Weekender

Sheesh.  Thought there would be a lot more going on this weekend with the holiday and everything, but I guess not.  Oh well.  At least I'll be done with this shit early (if we missed anything, let us know). The shows are below, and by the way-- what do you guys think of that new Toadies record, anyway?      

FRIDAY

The Party (Zubar): Ahh... the August Zubar Party.  This shit is always so fucking hot that you just forget about what you look like and get trashed.  Or dance.  Or whatever it is you do when you go out.  On a related note, I caught a lot of DJ Nature's outdoor dancehall set at the Loft a few weeks ago, and after spending a few minutes outside listening, I pretty much decided not to go back in again, other than to get more beer.  You'll hear more of that stuff at Nature's weekly Taxi Fare than you will tonight, but shit, you have to respect the guy's diversity.  I think I recognized like three songs the whole time, and that's a very small number considering how hip I am to all the white label shit.  

Stay Cool Swag School Denton Beard Pageant with Mom DJ Set/Young Doc Gooden/Yeah Def/Mount Righteous/In Dot Dat (Rubber Gloves):  Well, Denton Beardos are drawing a line in the sand tonight, much to the chagrin of certain people in Dallas.  This party will feature some sort of beard contest that will probably be won by the guy who appears on all the fliers for this thing.  In addition to the fact that you'll hear very diverse Dj sets this evening, this will also be your chance to catch all the Denton scene sleaze out in full force, and we know how much you enjoy that.  Oh, and everyone's favorite pals Mount Righteous will be playing too!  Maybe they'll inject a little joy into your life you cynical jerks!   

The Spectacle/Bat Castle/Urizen (the Boiler Room): Kind of a weird show that I'm not even sure how I feel about-- The Spectacle is a pretty straight forward metal band that does it's job well enough to possibly be worth checking out.  Bat Castle sounds like a heavy metal cover of the Willy Wonka soundtrack, and its unclear whether it'll be entertaining after more than a few minutes, even though you have to respect the band for being such prog assholes.  Urizen is easily the most interesting band in this line up-- describing themselves as "progressive metal," the group sounds like everything from Gameboy music to mid period Phil Collins solo to Ozzy to any number of 80's Dungeons and Dragons metal groups.  

SATURDAY

Nouns Group/The Frenz/Fight Bite (Rubber Gloves): I wonder if Fight Bite's parents finally stopped telling their kids what a waste of time "this music thing" is when they saw them mentioned in USA Today last week.  I know my mom didn't think this website was worth shit until we got a write up in the Fort Worth Star Telegram, and USA Today has WAY more colors and stuff.  I tried to tell her about "blog buzz" and the importance of "time on site" statistics once, but it really didn't help.  

D Town Booty Bounce with Scuba Team Go/Click Claak/DJ Fishrpryce/Damaged Good$/Prince William (Fallout Lounge): Vigilante Productions brings their set to Fallout Lounge, which seems to be turning into quite the little dance spot on the weekends.  Dallas' Scuba Team Go is an accessible electro/hip hop duo that would be better if they didn't like rock music.  Still pretty decent and way better than a lot of similar groups that receive national attention (looking at you, WHY?).  Click Claak's "ghettotech" material reminds me of like Tag Team and Miami Bass stuff mixed with early pop house, and Damaged Good$ might be my favorite local hip hop act.  This is going to be a great show I think.  

G.B.H./Whole Wheat Bread/Krum Bums/Greyskull (The Prophet Bar): I know everyone likes to pretend that they were all into gutterpunk in the mid 90's while they try to forget about that Pennywise CD they used to own, but I actually thought GBH were overrated even back in high school, and I imagine that they haven't aged well.  I'll just listen to Crass if I'm in the mood for this kind of stuff.  Don't hate me.  Of course, these opening bands make GBH sound like The Fall, so, uh, get there late if you're going.  

Zest of Yore/Ume/Record Hop (Hailey's): I just spent a little time listening to Zest of Yore, and they reminded me of a band that I haven't thought about in like 10 years-- Jellyfish.  You can decide for yourself whether or not that's an insult.  I didn't really mean it as one.  Their song "The Rejects" is actually great, and most of their other tracks have that nice late 80's pre grunge college rock kinda feel to them.  

SUNDAY

It List: Thursday

Yeah, a lot is going on tonight, but at 9pm, you guys should really put down the bongs and stop the conversations for a little bit and watch Barack Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. Dallas Democrats are having a watching party at Lakewood Theater this evening starting at 7pm, and it might be a really good place to see such a thing. Music:

Indian Jewelry/Zanzibar Snails/Followed by Static (The Lounge): We've said a lot about this show this week, but we'll just add that Zanzibar Snails will be selling new CDs at the show tonight, and their performance with feature a guest appearance from Dust Congress' bassoon player, who was the inspiration for the best joke I've ever told on here. Ask your friends!

Jeremy Enigk/Sarah Jaffe/Kris Youmans/Omoreka (House of Blues): It really pisses me off that they named this place "Pontiac Garage," like it's some dingy little practice space where poor geniuses go to toil in obscurity. Those places usually don't have gift shops, but whatevs. Honesty time: I've never heard one single Jeremy Enigk solo song in my entire life, although I hear that much of it is considerably more adventurous than anything Sunny Day Real Estate ever did. I really used to like Sunny Day's Sub Pop debut until I realized one day that it was the one record that made it ok for punks to cry. And don't say the Descendents did that, because Milo would totally kick Enigk's ass.

The Octopus Project/Diagonals/The Burning Hotels (Lola's)

Jack with One Eye/Sean Kirkpatrick/Silk Stocking (Club Dada): Jack with One Eye is a pretty quality group that hardly ever plays shows. Hey shitty local bands-- write that down please.

Parachutes/Starhead/Grassfight (Rubber Gloves)

Queensryche (Nokia Theater): "Silent Lucidity" is probably the absolute lamest song I like.

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

Art List

It's a short list today. Expect this shit to blow up next week.

THURSDAY

Auction to benefit the Gustavo Ipina Memorial Scholarship Fund (Gallery 2910) 5-9pm.

FRIDAY

Uncommon Sense (Fort Worth Contemporary Arts) 6-9pm.
I still haven't made it out to Fort Worth Contemporary, but this exhibit might be a good time to get over there. The show features the work of Rebecca Baron, Tom Sachs, and Richard Wentworth. Artist talk with Rebecca Baron at noon.

Indian Jewelry

So we already told you why we're excited to see Indian Jewelry this evening at the Lounge, and in antcipation of their performance, we decided to ask them a few questions via email. We wanted to talk about their live show, their rotating membership, and how they go about writing their songs. Some of their answers are more informative than others, but hey, what can you do when you're answering email questions on tour? Our questions and their answers are below:

1. The last time we saw you guys in Denton, you had an insane live show that was particularly intense thanks to use of a strobe light flashing at the audience for literally the entire performance. What do you guys aim to do to or with the audience when you play live?

What an audience does is an audience's business so long as they show us some respect and stay out of our space. If they don't that's fine too. We have acquired a bullwhip. With the strobe light flashing any insolent fools won't know where the lashes are coming from, only where they are landing. It used to be that we were trying to help them find their way to total freedom through the time-worn paths of hypnotic light and sound. But then we heard that freedom wasn't free, and we weren't feeling that generous after all.

