as he was called in the Sarah Crisman's review) would open a song by telling the audience that "...how you know you can tell you've fucked a girl good, is when you're leaving, she remembers your first and last name," as he did on this recent Gutterth podcast. Interesting advice, and it's good to know the songwriter is as sensitive as ever. When you have as many press blurbs as this guy has on his Myspace, you would hope that somebody remembers.-(DL)

Arlington Info Shop With Wu Fru De Lu/The Decency Project/New Fumes/AFTV/Zwounds/Pain Free & Relapx (Arlington Info Shop located at 1127 S. Davis In Arlington): Anytime I talk to a buddy from out of town about music and the Denton scene is brought up, the conjecture is often repeated: "There are weirdo bands there, noise and improv stuff." I have found that this mythical ideal of the Denton artist being insular musical misfits with only the most abstract of musical sensibilities in the Denton scene, for the most part, to be a delusion. Although Wu Fru du lu vs Space Dragon Killa would be an example of a band my friends are talking about. Beyond the weird name, Wu Fru also creates weird music. Lacking form and structure but making up for it with, well with weirdness.

For those of you cognitive learners out there you could compare Wu's live performance to the likes of Zanzibar Snails or Violent Squid. Avant-garde, "weird," and challenging, but intriguing and inviting enough to encourage you to stick around to see what happens next. The organic, percussion-heavy sound they often conjure has an Animal Collective feel I guess, minus the American Apparel qualities. The show can be uncomfortable. Has the music started? Is that guy in the band or just really drunk? All questions better left at that door. Just be glad you live in a place where such weirdness can live and thrive instead of just as a slogan for shirts and bumper stickers.-(FP)

The Theater Fire/City Center/Sunset/The Outlier Trio (Mable Peabody's)


SUNDAY

Valient Thor/Early Man/True Widow/The Ramonahs (Double Wide): This is a six year anniversary celebration for the Double Wide. Though it is quite a feat to keep a club open that long, it seems like it's been here a lot longer than that. Perhaps that's because I associate it so closely with Dallas music, period. It just seems like it's always been there.

Congrats to True Widow for the recognition they have received from Aquarius Records in San Francisco. That doesn't happen to local bands everyday, especially not from around here.-(DL)

Colin Hay/Johnny Lloyd Rollins (Granada Theater)

Martin Iles Presents Three On Sunday: "Terror"/"Haxan"/"The Paul Lynde Halloween Special" (Dan's Silverleaf)

ADD: For Your Pleasure With DJ G (Hailey's): Special guest: Sid Spinoza.