Weekender

Yes, the picture to the right doesn't really have anything to do with this weekend(er), but I think it's one of the best pictures from last Friday's Silver Apples performance that I've seen so far, and I thought I'd share it with you. If you want to see more like this, check Sally Glass' latest stuff in our photo section. Anyway, here are some shows for you (and we'll get back to more detailed, well written weekenders once we're done planning 8 million shows after sxsw):

FRIDAY

Send Help/ Monocles/ Brick Fight/ Koji Kondo (Exploding House, 711 Page St., Ft. Worth): Starting at 8pm with a five dollar cover, this is a new DIY/houseshow space in Ft. Worth occupied by Koji Kondo and some of their associates. Should be a really fun show in place that will hoepfully start doing this regularly.

Jucifer/The Monarch/Silene (Rubber Gloves)
The Party (Zubar)

Leslie and the Lys/ MC Router/ Sticky Buns (Hailey's)

SATURDAY

Built to Spill /Meat Puppets /Helvetia (Ridglea Theater)

Texas Noise Fest feat. Rosemary Malign/ Steel Hook Prostheses/ GOAT/ Morbid Anal Fog/ Awen/ Aphonic Curtains/ 2 Headed Cat vs. Unicorn Octopus/ DJ Per (Red Blood Club): Although its unusual to see some of these bands playing somewhere that isn't called House of Tinnitus, Red Blood Club seems like the perfect home away from home. Obviously, this harsh noise line up will either be loved or hated by the vast majority of people, but no matter what your opinion of harsh drone and experimental noise electronic, you have to admit that this mini fest will be by far one of the most adventurous musical events to have ocurred in the cultural wasteland of Deep Ellum in a long time.

J Gray/ Corey Derden/ Emil Rapstine/ Heartstring Stranglers/ Sarah Jaffe / Verulf/ Bryce Isbell/ Zanzibar Snails/ Uptown Bums/ Matthew and the Arrogant Sea/ Florene/ The Frenz (Strawberry Fields): A huge line up at Strawberry fields that begins with J Gray at 5pm and continues on in the order listed here until roughly midnight. Zanzibar Snails will be celebrating the release of their latest, The Brown Dwarf CDr, and you'll also get a chance to hear the excellent Verulf, along with J Gray and Bryce Isbell, both of whom have recently released full length albums that you might be interested in checking out.

Resigned to Fate/Vorvadoss/Rageous Brothers (Xtreme Dudes Manor, 1119 Frame St. Denton): $3 holla, starts at 7. "Holla" isn't very cool when I say it, is it?

Record Hop/Swedish Teens/American Werewolf Academy (Rubber Gloves)

Hot Flash (Fallout Lounge)

Pleasant Grove/ Stumptone/ Crushed Stars (Doublewide)

SUNDAY

Tatsuya Nakatani (Kettle Art, 7pm): Austin saxophonist Carl Smith, guitarist Kenny Withrow and the Gonzalez brothers (Aaron and Stefan) will join percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani at this show, which goes from 7 to 10 pm. We're really looking forward to this one.

Anyone Have a Venue We Can Use on March 11th

Basically, we have two really great national acts who want to do a show with us somewhere in the DFWd area on the eve of March 11th... however, so many places are booked that night due to bands coming through for SXSW that we are having trouble finding a place to have this show...can anyone help us out?

Not only will the show featuring critically acclaimed national touring acts, it will be financially rewarding for our potential hosts and a lot of fun! Let us know ASAP if your house, bar, gallery or whatever would be interesting. You won't regret it! Thanks.

SR

And PS- I think a lot of you will be shocked that we were having trouble finding a venue once you see this line up.

It List: Thursday

The Octopus Project/Mount Righteous (Lola's): Mount Righteous are an impossibly happy new group (or small army) that actually writes some pretty memorable songs. I've never been crazy about The Octopus Project but I'd be more than happy to read a passionate defense in the comments.


Benefit show for Prince William featuring Big J/Schwa/Faux Fox/The Party/Hawatha/Keith P/It's What We Get (Double Wide): Prince Will had his computers and DJ equipment stolen, and therefore lost incalculably precious material crucial to his music making and livelihood. Luckily he has plenty of nice friends willing to help him out, possibly including you. You can donate inside on top of the low cover price, or send paypal donations by contacting Prince W. himself at tvturnon@hotmail.com. It's What We Get is better every time I hear them. Sometimes I'm not even aware it's them due to the crowd blocking my view and when everything clears out, I'm pleasantly surprised to see lil' Alan Palomo breaking down shop. Faux Fox should feel pretty cool about being the only band playing, and Hawatha might be the best Dallas rapper I've ever heard. And that means something, because I really loved that J-Ro track about Plano.

Klickitat/Scarily Terrible (The Cavern):

1-800 Zombie/Zechs Marquise/Icarus Crane/Popstar (Rubber Gloves): MC Router
wrote a song about 1-800 Zombie, right?

80's Night With DJ G (Hailey's)

Lost Generation (Fallout Lounge):

Art List

The Martin Puryear exhibit
opened this week at the Modern and it will be up until May 18th. Also take a peek at Peter Brown & Joakim Eneroth at PDNB and controversial British artist Damien Hirst at the Goss-Michael Foundation.

OPENINGS

FRIDAY

David Bates, "The Storm" (Dunn and Brown) 6-8pm
A collection of paintings based on Katrina- looks pretty interesting.
SATURDAY

"STEP RIGHT UP" Vintage Carnival Banners (Webb Gallery)
(Upstairs gallery- photos by Alicia Stepp Woody)

Opening Party

6:00pm- Doors open

6:30 to 7:30- Belly Dancers

7:30 to 10:00pm- Wild in the Streets

Trust me, these openings are always worth the drive. When else this week are you going to see belly dancers?

CLOSING

Kristin Lucas (And/Or)

"New Art from Chicago" (Road Agent)

Arie Van Selm (Gerald Peters)

Jun Kaneko (Gerald Peters)

Photo: Damien Hirst, "Saint Sebastian, Exquisite Pain"

Free Yo La Tengo Tickets

Hey there, we have a pair of tickets to give away to Yo La Tengo's performance at the Dallas Museum of Art on Saturday, March 15th. Want them? Just email us at weshotjrtix@yahoo.com. I'm sure you know the drill by now, but in case you don't, be sure to make "Yo La Tengo" the subject line and include your full name somewhere in the email. You have until 5pm this Friday to do it, so do it! Good luck.

Freedman's Town?

I don't know Pete Freedman. I don't even know Wanz Dover. And I Certainly don't know whether the two of them know each other, nor whether there is any problem between them personally, professionally or otherwise. But after reading Freedman's (the new Dallas Observer music editor) take on this year's Melodica Festival, I feel like I've learned nothing about either one of them, and I fear that Dallas Observer readers who didn't make it out to the Melodica Festival learned very little from his discussion.

To begin, I think it should be said that bashing Wanz, Melodica, and the Dallas music scene is NOT necessarily a bad thing on its face. Freedman's decision to come to town and immediately take on a large sector of the local scene could reasonably be characterized as a courageous move, and having the guts to express a dissenting opinion that ruffles a lot of feathers is not something that should be discouraged at all. In fact, we started this blog for similar reasons: we thought the local scene needed a little kick in the ass back in January 2006, and as many of you know, we're no strangers to starting controversy either.


