The Beauty Bar hosts the fascinating Gil Mantera’s Party Dream this Saturday. Hailing from Ohio originally, the duo consists of Gil Mantera and Ultimate Donny, two brothers who combine thumping dance beats and traditional rock music to create an electric smorgasbord of synth-pop that will keep you on the dance floor all night long. The hodgepodge of beats and sounds is as exhilarating as it is intriguing; always entertaining, sometimes cheesy. The duo’s live show seems to be quite a spectacle and a DVD (Live Video Archive [Vol. 01]) showcasing all the glory is also available. Gil Mantera’s Party Dream self-released two records before 2005’s bloodsongs on Audio Eagle Records. ...

If you caught Montreal indie-poppers Islands at SXSW this year (or at their return appearance in May), you know that they throw down Canadian-indie-style (which is to say, with way more people on stage than is necessary). Seriously though, Islands are a pants-wettingly good live act. We might even go so far as to say that they're better live than they are on disc; on stage, their occasionally cheesy angular quirkiness is taken over......

FRIDAY [1] music • Tacks, The Boy Disaster w. The Channel, Golden Bear at The Parish Room ® books • Jacqueline Winspear presents Messenger of Truth at BookPeople (7pm) film • Chuck Norris Martial Arts Movie Mania with Chuck Norris in Person: Sidekicks at Alamo Downtown (6pm, $10) film • Lawrence of Arabia at Paramount Theatre (7:30pm) film • Chuck Norris Martial Arts Movie Mania with Chuck Norris in Person: Code of Silence at......

Having played an outrageously amazing show at Coachella after winning a MySpace contest they didn't even know about, Austin's The Octopus Project are coming back to their hometown this Saturday to headline at Emo's outside, with Loxsly, Gil Mantera's Party Dream and Featherweight Burden. The trio's been busy these past few months: they played a bunch of well-received shows back at SXSW (prompting Rolling Stone's David Fricke to name them one of his standout bands......