Idi*Amin is arguably one of the most experimental groups playing at Strategies of Beauty, but their experimental technique is nuanced and they don't sound as though they are out to simply punish you with pure noise, even though they could if they wanted to. The only thing keeping this band from being a straight instrumental group is the fact that "atonal" guitarist Nevada Hill ( a label he doesn't take as an insult, like the way it's sometimes pejoratively thrown around this very site) will let lose with an occasional scream or yelp. Meanwhile, "Tonal" guitarist Paul Overby balances out Nevada's formlessness while the Observer's most capable freelancer, Michael Chamy, plays the Sinewave Generator to undermine any and all attempts at balance.

The band has had multiple drummer syndrome in the past, but they are currently backed by Boyd Dixon of Tame, Tame and Quiet. Boyd brings a more direct drumming style to the push and pull of Idi*Amin, and it's very entertaining to hear the band rise and fall between droning, complete chaos, and...rocking. Finally, all the musical contrasts are topped off by the loop-like saxophone work of Mike Forbes. His repetitive phrases and hypnotic melody shards dart around Idi*Amin's live eruptions and at times recall Philip Glass. And no, I'm not talking about the Kundun soundtrack. Honestly, a lot of Forbes' sax parts remind me of the opening sample on Devin the Dude's "I-Hi," and that's not a bad thing. And if you can't remember the complex names of any of Idi*Amin's improvisations, just request that they do their"microphone trick". It's a local legend.

Saturday's Strategies of Beauty performance featuring the duet of Samantha Moss of Jetscreamer and Emil Rapstine of The Angelus will be their second performance together, and like the first, it will likely result in some combination of haunting atmospheric music and spoken word performance. In their first performance, Emil played a bastardized wind organ to accompany Samantha's recital of passages from"Dakota: A Spiritual Geography," a non-fiction tome written by Kathleen Norris that includes a topical mix of weather reports, spirituality, and monasticism in the American Midwest. Sounds like Spin Magazine wasn't kidding about this being one of the "101 Wildest Parties" of the summer! But don't let the reading scare you, Mr. or Ms. Less Adventurous, because Emil Rapstine's accompaniment will be a sonic fit to the heavy subject matter, and will probably resemble his moody work in The Angelus. Unfortunately, Rapstine's wind organ died an untimely death, so he'll be forced to improvise other ways to embellish Sam's speaking. The two might also treat the crowd to duet vocals, but no promises. One thing I was promised by Samantha: this will sound nothing like Jetscreamer.

To everyone that came here from the Myspace bulletin: FOOLED YOU!

It appears that two of our favorite weekly Wednesday night events, The party @ Rubber Gloves with DJ Nature and DJ G's 80's house night at the Cavern are not going down this week. And to top it off, nothing else worthy of any time or attention ( that we know about) seems to be happening tonight either, which is the first time in a while (Other than a random Sunday or Monday here or there) that its been quite this dead.

So maybe you should sit back, relax, have a few beers, and get ready for the weekend. Sorry. I can't wait for someone to bitch at us because nothing is going down tonight.

However, later tonight we will have more posts on some of the Strategies bands ( a concert, in case you hadn't heard, that is expected by Spin to be one of the 101 best parties of the summer), an MP3 or two from other bands, and more details about our "best of" local podcast, which seems to be coming together quite nicely. We've got the playlist picked out and a good host, so we're on our way.

So are the 90's the new 80's or something?

1. Occasional Detroit | Kidko (Metrognome)
Don't be like me. Don't miss another great show at Metrognome because you can't make it out to Ft. Worth tonight. I can't make it for various reasons, but if I were going out tonight, this is where I would be. OD is I guess what you would call "avant hip hop," but I would just call it some great beats and efficiently utilized noise parts. I've never really heard anything quite like it, but I guess you could maybe make a Suicide comparison, if only slight. And don't be afraid of the IDM label (I often am), because Kidko is one of the better electronic artists in DFW right now. I think Juiceboxx was supposed to play this show too, but I don't think they are on the bill anymore.

2. Lost Generation with Wanz (Cavern Upstairs)
Heres what he'll have tonight. Sounds good:

"Tonight's theme is nostalgia. I am gonna time warp back to the listening habits of my group of friends duringb the early to mid 90's. MBV, The Darkside, Spacemen 3, Slowdive, Laika, Seefeel, Squarepusher, Stereolab, Silver Apples, Pale Saints, Tortoise, Yo La Tengo, ESG, Bark Psychosis, Pram, Slint, Public Enemy, Atom Heart,Kraftwerk and much much more. I'm diggin deep into the vault for this one. Have you ever heard The Velvet Underground legendary Guitar Amp Tape? Do you know what Narcotic Guitar is?When was the last time you listened to the 1st Suicide album? Remember SST records? Anyone remeber Mark Ibold's pre-pavement(and far superior) band "The Dustdevils"? When was thge last time you dusted off a Gastr del Sol record? Remember the Denton house parties with The Boredoms, Blues Explosion and Mouse and Mars? A few of you out there may even remember freaking out The Swirlies when they came to Denton when everyone kept trying to get them stoned..........oh the days. It's nostalgia night at Lost Generation."

I would have loved to try to get the Swirlies stoned. I can't believe they wouldn't.

Also, Eat Avery's Bones is playing with the Peelers, The Future Unlived and Polio=Feet at Dada tonight. I'm not a big "garage" guy, and I can't stand rockabilly, so I can't really recommend the Peelers... Future Unlived's myspace page is fucked up so I can't really hear what they sound like, and I can't really find anything about the feet dudes, so sorry Surly.

Band of Horses | Mt. Egypt | The Can't See (Hailey's $10)
Even though I've poked fun at them before, I don't really think Band of Horses suck. In fact, I think they are pretty damn good at what they do, which is combining The Shins and My Morning Jacket. But thats not even fair, is it? I mean, they do have some qualities that neither of those bands have, and they are a pleasant listen, and perhaps a bit more challenging and dark than the Shins. And they're actually pretty good songwriters too, but I just don't feel like I can buy into all the hype surrounding these guys yet, even if there are a couple of songs on Everything All the Time that I like quite a bit, especially "The Funeral." I wonder how they'll be live... probably a good time. Mt. Egypt sounds like a slightly less dense, um, Band of Horses, and The Can't See, well, I can't hear the can't see now, so see you later.

Like we said last week, this week we'll be profiling some of the bands playing at the Strategies of Beauty festival on Saturday at Rubber Gloves in Denton. We think this thing could be one of the local music highlights of the year, so we'll be giving it a little more coverage than we usually do for most concerts. Since we're lazy, and we've already done profiles on two of performers, we'll start by linking back to those. You can expect handful more of them this week:

HERE: Shiny Around the Edges

HERE: Chris Garver

1. Nobody & Mystic Chords of Memory - Tree Colored See
2. Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
3. Danielson - Ships
4. The Paper Chase - Now You Are One Of Us
5. Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
6. Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope
7. Frank Black - Fast Man Raider Man
8. Small Sins - Small Sins
9. Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
10. The Futureheads - News and Tributes
11. Wolfmother - Wolfmother
12. Daedelus - Denies the Days Demise
13. Jose Gonzalaz - Veneer
14. Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds
15. Astronautalis - The Mighty Ocean and Nine Dark Theaters
16. Juana Molina - Son
17. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
18. The Stills - Without Feathers
19. Hot Chip - The Warning
20. Be Your Own Pet - Be Your Own Pet

Maybe I'm dumb, but what the hell is Nobody and the Mystic whatever?