2. How crucial is visual art to what you are trying to do with your music?

You may not know it but I was once on top of the art game, vis a vis writing and curating. i retired a champion, undefeated. The difference between me and any other artwad is that I walked out upright and on the same legs that brought me in. Art, like everything else, is fine in its time and place but like everything else it is full of pimps and other middlemen and they all need to get out the way.

3. Can you tell me about who started the band and how it was started? What inspired you early on, and what were things like in Houston when you got started?

Erika and I started the band as 2001 turned to 2002 new year's weekend in big bend. We had big plans. Full bore aesthetic hijacking for king's ransoms. Beauty in volume. Spirit frequency smearage. Swarm of angels guerilla warfare. Disindoctrination. Blood on the parquet. Dancing in the bus lane. Houston, however, don't shine to big plans. Then as always it was a spotty place where inspiring people and lifeless jackoffs share chips and salsa every night without regard for snobbery or even basic aesthetics. At the time we were mesmerized by the utopian promise of noise. It took us a while to realize that it was just another closed-circuit social channel.

4. I've read that the band's membership is constantly changing and fluctuating depending on who happens to be around. What are some of the advantages of working in this manner? What are some of the disadvantages?

It is true to a point. Our membership of active players does change fairly often, but we have circles within circles. Certain people have been with us from the start and they work their way in and around the general mess. The advantage to the way we work is that we can get more done than other bands doing it the older way, especially with regards to recording and touring. Also, it keeps us from becoming too complacent, especially insofar as our band identity is hardly fixed as we, and here I mean both erika and I as well as the whole working group, have to adapt to the ideas and the ways of the different people we play with. On the other hand, it is difficult to make everyone feel fully invested as they step in and out of the circle of activity. It can be hard work scaring up a posse, and sometimes we lose momentum abruptly. What's more, I love the old romance of the classic rock band and i hate to see people come and go.

5. Can you tell me a bit about your songwriting process? Your music is obviously very unpredictable but certainly not random or purely improvisational in nature, and I'm curious as to how this all comes together.

Not to be glib but while we write songs as they come to us they are in fact written. People might not believe it to see us play live but we put more care into every second of our music and lyrics than most precious singer-songwriters invest into their whole wee catalogs.

6. What has touring been like for you recently? Do you find that you have a healthy audience throughout the country?

We used to have fans and no audience. Now we have an audience but fewer fans. And I'd hardly call it a healthy audience, looks to me like they could spend less time in the buffet line and more time outdoors.

7. Your new album sounds a bit more accessible and a tad less dark than your last one. What do you think accounts for this slight shift in sound, if anything?

Psychology. Invasive Exotics (first record) is about dark feelings. It was written in the midst of dark times and dark places. Free Gold (second record) on the other hand was supposed to be morning music, the kind you put on in the morning, but things soured. To be sure, it has a lot of California in it in my opinion, and reflects the time that we spent in los angeles.

8. What is your typical set up when you play live?

In a nutshell, three things. Things what repeat, things what amplify sound, and people what get the job done.

9. It seems that you guys apply elements of classic psychedelic rock and droning electro pretty much equally in your music. Can you tell us some of your favorite psyche rock bands and early electro/experimental groups?

We are barbarians at the gates of the palace of the record nerds. We've spent so much of the last several years writing songs and making records that, sadly, our own
listening habits have suffered. But van time is different, and there you have Fleetwood Mac, classic rock radio, and occasionally rap stations.

10. Any funny stories from this current tour?

Funny is tragedy plus time and we haven't had the time.

11. Any noteworthy plans for the immediate future?

There is no future. only now. Of course, that is until the next bout of now and I'm a little nervous about that one and the one after it.

(Indian Jewelry play this evening at the Lounge in Dallas)

It List: Wednesday

Cocky Americans/Beau Turkey/Keith P (The Cavern): Another Detour show, this time featuring the artwork of Beau Turkey, who takes issue with a perceived lack of pen and ink work in recent times on his Myspace page, and who also has some decent imagery overall. I would like to see some of this work up close. The participation of Keith P will probably ensure that a sizable crowd gets to do just that.

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers/Steve Winwood (American Airlines Center): Tom Petty, though it seems counterintuitive, has some sort of weird street cred. He was involuntarily responsible for launching the career of The Strokes, since their big hit "Last Night" was pretty much an "American Girl" ripoff more than anything by VU or Television or whatever NME or Mojo said they were. Steve Albini has argued that the Heartbreakers are way more of a rock band than R.E.M. ever was, and even the 1919 Hemphill crowd seems to give him the "ok." He's a classic rock icon, even cheesy classic rock, and yet nobody ever really says anything bad about him. Kind of strange. I will say something bad about Steve Winwood, I saw some quote by him where he was talking about how talentless the first wave of 70's punk musicians were and he sounded like the most threatened, out-of-touch, hippie you've ever stomached in your life. Then he went on to make some of the most sappy Reagan Era sonic swill you've ever heard in your life. And no, I will not make an exception for "Valerie."

It List: Tuesday

Nas/Talib Kweli/DJ Green Lantern (House Of Blues): I have to admit, it was somewhat of a letdown when Nas ended his epic and longstanding rift with Jay-Z, which resulted in some of the most entertaining back-and-forth attacks in hip-hop. Nas hasn't really lightened up in general though, and has taken issue with Bill O'Reilly's criticism of him, dedicating an entire lyrically scathing track to Fox News on his most recent record. Sample lyrics:

"The video slots
Broadcast
The Waco Davidian plots
They own YouTube, Myspace
When this ignorant shit gon' stop?
They monopolizing news
Your views
And the channel you choose"

I really like the idea of a popular rapper questioning the corrupt aspects of Myspace. Anyways, Nas claims he wants to release two records on the same day, one produced by DJ Premier, and one produced by Dr. Dre. I would "blind buy" the DJ Premier production without even hearing it. The rest of tonight's all star lineup includes the more peace-minded lyricism of Talib Kweli, along with DJ Greenlantern, who has worked with the aforementioned Jay-Z and too many other big names to list here.

Disqo Disco (Fallout Lounge): Tonight's set will feature Justin Vacant of Pretty Vacant.

Free Indian Jewelry Tickets

Some time last year we caught Indian Jewelry's performance at Rubber Gloves, and it was, uh, polarizing to say the least. The moment the band took the stage and started in with their swirling feedback, distorted, disjoined electronic beats and thundering live percussion, you could tell that several members of the small audience actually became frightened as they quickly exited the performance area. We, however, found it to be one of the best shows we'd seen all year, and we're really excited that they'll be coming back to Dallas this Thusday evening at the Lounge with Zanzibar Snails and Austin's Followed By Static. Parade of Flesh has a pair of tickets to give away to the show, and if you want to win them, email weshotjrtix@yahoo.com any time between now and Wednesday at noon for your chance to win. You know the drill-- include your full name in the body and title the email "Indian Jewelry." Good luck!

It List: Monday

Best Fwends/Akkolyte (1919 Hemphill): Uh, yes. Best Fwends are kicking off their tour this evening at 1919 Hemphill, one of the spots that has been so kind to them throughout their existence. Many of you know both of these bands well by now, but it should be said that people with short attention spans will absolutely love this show-- Akkolyte's otherwordly bursts of grindcore will slay anyone who likes "indie" rock, and then Best Fwends will remind you of how shitty your band is when you realize that they've never taken one thing seriously and have still seen more success that just about any active area band. And I'll never get sick of that Xxxchange Remix of their song "M.Y.S.E.L.F."

