People who know Harry Shearer only as the bass player from This Is Spinal Tap (Derek Smalls) or through his voice work in The Simpsons (Mr. Burns among others) are about to be surprised. Shearer’s documentary, which he narrated, wrote and directed, The Big Uneasy tells the story of Hurricane Katrina in the way that only a native of New Orleans could. New Orleans is a distinct town with an identity defined by its people, culture, sights, sounds and music. Few cities enjoy such an instant recognizable aura. As a resident of New Orleans, Shearer understands the city, its layout ... Read More »

Black Lips (Photograph by Zach Wolfe) The Black Lips‘ brand of 60’s inspired garage rock is the kind of stuff that immediately strikes a chord with anyone. It’s sassy, smart-ass, precocious, in your face, weird, and, most importantly, a hell of a lot of fun. The kind of stuff built for summer and some very very veeeeery good drugs. It’s not quite summer and we are neither confirming nor denying anything about available drugs but one thing is for sure – The Black Lips play tonight at Fitz and we’re pretty excited about it. So much so that we interrupted ... Read More »

The Greatest Story Ever Sold explores the art of product placement, and once the film wraps you’ll have no doubt extracting monies from corporate entities to have their products appear in the frame of a movie will seem like art. Morgan Spurlock wrote, stars in and directs this documentary in a very tongue in cheek manner. Obviously this film has very limited core audience consisting of movie geeks who’ll see anything and producers looking for tips on the subtleties of negotiating with, say, Coke or Ban (deodorant) or in the case of Spurlock with Pom Wonderful. The juice seller (their ... Read More »

Time was when action movies had real explosions and effects. Nowadays movies CGI in all the mayhem, and the action sequences look patently false. Case in point Fast Five, the fifth in the serious of Fast and Furious movies. I get it, this is not a Coen Brothers film; it’s a dumb popcorn movie that’s meant to be enjoyed and forgotten on the drive home. Maybe I drive the wrong car to be reviewing Fast Five but the film is as vacuous as the popcorn that accompanies it. Fast Five as directed by Justin Lin (Rob Cohen and John Singleton ... Read More »

This Week’s Featured Show(s) Record Release Parties (WOOOOO!) Thursday, April 28 The Literary Greats (CD release) with The Orbans, Beetle @ The Continental Club Pale (CD release) with The Shiny Darks, Come See My Dead Person @ Warehouse Live (Studio) Satuday, April 30 The Energy (CD release) with OBN III’s, Exterminating Angels @ Rudyard’s The Manichean (CD release) with ME WITH THE GAMEBOY,Portal Walker @ Avant Garden Lower Life Form (CD release) with Thurogood Wordsmith, Nosaprise, D. Rose, Hustle Skwad @ Fitzgerald’s So many festivals this week but also a hell of a lot of record release shows. Now, OK, ... Read More »

A wave of diverse movies from Latin America descends on Houston in the form of the Latin Wave 6. The sixth annual festival of films from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Columbia and Mexico unwinds at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston this weekend (April 28 – May 1). Considering the paucity of foreign films playing in theatrical engagements in Houston this is a chance to see as many as eight premieres, all of which give viewers a unique spin on cinema. Culture wise these films offer their audience another side of the coin to the kind of corruption, community and ... Read More »

Tx\Rx members constructing what looks like a baby tardis By Alex Wukman Houston’s one and only Hackerspace Tx\Rx Labs has announced there spring/summer class series. The two-year-old organization, headquartered at 2025 Commerce St., is composed of over 20 members with backgrounds ranging from fashion design to computer security. The physical space boasts an impressive array of workstations and tools throughout the various labs; including a fully functioning metal shop, complete with plasma torch, and a 96 blade computation cluster in the electronics lab. According to the Tx\Rx website, the group is hard at work constructing their very own bio lab, no ... Read More »

Anamanaguchi’s “Airbrushed” Art by Paul Robertson Ah technology. We use it and then discard it for the next shiny toy that tempts us with promises of better and faster computing. In garages and in landfills there are the corpses of old gaming systems long discarded by a callous public. Yet there are some people who see this old technology as dynamic – something that can be reinvented and repurposed for other uses. Chiptone musicians are one such group. Through collaborative means, they trade ideas and software that allows them to take that old gaming system and breathe life into it ... Read More »

By Jacob Calle Secret Mommy’s latest release is a 27 minute soundtrack to a Darren Aronofsky film that does not exist. These 8 tracks have no beginning nor do they have an end as they seamlessly transcend into the next without interruption. The equation to the myriad mind of Andy Dixon has no solution. The Mall is a glitchy/cut/paste/copy/sample of consumerism in the most adoring way. Previous releases Dixon has recorded samples of recreational activities and dentistry. This time Dixon takes you on a tour of cashiers, elevators,  children laughing, and sales associates trying to make you offers on the latest ... Read More »

By Jacob Calle Charlie Sheen will be dumping his “Violent Torpedo of Truth Tour” here tonight at Verizon Wireless. You all may have heard that his tour has not been the best for him as people have bantered for him to “get the fuck off stage” “fuck you” and “you piece of shit mother fucker”. So  just exactly what does Sheen do on this tour? Honestly, I have seen video clips of his “performance” and I still don’t get what he’s doing. Neither did the people who demanded their money back. So if you still want to take a glimpse ... Read More »