On the other hand, Freedman's article could probably be interpreted by some to be nothing more than a publicity stunt: a way for Freedman to get people talking about him, his writing, and what I'm sure he hopes will be a revitalized D.O. music section. Again, publicity stunts are usually just silly, and they often don't bother me that much per se. If Freedman was looking to start trouble for the sake of publicity, fine, let him. Worse crimes have been committed in this world, and sometimes a publicity stunt can ultimately contribute to the greater good if it helps to spread a message worth hearing.


So whether this was an honest expression of opinion or an example of sensational journalism for the sake of publicity, I'm not particularly concerned either way. No, the problem doesn't lie in the fact that Freedman didn't find Melodica to be all that important or particularly enjoyable, nor in the fact that he said so in print. The problem comes after reading his article, when you realize how lacking it is in any real substance or thoughtful expression.


From what I can gather, Freedman's main criticisms of the festival are that: a) Wanz is kind of an asshole; b) Wanz claims he will not put on another festival in the future, rendering the fest's impact minimal; c) Wanz invited only his friends to play; d) Wanz' friends were the only people who showed up to see the festival; e) Wanz was thanked too frequently throughout the event; f) no one was exposed to anything new via the Melodica Festival since only those who were already familiar with the music attended; g) the festival was too "left of center" to have a real impact.

Ok, lets just go through each one briefly:

a) Wanz is an asshole: Pete will probably make a lot of new friends in our comment section with this assertion, and in fairness, some of the things Wanz was quoted as saying DO make him sound like an asshole. However, the context within which he uttered the words quoted in the Observer story is unknown, and frankly, I don't see what Wanz Dover's personality has to do with the festival itself. Sure, Dover's band The Frenz played at the festival, but other than that, the man's personality really wasn't at issue throughout the weekend, and comments regarding his demeanor and intentions say nothing about the music, the setting, the impact, the finances or the overall result of Melodica, meaning that they really don't say anything of value at all, at least in this context.


b) This might be the last Melodica put on by Wanz Dover: Thats true, it might be. And if it is, then yes, it's long term impact MIGHT be less than if it occurred annually. But who knows what would happen at subsequent Melodica Festivals? And if Wanz had claimed that he was going to do a Melodica Festival next year and the year after, who's to say that it would actually happen? Wanz has expressed to me that he is unsure whether he will attempt another Melodica in Expo park, but Freedman would need a crystal ball to be able to predict the impact of hypothetical Melodicas in the future. Again, this criticism fails to address the reality of what happened at the festival, and merely speculates about what MIGHT happen if Wanz would publicly state his willingness to put on another festival next year. The stated conclusions of the argument aren't explained in sufficient detail, either, making it hard to take such criticism seriously.

c) Wanz invited only his friends to play: True, some of the members of some of bands that played the festival know Wanz in one capacity or another, but just how many know him and how well they know him is unknown. Shit, I don't even know. And how could Freedman? Based on what was written in the article, he took one statement Wanz made concerning inviting friends to play the festival and decided to run with it, assuming that everyone who played was a friend of Wanz Dover's and concluding that their performances somehow weren't as meaningful as a result. I can tell you from my experience that when Wanz allowed us to select a line up for the festival, he gave us a budget and complete freedom to pick the bands we wanted to play. Hardly any of them knew or even knew of Wanz before the festival. Freedman's argument here is based on blind assumption and still fails to point out why the topic is even relevant when discussing the impact of the festival.

d) Only friends of Wanz attended the festival: Freedman based this assumption on the fact that he didn't hear anyone ask who Wanz when bands were thanking him on stage. First of all, how often do people pay attention to onstage banter like that? And how can you tell how many people knew who Wanz was based on their lack of response to the thanks he was given? I know for a fact that the vast majority of my friends who attended the festival have NEVER met Wanz Dover, and many had never even heard of him. Again, this is blind assumption based on highly unscientific personal observation, and it doesn't appear that we can draw any conclusions from it.

e) Wanz was thanked too frequently by the bands on stage: Although this might have been a little annoying and repetitive, I have to ask: uh, so what? I don't see any relevance in this at all, and for the record, I didn't hear Wanz name mentioned once by a band on stage, and I was there all weekend.

f) Everyone at the festival had already been exposed to the music being performed, thus rendering Melodica's impact minimal: Again, how did Freedman come to this conclusion? Did he take a survey? If so, I'd like to see it. If not, then I don't see how this assumption can be considered in any way credible. There were hundreds of people in attendance this weekend, and how Freedman was able to discern all of their musical backgrounds is beyond me.

g) The festival was too "left of center" to have an impact: Well, like Freedman said, Expo Park was packed over the weekend, and there was an excitement in the air there that I haven't seen at any other time during my five years in Dallas. Too left of center? Well that is a highly subjective concept within this context, but even if we can't come up with a definition, we can at least look at the facts: hundreds of people came to Expo Park this weekend for a music festival centered around experimental and electronic acts in a town that is considered to be highly lacking in interest and participation in both areas. Clearly, some impact was had, and in the short term, the festival was at least moderately successful.

The truth is that the future impact of Melodica is unknown. However, the fact that legendary, internationally respected acts came to Dallas to play in front of packed audiences certainly has to be seen as an accomplishment of some kind, particularly in a town that doesn't have a good reputation for live music. Will Melodica change Dallas? Who knows, but probably not on its own. Is there a future for Melodica in Dallas? Again, we don't know. But what we do know is that the festival was probably more of a success than most imagined it would be, and Freedman's arguments to the contrary come across as baseless, irrelevant, speculative, and subjective. I'm all for dissent, and I do happen to enjoy talking shit and starting conversations and debates about local music, but a bit more substance and thought in Freedman's article would have gone a long way towards making this particular conversation a little more meaningful.

It List: Wendesday

Sorry, technical difficulties made this a tad late today:

Joe Lally/Edie Sedgwick/Tre Orsi (Rubber Gloves): Would you say "Joe Lally of Fugazi," or "Joe Lally, formerly of Fugazi?" I was never clear whether the band actually broke up for good, or are just taking the longest break ever. It would be nice to get one more album out of those guys, wouldn't it? I really dug Ian's performance with the Evens at Public Trust a couple months back, but man, it just isn't a substitute for Fugazi.


Erykah Badu/Q-Tip/9th Wonder (Ghostbar): I know I know, but it's QTip. Despite the fact that places like Ghostbar thoroughly depress me (can't rich assholes in Dallas at least be evil enough to be funny or something?), I thought you should know at least.



Taxi Fare (Zubar)


It's What We Get (Hailey's)

The Scoop (Fallout)

It List: Tuesday

Kaboom/Last Men/Clap Party (J & J's Pizza): Denton's Douche are now Last Men, while the last man you dated is now a douche. Well, at least they'll now be invited to play Christmas shows, Easter Shows, and other family events. Whatever they're called, they are a formidable live act, full of literate, palpable rage and I'm looking forward to hearing some actual recordings. Clap Party are a recently reunited group with an approach colored by the frayed art punk tendencies of bands like Rocket From The Tombs and the loose, disjointed psyche passages of US Maple. I've really enjoyed Kaboom's recent recordings and much like the aforementioned Last Men, it would be cool to get my hands on a proper release. Fuck this Yousendit shit.

