It List: Tuesday

Obviously the big show tonight is Cut///Copy and The Presets at The Granada. You'd almost feel bad for Cut Copy, after reading several articles that seem to focus more on the fact that Tim Goldsworthy produced their most recent album, rather than any of the band's actual merits. But then you find out that they have comfortably straddled the number one spot on the charts in their home country of Australia, as well as made the Billboard Top 200 in The States. Looks like the so called flash-in-the-pan 80's electropopped New Wave revival has translated into real cash money for some bands.  How long does a flash-in-the-pan last? Because it seems like this one has gone on for some time.  Goldsworthy most likely prevented this band from suffering the sometimes overblown and mythologized fate of the dreaded second album, and Cut Copy will expectedly outdo their touring mates tonight. One wonders if all the gloomy economic implosion forecasts will have any bearing on this decade's rise in popularity of dance music as it draws to an unspectacular close.

There will be an unofficial after-party at Fallout Lounge featuring presented by Sydney Confirm/Disqo Disco, and featuring guest DJ's Yeah Def and It's What We Get from 10 PM to 2 AM.

Check back with us, we will have a brand new feature tonight, as well as voting results later this week.

PS-I have really enjoyed the recent "Great Scenester Defintion Debate Of 2008."  For very interesting reading on this subject, I recommend the most recent issue of Adbusters, featuring the cover story "Hipster: The Dead End Of Western Civilization." Though it's a good read, I'd like to point out the following:

1. Adbusters is required coffee table material for all the hipsters and scenesters I've encountered from Tacoma to London.
2. This article reads somewhat like a youth oriented George F. Will, though I have a newfound respect for him after his piece last week.
3. If you are over the age of 25 and you're arguing about the meaning of either of these words, not only are you both, but you might have a different issue altogether. I should know.  

It List: Monday

Sunset Rubdown/Fight Bite/Hospital Ships (Granada): So what's going on here? Welcome to the end of band names. Harmless random words haphazardly thrown together. I got it, I got it: Thimble Spectrum. How's that? I know what a Hospital Ship is, but what's a Sunset Rubdown? I hope it's subversive and offensive whatever it is. Anyways, this guy is in Wolf Parade, you probably know that, and this is his side project that doesn't really hide the music degree, which leads to an often interesting listen, until you realize that sometimes the vocals sound like The Killers or some highly affected, tortured, radio-pop singer. Why doesn't anyone ever get upset about shit like that anymore? Hospital Ships is a lot easier to swallow, less melodrama, and charming enough. What happened to Jagjaguwar ? I thought they were the alt-country label for people with PhD's or something. Fight Bite will be readying themselves on the big stage tonight for their three shows at CMJ next month, which is like a more disorganized and even more sprawling South By Southwest, but who cares? It's in New York.

Iron And Wine/The Swell Season (Palladium): I was wondering why this Swell Season band was receiving top billing over Iron And Wine on all of the advertisements for this show, and then I realized it was that duo that includes a member of The Frames, the same duo that won a fucking Oscar.  Yeah, just like Three Six Mafia. Elliott Smith paved the way for indie folk at The Academy Awards, though these two actually starred in the movie they scored. It's easy to understand why this music goes over well with the understated foreign film loving set, and though it's not really something I'd listen to, it's loads better than Iron And Wine, an act that almost resulted in a fistfight between SR and myself. Oh, and you'll pay handsomely to see these A-listers, about thirty five bucks.  

Monday Morning Rock

SHOWS OF NOTE THIS WEEK


MON: Sunset Rubdown/Hospital Ships/Fight Bite (The Granada)
MON: Iron And Wine/The Swell Season (The Palladium)
TUE: Cut Copy/The Presets (Granada)
WED: Nervous Curtains/Schwa/Jordan Fraker (Cavern)
THU: Mom/Florene/Voices And Organs (Dan's Silverleaf)
THU: Jonathan Richman (Rubber Gloves)
FRI: The Make Believers/The Come Latelys/Deadman (Hailey's)
SAT: Dub Assembly (Green Elephant)
SAT: Lollipop Shoppe (Allgood Cafe)
SAT: Henry Rollins (Lakewood Theater)
SAT: Daniel Francis Doyle/Yellow Fever/TBA (Rubber Gloves)
SAT: Vorvadoss/Zanzibar Snails/Swirve (Good Records)
SAT: Roky Erickson/The Black Angels/Dove Hunter (Granada)
SAT: Dub Assembly W/Jam-2 (The Green Elephant)

