The Music The

SUN 11/16
Musicians are poets, but they still have to be musicians. Albums aren't supposed to be books on tape set to a tune. So it is with the music of The Planet The, a Portland-based prog-rock band that revels in dabbling in the weird. Vox/guitarist Charlie Salas-Humara explains: "If you notice, there's not really any lyrics. It's just all made-up words. I'm not really into telling people my trip, but it's kind of nice to have another instrument, a voice playing like a lead over the top of it."With all that soulful babbling going on, their sound becomes tough to pigeonhole. "We've been describing it as dance/punk/prog, like a mixture between Yes and Kraftwerk," he says. Traces of Devo and Ween also appear, especially when the band busts into a thumpin' groove, waits for the house to start bouncing, then suddenly switches to melancholic ambience, leaving the crowd confused and begging for more. 8 p.m. Sunday, November 16. Super Happy Fun Land, 2610 Ashland. For more information, call 713-880-2100 or visit www.superhappyfunland.com. $6. -- Keith Plocek

Smooth-a-palooza
Comedy royalty and R&B VIPs share the festival stage
SAT 11/15

You won't catch us slagging music festivals, but they can be a bit self-serious, and occasionally they do drag on. Walter Latham, producer of the smash hit Kings of Comedy Tour and the Spike Lee joint it spawned, is mixing it up for us. His Comedy Soul Festival intersperses hot stand-up with cool R&B. This fest takes the timeless variety-show format off the boob tube and puts it on tour. Comedian Bruce Bruce will host; Rick Smiley, Adele Givens and Earthquake will provide the laughs; and Earth Wind & Fire and the Isley Brothers will lay down the sounds. You'll laugh and dance, and if you don't dally, you'll make it home in time for Saturday Night Live. 7 p.m. Saturday, November 15. Compaq Center, 10 Greenway Plaza. For information and tickets, call 713-629-3700 or visit www.ticketmaster.com. $41.35 to $61.35. -- Lisa Simon

Fast Dance

Modern dance is staking out territory in the global village. Choreographers Sonia Noriega and Sonia Torres use music and movement to explore the wired world in their new piece Eye Control, a commentary on the electron-stream speed of our techno-crazed culture. Says Torres, "We are interested in how technology interacts with people. The idea came about from TV -- being able to control what you are seeing at all times, the power to stop and start a show at our own convenience." 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, November 14 and 15. Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Zilkha Hall, 800 Bagby. For information, call 713-315-2525 or visit www.uniquelyhouston.org. $12 to $25. -- Nancy Galeota-Wozny

More Than Words
THU 11/13

Entire university departments are devoted to explaining art in words. CORE Performance Company takes a different tack in Art/Movement, conveying the unique characteristics of artworks through dance. Listen with your eyes as dancers perform around and in front of select works from "The Heroic Century: The Museum of Modern Art Masterpieces." 6 p.m. Thursday, November 13. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Beck Building, 5601 Main. For information, call 713-862-5530 or visit www.severaldancerscore.org. $10 MoMA exhibition; free performance. -- Lisa Simon