It’s not ’cause he’s one of our regular scribes that we’re bragging on him, but Ken Shimamoto deserves a lot of props for bringing together the 817’s out-there crowd: He fronts the experi-improv outfit PFF(F)T!, co-founded The Stooges tribute band Stoogeaphilia, and involves other avant-rockers in the gigs he regularly lands.
His latest coup is the Hentai Improvising Orchestra, a kind of rawk Arkestra featuring some of the most active noisicians and on-the-spot melodymakers in the 817, including Mark Cook from Mirror People and the band Yanari on Warr guitar and electronics, Bob Fisher from Yanari on assorted saxophones and flute, Terry Horn from Jin Men Ju, Blind Umizato, and Yanari on laptop, turntables, and tape recorders, Matt Hembree from PFF(F)T! and Goodwin, among other bands, on bass and other assorted instruments, Matt Hickey from PFF(F)T! on electronics and homemade Gopichand, John Teague from The Great Tyrant on drums, Michael Chamey from Zanzibar Snails on electronics, Tara Wood from Dust Congress on bassoon, and Marcus Brunt from PFF(F)T! on trombone. The orchestra’s live debut is Sat., July 11, at Lola’s Saloon-Sixth (2736 W. 6th St., in the West 7th Street corridor, 817-877-0666.), with two other out-there outfits: Harry Has A Head Like A Ping-Pong Ball and The Underground Railroad, one of North Texas’ most respected prog-rock outfits that is evidently back from a long hiatus. (HIO bassist Hembree also plays in the UR.) For more info on The Underground Railroad, visit the frontman’s web site, www.myspace.com/billpohl. For HIO, www.myspace.com/hentaiimprovisingorchestra. … On Sat., July 18, Lola’s-Sixth will be the site of another local debut, that of The Phuss, a new duo straight outta Fort Worth whose music lodestar is clearly The Toadies — one, of course, could do worse than pay homage to some of the best Modern Rock-ers of the past 20 years and easily one of the best bands that’s ever come out of North Texas. Based on a couple-a listens at the www.myspace.com/thephuss, the duo creates a helluva racket, a lot more noise than you might expect from just a guy on guitar (Josh Fleming) and another (Trey Alfrao) on drums. Joining The Phuss on the bill will be two Dallas Mod-Rock groups, Brake Vegas and ETA, and a band from Rhode Island called The Goners. The show is all ages. Cover charge is $6. … An easily more hipster-ish show on July 18 will be taking place at The Chat Room Pub (1263 W. Magnolia Ave., on the South Side, 817-922-8319), when Ben Rogers presents a benefit show for the local arts-related nonprofit agency that he spearheads, the Metrognome Collective. Slated to play are several Denton bands, including Fight Bite, Eat Avery’s Bones, and Darktown Strutters, plus Dallas’ Akkolyte and Fort Worth’s The Great Tyrant. The show also is a debut for one band, Personal Victories With George Quartz (featuring members of Faux Fox). Every cent of the $5 cover charge goes toward the collective, whose mission includes providing space for underground, non-mainstream visual artists to exhibit their work, at 4147 Meadowbrook Dr. on the East Side. “You know what’s even better?” Rogers writes in an e-mail. “It’s on the same night of the [Dallas Observer Music] Awards, and a few of these bands turned down their invitations so as to play this show.” For more information, visit http://metrognome.org.
Contact HearSay at hearsay@fwweekly.com.
