Local post-rock connoisseurs My Education bring expansive walls of sound to the comforts of Emo’s Lounge this Saturday. The band expertly constructs stirring atmospheric rock, patiently adding appropriate layers and a textured ambiance to their cinematic compositions via a plethora of instruments including the pedal steel guitar, piano, violin, and vibraphone. Fittingly, My Education have performed at the Alamo Drafthouse in the past, scoring films ranging from (Mamoru Oshii’s) Angel’s Egg to (F.W. Warnau’s) Sunrise, a true testament to their talent. The Dead Science headline with spastic spurts of experimental rock that seem disjointed on first listen but are impressively coherent when you indulge the somewhat eerie concoctions. The diverse instrumentation and the varying standards create quite the avant-garde ruckus; it should all make for a raucous live show. The Seattle band released their third full-length Villainaire earlier this year. more ›

It’s a weird weird weird weird weird weird world, and The Weird Weeds are emblematic of our times. Our favorite avant-garde local pop band gets quite a few mentions on this site, and here’s why: the band are simultaneously challenging and odd while remaining irrepressibly goofy and even a little cute and cuddle-able. The same can be said for very few experimental rock bands out there, save for Weird Weeds stage-sharers Xiu Xiu – and even they traipse on the “creepy” side a little too often for many of us. more ›

MONDAY [16] film • "The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico" at Alamo Downtown books • Teen Sci-Fi writers Scott Westerfield and Justine Larbalestier at BookPeople (7:00pm) books • The Harlem Renaissance, a panel discussion with Cary D. Wintz, Martha Jane Nadell, and Shirley Thompson at The Harry Ransom Center (7:00pm) film • "A Clockwork Orange" at Alamo Downtown film • Jim Jarmusch's "Down By Law" at Alamo Village food • Central Market... more ›

THURSDAY [22] music •Third Coast Festival Listening Room, hosted by David Brown (KUT) at Cactus Café (7pm) books •Melissa Kirsch presents The Girl's Guide to Absolutely Everything at BookPeople (7:00pm) music •The Charms, Gentlemen's Social Club, The Deadly Companions at Emo's music •Jack Rabid and the Slims, American Business Machines (Mass), Abby Birds, The Steed at Trophy's music •Weird Weeds, The Dead Science, The Parenthetical Science, Hello Lovers at The Mohawk film •Alejandro Jodorowsky's... more ›

Xiu Xiu's lead singer Jamie Stewart knows a thing or two about pain, heartache, and misery; one certainly assumes so from listening to his plaintive wailings on the band's latest record, La Forêt. The Oakland/Seattle-based experimental noise trio remain characteristically uncharacterizable, save for Stewart's verge-of-shattering crystalline voice. It's an album that takes several plays before any of the dozen esoteric, despondent tracks are even remotely comprehensible, but on our first pass we did a... more ›