It List: Monday

We have Cool Out tonight @ The Cavern, of course, and Jazz @ Amsterdam, of course, and Bill's Records will be hosting a record release/listening party for Erykah Badu, who will make an appearance at the store to sign CDs and whatever else starting at midnight. I honestly don't think I've listened to an Erykah Badu song since like 1997 or something, but come on everyone: she's from Dallas! Erykah Badu is from Dallas guys! See, our town isn't irrelevant, check it out, she's ours! Snooze. I do remember liking her hats and her hair and stuff though, and I bet the party will be decent too. Still haven't been to the new Bills yet...

We'll have Melodica related stuff for you some time very soon.

Monday Morning Rock

SHOWS OF NOTE THIS WEEK

WED: Joe Lally/Edie Sedgwick/Tre Orsi (Rubber Gloves)
THU: Prince William Benefit with The Party/Cool Out/Faux Fox/Keith P/Hawatha Hurd/It's What We Get (Sloppyworld)
THU: The Octopus Project/Mt. Righteous (Lola's)
SAT: Built to Spill/Meat Puppets/Helvetia (Ridglea)
SAT: Texas Noise Fest (Red Blood Club)

Interview: Finally Punk

Formed in Austin in 2006, Finally Punk catapulted their way to the top of a fairly short list of Texas' best exports and national acts in less than two years, garnering recognition in such polar opposite media outlets as Pitchfork Media and Maximum Rock 'N' Roll. The immediacy of their seizure-like rhythms and stark yet inventively spiky guitar playing was the only constant in the dizzying setup of the band rotating roles, vocal and instrumental duties of every member after almost every song. The hyperactive shouting has been increasingly tempered with a gentler approach to singing, but that hasn't watered down the group's potency, it's only added to their overall appeal. Founding member Erin Budd spoke to us via email.

FORMING AND AUSTIN

How did the band come about in Austin? Were you natives or as is often the case, had some of you come for school or music etc?

Elizabeth (Skadden) is the only true Austinite. Steph (Chan)moved here for school and I (Erin Budd) moved to Austin out of boredom caused from growing up in a small Texas town. Austin was the only city in Texas I could envision myself living in.

What do you feel overall about Austin as the so-called live music capital? Do you feel that it's undeservedly hyped or justifiably recognized? Do you think the media focus is on the wrong things or that it's legitimately balanced? Do you think that it's a place where some of the more obscure acts eventually get the attention they deserve?

I think that the whole live music capital thing is a bunch of shit. There are millions of terrible bands here that play every night and only a tiny percentage of Austin musicians are actually doing something interesting. It is rather easy to become jaded and not really care about what is going on. Mainstream media only covers safe bands; bands that aren't really covering any new ground and who write those irresistible catchy tunes we've already heard a million times. I think that the more obscure acts will and only get attention among a small niche of people and probably won't be recognized as being innovative until it is too late, but this goes for any scene in any city past and present. Austin isn't special.

How do you feel about the venue situation in Austin? What do you like about it or what could be improved

The pro to having so many venues is that it is extremely easy to book a show whenever you want. My biggest complaint would be that there needs to be a general all ages hangout where they charge no more than 5 dollars at the door. However this would be difficult to manage because Austin is a transient college town and nothing good here is able to sustain itself for very long. I'm sure several clubs/venues could say that they have been successful, but they're catering to more generic popular crowds. I guess Emo's has been alright for more experimental music, but it seems like the bands I want to see are starting to play elsewhere.


OLDER SONGS VERSUS NEWER SONGS


In your earlier music, there were more jerky and jumbled rhythm structures and things were overall more chaotic sounding. Though the rhythms haven't completely calmed down, there is a bit more restraint and singing as opposed to shouting in songs like "Boyfriend Application" and "Primary Colors." Do you agree that parts of your sound changed? What do you attribute it to?

In the beginning we didn't know how to play/make music. We picked up instruments for the first time, wrote a few songs within minutes, and recorded in our living room. We were sloppy and terrible but people seemed to like it. I agree that certain sounds may have changed, but the only attributing factor to this would be that our songwriting abilities were sharpened with practice.

The track "Missile" has become somewhat legendary and the unforgettable opening line seems to be one of the first things I've heard people blurt out when your name comes up. Why do you think that is? Can you tell us a little about how that song came to be? I believe I said it was the best song of 2006 in my year end summary.

"Missile" was written in kind of an avant-garde fashion. People have interpreted the meaning in many hilarious ways, but the truth is that it is a reenactment of a reenactment of a fight between two drunk guys.

SWITCHING OFF AND BAND MEMBERS


How does the switching off of instruments work in this band? Is the person who usually sings the song also the author as well? Or do you just pound out the songs together and try to decide who will do what later?

Refer to a few questions earlier when I answered that we had no idea what we were doing. Due to our lack of musical ability, we decided to switch around. The person who sings usually only writes their own lyrics and the music comes from either jam sessions or from parts that members may have brought into practice.

Are there instruments that you feel more comfortable on? Do you like the idea of forcing yourself to do something you're less comfortable with or has it all evened out by now?

I hate playing drums and I think that my strength lies in vocals/lyrics and bass, although I would love to be great at the guitar. Steph has been playing guitar since her early teens and she is really great at noodling. Veronica (our ex member) was great at drums and I think that Elizabeth is really good at coming up with experimental guitar parts. I feel very unimaginative when it comes to drums and only like to play similar beats. It is frustrating, but I deal with it by not playing the drums on very many songs.

I understand that you've experienced at least one significant lineup change and are now geographically challenged as well. What was the lineup change and how are you divided up now? How has the lineup change affected the switching off?

Veronica decided to quit the band so now we are a three piece. Elizabeth moved to Rhode Island to go to graduate school, and Steph is now living in LA. I'm the only member left in Austin, and I try to keep the fort held down. We got together this past fall in NYC for the CMJ festival and we were able to write and record a few new songs. Geography has definitely complicated the band and since losing a member we've never had the chance to really practice as a three piece and reassign parts. Communication is also key to a long-distance relationship and since we're all relatively busy perusing personal goals the band has lost some priority.

How did playing with Katelyn from Mika Miko come about?

She is Steph's roommate. We've had several people fill-in at past shows whenever certain members were either traveling or for some reason couldn't make it to a show. Since we haven't been able to have an extensive practice as a three piece we figured we'd just get one of our friends to help out.

INFLUENCES

It seems that in anything I've read about you, they list Kleenex/Lilliput, The Raincoats as well as Bikini Kill/Riot Grrl stuff to compare or reference what you sound like. Do you feel that is a somewhat narrow summary or do you think it's fair? What other influences do you have that you think are missed or that may surprise people?

We all listen to a great deal of music and our tastes can be anywhere from drastic to somewhat different from one another's personal favorites. I think that lumping us into the riot girl summary is quite a bit narrow, but it isn't necessarily a bad thing. It is just easy for people to lump us in with other known women musicians and this is fine because we like them, but I don't think that we're directly influenced by them.