Whoa! feat. Young Doc Gooden (Hailey's): New weekly for YDG where he'll be playing "the best of all genres hedonistic and profane." Probably a smart choice for a crowd of people willing to get drunk on Monday night at Hailey's. School's back in, sucka, so this might be kinda crazy.

Cool Out (The Cavern)

Monday Morning Rock

SHOWS OF NOTE THIS WEEK

MON: Best Fwends (1919 Hemphill)
WED: Tom Petty/Steve Winwood (American Airlines Center)
THU: Indian Jewelry/Zanzibar Snails/Followed by Static (The Lounge)
FRI: The Party (Zubar)
SAT: Nouns Group/The Frenz/Fight Bite (Rubber Gloves)
SAT: Zest of Yore/Ume/Record Hop (Hailey's)

Weekender

Ok, here is what we have for now. We'll be making additions throughout the weekend, so check back with us, and if we missed something that you think is actually worth writing about, let us know in the comments:


ADD:
Faux Fox/Telethon/Hello Lover (Hailey's):
Forgot to add this earlier. John Freeman's last Telethon show as a local.


FRIDAY

Denton Deluxe Players Present "Graveyard Love"/Rival Gang/Kaboom/The Faith (Rubber Gloves): This is the third and final night of the Denton Deluxe Players live theater in a rock setting and I hope to actually see it tonight. The performances have started much earlier than a band would, and I think that more people would have a chance of seeing it with a regular band set starting time. I still want to see Sloan act, but I have little doubt about his abilities as a singer, and his stage banter is impeccable. How come I've never heard a band make a shaky set joke about RGRS being a rehearsal studio in ten years plus of attending shows there? I'm sure it's been done, but it was the first time that I had heard it. Genius.

Judas Priest/Heaven And Hell/Motorhead/Testament (Starplex):

The Toadies/The Crash That Took Me/Riverboat Gamblers/Dead Twins (Palladium): Sometimes the comments on our site are so stupid, I feel like becoming a republican. Then I remember that friends of mine used to frequent "The Toadies Bulletin Board," in that overly publicized and epic lull between records. Now that was stupid. Come to think of it, the old Rubber Gloves message board was also ridiculous, though I still miss lurking on that old thing. What, did you actually think I was going to try to talk about The Toadies?

Calhoun/Monahan/Doug Burr/Telegraph Canyon (Lola's)

The Great Tyrant/Spindrift/Restavrant (Chatroom)




SATURDAY

Melvins/Big Business (House Of Blues): I saw this exact same show a few months ago at the Granada (it was a WSJR sponsored show, as a matter of fact), and I'll tell you that some Melvins fans really come out of the woodwork for their shows. Like, dudes who look like they haven't left their houses since the great hash explosion of 1996. of course, once the Melvins take the stage, you'll see just how not insane these dudes actually are: the two drummer Melvins attack is a site to be seen for sure, and Buzz dorks out on guitar like no one else playing today. If you've ever had even a remote interest in the Melvins, then you need to see them at least once. I know I know, House of Blue(s) Balls sucks, but I'll put it to you this way: The Melvins live make Big Business look a little weak, and Big Business fucking rules.

My Morning Jacket (Palladium): Every time I hear people talk about My Morning Jacket, I can't help but think they are sort of like the "weirdo indie" band that dude brahs can get into so they can show their girlfriends that they're artsy and shit. That's cool I guess, but since I spend pretty much all my time trying to show girls how artsy I am, I figure I should help the brahs out a little bit-- the group has been around since the early 90s, starting off doing a reverb dominated take on Neil Young songs that came off as music made by people who had just started building their record collections based on what sounded good when they were high. However, with the release of 2005's Z, MMJ took a more experimental turn, highlighted by the Hype Machine topping blog single "Wordless Chorus." The track is actually a pretty good example of what this band is all about in a nutshell-- easily digestible? Yes. Totally chill, man? Yep. Atmospherics and doses of experimentalism that often mask pretty standard blues based rock songs? Of course. Still pretty good though? Sure, I suppose so. In fact, I usually have a hard time turning them off when I hear them, even if their brand of smoke and mirrors is pretty identifiable right off the bat. But you'll have to like them a bit more than that to sit through what will apparently be a 2 hour plus performance. I guess that's the price you'll have to pay, bro. Get high first.

Melissa's Pool Party with She-Dick/The Party/Schwa (Backyard Beach Bar, 7530 E. Grand): Well this will certainly be the Dallas hipster/scenester party of the weekend, and say what you want about that, but I have to give these people props for trying out a show at a place where most people reading this blog would never dream of venturing. For those who don't know, Backyard Beach Bar is kind of on the way to another hipster destination, the Goat, and it might be the perfect place to see what will end up being She-Dick's last ever performance. I never really dug these, uh, people, but I'm in the minority amongst most people I know, so I guess I'll just have to give in. The Party, coming of a massively successful performance at the Granada last night, will be on their game for sure, and Schwa might actually be the best summer time BBQ party DJ in Dallas, so be sure to catch him.

Yells At Eels/Silk Stocking/Darktown Strutters (Rubber Gloves): This is a great lineup, though I'm still never clear on whether or not Silk Stocking is still active. I think I'll go to this just to make sure. Yells At Eels works impresses in so many ways, that it is almost frustrating if you've ever tried to learn an instrument. In fact, these guys probably depress virtuosos as well.

SUNDAY

It List: Thursday

Cool Kids/Flosstradamus/Ricky Blaze/The Party (Granada): One of the bigger shows of the week (obviously) featuring three huge names in the eclectic dance/hip hop scene that has been fueled and nourished by publications like Fader and XLR8R for a few years now. First things first-- if you wanna go to this thing, just head over to this corporate website and RSVP. You'll want to do it now, and you'll probably want to show up early too, as this FREE event will get packed pretty quick. I promise. Cool Kids' nods to late 80's early 90's hip hop should come off as cliche hipster fodder on paper, but somehow their tracks are almost universally successful due to fantastically minimal beats and a solid flow that answers any style over substance the right way pretty quickly. Chicago's Flosstradamus caught my ear a couple years ago with a fantastic mash up (I know, I know) of Twista's "Overnight Star" and a Sigur Ros track (don't recall the name, but it's #2 on their first album) that actually worked as an emotionally charged hip hop dance track, if that makes any fucking sense at all. Ricky Blaze is a young, pop oriented dance hall MC from Brooklyn who made waves with this video last year, and I'm sure his cuddly crowd pleasing anthems will go over very nicely with The Party's crowd . I'm not sure if Central Booking put this show together or if corporation in question just had them added to the bill, but either way, props to them for being involved in such a huge show.

Intronaut/Mouth of the Architect/Behold... The Arctopus (Club Dada): In the strange times we live in today, where self aware mid period flashback retro hip hip competes with hardcore and metal for a hipster audience thats supposed to be listening to I love You Barcelona or whatever the fuck that band is called, Parade of Flesh might have their work cut out for them on the eve of the big Granada show. However, this will end up having more to do with the shortage of hipsters in Dallas more than anything else. Intronaut is a fairly interesting prog metal act from LA that treads the line of slickness without ever crossing the line into doucheness. It's not my thing exactly, but those who are into melodic song structures and huge riffs and bands like High on Fire and Mastodon will dig it for sure, especially if said people are also into Rush and stuff. Mouth of the Architect sounds like they do something similar but a little less successful, while Behold the Arctopus sounds like they really like to fuck with odd time signatures like a heavy metal Yes. Totally. Being a dork IS cool again.

