FRIDAY:
>>> It is crazy, and awesome, to think about how The Yah Mos Def (pictured) has evolved from almost a gag band — “ex-hardcore dudes rap about… hardcore!” — to something approaching, you know, a real thing, with seven inches, 12-inches and now, an album. Meanwhile, the duo — Bryan Trackstar and Ricky Coldhands — have developed into somewhat deft beat producers, mining punk and indie past for the unlikeliest, uhm, dope beats ever. YMD celebrate the release of their debut long-player at the Barbary with Pink Skull.
>>> But before that, do yourself a favor and hit up Space 1026’s annually hilarious and wild food show. But beware: It’s gonna be hard to move around in the city tonight, because everyone you know is throwing a party, having a show, and so on. Why, just across the street, Turbostation is back at the Troc. We caught the last one, and it was a truly fun party — it feels like a rare and exciting thing still to be dancing in the Troc, and Bloodbath/Oh Murder!/Strawberry Mansion/Shawn Ryan et al do a great job of putting these together. Philebrity declares this shit major fun.
>>> And DJ Deejay’s Beatles & Stones at Johnny Brenda’s tonight is augmented very, very nicely by our pals/Psychedelphian landlords The Asteroid #4. AND the monthly Goldz Sounds party is back at Tritone with what Doug calls the “early Of Montreal” stylings of It’s A King Thing.
SATURDAY:
>>> Things calm down a bit, clusterjam-wise, but probably not if you’re going to see the Eastern European gypsy punk explosion that is Gogol Bordello at the Electric Factory. This is not a band, this is a full-blown sociological mystery, which is far better.
>>> Meanwhile, the Radical Jewish Music Festival gets underway, but John Zorn does not fully attack the city until Sunday. Read more about it here.
>>> Back at the Trocadero, it’s a bit of the ol’ audience participation: Karaoke Gong Show & Guitar Hero Shred-A-Thon. Yes.
>>> And then there are the standbys: Tasty Treats with Mike Nyce & ?uestlove at Fluid, and Hurrah at Medusa with special guests Mark Brown (Are We Not Men?, Baltimore) and Electrochris (NYC). For the record, Hurrah nabbed Flyer of the Week status so deftly, so easily, that it’s not even funny. (Click to enlarge.)
SUNDAY:
>>> Pity the band booked at The Fire on a Sunday, normally, but not so tonight: The dark garage of The Black Hollies and Francofile goofiness of Les Sans Culottes are gleefully underbooked in this room, making for what looks to us like a potentially awesome little show.
>>> And remember how we were all ragging on the 90s the other day and people got all in a twist about it because, duh, they lived through the 90s? Guess what, people, so did we. We did not understand how you couldn’t get that. However, we have an olive branch to offer you. It is this: A listening party of all Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan, 10pm, free, at Tritone. We nearly, we nearly lost you there.

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[Photo credit: Paul The Champ]

This entry was posted on Friday, February 29th, 2008 at 4:43 pm.