THE PRESENT AND FUTURE

Are there any current acts that you either relate to or that you feel are doing interesting things? Any guilty pleasures?

Sure, I think that we could all agree the we all enjoy the bands that keep popping out from LA.The Smell has recently been getting a lot of publicity and that is great because they showcase some of the better current bands. I enjoy Ariel Pink, No Age, The Bubonic Plague, etc. I also feel that there are many good bands emerging from Houston as well, like Indian Jewelry.

How do you feel about SXSW? Looking forward to it or is it a necessary evil?

SXSW is my favorite holiday. I look forward to all of the day parties and other non festival related events.

Interview: Silver Apples

Well, I was planning on trying to write a very serious and thoughtful intro to this interview, but then I figured I'd just dork out and say "I got to interview Simeon of Silver Apples!" And yes, I planned on using that exclamation point. Silver Apples became a big band for me several years ago when I started learning a lot about electronic and psychedelic music, but more than being a band for critics and record collectors to praise, Silver Apples are particularly interesting to me because of how infectious and easy their music is in spite of the fact that it is so strange on so many levels.

I attended the most recent Apples show at Hailey's a few months back with a friend who hadn't ever heard them and typically isn't interested in druggy, experimental electronic music. After a couple songs, however, my friend was converted, and that is exactly the kind of thing that I hope happens to others this evening when Silver Apples play Sloppyworld as part of the Melodica Festival. I talked with Simeon about the past, present and future, and here are the results:

So I wanted to start off asking you about how you met Wanz and how you became involved in this year's Melodica Festival.


Ten years ago, in 1998, I was touring with Silver Apples as a trio, and we were promoting our new record, Contact, and our booking agent in New York knew Wanz and had booked his band in the past and knew he was putting together a festival in Denton that year, and so on our tour we used Melodica that year as almost a tour break. We were touring in our RV and parked it in the parking lot there, and stayed for about a week. We got to know Wanz pretty well, he hung out in the van and stuff, and so when he started putting together this festival as an anniversary get together, he called me, and I was sort of in the middle of touring, but I was happy to squeeze him in because it was so much fun working with him before.


And so, you guys put your first record out in 1968. When you think about the fact that so many critics and fans in electronic music circles consider Silver Apples to be pioneers in an iconic and legendary sense, how does it make you feel?


Well it's totally an honor. At the time, we didn't think we were doing anything different, we were just having fun with what we could put together at the time. We really were not aware of the electronic movement so to speak, we didn't know about Can or Neu! or any of those other bands that we seem to be considered contemporaries of today. There really wasn't communication amongst us all at the time, and there wasn't an art movement or anything at the time. We were just out there doing our thing, and later on, as things come together historically, it looks like things were all happening together, but I doubt very much that any of those people were aware of me and we weren't aware of them, we were just doing our things sort of simultaneously.


But you guys came before Can or Neu! or any of those groups.


Yeah, but I doubt very much that they knew us or knew of us even. I don't know what kind of distribution we had in Europe. We have pretty good popularity over there now, but back in the 60's, I don't think anyone had heard of us. I think it was just simultaneous creativity.


Well that's interesting, because it sounds like when Silver Apples were first starting out, you didn't feel like you were doing anything revolutionary necessarily.


No, it didn't feel that way. There was a lot of revolutionary stuff going on back in those days. Rock n Roll was sort of in its beginning stages. I know there was a lot before that, but there was a new feeling about rock and its place in the culture, but in the arts and movies and music, everyone was trying to do new stuff. Doing something new was considered the thing, you know? It wasn't considered strange, it was almost expected. And so we hit on this thing quite by accident, both Danny and I being from rock backgrounds, we didn't have any ideas about electronics or how to put stuff together, we just used whatever we had, much like you play with toys. You don't really have to know how to make things work, you just put them together and see if you can make something happen with it. We didn't think of it as revolutionary at all at the time.


Could you briefly explain how Silver Apples got together in the first place?


Both Danny and I were playing music in straight rock n roll bands in New York, just club bands. I was a singer and he was a drummer, and my band, the Random Concept, broke up and went back to Connecticut where they were from, and that left me sort of stranded in New York. The band that Danny was with needed a singer, so our booking agent, a mutual booking agent, knew of my plight and knew Danny's band needed a singer, so he got us together. So I started singing at the Cafe Wah, they were the house band there at the time, and I got to know Danny. Then I started bringing in oscillators just because a friend of mine had them and was showing me how to play them, and I was bringing them in and plugging them into my vocal amp and playing along with them when they were doing these long extended guitar solos, almost like the Grateful Dead, just playing forever. They left the singer with nothing to do, so more out of boredom than anything else, I just plugged in oscillators and started playing around. And one by one, the other members of the band quit for one reason or another, most of them saying that they couldn't stand what I was doing, but Danny liked it, so it finally in the end boiled down to just me and him left, and rather than adding a new member, we just kept going with what I was doing, and he changed his drumming style from straight rock n roll beat to getting into patterns, because that's what I was doing, and we started getting into a looped kind of sound rather than a progressive or linear sound, and that's how Silver Apples got going. It was pretty much an organic thing. We didn't have a big light bulb go off, it just sort of happened.



Were you guys aware of the originality of what you were doing at the time? Did you feel like any other band was doing anything similar to what you were doing?



We didn't know of anybody if there was anybody. We kinda felt all alone out there. We'd go out and play with other bands on the same bill, and we'd be astounded that our sound was so completely different. We didn't realize that we were all alone until much later.



Is it true that you didn't have any formal training in music when you started the band?



Yeah, I had played trumpet in my high school marching band, but that's the only musical experience that I had.



Have you tried to learn more about formal, traditional music during your career?



Well you can't help but pick up stuff as the years go by. I kind of can play chords on guitar, I know what the notes are on the piano, I can pick out tunes, but no way can I actually play it. I can find chords and structure songs on a keyboard, and then I just translate these sounds or structures to my oscillators, but I still play them the same way I've always played them.



So you have your own method for notating and developing songs before you record them?



Yeah, I don't think you could sit down and put them on a piece of sheet music. Well, I guess maybe you could, but a lot of the changes don't really fit a fretted instrument or keyboard because a lot of my stuff is in between the notes. So it's like I'd be in B flat and a half, and (laughs) I don't really know how you'd notate that.



Can you explain how you started to build your own equipment?



Well its like I said, we were just playing with toys. We would have oscillators and we'd make all these noises, and we'd try to figure out how we'd make rhythms with them, and we decided to hook them up to on and off switches, but that was too cumbersome, so we tried telegraph keys. And that worked for a while, but then we realized that my fingers could only play so many telegraph keys, so I started doing the same thing with my feet. But I would stomp on the telegraph keys and break them, so we rigged up a piece of wood with some on/off switches so I could stomp them with my feet, and that's how I started playing the bass, just one note at a time with me feet, and then rhythm and oscillators on top with telegraph keys. I didn't know how to play a keyboard, so I just figured out my own way to play.



Well it sounds like the Simeon set up was created out of necessity, but do you see any intrinsic value in creating your own instruments?