Greg Ginn and the Taylor Texas Corrugators (Fred's Cafe, Ft. Worth)

Steely Dan (Nokia): See? I told you.

ADD: Check the Rubber Gloves website for details on the theatrical performance taking place there tonight in addition to a Dirty Diamond performance.

80's Night with DJG (Hailey's)

Art List

SATURDAY

The Program (Conduit) 7-9pm
The final week of The Program will feature the films of John Bock and David Adamo, along with installations from JODI, Joel Holmberg, Yu-Chin Tseng, Ryan Trecartin, and eteam. You can see the schedule here.

Imprinted Traces (Bath House)7-9pm
A show from 8 female printmakers.

CHECK OUT
On Kawara (Dallas Museum of Art)
Closes on Sunday!

Group Hug (Marty Walker)
Closes Aug 30th.

Candy Land (Pan American)
Closes Aug 30th.

Sunny Sliger (Central Track)
Closes August 29th.


Still from Max Payne Cheats Only by JODI

It List: Wednesday

I'm not going to lie, it's a pretty shitty night for the most part.


Texas Achiever/Greg Ginn And The Texas Corrugators (Lakewood Bar And Grill): Innovative Black Flag guitarist and founding member, SST founder, and basically one of the people most responsible for the underground/punk/indie touring circuit of the late 20th Century, will be performing at Lakewood Bar And Grill tonight. Curiously, Ginn is now based in Taylor, TX and has relocated his historically Californian operation there. His current band basically just jams the whole time, but Ginn's playing is still recognizable. I would like to see this, in spite of the venue. Maybe I can actually get in this time.

Yeah Def/It's What We Get (Haileys)

Dj Holla/Flashlight Party (Rubber Gloves): Who will win the battle of the Denton dance parties this evening?

Joey Kendall/Har Herrar/Brad Lee Dougher/Disco/Hate/The Landed Gentry/Sorry About The Mess (J & J's Pizza): This show is mostly Mount Righteous members playing their solo projects, and I prefer the less-is-more approach of some of the acts to their collective output.

Jessie Mayeux/Desirae Embree/Disqo Disco (The Cavern): Mayeux will be performing live tonight, with art provided by Desirae Embree. Disqo Disco will handle DJ duties.

My Son, My Executioner/Melora (The Door)

Taxi Fare (Zubar)


Gorgeous Frankenstein/Bella Morte/Car Bomb/Ghoultown (Granada):
As I was saying...

We Shot A Mix 2.4-- Young Doc Gooden

Young Doc Gooden, aka Austin Brown, has been making quite a name for himself in Denton over the past few months with a series of well attended parties and musical events that have exhibited a great deal of stylistic diversity and, well, style.  Lately, Young Doc has been working on building up a weekly residency at Hailey's on Monday nights where he'll play the latest in southern hip hop, ghetto house and a lot of other stuff that inspires thoughts of purple drink and debates concerning high/low/no brow pretty much equally.  Guy was nice enough to put a mix together for us, so check the track list and some little write ups Austin did for each track, then download it here.  Tracks:

UGK – Itn’l Player’s Anthem (Chopped and Screwed)
This is a lane hoggin anthem.

E.S.G. – Realist Rhymin’ (feat. Lil Flip)
E.S.G. gets into some topical James Byrd flow towards the end which gives me chills everytime, but Lil Flip’s verse is the most crucial on this song. E.S.G. actually wrote “Wanna Be a Baller” by Lil Troy, but never got credit (or money) for it. There’s no telling how big he could have blown up if he had gotten credit for a number one hit. E.S.G. is the greatest rapper of the S.U.C. that never achieved his potential of mainstream success. He’s also mentally unstable.

Lil Keke – Down South (feat. A.G., Archie Lee, and Da Hitman)
The instrumental on this track is a real classic. It sounds like when you go into Guitar Center and press play on one of the sequencers or really expensive keyboards.
Slim Thug – I Ain’t Heard (Chopped and Screwed)
What would Pharrell think if he heard what was done to his masterpiece.

Trae – Pop Trunk Wave (feat. Fat Pat)
This song reminds me how good it feels to get paid. Trae is a self-proclaimed “asshole by nature,” and I think that’s awesome.

Fat Pat – Tops Drop
If you listen to this song and click your heals three times, you can actually appear in a Cadillac on I-10 going through downtown Houston. Just be careful with that styrofoam cup in the cupholder.

H.A.W.K. – World Come 2 an End
You can really see where Lil Wayne got his style listening to way H.A.W.K. flows. All of the similes and clever rhymes came straight from H.A.W.K.

Ghostwriters – H-Town Luv (Chopped and Screwed)
“We’ve come a long way from comin down and sayin man.” Just seeing where rap radio is now, and seeing where it started with DJ Screw, its amazing how professional the whole scene has become.

Big Moe – Bar Baby
I got in an argument at a party that Big Moe has better flow that Biggie. ‘Bar Baby’ is equivalent of ‘Juicy’ by Biggie. Listen to them back to back and you tell me I’m wrong.

Fat Pat – Jammin Screw
This song uses the popular Slave – Watching You sample.

Big Steve and Double D – Supa Hoe Layer (feat. Granpapper Mafioso and Noke D.)
“I took a trip to Louisiana and met a hoe at the mall.” That’s real life stuff.

Pimp C – Workin the Wheel
I was watching Lou Reed at SXSW, and this guy with a camera and a microphone from some website asked me what my favorite rock lyrics of all time were. “I’m Pimp C I ain’t never made love.” Just think about it…

Mike Jones – Flossin (feat Big Moe)
I went through about a month of my life where before I could listen to anything else on my iPod, I had to listen to this song at least twice. The only SwishaHouse rapper on this mix.

UGK – Somethin Good (Chopped and Screwed)
An old school UGK hit the only way to hear it.

Killa Kyleon – Back to Front (feat. Slim Thug and Sir Daily)
The super-used UGK “Front Back and Side to Side” sample, but this song gets me buck. “H-town: the home of the Rockets and the Texans, and we got the cheapest prices cause we cop it from the Mexicans.” Real talk.

Z-Ro – It Don’t Stop
Z-ro takes a lot of influence from Tupac. Most of his songs are full of truth bombs and political rap. He has a pretty extensive discography, which is pretty impressive considering how often he is in and out of jail.

E.S.G. – Swangin and Bangin
Forget Weezy, Jay-Z, 3000: E.S.G. is the greatest rapper alive. He’s still alive right?

It List: Tuesday

Nothing today, except Disqo Disco at Fallout and Minimal Techno at Moosh. The Observer also wants everyone to know that they totally aren't falling for the hype on this Vega track, ok? They're just "dutifully spreadin' the word" by reporting on it. Look, if you're just doing your duty, no need to sound so threatened.

