Weekender

The vast majority of the this post was hurriedly written by Defensive Listening. Corrections and/or additions to follow.

FRIDAY

We Made Out Once Presents: It's What We Get/Wild in the Streets/Craig Welch (Hailey's):
Wild In The Streets and It's What We Get couldn't be more wildly disparate as far as what they play, but it's good to see such different DJ's together. Wild In The Streets plays old French Ye-Ye, while It's What We Get plays modern French electro. WITS is 60's mod sleaze while IWWG is 80's synth sleaze. Craig Welch is one of the most insane local acts I've every seen, due to the ridiculous tongue twisting of his non-stop flow and delivery. Event is "semi-formal." Is that the same thing as biz caj?

The Paper Chase/Micah P Hinson/Shiny Around the Edges (Sons of Hermann Hall): This show probably would have been more of a mismatch a few years ago, but The Papechase have transformed into a moodier outfit and are much less prone to the freak-outs of their first few recordings. The emphasis is much more on melody lately and the singular themed narratives of each album, complete with horror fantasy lyrics and sound effects. Shiny Around The Edges are an increasingly muscular live force that will stand up to the cavernous Sons Of Hermann Hall with ease.

Mom/Violent Squid/My Son The Astronaut (Strawberry Fields): Looks like this could be the most packed SF show ever, due to Mom's involvement. As far as Violent Squid goes, I love a band that puts out a myspace bulletin for their rotating backing band to actually show up and play that night. I seriously think that's great. My Son The Astronaut is the solo acoustic work of Daniel from 715 Panhandle. This is a benefit for The Denton Artists' Collaborative.


Dove Hunter/Bridges And Blinking Lights/Doug Burr (Double Wide)

SATURDAY

Xrin Arms/Yatagarasu/PSOAS/Mistress/Animal Forces//Traducer (House of Tinnitus):
Very unusual aesthetic from the headliner, Xrin Arms, that combines tech grind, electronic elements by way of Dutch-styled gabber hardcore, and even soul music to create an extremely heartfelt racket. There is an insightful interview with Xrin Arms on the excellent new local blog, Digital Liver. Traducer is from Austin and are tourmates of Xrin Arms that play disjointed breakbeat overlapped with distant ambient sounds. Yatagarasu has played HOT at least a couple of times before and is a 8-bit one-man act with distorted bass "subtleties." Three local duos, PSOAS, Mistress, and Animal Forces experiment across the entire avant spectrum featuring everything from harsh noise to ominously spaced out sounds.

Jeff Parker/Loop 12/Stephen R (Fallout):Hard to pin down Chicago musician and Post Rock pioneer Jeff Parker practically created a new genre with his work in Tortoise, just one of many groups he has played with since the early 90's. New work focuses on everything from intricate guitar pieces fluent in complex jazz chord positions to DJ mixes. Loop 12 seems to have come out of nowhere and is now playing every weekend, usually on notable shows.

White Drugs/Raised by Tigers/Gun Gun/The Better Halves/Low Dosage (Hailey's): Low Dosage is the brand new project of Medicine Window founders Cody Robinson and his wife, Amanda. The one track on their page shows not only that they have they picked up where MW left off, but that you don't have to grow soft due to marriage. Gun Gun is a poppy electronic duo featuring Ashley Cromeens.

Free Will Hip Hop Benefit (Green Elephant): All proceeds of this massive benefit go to the family of William "Free Will" Hunnicut. Select and Schwa finish the night off but will first be joined by DJ's, Marty Mar, Nemesis, Tape Masta Step, Quick Chris, Priest TD, BK and Rob Viktum. Other artists include Mic Most, Verbal Seed, Reflect June, Colby Savage, Philly Station, PPT, and many more. There will also be B-Boy crews and graffiti artists on hand.

Lollipop Shoppe (Sloppyworld):

Live Projections will be provided by Chad of Strawberry Fields. Music will be provided by The Dirty Novels.

AM Ramblers/Doug Burr/Stanton Meadowdale (J&Js)

Formal: Art Opening for Sergio Garcia (Kettle Art Gallery): Opening for graffiti artist and musician, Sergio Garcia.

The Party/Hot Flash/Cool Out (Club Dada): This is the after party for the Kettle Art Opening featuring the three biggest local dance events squeezed into a single night.

SUNDAY

No Age (FREE -Good Records): Starts at 4pm

Liars/No Age/Select (Hailey's): Big show for a Sunday with two of the most critically acclaimed acts of recent years. Liars have kept things interesting with a constantly evolving sound that's shifted from what some deemed unlistenable noise (though it hardly qualified) to their more recent percussion driven exercises and finally...sounding somewhat like Beck. No Age hails from the "Smell" scene in Los Angeles, where a beloved venue weighs heavy in the ethics and sometimes even the sounds of the bands that hail from there. Though No Age is hardcore punk-influenced there is a vulnerable emotional slant to the music that is catchy and poppy, and it never completely dissipates no matter how much it's drowned and dirtied with lo-fi noise and production values. Select will DJ either in between acts, or with his own set, as is usually the case when a DJ plays Hailey's.