Sure. The instrument is as integral a part of musical expression as the music itself. If you have created your own instrument, and are writing songs that maybe couldn't be played on some other instrument, or maybe just not as easily, you're writing music for your own capabilities and creative senses, and other movements don't come into it, you're just doing it for yourself and tyring to see if you can make some music, make some sense out of all this mess you've created.



So it's important sometimes to create a new medium or vessel with which to make music?



Yeah. Just this last week before I left to come to Dallas, I discovered in one of my new songs that I'm going to be doing that I needed another oscillator. I could do it the way I've been doing it, but it would be much nicer to have another oscillator I could play in a live setting so that I didn't have to rely on my sampler. Instead of carrying 20 oscillators around with me, I've been sampling different sounds that I've been using so I don't have to carry all the oscillators around, but I found with this new song that I really do need the other oscillator, so I went on Ebay and bought one, and it arrived two days ago. I wired it into my system and practiced with it last night and this morning before I left, so my so called Simeon instrument has grown one more oscillator in the last 24 hours because of Melodica.



So you took a pretty long break from doing Silver Apples stuff, like from the late 60's until the mid 90's.



Yeah, the 70's and 80's, Danny and I both spent doing different stuff not related to music.



What were you up to?



Well I was down south here in Mobile, AL, working as an ice cream truck driver and then i got a job editing film at a television station, and when they switched to video, I turned around and started working on camera covering news and I eventually became a news reporter, and I was a reporter on various television stations in Virginia and Baltimore for about 10 years. Then I became a graphic artist when that ran out, and worked at an advertising agency for a while. But I maintained contact with the art world and hung out with the artists there, and it was the artists who were aware of the resurgence of interest in the Silver Apples, and it was at an art opening that I heard one of the artists playing my music and I realized something was going on. And that was why Silver Apples started again in the 90s, through my art contacts.



How did it feel to know that people were taking interest in your music almost 30 years later?



At first it was a little bit of a head scratcher, because I couldn't figure out why. If I wasn't a success back then, why would anyone care now? But I slowly realized that it was because of comments from music writers about how the music sounded fresh today and ahead of its time. That's when I realized that the fact that Danny and I didn't try to play like anyone else has kind of kept it pure in a way, and has made it more meaningful than if we had tried to blend in at the time and tried to be commercially successful. We could have had bass and guitar players, but it probably wouldn't have had the impact it has had today.



How disappointed were you with your lack of commercial success back in the 60s?



Well everyone wants to be a success and be able to pay their bills and not have to duck out on hotels bills and stuff. Our manager used to teach us shoplifting techniques so that we could eat. Things were really desperate there for a while, right around the time the band broke up. There were lawsuits against us. The record label had folded and there were some outstanding bills and we were kind of laying low. No record label would sign us, and it was just a very bad time. We eventually had to take jobs, and finally I just bagged it, moved down to Alabama and drove an ice cream truck. I was just tired of New York winters.



Do you listen to a lot of contemporary electronic music?



Oh yeah, today I'm very much into it. People send me CDs and MP3s from all over the world telling me that they were inspired by my stuff and asking me to accept their music as a gift. So I'm very aware of contemporary stuff going on all over the place. Just a month ago, I came back from a media festival in Italy, and I did the ATP festival in England about a month before that, where Portishead and Sonic Youth and others that were influenced by my stuff in the 90s were playing. Its all very fulfilling and exciting to me and I love it.



Do you feel that there is an energy level in music today that is in any way similar to what you experienced in the 60's?



Yes, it's very peculiar that you would go through such a drought in the 70's and 80s. It started to warm up in the 90s, but it never really got anywhere. But now, in the mid 00's, all of a suddenly it's kind of catching on fire and people are getting into it, and there is some joy in total experimentation and creativity that is like it used to be in the 60's. There isn't the Vietnam War or any of that stuff, and there isn't that sort of anti-government or anti-war feeling, but there is a creative energy going on now that is quite like the 60's.



Are there any new bands in particular that you find exciting?


I can't really name anyone in particular, but at that festival in Italy, there was a band that came on just before me called Los Super Elegantes from Argentina. What they were doing with live sampling was one of the most creative things I've ever seen. They had a stage set that was like a kitchen in an apartment, and there was a couple in the apartment that was having a knock down, drag out screaming fight, a domestic fight, breaking dishes, etc. right in front of the audience, and it was one of the most interesting approaches to electronic live sampling that I've ever seen. They are in LA right now, so I would say that if anyone gets a chance to see Los Super Elegantes, they should grab the opportunity because they're great.


What are your plans for Silver Apples in the immediate future?



I have a European tour coming up right after I do Melodica, and I'll be there through the month of March, and when I get back I'll have a break, and I'll be working on a new record that will come out late summer on Gifted Children records on vinyl. The record label is planning several tours to promote the record in the fall, one of which will include Pop Montreal and the Over the Top Festival in Toronto, so I'll be pretty busy this year. There is a lot going on.

Art List

Friday

R. Thies "Cartoonism"(Banter)
A closing reception with free wine and a copy of "Art Nog" Magazine for early arrivals.
7pm- Wild in the Streets
8pm- Boonesboro (from San Marcos)
9pm- Screening of "Diarrhea Diaries"

Jesus Galavan "Yellow Shots"(Decorazon)
Tequila tasting! Oh yeah, and there's some art, too.


Saturday

LAST DAY: Beverly Semmes & Paul Slocum (Dunn and Brown Contemporary)
SUNDAY

LAST DAY: Joshua Mosley (The Modern)


Ongoing Museum Exhibits

"Intimate Modernism: Fort Worth Circle Artists in the 1940s" and "100 Years of Autochrome" (Amon Carter Museum)

Phil Collins "The World Won't Listen" (Dallas Museum of Art)

It List: Thursday

Drink to Victory /Little Tedly /Deep Snapper/ Koji Kondo (Rubber Gloves): Several approaches to punk rock represented, from the thoughtful to the I don't give a shit if blood is spraying out of my face approach. Seriously, Koji Kondo put on one of the greatest shows many of us had ever seen a couple of weeks ago, and I would say that even if the lead singer hadn't dramatically completed his set after somewhat seriously injuring himself. And to think that the biggest concern some musicians have is not getting enough drink tickets at Hailey's or some shit. That's the first thing I thought of when I saw that blood spilling all over the floor. Laughable.

Slow Burners/Charlie Parr/Jenn Gooch (Dan's Silver Leaf)

Eaton Lake Tonics (Strawberry Fields)

The Great Tyrant/Record Hop/Red Monroe/ (Lola's): Saw a writeup this week that suggested this was a badly booked show. I think it makes perfect sense, especially from an economic standpoint. The Great Tyrant, Record Hop, and Red Monroe are more or less the flagship bands of their respective cities and each are well regarded as solid live acts. Seeing them all on the same night in Fort Worth is not only cool, but convenient. I can't wait to get my hands on The Great Tyrant's new 7-inch.

New Science Projects/Shibboleth/Analog Heartbreak (Club Dada): Someone once thought I was hating on Shibboleth and upon hearing their music again recently, I think they're a fine band with some similarities to great instrumental acts such as Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet and Booker T And The MG's. No problems there. However, I do take issue with the glut of bands and Wes Anderson inspired imagery. Please, bands I beg you: Please stop wearing "funny" athletic headbands. You're killing me.