New Alan Palomo Track-- Vega "All Too Vivid"

One of the things I really liked about Alan Palomo's work with Ghosthustler was that the guy just sounded so self assured and comfortable with what he was doing.  A lot of these "blog house" or hipster dance or whatever you call them groups (even some of the better ones, too) feature some of the biggest lame asses of all time as vocalists or frontmen, but I always thought Palomo was leaps and bounds above most of them as far as style, delivery and lyrics.  Well, as happens anywhere from 10-30 times a day every day, I've been proven right once again.  Palomo's solo project, Vega (I'm guessing its an obvious nod to you-know-who), has just released its first single, "All Too Vivid," and yes, its quite good.  The guy is playing to his strengths and putting his vocals front and center in front of some glossy ass synths and infectious dance beats.  I don't think you could even really call this "blog house," it's probably more just a great pop song with an impeccable set of influences that Palomo discovered before you ever heard that Cut Copy record.  Alan was nice enough to share this with us and a couple other blogs, so listen to it:

LINK

It List: Monday

Nine Inch Nails/A Place to Bury Strangers (American Airlines Center): Trent Reznor re-emerged back into the American underground's line of sight briefly this year when he pulled a Radiohead and released not one but five albums independently via download and several other formats from his website. The first was a four CD set of 36 instrumental tracks, and the second was a more pop affair with vocals that has been downloaded for free nearly 2 million times since it was released. This is quite an accomplishment on many levels, but hardly surprising given the fact that 1) Nine Inch Nails is by far the most popular industrial group of all time and 2) dude has enough money to try whatever the fuck he wants. You know? Anyway, be sure to show up early and catch the set from NYC's A Place to Bury Strangers, who's industrial, shoegaze and noise influences came together perfectly on their uncomfortably loud debut record several months ago. People seem to throw the name Jesus and Mary Chain around most often when talking about this group, and although the link is clear, you won't find any of the latter group's subversively bubble gum vocal melodies hidden beneath the noise... this stuff is darker and even less organic. Highly recommended.

From The Depths/The Doomies/Maruta/Cult Ritual/Ippur/Division of Power (1919 Hemphill): Politically charged grindcore/metal/hardcore show with some fairly tight groups. The real attraction for me, however, is tonight's interactive workshop that features step by step instructions on how to crash the major national Parties' conventions this year, complete with advice on creating blockades and defending yourself against 5-0 when they start trying to fuck with you.

Cool Out (The Cavern)

DJ Holla (Hailey's): Holla is a New York based DJ who seems to play (if his Myspace is any indication) some of the most stereotypical hipster dance mixes you could ever imagine. Daft Punk's "Around the World" mixed with Rye Rye? Yessir! Stardust's "Music Sounds Better with You" mixed with Simian Mobile Disco's "Hustler?" Check. Kavinsky and MSTRKRFT? As the Olsen twins would say, "you got it, dude!" I guess you could do a lot worse than this on a Monday night in Denton, but shit, its like this guy went back in time to Spring 07 so that he could give us 1.21 Jigowatts worth of no surprises. Expect a sizable crowd!

Monday Morning Rock

SHOWS OF NOTE THIS WEEK

MON: Nine Inch Nails/A Place to Bury Strangers (American Airlines Center)
WED: Greg Ginn (Lakewood Bar and Grill... not kidding)
THU: Flosstradamus/Cool Kids/The Party (Granada)
THU: Intronaut/Mouth of the Architect/Behold... The Arctopus (Club Dada)
THU: Steely Dan (Starplex)
FRI: Judas Priest/Heaven and Hell/Motorhead/Testament (Starplex)
SAT: Melvins/Big Business (House of Blues)
SAT: My Morning Jacket (Palladium)
SAT: Yells at Eels/Silk Stocking/Darktown Strutters (Rubber Gloves)

Weekender

FRIDAY

Hands UP with DJ Craze/Dave Nada/The Party/Keith P (the Loft): Pretty big time show at the Loft tonight for anyone who knows shit about shit. Dj Craze has made quite a name for himself over his ten year career (he was even named "Best DJ of the Year" by TIME FUCKING magazine for God's sake) , but his most high profile gig came earlier this year when he began working as Kanye West's touring DJ. Aside from these claims to fame, this Miami based DJ has been running a record label and producing drum n bass tracks for a number of years, as well as working with the heavy blogged about A-Trak. Craze's remix work certainly leans heavily towards early Euro electro, classic house, 80's synth dance and Miami bass, and it's all very solid and well worth checking out. Although I hear the guy plays a lot of hip hop during his sets, I really hope he sticks with stuff similar to his remixes this evening, because Dallas could use a dose of it. Dave Nada is another highly respected DJ who recently joined the Am Only Roster along with Crookers, Richie Hawtin and MSTRKRFT, and he's considered one of the main figures on the Baltimore dance scene. Congrats to Central Booking for a very solid show.

Dub Assembly with Southern/Mundo/Royal Highnuss/ Soy Capaz and Dragonman (Green Elephant): Another strong Texas centered line up at Dub Assembly that will surely be highlighted by Mundo. How do I know this? Well, we attended Dub Assembly's 2 year anniversary with a pretty big group of people, and pretty much everyone I was with remarked seperately that while it was a thrill to see Hatcha, it was actually Mundo's set that stole the show. I think they were right actually. Maybe it was just the fact that dude was playing in front of his home crowd, but the audience was completely into what he was doing, and I bet a lot of them would agree with my earlier statement. And oh yeah, Hatcha was great... if that tells you anything. It's also nice to see that the Dallas Observer finally heard about this dubstep thing and did a little interview with Mundo and gang some two years after the first Dub Assembly. Too little too late? Probably. Next week in the Observer: so what's the deal with this electroclash stuff everyone's been talking about lately? (side note, check out some of the insane stuff on Dragonman's Myspace)

Television City/The Scandals/Warcola/Youth Aggression (Eisenberg's Skatepark, Plano): I don't know much about this lineup, besides I think that Warcola is cool and seeing a hardcore show at Eisenberg's is cooler. What's more punk than the suburbs, right guys? You have no idea how serious I'm being. Note: This show is right next to a court house and Police Station. Tread LIGHTLY.

SATURDAY

Darktown Strutters, Possibly (Amsterdam Bar): So the big show at Amsterdam with Frenz, etc. was canceled due to double booking. However, Darktown Strutters want to play so bad that they are going to go down there and try to do so anyway. If you're interested in seeing if they can pull it off, check back with us before Saturday night and we'll provide you with any updates we may have.

Yellow Tears/Ahlzagailzehguh/Black Leather Jesus/Concrete Violin/Aphonic Curtains /GOAT(House of Tinnitus): If you caught the Halflings show at HOT last year, you could certainly understand why Yellow Tears will probably be an intimidatingly devastating show. This promises to be less structured than that laptop duo with a sound that is more guitar-based resulting in a freer, sludgier sound. AHLZAGAILZEGUH takes a stab at making a name harder to pronounce than a black metal logo is to read, and have released records on Prurient's respected Hospital Productions label. This project continues (as does the entire lineup) down the darker, more aggressive path of noise, lots of feedback, house leveling rumble, tape cutups and all other manner of sonic chaos. Black Leather Jesus is the project of Houston's venerable Richard Ramirez, considered to be a pioneer of Harsh Noise music for embracing the largely Japanese aesthetic way ahead of the curve in North America. Leave it to a fucked up musician to give you some Texas pride. Maybe the obvious respect Thurston Moore has for him will bring out a couple extra chin scratchers tonight, of the sort that used to infect the staff of 33 Degrees. The rest of the lineup is a rough collection of other Lone Star noisemakers who we have mentioned and enjoyed before. PS-- Just kidding, I really miss 33 Degrees.

