It List: Thursday

Xiu Xiu/Thao Nguyen and the Get Down Stay Down (Lola's): Man, if you're into some uncomfortable banter and even more uncomfortable performances, then tonight's Xiu Xiu show might be for you. I used to be fairly into some of Xiu Xiu's material a few years ago, and although I won't say that I no longer have any interest in Jamie Stewart's strange compositions, I feel compelled to say that his work now reminds me of a recent critique of English noise legends Whitehouse that appeared in Wire: Shock for shock's sake, no matter how shocking, is kind of, well, boring, particularly in an era where nothing seems to really shock anyone. And seeing Xiu Xiu at SXSW a couple years ago further confirmed this feeling, as I think I almost feel asleep during their performance. Or maybe I almost "passed out." I can't remember. I do, however, have to give him props for the song "Support Our Troops" on Fabulous Muscles. One of the most emotionally confrontational critiques of the U.S. Military I've ever heard.

AFI Film Festival-- Nerdcore Rising (Angelika, 715pm): Man, I've hit up two films throughout the course of this festival so far, and both were extremely well attended despite being anything but mainstream in their appeal. Translation: even if you think "who the fuck is gonna go see a movie about nerdcore," get there early, because I promise, it's a lot more people than you think. Nerdcore Rising is, surprise surprise, a documentary about the growing popularity of the "nerdcore" hip hop movement, which was recently discussed in an issue of XLR8R that featured Ft. Worth's own MC Router.... who apparently isn't involved with Nerdcore anymore anyway. As I know very little about the history of this sub-subculture, I'm kind of interested in checking this film out. PS-- I've always thought that Busdriver was way nerdier than just about anyone in hip hop, and he's not even part of this nerdcore thing.

Lost Generation (Fallout): Wanz might have the most sonically diverse record collection of any DJ in Dallas, with playlists that include artists ranging from Pinch to Autechre to Kraftwerk to Boyz Noize to the toughest, most challenging early industrial tracks you could ever hope to not dance to. Good stuff.

And I must say that I'm actually a tad curious to hear exactly what MC 900 Ft. Jesus does during his weekly Thursday night set at Lee Harvey's. I think I saw the video for "If I only had a Brain" on MTV like 50 times during that one summer when I got grounded a lot.