MUSIC

Steel Lounge Underground celebrates Houston summers with art and music. Presented with Derek Jones and Josh Zulu, this music event showcases Houston’s diversity and talent by bringing together musical artists representing a variety of genres. During the event, the audience is free to explore the exhibitions on view while enjoying the music.

This month’s talented lineup: Ceeplus Bad Knives, Avenger, and Sasha Braverman & Henry Chow. There is no charge for admission; cash bar and gourmet food by Houston’s latest food sensation, the Fusion Taco Truck. Steel Lounge Underground will be held 8-11pm the last Fridays of May-August; upcoming dates are June 25, July 30, and August 27.

Don’t miss this exciting combination of art and local music.

ABOUT THE MUSICAL ARTISTS
DJ Ceeplus Bad Knives has been turning tables for more than 20 years and likes to take chances. So get ready for some early days of punk rock and Afrika Bambatta with a lot of hip-hop, space jazz, and J. Coltrane mixed in. A member of SXSW’s alumni, Ceeplus rocks the party in style, combining art, music, and performance to form an experience that promises to lead us from late nights to early mornings.

Originally from the New York area, Sasha Braverman has been involved in underground dance music since 1993. In 2000, Sasha relocated to Houston where he began to explore new sounds and directions as a DJ. Focusing on the deeper sounds of techno, house, and electro, Sasha has stayed at the forefront of the minimal explosion while maintaining an affinity for his early Detroit and European techno influences. Joining forces with Henry Chow, he has focused on minimal house and techno.

From the East to the West, Henry Chow brings a fresh new sound to the international techno community. Though he keeps his cool from the outside, Chinese-American Chow lets it rip—in the clubs and on vinyl. Henry's sound is basically a rougher, synthesized one, compressed with hypnotic multi-rhythms and extremely hard percussive/tribal influences. Add minimal repetitive melodies on top of it, and there you go.

Inspired by legendary musicians like Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, and Jack White, Avenger has been providing the groove for Houston since 2006. Entertaining and inspiring performances accentuate Avenger’s original sound: a blend of Rock, Blues, Funk, and Soul with a hint of Psychedelia. Guitarist and vocalist Chris Bowie's onstage antics have been reviewed as erotic, engaging, and highly contagious, so get ready for an exciting show!

ABOUT FUSION TACO
New this year: Fusion Taco, a booming taco truck business brought to you by Julia Sharaby, a locally grown “food-artist” of sorts. Her innovations to the run of the mill taco truck are outstanding, giving all those taco trucks out there a run for their money, complete with short rib tacos, Asian cole slaw and Indian flatbread. We’re not using the word “fusion” lightly here!

ABOUT THE EXHIBITIONS
San Antonio artist Cruz Ortiz believes he may have missed his calling. “I should’ve been a honky-tonk singer,” he says. But because he can’t croon like a Conjunto or Country music star, Ortiz more than compensates by deploying a broad range of media—prints, paintings, sculptures, video, installation, and performance—to speak about life, love, and the struggle for equality. Among the humorous, oftentimes rattletrap devices Ortiz uses to enable the Spaztek—his post-Chicano, post-punk antihero alter ego—to express human yearnings for companionship and communal action are “balladic broadsides, transient architecture, life-size flying contraptions, megaphones, pushcarts, rockets, maps, banners and flags, and siege machines.” In Perspectives 170: Cruz Ortiz, the artist’s first in-depth museum exhibition and catalogue, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston will present a selection of works from these categories. On view through July 11, 2010.

Hand+Made: The Performative Impulse in Art and Craft is a dynamic group exhibition that explores the innovative means by which artists continue to expand the traditional boundaries of art and craft. Through the integration of performance, the artists featured in this exhibition have broadened the context of craft in contemporary art. The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston will present sculptural objects, environments, and site-specific installations along with photography and video documenting performances, as well as a series of live performance events. Featured artists include the collaborative group B Team, Conrad Bakker, Nick Cave, Cat Chow, Sonya Clark, Gabriel Craig, Theaster Gates, Cynthia Giachetti, Ryan Gothrup, Sabrina Gschwandtner, Lauren Kalman, Christy Matson, James Melchert, Yuka Otani, Sheila Pepe, Michael Rea, Anne Wilson, Saya Woolfalk, and Bohyun Yoon. On view through July 25, 2010.

OFFICIAL AFTER PARTY
We are having an official after party for this event. Please be sure to check out Juan Maclean over at Boondocks after Steel Lounge Underground. Boondocks is located at: 1417 Westheimer Ave. The after party will be hosted by DJ Ceeplus Bad knives/Reprogram Music & Media!

Click here to visit the Steel Lounge Underground - June 25, 2010 Facebook page.