Unit 21/Tolar/Resigned to Fate (Competition Music, Ft. Worth)

SUNDAY

Cex/Best Fwends/Stove Blow (Rubber Gloves): Cex is a pretty strange dude to say the least. One of the founders of the Tigerbeat6 record label (along with Kid 606), the guy ventures into all kinds of strange places with his avant hip hop and broken down beats. We caught him a while back around town, and the only thing stranger than his music was the mystery of how someone could smell as bad as he did without wanting to clean up a little. OMG take a bith or something! Just kidding, he really did fucking stink. None the less, I wouldn't worry about it too much, especially if you're into see Best Fwends piss everyone off in an entirely different way than they ever have before. I'm into it. Seriously, this band might be the least likely Texas music success story of the decade. Don't believe me? Just as go to a party and ask Bacardi.

For Your Pleasure with DJ G and Gabriel (Hailey's): New weekly featuring glam, funk, krautrock, and dancefloor jazz.

Our New Photographers

So after Sally left for Israel last week, we all decided it would be best for us to completely move on with our lives and forget about her all together... omg, jk! :-) We did, however, go out and recruit two new photographers to capture shows and parties for us in Dallas, Denton and elsewhere -- the first is Kidd Rae (pictured to the right), who has been taking pictures around Dallas for some time, and the second is Mattie Stafford (pictured below), who is way cooler than anyone else who works for WSJR. You'll see these kids around quite a bit in the coming weeks and months, so say hello, and feel free to pass any death threats directed towards myself or DL through them. Thanks!

Art List

Two good shows this Saturday, both at the same time. It will be a tough decision...

SATURDAY

The Program (Conduit) 6pm
Week 4 of the video art series will feature a special presentation of Yang Fudong's An Estranged Paradise at 6pm, followed by the seated screenings at 7:30pm that will include two more Nathalie Djurberg videos. Click the link to the gallery for a full schedule.

Geomorph: Rethinking Landscape and Introducing Sunny Sliger (Centraltrak) 6pm-8pm
Two shows in one! Peter Ligon, Mark Schatz, Lisa Nersesova, Lanie DeLay, Mike Westfried and Jim Malone are showing some interesting works exploring the concept of landscapes. Sunny Sliger makes sculptures with shredded fabric, one of which will be Centraltrak director Dr. Charissa N. Terranova's outfit.

It List: Wednesday

Mount Righteous/Andrew Hammond Kendall/Mr. Dale & JT Mudd (The Cavern): I think Mt. Righteous has had its share of publicity, good and bad, so I wasn't going to add much but then I saw that they are opening a show I will definitely go see, Danielson at The Granada in November. I don't know if opening for a band that you're so obviously inspired by is a good thing. Should Oasis have opened for Paul McCartney? Coldplay and Radiohead? How about The Rapture (early in their career) opening for The Pop Group? Come on, help me think of some other ones. Anyway, I should mention that Andrew Hammond Kendall will be showing his prints, and I have a fond memory of seeing his work at The Metrognome Collective a couple of years ago.

It's What We Get (Hailey's): Alan Palomo is apparently back from his summer in New York, and we hear that he'll be playing some new tracks he made while he was there.

Taxi Fare (Zubar)

Review: Tony Bones @ The Public Trust

The pseudonym Tony Bones (a.k.a. Soler, Soyler, and/or Goya) currently represents the story of a petty criminal emerging from the streets of East Dallas to rub elbows with the Dallas art elite. He has spent a day in jail and donated a ton of money to the Dallas Police Pastry Fund for his crimes against humanity, and he's now attempting to make it good as a gallery artist. For years, Bones has skirted the line between tagging and true graffiti, but can his gallery work cross another line and evoke enough of a response to force open the pocketbooks of Dallas art collectors?

Bones' street trademark is a spindly stick figure with arms creepily reaching out towards the viewer, sometimes subtly depicted with broken handcuff chains dangling from its wrists. His graphic world melds the bland surface value of Keith Haring with the playful chaotic genius of Bill Watterson, both influences Bones has admitted in interviews. He has wielded his artistic skill while ruining people's property from here to Brooklyn, and is currently on probation for his crimes, leaving him technically unable to venture out of Dallas until 2009. The Public Trust is currently hosting a solo exhibition of his work at their gallery space in Deep Ellum, on view through September 6, 2008.

I started off really wanting to hate this show. I have mixed feelings about graffiti art and have no respect for someone who would ruin other people's property in the name of self-promotion. I somehow thought Tony Bones was going to be displaying chunks of concrete and brick forcibly removed from the external wall of a family-run dry cleaners, but it turns out Bones isn't all that bad, and he does generally have some scruples about whose property he'll destroy. And what this particular show turns out to be is the harmless commercialization onto canvas of Bones's trademarked stick figures. It really wouldn't be surprising to find some of these images on a t-shirt at Target some day, and there's a sense of humor pervasive throughout the collection that makes it hard to dislike.

The drill for the whole exhibition is as follows: A brightly colored solid background with an engaging stick figure and other whimsical objects are arranged playfully on the support. There might be some funny or poignant text included. A lot of the canvas foreground is empty and the arrangement of objects is suitably reminiscent of a graffiti wall, mimicking areas that can't be reached with a spray paint can. All of the pieces are immaculately executed with invisible brush strokes -- if they aren't air brushed or otherwise sprayed in the first place, and on several of the canvas backgrounds, you can see hints of initial subject outlines that have been corrected in the final paint layer. These corrections lend an additional dimension to some otherwise very straight-forward paintings. There were also three pieces done in neon tubing that would go great in an artsy downtown loft's romper room, possibly next to an ironically placed glowing Schlitz Beer sign.

It's great that Bones and The Public Trust include some cheaper screen prints in the show to cater to the drove of youngsters that showed up at the Saturday night opening to support him. The more expensive pieces (City Smash Pt. 1 and Take Me Home) were well chosen since they seem to contain some deeper meaning that helps qualify them as the kind of art that the people with money would pay for. A smaller canvas titled Ancient Gods of Blood & Fire fits as well into the latter category, but was priced for us poor folk, making it a possible steal for someone wanting to take an investment risk on an artist that could seriously prove commercially viable in the future.

It sounds like this "Mr. Bones" is a good guy. He doesn't sound like a jackass in his interviews, and he seems to be genuinely fond of Dallas even though The Man around here has put him under city arrest for his previously destructive artwork. One has to award major points to his former street work for its playfulness and humor, but in essense it really doesn't accomplished much artistically beyond self promotion. Really, it is tagging pretty much by definition. And tagging isn't enough to qualify as true art.

Of course, there is inherent social criticism behind tagging & graffiti. Bones himself said perceptively that it makes the haters feel "that they don’t have control over their city." The fact that an art form can evoke that kind of reaction is pretty awesome. But without the inseparable strength provided by his previous media, will his new paintings as a gallery artist have any weight in the real art world? What exactly will his artistic purpose be? Bones's work currently lacks the conceptual complexity of a Barry McGee, or the artistry of an Ed Templeton, and with a few more gallery shows along these lines, he'll probably exhaust his market.

Bones has set himself on the right track and has a lot of potential. He has a baited audience that obviously really loves him as a person and as an artist. This solo show should inject him with some legitimate financial reward for his risky past work, and I hope he'll take advantage of this opportunity and focus on expanding the emotional impact of his pieces.

