Weekender

What up? We'll have a post up some time this weekend summarizing everything worth mention for New Year's Eve, so stay tuned for that. Also, local record reviews and various other odds and ends are on their way as well. Here's what's up for the weekend:

FRIDAY

Starkey/Tiny/Keith P/Select (Green Elephant): Select's birthday party features Phily's Starkey, who brings the usual combo of Ghettotech, dubstep, grime and hip hop tracks (with a focus on rough, minimal beats) to Green Elephant, which honestly has one of the better sound systems you'll find in Dallas outside of one of those big hip hop/techno clubs downtown. SMU douchebags in the house? Sure. But a lot of those guys clear out for Central Booking stuff, leaving most of the club free for decent human beings to have fun. Just kidding Stangs, I love you bros!

It's What We Get/ Jeremy Jackson (The Cavern): Alan Palomo's excellent DJ crew It's What we Get will bring their eclectic record collection to Dallas tonight for a Melissas Delux show. Expect to hear everything from Italo to the latest French club tracks to classic Detroit and Chicago. I'm not sure that I've ever seen one of Jeremy Jackson's sets, but from what I hear he has a similar command on the all the latest shit as well as ghosts of dance music past that are continuing to be turned into dance music present.

SATURDAY

Black Mayonnaise/Breathing Problem/Taint/Chief Death Rage/T.E.F./ SUBKommander/Voyant (House of Tinnitus): A somewhat metal focused show at H.O.T. that probably won't be much fun for anyone going through a "freak folk" stage. BM's myspace page doesn't feature any music, and I haven't heard them through any other source (other than some short clips), but they do claim to be inspired by bands like Butthole Surfers, Godflesh and Big Black, and they describe themselves as "experimental sludge metal," so I'm guessing they could be pretty good, or pretty rude, or both. Being compared to "Sleep with DJ Screw producing" doesn't hurt either. Austin's Breathing Problem fool with television recordings and waves of violent white noise and feedback to produce a rather bleak ambiance, while Denton's Voyant work from a more electronic oriented base that features the slightest hint of rhythm scattered throughout the static transmissions. SUBKommander's slightly quieter and more atmospheric pieces will provide a nice change of pace during the show, as will Chief Death Rage's punishing stoner rock.

Florene/Bryce Isbell/Sunnybrook and members of Mom/David Larsen/Verulf/Peace Corpse/Gun Gun (J&Js): This thing gets kicked off at 5pm at J&Js, and although I'm not certain of the order of the line up, I think it's a pretty good bet that you'll enjoy most of these bands, especially if you ARE going through a freak folk stage. Of course, Peace Corpse don't have much to do with folk, instead bringing a bit of airy light synth pop with various new romantic and classic house influences. The goofy vocals make the whole package a bit, uh, "challenging" at times, but it could be fun. Elsewhere, Gun Gun club is a local band I've never heard before, and considering that I know about everything before everyone, it's kind of surprising. What is even more surprising is that they're quite good, featuring Record Hop's Ashley Cromeens and a lo-fi folk/bedroom pop approach that works quite well with the group's simple pop songs, calling to mind the early 90's DIY/twee aesthetic. I haven't had a chance to see the haunting Verulf live before, but anyone who digs Phosphorescent and some of the quiet Akron/Family tracks will surely want to catch the set. Sunnybrook's electroacoustic stuff is also solid, and at the end of the day, my freak folk joke falls flat because this line up is rather diverse and should make for a good time.

Van Morrison (Meyerson Symphony Center): If you have a minimum of $150, you can rock and roll at this show. I love Van Morrison as much as the next guy, but I'm not even gonna joke about paying for this show.

Violent Squid/Mad Scientists (Strawberry Fields)

Sean Kirkpatrick/Bridges and Blinking Lights (Doublewide)

Hot Flash with Killtronix/Schwa (Fallout Lounge): The Cool Out dudes bring the party to Fallout, and it's always a good, cover free spot to check out on a Saturday evening. I mean Cool Out events, not the Fallout. Not sure if Big J will be in attendance or not.

SUNDAY

Nothing I could find as of now, but we'll keep you posted if anything comes up.