Yr. Weekend, Pt. 3: Too $hort + Devin The Dude + Sleep Bellum Sonno + Perfect Future + football, etc. + Binarium 024 + More

Rolling on into Sunday, January 16th, and there’s still some good stuff to do for the weekend; here goes:

Too $hort/Devin The Dude/DJ Kid Capri @ House of Blues
Honestly, I had no idea Too $hort was even still around; I remember that guy from back when I was in high school, for crying out loud. Apparently he kinda-sorta retired back in the ’90s and didn’t really get back going again ’til the ’00s, partly doing the crunk thing — crazy that I haven’t heard anything the rapper’s done since 1988’s Life Is…Too Short, considering he’s released 12 fucking albums in the meantime.

But hey, I’m damn glad to see he’s still been kicking for almost this entire time. Listening to those old-school handclaps and beats takes me back, that’s for damn sure. And him playing with {Devin The Dude} is pretty genius, if you ask me; I’m betting the two of ’em sound pretty cool back-to-back… Devin’s one of my favorite rappers in H-town, one of the most laid-back and cool I’ve heard of the more “mainstream” bunch.

Sleep Bellum Sonno/Perfect Future/football, etc./Diving @ Vinyl Junkie
I’ll admit it: I’d never heard of Long Islanders Sleep Bellum Sonno before seeing this show on the list sent over by Titus at Vinyl Junkie, but having now heard ’em, I’m pretty intrigued. Post-hardcore, for sure, but it’s too murky and atmospheric to be screamo and has too much screaming/howling to be flat-out indie-rock; the closest comparison I can come up with is long-dead proto-emo guys Four Hundred Years, and even that’s not quite right.

Frostburg, MD.’s Perfect Future roam similarly hard-to-define territory, with jagged, disjointedly proggy guitar lines, yelled/sung vocals, and an overall quiet, melancholy feel — think Braid doing covers of The For Carnation, and you’ll get close. As for local crew {football, etc.}, I’ve been slow to get into ’em, I’ll admit it, but the newest stuff (snippets of their forthcoming The Draft full-length) I’ve heard comes together a lot better than the band’s debut EP, to my ears, and makes me think of both Palomar and Sarge. Take that as a recommendation, y’all.

Binarium Sound Series, featuring BinarySoundMachine, Smith/Ewen/Dove/Bryerton, & Canales/Becker @ The Mekong Underground (2808 Milam; 8-10PM)
Wow. See all those names, there? Now, go to the {Binarium Sound Series} site and slog through the seemingly neverending bios of all those folks — I’m familiar with only a handful of the freaking football team folks involved, but this show reads like a who’s-who of experimental music.

The two I have seen before, btw, guitar experimenter Sandy Ewen & trombonist Dave Dove, are pretty impressive in their respective realms; well worth seeing, trust me.

Runners-Up:
Gorilla Battle of the Bands, featuring Sup A, The Visions, Mindy Salazar, Skcitssa, Darwin’s Finches, Dipper, Melissa Savcic Band, Alter Deception, Din Chaos, Sleepy Sheeps, & Killing Clover @ Fitzgerald’s
Freedom Fest, featuring Keno Sims, Hymn For Her, The Escatones, & more @ Walter’s