Galleries:
dallaspolice.com (genius name for a subversive website)
flickr pool of street art
personal site

Photograph courtesy of Erica Felicella.

It List: Tuesday

Yndi Halda/Florene/Here, In Arms (Hailey's): Tonight's headlining act is yet another group mining that tricky territory between modern composition and regular old instrumental rock bands with tunes so stretched out and unimaginative they border on becoming a planned, collective, somnambulism featuring guitars. The recent glut of instrumental rock music has left me sadly convinced that it is usually better off in the hands of a select few, akin to being a professional gymnast or something even more esoteric. It can work really well but more often than not it's a couple of open chords with a violin, piano, or accompanying guitar thrown over it for cheap effect. We can thank Godspeed and Explosions In The Sky for a lot of it, but I'm hoping to hear some new instrumental bands wipe this tired shit off the map and prove me wrong. Which reminds me, you know who's pretty killer? Lychgate.

The Faint/Jaguar Love/Shy Child (The Palladium): Though I've heard several of The Faint's fans proclaim that their new record is somewhat of a return to form, I would argue that the form isn't necessarily something worth returning to. The Faint are largely for to blame for the often hated 80's revival that they helped usher in around the last gasp of the 90's. The resurrected Reagan Era brought its share of horrible music, as has any era, but I have found that The Faint are one of those groups who are actually worse than the groups they inspire, which is not usually the case. Speaking of groups they inspire, they luckily don't have to worry about being out-performed by either of tonight's acts. If someone hasn't made this joke yet, here it goes: their new album should have been called "Fasciinatiion Street."

Young Jeezy (House Of Blues): I really like that Young Jeezy's new album is called "The Recession." Hell, yeah. Fuck a hedge fund.

MINIME With John Walker/Josh Kynd (Moosh)

Disqo Disco (Fallout Lounge)

That One Guy's Tracks and our MP3 Section

Ok, so over to the right there, below our videos section, you'll find the MP3 section we started a couple months back. Admittedly, most of us have been more than a little lazy as far as posting tracks, etc., but we're going to start changing that starting.... NOW! That One Guy has been making pretty regular track selections over there for the past few weeks, and in addition to his stuff, you'll start seeing regular posts from various WSJR contributors (myself included) over in the MP3 section beginning this week. New stuff, old stuff, whatever we feel like posting. Below is a sample of some of the stuff That One Guy has been writing about, and you can find all of his picks, and a lot more, in the MP3 section. Sample:


Leonard Cohen - The Traitor

Running across a copy of Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man in my local Blockbuster's $3.99 bin a few weeks ago has had me on an extended Cohen kick of late, especially this tune off of 1979's Recent Songs. Arriving half way through the album that saw Cohen return to a more initmate (some would say less adventurous) folk sound after the widescreen, spunk-sozzled Wall of Sound experimentation of his Phil Spector collaboration, Death Of A Ladies' Man, "The Traitor" stands as Recent Song's beating heart, a six and a half minute mini-epic of enigmatic romance. I'll keep my obsessive gushing to that in order to escape sounding like a college freshman deep in to my "reading Rimbaud and smoking overpriced, novelty cigarettes" phase, but listen to the song and watch for Cohen's description of it in I'm Your Man. If it doesn't have you perusing the intertrons for a closer look at the lyrics, your jaded cynicism just might not be a phase after all.


Malente & Dex - Hyperactive
Another strong entry in the ever so fashionable rave revival sweepstakes, this upcoming release from relative newcomers Malente & Dex on Shir Kahn's ever so fashionable Exploited label practically reeks of pill sweat and VapoRub and should bring tooth-grinding grins to pie-eyed faces on international dance floors all summer. Turn this one on loud in your room, flip the lights on and off, and the next thing you know you'll be making the "big fish - little fish - cardboard box." In a nutshell, it's an illegal early 90s warehouse party to go. No taking eggs to an undisclosed location required.


Freeway - Hip Hop Lives
If you keep up with these little "tracks of the week" missives with any regularity (Hi, Mom!), you may have gotten the impression that I find hip hop nostalgia, true school-style throwbackisms, and modern day East Coast rap in general to be the definition of boredom. I applaud your insight. Nothing gets my eyes rolling and gag reflex working over time like some dude in his 30s (or even worse, young kid) blathering on about how great hip hop used to be when it was run by the East Coast and how East Coast rappers are all about lyricism over lifestyle and how hip hop today (i.e. Southern and West Coast rap) is just style with no substance and blah blah sore ass blah blah blah. Maybe it's reverse snobbery, but I'd much rather bump the new David Banner in my truck than watch Peedi Crack "spit hot sixteens" a cappella in some shitty YouTube video. With that said, this new teaser for Freeway's upcoming Freedom Of Speech album jumps a number of my personal hurdles (a "grimy" street rapper from Philly raps about hip hop over a no-name, near hookless track - snooze) on the strength of what might be termed Freeway's balls and his word. An audaciously joyous ode to hip hop's strength and staying power as one of the defining worldwide cultural forces of our era (No, that's not hyperbole.) over a spartan, trunk banger of a beat, this is what I dream of East Coast rap being, swagger and substance, floss and brains, penthouse and pavement - exciting, basically.


Van She - Virgin Suicide
It might come as a shock to those who noticed the internet ripples Australia's Van She have been making over the past couple of years with their Van She Tech remixes and brief run of singles ("Kelly," "Sex City") that basically stood as little more than jumping off points for a much longer run of much drooled over remixes by higher profile artists, but there is next to nothing blog and/or house about their upcoming album V. Harkening back to that brief moment a decade or so ago when being French and owning a copy of Supertramp's Breakfast In America was a sure pathway to a record deal and model ass, "Virgin Suicide" (along with the rest of the album) sounds like it could slip easily in to the Air-penned score or 70s soft rock soundtrack of Sofia Coppola's similarly titled film. They may amount to little more than an Antipodean version of Phoenix, but I can definitely see this being a movie kiss soundtrack placement away from annoying ubiquity in a few months. Enjoy it while you can.


Bird Peterson - Hunger Strike 5000
I've had a musical brain ache for the last few days courtesy of Austin's Bird Peterson (who also has a great remix on the previously mentioned Malente & Dex single) and this track he claims to have made on a dare from Dave Nada. Is it great? Is it awful? Is it grawful? I leave it to you and your god to work out. If you're lucky (or not), Bird might slip this in to his set at The Loft anniversary party on Friday.

It List: Monday

Young Doc Gooden (Hailey's): So are all these local emo/pop punk bands like Christian or something? Is it cool to be Christian in high school now? Are jocks allowed to be in bands these days? Are these little crybabies even IN high school anymore? No, I'm not talking about the opening of Young Doc Gooden's weekly residency at Hailey's, which should be a lot of fun (he'll be playing his dirty krunk and chopped and screwed stuff along with ghetto house and other party people shit). I'm talking about the all ages Emo show going on at Hailey's before he plays. I'm not giving you any links because who the hell cares, but if you want to see what I'm talking about, cruise by Hailey's website and check out tonight's line up. I'd really love it if someone would attempt to explain what the hell these kids are thinking in the comments section or something, because the whole thing sort of reminds me of this book I'm reading right now (I picked the band Color of May's shitty promo pic because they are the cutest). Anyway, I'm sure Hailey's will kick all their asses out before YDG's set at 1130, but I'd make sure and wait until they leave before you even THINK about going over there.

