Amid ongoing concerns regarding the Covid-19 pandemic, artists are continuing to share their music with fans via live-stream. This week, the Houston Press highlights an imaginative producer, some battle-rap ready MCs, a Texas Music Hall of Fame inductee, an iconic punk outfit and a screamo group. Keep scrolling to see what's on tap this week.
Flying Lotus
7 p.m. CST – May 27
Steven Ellison — better known by the moniker Flying Lotus — has put together quite the resume over the past 15 years. The Los Angeles-based producer released five records between 2006 and 2014, ranging from surreal background noise to progressive, spoken-word rap. His sixth outing, Flamagra, received critical acclaim last year, so much so that he is putting out an instrumental version of the album later this week. Fans of experimental hip hop can watch him perform via live-stream tonight.
Ultimate Rap League
7 p.m. CST – May 27
Not even quarantine can kill battle rap's largest elimination tournament series. Produced by Drake, Ultimate Rap League's Ultimate Madness pitted 16 MCs against one another in a bracket-style, single-elimination tournament. Bragging rights are nice, but the $25,000 grand prize is even nicer. Despite the stay-at-home orders, these battle rappers are primed and ready to talk trash and body each other from at safe distance, be it six feet deep or apart. Jay Blac faces off against Smack tonight.
Monte Warden
7 p.m. CST – May 29
Since the tender age of 15, Monte Warden has been a familiar face in honkey-tonks around Austin. He has written hits for the likes of George Strait, and his former band – The Wagoneers – was inducted into the Texas Music Hall of Fame in 2011. Nearly a decade later, Warden is gearing up to issue another solo record, Monte Warden & The Dangerous Few. Ahead of its June 19 release, fans of rockabilly and country can see Warden perform some new cuts and some classics via live-stream on Friday.
Dropkick Murphys
5 p.m. CST – May 29
Dropkick Murphys shows are known for their drunken debauchery, liveliness and camaraderie. They are exciting in the same way a roller coaster is. You buy a ticket for the thrill, and even though you know you're going to walk away from the ordeal in one piece, there's a sense of danger. It's as if, at any moment, depending on the twists and turns taken by the band, you could get whiplash. But one thing is certain: You're guaranteed a wild and memorable ride. That atmosphere will be difficult – if not impossible – to recreate online, but nonetheless fans can see the iconic Celtic punk rockers “streaming up from Boston” this Friday.
Silverstein
5 p.m. CST – May 29
Screamo isn't as popular as it once was, and most artists have abandoned it in recent years. But while many of their peers were busy reinventing themselves, Silverstein was doubling down on the genre. Twenty years removed from their formation, the Ontario quintet sounds as sharp and biting as ever on their latest release, which is as intensely angsty and infectiously catchy as anything in their catalog. Silverstein was touring in support of their 10th studio album A Beautiful Place To Drown when the world was put on pause to limit the spread of Covid-19, so the band will instead showcase its post-hardcore musings via live-stream on Friday.