Sober (Beauty Bar): The term “special guest” gets thrown around a lot, especially in regard to DJ nights. I mean, if your main draw is from Sachse, how “special” is that? I’m sure DJ Sachse can drive down 78 again next week, don’t you think?

Luckily that’s not the case here. DJ Expo comes to sunny Dallas from even sunnier LA and has been part of the beloved Root Down weekly party since the mid-2000′s. Root Down has hosted everyone from People Under The Stairs to Peanut Butter Wolf to a recent appearance by Adrian Younge.

Expo is known for his unconventional and  wide-ranging tastes, and he has been said to play music that you would be “hard pressed to hear coming out of a PA system anywhere else in town.” “Town” meaning Los Angeles, so you can probably be doubly sure in Dallas. He has shared bills with Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, and Cut Chemist, and tonight will split duties with local favorite Sober.

Lip Service with Trademarx/We Are Dark Clouds (Service Bar): Playing the finest in “Hipster, Hood & House” according to the invite, but you are probably acquainted with Trademarx from hearing him spin at Pizza Lounge on the weekends. We Are Dark Clouds, you may know from the “Funk Robot weekly” that has been covered here before.

New Science Projects/Shiny Around The Edges/Cuckoo Byrds/Terminator 2/Real Live Tigers (Rubber Gloves): Particularly solid send-off for New Science Projects before the group embarks on a long West Coast tour that will eat up most of July, but at least about ten days of it will be spent in the Pacific Northwest. West Coast tours are notoriously difficult for musicians. You spend much more time driving than anything else. But it gives them ample time to do what they’re truly talented at: perfecting indecipherable inside jokes.

R. Stevie Moore/Tropical Ooze/Marriage Material/Hares On The Mountain (Hailey’s): You’ve probably heard of R. Stevie Moore. He has been praised everywhere from NME (in the 80′s) to Rolling Stone’s Alt-Rock-A-Rama (in the 90′s) to The New York Times (in the 2000′s). And about three years ago on the blog I once wrote for, there was some passing comment by another author referencing Moore’s influence on Ariel Pink. I, however, don’t agree with that connection, so I won’t even bother with a link. However, what’s true: he’s extremely influential, so much so that much of his music from 30 years ago sounds like it was made today. He was even brought up as an inspiration to Dreamed in the FrontRow profile of the artist.

Luckily for us, R. Stevie Moore is making music today himself, so we don’t have to just hear his unique vision in the work of the many he has inspired. Currently he’s being documented and backed by former Denton musicians, which is great; but I personally get chills when I see footage of him with the great cultural preservationist Irwin Chusid on drums. Besides collaborating with Moore, Chusid has done so much for other outsider artists as well, whether through his book Songs In The Key Of Z or his work with WFMU, both of which I highly recommend. To have that much talent in the same band seems almost unfair. [Ed. note: The author will be performing in a band opening for R. Stevie Moore].

Image: Detail from the R. Stevie Moore album, “Special Needs.”