1) Andy Bothwell, better known as Beck-like rapper Astronautalis, less known as an SMU theater grad, notable for studio team-ups with local critical darlings like Midlake and Sara Jaffe, not to mention team-ups with international critical darlings like Tegan and Sara, will take the stage at Lola’s tonight (2736 6th St, Wednesday 3/23) in support of his new album, Cut the Body Loose. Krum and Austin’s Bird Peterson will open the show. DFW- and Calgary-connections aside, Astronautalis’ brainy, geeky subject matter (not Star Wars-geeky, but British Opium Wars-geeky) and verbal alacrity are the actual draws at this show; if you follow music enough, but not so much that you’ve ever heard an Astronaulalis song, he’s the guy who freestyles based on audience suggestions. Or a guy who does that – I’ve watched rap battle videos so I’m sure there are plenty of MCs who do this. And yes, Four Day Weekend and Paul Slavens, I know that improvisation is a cornerstone of a lot of your performances. I’m not saying Astronautalis invented freestyling, he’s just good at it. Here’s an oldie of him freestyling at Homegrown Fest in Dallas from four years ago:
2) Start your Friday with a stop at Dreamy Life Records and Music’s (1310 W. Allen) weekly happy hour – there will be free beer courtesy the Collective Brewing Project, and Squanto will be releasing the cassette edition of his debut album CLTVDTH, with fry-your-brain visuals by area weirdo genius and Beachpriest electronic wizard Grant Ring. If your plans involve blurring your vision under your favorite intoxicants this weekend, I can think of no better way to begin your spirit quest than this show, which starts at 6pm and goes until the beer is gone. Using the phrase “squanto music fort worth”, I searched in vain for a Squanto YouTube video, but here’s what came up as the first result:
3) Also on Friday: another show at the Sunshine Bar (902 W Division, Arlington)! Austin’s Bellringer will fill the smoky lil’ Division Street dive with its angular, high-volume punk – I hear Fugazi and Wire in the handful of songs available online, but there’s also plenty of sludgy phenotypes sprung from frontman Mark Deutrom’s Melvins-mutated DNA. The show starts at 9:30 with rock ’n roll vets Caliche Burnout, followed by China Kills Girls before Bellringer, with Rome I$ Burnin closing out the night at 12:30. Cover to the 21-and-up show is $5, and you might want to carpool, because the parking over there fills up fast. At the end of this listing is a Bellringer song called “Dick Cheney.” Remember him? Now there’s a classic Republican villain! None of that cartoonish, Hitleriffic Yosemite Sam bullshit Donald Drumpf is peddling – just pure, calculated, shoot-your-friend-with-a-shotgun-and-get-him-to-apologize oligarchic evil, the kind of evil you can actually respect:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNP2gIT4vJs
4) Saturday evening, Lola’s Trailer Park (2737 W 5th St) hosts a rare appearance by Burning Hotels, one of Fort Worth’s all-time favorite local acts, plus the Misteries, a newer band from Dallas that’s heads and shoulders above the rest of what I think of as the Dallas “Hat Band” scene. I’m not talking about the part of a hat that goes around the crown where you put a “press card” or eagle feather or whatever, I’m talking about a particular scene in Dallas where the band dudes wear stuff like bell bottoms, turquoise rings and increasingly floppy, vaguely western hats to accentuate music that sounds like its creators think “The Weight” and “Dead Flowers” are the two greatest songs ever written. The Misteries share the classic rock roots as a lot of these other Hat Bands, but with stickier hooks and some genuinely memorable guitar leads. If White Denim were to dissolve completely and forever, I think the Misteries could step into that void of bands that make new music out of the best parts of the classic rock canon without having to prop up their sound by buying all their clothes at Dolly Python. Does that come across as dismissive and reductive? I certainly hope so, but also, think about this the next time you see some dudes who look like an imagined, Mick Jagger-ian concept of the gunfight at the OK Corral play a song that sounds like “Ventilator Blues.” If that’s too much to consider, ponder instead the Biggest Mysteries in Minecraft:
5) You can catch Kevin Aldridge and The Appraisers on Saturday night at Magnolia Motor Lounge, where they’ll be dropping their latest CD single, “Faux Blues,” with assists from never-say-die local reggae clowns Darth Vato and songwriter Jake Robison, but Aldridge will be playing a solo show on Tuesday evening at a BYOB house party in the Fairmount (1831 5th Ave) along with veteran Fort Worth songwriter Carey Wolff, and flautist Juan Ospina. Saturday’s show starts at 9, and Tuesday’s party starts at 7. Did you know Scott Copeland once had a radio show? Here is Carey Wolff performing on it:
