Central Track Staff
Have It Both Ways.
Back in June a man that claims to be the nephew of Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash tweeted a pic of himself cooking some chicken directly on top of his electric range along with the caption, “hell yeah benihana up in this bitch.” Over the weekend an aid working for Rep. Keith Ellison inadvertently re-tweeted the message via the congressman's account .
As innocuous as it was, this was, apparently, a big deal to some people. Are we really to the point where we can't allow our senators to publicly express their affinity for hibachi-style dining? Personally, we're more offended that the original tweeter didn't even bother to capitalize the word Benihana. But that's another matter altogether.
Some things are just worth getting excited about — take some of tonight's happenings, for instance — and who are we to stand in the way of anyone that wants to express that excitement via their own social media accounts? — Cory Graves
The Both at Kessler Theater
No arguing here, Aimee Mann is one of the best singer-songwriters of our generation. She even wrote some songs for one of the greatest films of our time, Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia, which gained her an Oscar nomination for “Best Song.” Recently, she teamed up with Ted Leo for The Both, and you can see their collaborative effort tonight at Kessler. No hyperbole here — this is going to be one hell of a show. — Chase Whale
Casket Girls at Dan's Silverleaf
According to its bio, electro-pop trio Casket Girls' sophomore album — which was released back in February — was written under an interesting set of circumstances. Allegedly Black Moth Super Rainbow “sound-shaper” Ryan Graveface stumbled upon Savannah, Georgia sisters Phaedra and Elsa Greene and gave them some tracks to work on. Later he found the sisters in a catatonic-like state, furiously scribbling down poetry that would become the album's lyrics, then recording them in demo form. When Graveface was ready to record final takes of the vocals, however, the sisters were supposedly completely unaware of anything they'd done and had to re-learn everything from scratch. As much as we want to believe that tale, one doesn't necessarily have to in order to appreciate the band's sound, which harkens to acts like the Shangri-las but on acid. — CG
Mountian of Smoke, Omotai, Spacebeach, Dead to a Dying World at Crown and Harp (Free)
Mountain of Smoke are a local bass and drum duo, which we should point out is much different than a drum and bass duo. Much. As in these guys emit a particularly brutish brand of noise metal. They top a rather interesting, totally loud — and surprisingly free — show tonight on Lower Greenville. — CG
Lethal Weapon at Alamo Drafthouse
Continuing the Drafthouse's week of classic action flicks is a screening of 1987's Lethal Weapon which stars a pre-racist rant Mel Gibson, a pre-motorcycle accident Gary Busey and an already-too-old-for-this-shit Danny Glover. Like the other films in the series (see: First Blood, Die Hard) this one, too, spawned a number of sequels of both the classic and ill-conceived varieties. — CG
Mannie Fresh at House of Blues
As the in-house producer for Cash Money from 1993 to 2005, Mannie Fresh was responsible for a string of that period's biggest hip-hop hits. To wit, his production credits include Juvenile's “Back That Azz Up,” B.G.'s “Bling Bling,” which popularized that bit of slang, and Lil Wayne's singles “Tha Block is Hot” and “Shine.” Still, he seemed to save his best stuff for his own group the Big Tymers. “Number One Stunna,” “Still Fly” and “Get Your Roll On” were pretty inescapable during that time. Tonight, though, he'll be taking on KLC and DJ Toomp in what some genius in a marketing department is calling “the best beat battle in the world.” — CG
Jerkagram, Mannequin Pussy, Black James Franco at Rubber Gloves
At the intersection of doom metal, math rock and noise rock you'll find Brooklyn fraternal twins Derek and Brent Gaines of whose band Jerkagram will fit nicely on a bill with Philadelphia's balls-out punk outfit Mannequin Pussy and experimental Denton groove band Black James Franco. As you might have gathered from the bands' names alone each of these acts has a firm grip on the whole sense of humor thing, which is one incentive for checking this show out. To be fair, though, who needs much more incentive to check out a show than $1 cover? — CG
Straight Ahead at Scat Lounge
Every Tuesday night in the Fort, Straight Ahead pays tribute to Coltrane, Monk, Coleman and everyone else that put out music on the legendary Blue Note label back in the golden age of American jazz. — CG
Torquila Tuesdays at Lola's
Good news for fans of Sam Anderson's long-running weekly at Magnolia Motor Lounge, who have missed seeing the Quaker City Night Hawks frontman and his rotating backing band of late: Starting tonight Anderson, along with fellow Night Hawks members, will begin a new weekly residency at West 7th mainstay Lola's. There's no cover and the brown liquors will flow like wine. — CG
To find out what else is going on today, this week and beyond, check out our events page.