Cool Out (The Cavern)

Jazz (Amsterdam Bar)

Last Week's Good Records Sales Charts

TOP LOCAL SELLERS

1. Fight Bite - Emerald Eyes
2. Centro-Matic/South San Gabriel - Dual Hawks
3. (tie) Koji Kondo/Eat Avery's Bones - Split 7"
Record Hop - Record Hop
Mom - Little Brite
Shibboleth - Experiment in Error

OVERALL TOP 20

1. Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
2. Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst (LP)
3. Fight Bite - Emerald Eyes
4. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
5. Faint - Fascination
6. David Bowie - Live in Santa Monica '72
7. Neil Halstead - Oh! Mighty Engine
8. Dr. Dog - Fate
9. Centro-Matic/South San Gabriel - Dual Hawks
10. Hold Steady - Stay Positive
11. Faint - Fascination (LP)
12. Ratatat - LP3
13. Sigur Ros - Med Sud i Eyrum Vid Spilum
14. Foals - Antidotes
15. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes/Sun Giant (LP)
16. Samamidon - All Is Well
17. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
18. Lackthereof - Your Anchor
19. Beck - Modern Guilt
20. One Day As a Lion - One Day As a Lion

Monday Morning Rock

SHOWS OF NOTE THIS WEEK

TUE: The Faint/Shy Child/Jaguar Love (Palladium)
TUE: Yndi Halda/Florene/Here, In Arms (Hailey's)
FRI: DJ Craze/Dave Nada/The Party/Keith P (The Loft)
FRI: Dub Assembly with Southern/Mundo/Royal Highnuss/Soy Capaz & Dragonman (Green Elephant)
SAT: Darktown Strutters/Blixaboy/Sean Vargas (Amsterdam Bar)
SAT: Yellow Tears/Ahlzagailzehguh/Black Leather Jesus/Concrete Violin/Aphonic Curtains (House of Tinnitus)
SAT: Unit 21/Tolar/Resigned to Fate (Competition Music, Ft. Worth)
SUN: Cex/Best Fwends/Stove Blow (Rubber Gloves)

Weekender

We meant to have some stuff for you this week that we couldn't get done, so you people will just have to wait. For now, read this post and get ready for a busy week around here next week. Cool points:

FRIDAY

Ariel Pink/Chairlift (Hailey's): I've seen Ariel Pink play live several different times, and he's put on quite a different show each time. The first one was during SXSW 2004, and he basically improved a bunch of noise and irritated the living shit out of pretty much everyone in the room. The second time he played an immaculate solo set at Hailey's with a lot of pre-recorded material and some charming visuals. The third time he played with a full band and somehow managed to sound exactly like his records, which as any fan would know, is quite an impressive feat. Anyway, I'm not sure what we'll get from him tonight, but it will be entertaining for sure. Howard Bob Johnson asked me whether I thought the show would be crowded considering that Pink has basically "spent the past year farting around," and I'm guessing it will, because most people who listen to Ariel Pink are totally in favor of farting around at all times. By the way, Ariel Pink> R. Stevie Moore. Sorry. Openers Chairlift are a pretty interesting group from Brooklyn who sort of sound like a slow song on the Top Gun soundtrack, but like way better and not all ironic-- influences range from Grace Jones to Til Tuesday to Cocteau Twins with a decidedly darker and more psychedelic streak throughout. And yes, that's them in the picture to the right, and yes, they look like jerks. Great stuff though.

Vorvadoss/Kill the Client/Warcola/Lychgate (Bar of Soap): Punishing show at a venue that is perfect for punishment. While everyone roots for the Deep Ellum comeback, I'm going to root for the Bar of Soap comeback.... can I have a shitty place to watch scuzzy punk shows in Dallas again, please? Anyway, Kill the Client is a fucking intense grindcore group that shouldn't be missed, so you might want to get there in time to check them out. And I didn't find Lychgate's Myspace page, but I did find out via Wikipedia that a Lychgate is "a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance of a traditional British church yard." Do these guy know how to party or what?

The Frenz/Yells at Eels/Rocket for Ethiopia (Lola's): You should really keep your eyes pealed for the mid cities group Rocket for Ethiopia, as they play a sloppy and ferocious version of American hardcore that combines tasteful influences with fuck all energy and aggression while managing to never take themselves too seriously. It's quite good, dudes. Interesting line up all around.

Schwa/Violent Squid/Small White Door (907 Denton St.): Nice free BYOB dance party house show that I really hope is going on after the Ariel Pink show gets out. Make it happen dudes! It's great to see Schwa playing a party like this too-- I've always thought that Cool Out could kick ass in Denton.

The Theater Fire/Ralph White (Lee Harvey's): Free show.

Valient Thor/Early Man/Skeletonwitch/Golden Axe (Club Dada): Valient Thor sort of sounds like early 80's Hollywood and Vine heavy metal mixed with an obvious Motorhead influence and nods to punk rock (turns out they are playing with Motorhead and the Melvins later this year). It's solid hipster metal with sufficient doses of irony to ensure that you don't feel like a shitbag when you're watching them, and I'm sure its a lot of fun live if you get wasted. Early Man is a much more satisfying thrash group with Ozzy vocals that actually rocks quite a bit harder than the headliners. All of this shit is pretty derivative, obviously, but people considering going to this probably don't give a shit about such things, and I suppose you could enjoy all the groups if you can take as many solos as they'll be dishing out. Early Man has a song about Aqua Teen Hunger Force too, and that actually really sucks.

Uptown Fridays with Select (Zubar)

Pikahsso and Tahiti w. Headkrack (The Cavern)

SATURDAY

DFW Synth DIY Meet Up (2 PM, Bar of Soap): The first meeting of a group of people interested in constructing their own synths. Musicians from all over will be discussing this construction and probably demonstrating some of their creations (Lars from Undoing of David Wright will be showing some of his and Shane English's handmade synths I believe). If you are as big of a dork as we are, you'll like this.

The Points/Unrestrained/Secret Bangs/Run Riot/Guilty Faces/TV Dads/ANS (715 Panhandle): Big show with a lot of nationally touring acts followed by a midnight projection screening of Wet Hot American Summer, which rules. The Points are a very solid garage punk group that you should check out for sure. ANS starts things off I believe, and the start time is 7pm sharp. OH, ANS rules.

ADD: Hotflash Party with Schwa/Genova/Killtronix (Fallout Lounge)

Heartstring Stranglers/White Drugs/Eric of Fishboy (Rubber Gloves)

The Theater Fire/Ralph White/The Places (Dan's Silverleaf)

Titus Andronicus/Death is Not a Joyride/Tiger Moth (The Lounge): This is a free show that serves as a pre-opening party for the Lounge, a new Deep Ellum venture that has opened in the space that formerly housed the Darkside Lounge.

Gun Gun/Rival Gang/Ribelle Scaltro/Rocket For Ethiopia (Wisconsin):

SUNDAY

La Quiete/Trifle Tower/Phoenix Bodies/Hoop Dreamz/Pools (715 Panhandle): The last show of the Phat Camp festival. I really wish Hoop Dreamz' Myspace page was this instead.

Dead Child/The Spectacle/Magnum Octopus (Rubber Gloves): Metal project from Slint's David Pajo... and I just can't dig it for some reason. I never liked Slint either, so go figure. I actually think Arlington's the Spectacle is a lot better.