Bob Dylan (House Of Blues): Saw Dylan about eight years ago, and if you can just get past the fact that he almost always has a really cheesy, young, hot-shot, lead guitarist, barely has any voice left, and passionately hates his audience, nothing can really ruin hearing "Spanish Boots Of Spanish Leather" performed live. I'm not kidding. It still ruled.

Lost Generation (Fallout Lounge): Wanz will have some passes to the Melodica Festival tonight, so stop by.

80's Night With DJ G (Hailey's)

Sesame Street Live: When Elmo Grows Up (Nokia): Hate to break it to you Elmo, but it sucks.





Photo by Layla Blackshear.

Free Melodica Passes

Just wanted to let you know that we're giving away two pairs of 3-day passes to the Melodica Festival. If you want them, just email weshotjrtix@yahoo.com any time between now and NOON tomorrow. Please type "Melodica" in the subject line and include your full name in the body of the email. Good luck!

It List: Tuesday

Bexar Bexar/Balmorhea/Alex Dupree and the Trapdoor Band/Bryce Isbell (Rubber Gloves): Sorry bros-- my computer is all fucked up today (as is our website), and I can't get Myspace players to work for some reason, which means that I didn't have a chance to take a close listen to much of this music today, even though I've luckily heard three of these four bands before (guess which ones). Austin's Balmorhea has been receiving a bit more attention in recent weeks thanks to a solid Pitchfork review, and Bryce Isbell's recent output has been quite interesting as well, focusing on atmosphere and found sound and all kinds of things that have nothing to do with "folk." Probably a pretty chill show if you're into that kind of thing, although the phrase "influences include Mogwai" always frightens me a little.

ADD:

The Wax Museums/Terrible Twos (Club Dada): Meant to add this show much earlier. This looks to be an exciting pairing between two punk bands, one local and one from the proven punk hotbed of the Detroit/Ann Arbor area. I have it from a reliable source that Terrible Twos are one of the best live experiences going right now. Upon first listen they seem like straight ahead dirty rock music, but they couple the attack with synth as well as some cool stuttered guitar parts. Wax Museums are great, with a sound straight off of some obscure scene compilation from the hardcore era, where all the bands have weird names, weird songs, and weird recording methods. So authentic, it kind of creeps me out to be hearing this in 2008.

WSJR @ SXSW

We Shot J.R. Presents.....

The Mae Shi (Los Angeles, CA)

Make A Rising (Philadelphia, PA)

Crime Novels (New York, NY)

Daniel Francis Doyle (Austin,TX)

Mittens on Strings (Chicago,IL)

Day Show.

Wednesday, March 12th.

At The Parlor, 100 B E. North Loop (53rd1/2 and Ave F).

Something for everyone.

Free. Free Beer. Free Nelson Mandela.

Details to come.

It List: Monday

In addition to Cool Out at The Cavern and jazz at the Amsterdam, some of you Vampire Weekend people might be interested in sampling the real deal:

Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the South African male vocal group that recorded Graceland with Paul Simon, will be performing this evening at Bass Performance Hall. Tickets are $25-50, which is obviously a bit expensive, but they are quite interesting in the sense that you can hear traces of so many modern forms of music contained in the group's more traditional African performances. I didn't know much about this group before today, but you can read a fairly interesting Wikipedia entry on them here.

ADD: The Party will be continuing their Monday night gig at the Foundation Room at the House of Blues this evening. I haven't been to this yet, has anyone else?

Last Week's Sales Charts

GOOD RECORDS LOCAL TOP 5


1. Mom - Little Brite
2. The Polyphonic Spree - The Fragile Army
3. Shiny Around the Edges - Applied Quantum Physics 7"
4. Doug Burr - Promenade
5.(tie) Christian Teenage Runaways - Holy No No
5.(tie) Koji Kondo/Daniel Francis Doyle - History of Consideration Split 7"


GOOD RECORDS OVERALL TOP 20


1. Hot Chip - Made In the Dark
2. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
3. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
4. Nada Surf - Lucky (Deluxe Ed.)
5. Cat Power - Jukebox (Deluxe)
6. The Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead Those Who See but Cannot Feel
7. Holy Fuck - LP
8. Radiohead - In Rainbows
9. Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
10. British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
11. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
12. Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation
13. Mom - Little Brite
14. The Polyphonic Spree - The Fragile Army
15. Samamidon - All Is Well
16. Black Mountain - In the Future (Deluxe)
17. American Music Club - Golden Age
18. Basia Bulat - Oh, My Darling
19. Magnetic Fields - Distortion
20. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin


Good choice on that Hot Chip, people. It's easily their best. And maybe I'm a wimp, but that Samamidon is fantastic as well. Great takes on classic folk songs that don't end up being too sentimental.


RECYCLED TOP 3


1) Bubba Hernandez w/ Alex Meixner – Polka Freak Out
2) Strawberry Fields’ “Denton Deluxe: Volumes 1 & 2”
3) Shaolin Death Squad – Intelligent Design

And everyone can say goodbye to Trey (the guy in charge of the local music section at Recycled), who will be leaving the store this week. In his time there, Recycled has more than quadrupled their sales in local music, and that is a good thing for everyone involved.

STRAWBERRY FIELDS TOP 3

1. Angry Business Men - 16 Songs
2. denton Deluxe v. III
3. Koji Kondo/Daniel Francis Doyle - History of Consideration Split 7"

Melodica Festival Updates

A couple important developments:

1. Melodica 3 day passes can now be purchased online via Paypal. Click here to get them.

2. The big Friday night show at Sloppyworld featuring Silver Apples and Spectrum, among others, will now be all ages.

Monday Morning Rock

SHOWS OF NOTE THIS WEEK

TUE: Balmorhea (Good Records- 6pm)
THU: Drink to Victory/Lil Tedly/Koji Kondo (Rubber Gloves)
THU: Record Hop/The Great Tyrant/Red Monroe (Lola's)
FRI: Melodica Festival
FRI: Baby Dee/John Contreras/Alex Neilson/Paul Oldham/the Theater Fire (Arts 5th Ave)
SAT: Melodica Festival and especially Finally Punk/Treewave/Medio Mutante/Cry Blood Apache/Zanzibar Snails (Amsterdam Bar)
SAT: Boats/I Resign (715 Panhandle)
SAT: Car Stereo Wars/Killtronix (The Cavern)
SAT: Seth Sherman/Fight Bite/Glass/Voyant/Angry Businessmen/Glass Gown/Fake Blood (Strawberry Fields)
SUN: Melodica All Ages Show (Club Dada, 4pm)
SUN: Black Lips (Good Records, 4pm)

Weekender

The vast majority of the this post was hurriedly written by Defensive Listening. Corrections and/or additions to follow.

