Live Music Recommendations for the Weekend

Seismic Dance event escapes the Carson Creek curse, the Jesus Lizard wiggles at ACL live, and Yo La Tengo continue their renaissance tour.

FRIDAY

Seismic Dance Event

Travis County Expo Center
Fri-Sat., September 21, 22

Independent promoter RealMusic Events presents a two-day camping experience featuring over 40 of your favorite DJs and dance music artists. Headliners include Austin’s own Kingdom Nightclub resident DJ Barbuto on Friday and multifaceted punk producer/funk DJ/sometimes singer Amtrac on Saturday. Vibe out to tech-y house and progressive beats while commingling at the food trucks and art installations. – Clara Wang

SATURDAY

The Jesus Lizard

ACL Live at the Moody Theater
Sat., September 22, 8pm

Strange times: Trump’s president, billionaires are launching cars into space, and Jesus Lizard wild man David Yow tossed the opening pitch at a Dodgers game – fast, high, and outside. Some 31 years after the Chicago-by-way-of-Austin quartet started, their physical approach remains similar. Bassist David Wm. Sims says Yow isn’t expected to do anything unsafe despite occasional stage diving, but he himself suffered a meniscus tear during the band’s December dates.

A recent viewing of Jim Jarmusch’s Stooges doc Gimme Danger added insult to injury.

“In the interview, Iggy was sitting on his foot, with his leg tucked completely under him, which I completely cannot do anymore,” laments Sims.

Battle scars aside, he, Yow, guitarist Duane Denison, and drummer Mac McNeilly still conjure the highly distilled essence of blistering touchstones like 1991’s Goat and 1992’s Liar when they occasionally reunite. Given the austere conditions under which the Steve Albini-produced albums were recorded, there’s no trickery other than nailing it down.

“We just wrote the songs as we wanted to play them in clubs in front of people, and then we went and recorded them that way,” Sims says. “We didn’t really have the wiggle room to get fancy with that process.” – Greg Beets

Laraaji, Dallas Acid

Zach Theatre's Kleberg Stage
Sat., September 22, 7pm

Call Edward Larry Gordon (Laraaji) New Age, but he’s not new to music. Since the late Seventies, the Philly-born virtuoso has performed aural meditations on the electric zither, an old-world cross between harp and guitar. In Austin, he plays alongside homegrown ambient trio Dallas Acid, with whom he collaborated on Arrive Without Leaving, due October 2. – Dan Gentile

Frankie Cosmos

Barracuda
Sat., September 22, 9pm

Launched under the K Records-influenced penmanship of Greta Kline, Vessel marks the project’s 52nd release from the New Yorker’s bedroom-built archive. Now crafting indie-pop as a quartet, Frankie Cosmos’ Sub Pop debut sharpened Kline’s simply-put, highly empathic outlook. Texan Hannah Read’s rich poetics join as Lomelda, and Detroit songwriter Stef Chura opens with bristly guitar rock. – Rachel Rascoe

Shoreline Mafia

Parish
Sat., September 22, 7pm

Shoreline Mafia became the face of L.A.’s SoundCloud-fueled hip-hop renaissance after a Fox News exposé on lean catapulted their intemperate raps from the streets to suburbia. From the low-riding thrash of “Spaceship” to the downtempo jerk of “Musty,” the new Atlantic Records signees synthesize and expand the West Coast sound with unbounded neo-G-funk. – Jeremy Steinberger

SUNDAY

Yo La Tengo

Mohawk
Sun., September 23, 6pm

Indie pioneers and experimental icons since 1984, this Jersey trio now offers a double-set standalone performance. 2018 album There’s a Riot Going On remains languidly introspective and largely instrumental. Their 15th LP muses dreamily post-commotion via Ira Kaplan’s atmospheric guitar lines, Georgia Hubley’s warm drumming, and James McNew’s spacious bass. – Rachel Rascoe