Dallas this week: Osunlade, Mark Farina and a big week under Main Street

Three nights of house heads at downtown's Shyboy Hi Fi, a double dose of SILO, and the rest of the week's best shows, Nov 9–15.

The best room in Dallas this week sits below the street. Head down from 1313 Main, under the old National Republic Bank building that is now the Drakestone, and you reach Shyboy Hi Fi. It has two OJAS sound systems designed by Devon Turnbull and a small listening room built inside a former bank vault. This week three DJs who play for the long haul take over its booth on three nights.

Wednesday, Nov 11 starts with Mark Farina at Shyboy Hi Fi at 8pm. Farina's Mushroom Jazz started as a San Francisco club night and grew into a run of mix albums; *Mushroom Jazz 8* went to No. 1 on Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums chart in 2016. He is still putting out new music, too: "Stay on My Mind" came out on OM Records in January. Instrumental hip-hop and downtempo on a system built for exactly that is about as good as a Wednesday gets.

If you want something bigger the same night, Dutch producer Eelke Kleijn plays The Echo Lounge & Music Hall at 7pm.

Friday, Nov 13 is the pick of the week: Osunlade at Shyboy Hi Fi, 8pm, $15. He founded Yoruba Records in New York in 1999 and named it after the Yoruba faith he practices; he is an ordained Ifá priest. Before that he worked in Los Angeles writing and producing, including music for *Sesame Street*. His sets are spiritual, deep and slow to build, and $15 to hear one on this rig is a bargain.

Same night, trance duo Vini Vici headlines SILO at 9pm with Ben Nicky. If guitars are more your speed, Mannequin Pussy, Wednesday and Snõõper share a bill at The Bomb Factory at 8pm. It's the one rock bill this week that tops the dance nights.

Saturday, Nov 14 finishes Shyboy's run with LadyMonix at Shyboy Hi Fi at 8pm. Back at SILO, Zhu plays at 9pm, with tickets at $29.95–$58. In Deep Ellum, The Sponges and N2N play Deep Ellum Art Co. at 8pm, so you can walk between clubs if one room doesn't hold you.

Downtown finally has a room where the sound system is the point.

Shyboy matters because Dallas has never really had a place like it. The idea comes from Tokyo's postwar jazz kissas, where you sat and listened to records on serious equipment, and here it's mixed with a late-night club. Booking Farina, Osunlade and LadyMonix in the same week shows the room aims at DJs who care about the music more than a big drop. It's a different night out from the SILO crowd a few miles away, and Dallas is better for having both.

Take a jacket for the walk back up to Main Street. Getting in early is worth it too, because the vault room fills first.

Sources: Listen Up: Shyboy Hi-Fi Bar Is Opening in Downtown Dallas (Dallas Innovates) (dallasinnovates.com); Shyboy Hi-Fi bar in the Drakestone gives Dallas nightlife fans a new temple of sound (KERA) (keranews.org); New Dallas Hi-Fi Bar Debuts in Former Bank Vaults Below The Drakestone (PaperCity) (papercitymag.com); Mark Farina (Qobuz discography) (qobuz.com); Mark Farina's Mushroom Jazz: Halloween Edition (miamiandbeaches.com); Osunlade (Wikipedia) (en.wikipedia.org); The Spiritual House of Osunlade and Yoruba Records (Bandcamp Daily) (daily.bandcamp.com); JamBase: Osunlade at Shyboy Hi Fi (jambase.com); JamBase: Mark Farina at Shyboy Hi Fi (jambase.com)