FRIDAY

We Made Out Once Presents: It's What We Get/Wild in the Streets/Craig Welch (Hailey's):
Wild In The Streets and It's What We Get couldn't be more wildly disparate as far as what they play, but it's good to see such different DJ's together. Wild In The Streets plays old French Ye-Ye, while It's What We Get plays modern French electro. WITS is 60's mod sleaze while IWWG is 80's synth sleaze. Craig Welch is one of the most insane local acts I've every seen, due to the ridiculous tongue twisting of his non-stop flow and delivery. Event is "semi-formal." Is that the same thing as biz caj?

The Paper Chase/Micah P Hinson/Shiny Around the Edges (Sons of Hermann Hall): This show probably would have been more of a mismatch a few years ago, but The Papechase have transformed into a moodier outfit and are much less prone to the freak-outs of their first few recordings. The emphasis is much more on melody lately and the singular themed narratives of each album, complete with horror fantasy lyrics and sound effects. Shiny Around The Edges are an increasingly muscular live force that will stand up to the cavernous Sons Of Hermann Hall with ease.

Mom/Violent Squid/My Son The Astronaut (Strawberry Fields): Looks like this could be the most packed SF show ever, due to Mom's involvement. As far as Violent Squid goes, I love a band that puts out a myspace bulletin for their rotating backing band to actually show up and play that night. I seriously think that's great. My Son The Astronaut is the solo acoustic work of Daniel from 715 Panhandle. This is a benefit for The Denton Artists' Collaborative.


Dove Hunter/Bridges And Blinking Lights/Doug Burr (Double Wide)

SATURDAY

Xrin Arms/Yatagarasu/PSOAS/Mistress/Animal Forces//Traducer (House of Tinnitus):
Very unusual aesthetic from the headliner, Xrin Arms, that combines tech grind, electronic elements by way of Dutch-styled gabber hardcore, and even soul music to create an extremely heartfelt racket. There is an insightful interview with Xrin Arms on the excellent new local blog, Digital Liver. Traducer is from Austin and are tourmates of Xrin Arms that play disjointed breakbeat overlapped with distant ambient sounds. Yatagarasu has played HOT at least a couple of times before and is a 8-bit one-man act with distorted bass "subtleties." Three local duos, PSOAS, Mistress, and Animal Forces experiment across the entire avant spectrum featuring everything from harsh noise to ominously spaced out sounds.

Jeff Parker/Loop 12/Stephen R (Fallout):Hard to pin down Chicago musician and Post Rock pioneer Jeff Parker practically created a new genre with his work in Tortoise, just one of many groups he has played with since the early 90's. New work focuses on everything from intricate guitar pieces fluent in complex jazz chord positions to DJ mixes. Loop 12 seems to have come out of nowhere and is now playing every weekend, usually on notable shows.

White Drugs/Raised by Tigers/Gun Gun/The Better Halves/Low Dosage (Hailey's): Low Dosage is the brand new project of Medicine Window founders Cody Robinson and his wife, Amanda. The one track on their page shows not only that they have they picked up where MW left off, but that you don't have to grow soft due to marriage. Gun Gun is a poppy electronic duo featuring Ashley Cromeens.

Free Will Hip Hop Benefit (Green Elephant): All proceeds of this massive benefit go to the family of William "Free Will" Hunnicut. Select and Schwa finish the night off but will first be joined by DJ's, Marty Mar, Nemesis, Tape Masta Step, Quick Chris, Priest TD, BK and Rob Viktum. Other artists include Mic Most, Verbal Seed, Reflect June, Colby Savage, Philly Station, PPT, and many more. There will also be B-Boy crews and graffiti artists on hand.

Lollipop Shoppe (Sloppyworld):

Live Projections will be provided by Chad of Strawberry Fields. Music will be provided by The Dirty Novels.

AM Ramblers/Doug Burr/Stanton Meadowdale (J&Js)

Formal: Art Opening for Sergio Garcia (Kettle Art Gallery): Opening for graffiti artist and musician, Sergio Garcia.

The Party/Hot Flash/Cool Out (Club Dada): This is the after party for the Kettle Art Opening featuring the three biggest local dance events squeezed into a single night.

SUNDAY

No Age (FREE -Good Records): Starts at 4pm

Liars/No Age/Select (Hailey's): Big show for a Sunday with two of the most critically acclaimed acts of recent years. Liars have kept things interesting with a constantly evolving sound that's shifted from what some deemed unlistenable noise (though it hardly qualified) to their more recent percussion driven exercises and finally...sounding somewhat like Beck. No Age hails from the "Smell" scene in Los Angeles, where a beloved venue weighs heavy in the ethics and sometimes even the sounds of the bands that hail from there. Though No Age is hardcore punk-influenced there is a vulnerable emotional slant to the music that is catchy and poppy, and it never completely dissipates no matter how much it's drowned and dirtied with lo-fi noise and production values. Select will DJ either in between acts, or with his own set, as is usually the case when a DJ plays Hailey's.

A Reminder...

Art List

So here's the deal: All of us at HQ have decided that some of you might like to know what's going on in the arts. Every Thursday, you are going to get just that with our new Art List section.

If you have anything you think should be up on the site, email me at artnews@weshotjr.com.

This week, there are a ton of openings going on. Even if this stuff sucks... you can at least grab some free wine. Possibly a cookie.

FRIDAY

Real Time: Mobile Phone Video (Dallas Contemporary) 7-9:30


SATURDAY

Delineation (Holly Johnson Gallery) 5-8

Kenda North, J.P. Long, and Kirk Tatum (Craighead-Green Gallery) 5-8

William Cannings (Pan American Projects) 5-8

Collecting and Collectivity (Conduit Gallery) 5:30-8:30

Layer Upon Layer (Artizen Fine Arts) 6-9

Triple Vision (Marty Walker Gallery) 6-9

It List: Thursday

Jim Ward/The Secret Lives Of Sparrows (Rubber Gloves): Jim Ward is a member of Sparta and this is his much more hushed side project. The Secret Lives Of Sparrows' feature music that has rustic acoustic qualities of the sort utilized by Tom Waits. I often wish Tom Waits wouldn't utilize anything.


Lost Generation (Fallout Lounge): Tonight's guest will be Shane English, currently of No Way, but of so many good projects before that it would fuck up our commitment to great design if were to list them all. Shane has been posting some really great music and videos on his blog, The Soundhead. So expect some great obscure tracks tonight, especially of the scratchy, danceable, foreign and forgotten variety.

80's Night With DJ G (Hailey's)

The Riot Before/Excretion/Sabra Brown/Hawt Dawgz (1919 Hemphill): Hawt Dawgz features members of Fake Blood, Angry Businessmen, and Koji Kondo with boombox accompaniment.

It List: Wednesday

Of course we have the regular activites this evening (It's What We Get at Hailey's and Taxi Fare at Zubar), but for something a little different, you might want to check out Fall in Love at Fallout, a pre-Valentine's Day event hosted by Circa 77 and featuring That's Whats Hot, a DJ I wasn't too familiar with until a couple weeks ago. If you check the Myspace page, you'll hear a brief yet excellent mix of Italo synth pop, classic house, and hints of sexy disco that will surely fit the mood of the evening. Anyone into Lindstrom or the Italians Do it Better roster will probably really dig it. Anyway, the organizers tell me they'll be giving away an all local compilation CD as well as a bunch of other stuff, so drop by. It's free, after all. Hopefully, Christmas bow tie dude will show up again.

You Gotta Be KIDDin Me

My friend and I just compared Jason Kidd's season stats to Devin Harris', and we figured out that Kidd should bring roughly 12 more PPGs with him (when you factor in assits and rebounds via shooting percentage and second chance points). However, I just don't see the logic in getting rid of Devin Harris, an impressive rising talent, Jerry Stackhouse, the only guy in the NBA who can say that he's bitch slapped the living shit out of Shaq, and TWO future first round picks for a 35 year old making $20 million a year. But whatever. If they win it all this year, this is a good trade. If they do anything less, it was a bad move. The quality is bad on this video, but you can see enough to get the point:

It List: Tuesday

Well, nothing really. A recent look at my bank statement revealed that I had spent twenty bucks in one day on corporate coffee. Look, no matter who is elected president, I really need to learn to be less of an asshole. Know what I mean?




Photo by J. Arehart.

Not to Get All Rock the Vote on You...

But it looks like Texas liberals actually have a say in something this year. Can't wait. And by the way, the primaries are open in our state, meaning that as long as you're a registered voter, you can go to your polling place on March 4th and ask for the primary ballot for either party.

It List: Monday

Dead Meadow/Black Mountain/Blood on the Wall (Granada): Dead Meadow is one of those bands that you probably either love or hate, depending on how much pot you smoke. Of course, an affection for Sabbath, Blue Cheer and stoner rock goes a long way towards pushing you to the former, as Dead Meadow has presented a fairly consistent discography of the aforementioned sounds over the past several years. Their live shows ( I've somehow managed to see several over the years) are a bit hit or miss in my experience, and you often get both in the same set. The molasses slow blues based sludge can often be powerful and compelling, but long songs and longer solos often seem to creep into their sets, making patience a necessary virture for the second half of the show. All that being said, the band has become somewhat iconic over the years in certain circles, and if you're into this kind of guitar based psyche rock, you probably can't go wrong with these dudes, dude. Black Mountain could perhaps be described in a similar manner, but they're noticeably more accessible to the general public, focusing on more pop and even folk-tinged psyche oriented material while perhaps trimming down some of the fat the DM indulges in at times (check "Tyrants" on their Myspace for a little taste of this). And they really seem to like Zep, too. I'm personally a bigger fan of BM side project Pink Mountaintops than I am of Black Mountain itself, but I hear a pretty decent live experience here. And finally, Blood on the Wall have been compared to grunge influenced, early DGC era Sonic Youth, and I guess I can see that. It's also by far the worst era of Sonic Youth, ps. In fact, I think I'd rather listen to BOW's first record than Dirty. Don't reject me.

Also, Cool out at the Cavern. Cool Out dudes have a little treat for you that we'll be posting a little later as well.

Monday Morning Rock

SHOWS OF NOTE THIS WEEK

MON: Dead Meadow/Black Mountain/Blood on the Walls (Granada)
FRI: It's What We Get/Wild in the Streets/Craig Welch (Hailey's)
FRI: The Paper Chase/Micah Hinson/Shiny Around the Edges (Sons of Hermann Hall)
SAT: Xrin Arms/Yatagarasu/PSOAS/Mistress (House of Tinnitus)
SAT: The Party/Hot Flash/Cool Out (Club Dada)
SAT: Free Will Hip Hop Benefit with Schwa, Select, and several local MCs (Green Elephant)
SUN: No Age (Good Records- FREE)
SUN: Liars/No Age/Select (Hailey's)

Weekender

Sort of a thin weekend quantity-wise, but the quality is certainly there:

FRIDAY

Daniel Francis Doyle/Koji Kondo/Angry Businessmen/Nouns Group (Strawberry Fields): Not sure of the order of bands for this show, but I hear things will get started around 8 or 9 o'clock. An excellent line up all around, and I couldn't think of a better place than Strawberry Fields to see these groups. Set order and/or more specifc time slots would be nice in the comments or something. the one two punch of Angry Businessmen and KK is always worth seeing, especially when you consider that it often takes a total of 30 minutes to catch them both.

Akkolyte/The Great Tyrant/Loop 12 (Sloppyworld): Probably one of the most impressive all local line-ups to play Dallas proper in weeks, or maybe even months. Akkolyte is honestly one of my favorite local live bands right now, bringing a punishing grindcore intensity that hardly sounds like it could be coming from just two people--short blasts of some of the most complex and explosive grind you'll hear anywhere, and certainly one of the heaviest live sets in the area. Seriously, theirs is the set to catch tonight if you're pissed off. Trust me. The Great Tyrant has been a favorite around here for a long time, as you probably know, and Loop 12 recently became a new favorite after seeing their performance at And/Or Gallery a couple weeks ago. You might be inclined to call them "noise" at first listen, but if you take a moment to process what is going on during one of their sets, you can reach below the harsh metallic sounds and find truly hypnotic yet surprising rhythms underneath, making it easier to focus on what it is they seem to be trying to accomplish. Any fan of experimental electronic music should take note of these guys, because they are truly the real deal. We might just have more on them very soon.

Late Night Party: Keith P/It's What We Get/Wanz Dover (Sloppyworld): Kicking off at 1am (following the show above) and continuing until 3 or 4, this should be an excellent display of some great local DJs in just the right kind of environment. If you haven't already, I'd really suggest scrolling down just a bit and downloading Keith P's latest edition of Bass Music, because its mix of grime, garage and dub is very unique for this area and not to be missed. It's What We Get are pretty young dudes, by the way, but you wouldn't know it dancing to one of their sets: a knowledgeable mix of classically influential electronic/disco and all of the new shit that you've never heard before. Only dorks like me would think about it, of course, because their sets are nothing but good times.

Will Johnson/Sarah Jaffe (Dan's Sliverleaf): I honestly haven't heard much of Will Johnson's solo material, but shit, I'm guessing that most of the people who are considering going to this show already know where they stand. Rumor has it that Johnson may again perform with Jandek some time in the near future, and judging by their performance in Ft. Worth last summer, it'll be more than worth checking out. We'll keep you posted on all that stuff.

SATURDAY

Hands Up! The Party with Dayta and Cokni O'Dire (The Loft): Check the interview with Dayta here. And Cokni O'Dire apparently has a pretty interesting history that I didn't know anything about until just now.

Valentine's Party (House of Dang): Running from 6 to 930, this Valentine's party will also serve as the launch for HOD's new spring collection. Free booze will be provided as usual, and this will be a great way to kick off your night of, well, whatever it is you do. I usually just ride around shinin'.

Stereo on Strike with Robert Taylor (Fallout Lounge): A benefit for the Melodica Festival, which in case you forgot, is being funded entirely by two individuals. If you're the kind of person who DOESN'T enjoy seeing Red Stripe posters and bullshit all over the place at events like SXSW, then I'd suggest checking out one of these Melodica benefit shows. Not only will it be fun, but it will help make Dallas' first true underground music festival in years even better.

SUNDAY

Nothin' so far other than Liquid Courage at Zubar with Wanz and Red Eye, where they play mostly vinyl sets of everything from new Berlin minimal to old school house. Check back with us over the weekend.