Weekender

We'll be spending our weekend rounding up the votes for our 2008 WSJR Awards, and we'll announce the winners some time in the middle of next week. And by the way, you can tune in to CNN tonight at 8pm and watch the presidential debates, which thanks to the courage of John McCain (did you know that he was one a POW?), is still on for this evening. Now for shows (sorry we're late today):

FRIDAY

Fleet Foxes/Frank Fairfield (Lola's): Didn't Fleet Foxes play in Dallas recently? I don't know, I can't keep up with all these indie rock bands anymore. Actually, Fleet Foxes aren't all that bad-- 60's folk and 70's singer/songwriter influences dominate their sound, along with a touch of classic country and a bit of Crosby, Stills and Nash,, and most of their work is quite pleasant and even memorable at times, even if it does absolutely nothing new with the source material from which they arise. After I listened to the second song on their myspace page, I thought "man, I bet these guys are on Sub Pop." Ding ding ding. Spune Productions has been telling people that this show is close to selling out for weeks now, so I'd suggest getting there quite early or buying your tickets in advance, just in case they aren't lying.

The Party (Zubar): Tonight's Party will be a celebration of the one year anniversary of Collective, a skate shop with personal ties to the Central Booking crew. Free giveaways from the likes of Vans and Red Stripe will apparently be going on all night, and DJ A-1 will be spinning in the back room.

Stay Cool Swag School with Heartstring Stranglers/Young Doc Gooden/Five Easy Pieces (Rubber Gloves): I heard that the last one of these was pretty much the craziest party that Rubber Gloves has had in a while. And Check out some of Austin Brown's chopped and screwed material on his Myspace.

Parasytic/Tolar/Resigned to Fate/Rocket for Ethiopia (1919 Hemphill)

Laptop Deathmatch (Club Dada): Three year anniversary featuring a performance from the acclaimed Cygnus, among many others. It appears that they have shortened the format a bit and made it less like a game show, which I think will be a very good thing for this event. You'll hear some very talented local electro producers this evening (they often seem to lean in the direction of IDM) if you decide to venture out.

Culture Prophet/Top Secret Robot Alliance/Keith P/Prince William (The Lounge): Electro dance group Culture Prophet covers most of the predictably hip dance influences in their music, from dance punk to 90's rave to 80s pop. It is well done, but trust me, you've heard it all before. And sorry, but the jokey German electro pop shtick of Top Secret Robot Alliance is just a bit too goofy for its own good.

Black Keys/Jessica Lea Mayfield (Granada): SOLD OUT. So I guess you're either going or you aren't.

The Temptations/The Four Tops (Nokia)

Neva Dinova/Colour Revolt/Sybris/McCarthy Trenching (Hailey's)

SATURDAY

Thomas Function/Teenage Cool Kids/Wax Museums /Uptown Bums (715 Panhandle): Don't have a lot of time to talk at this point, but Thomas Function sounds pretty fantastic actually... nice 60's pop stuff. Listen for yourself. I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up being, like, a "buzz" band or something next year, and I don't mean that as an insult at all. I'm actually shocked that every other local media source in town missed these guys. Wait, no I'm not. Highly recommended.

Dead C Documentary (Rubber Gloves): Will Kapinos' final project at UNT's film school deals with legendary New Zealand band the Dead C, and here is a little description of the film. Should be very good:

The Dead C. made a rare U.S. appearance at the Sonic Youth-curated All Tomorrows Parties festival in Los Angeles, CA on 17 March 2002. The festival was the first show of a three-day mini-tour through LA and San Francisco to promote their album New Electric Music, the second release on their own Language Recordings imprint. This documentary features two complete performances, the first from the ATP festival and a set from the following night at The Smell, a small downtown experimental music venue. Both performances are as different from each other as the Dead C. are different from anyone else in the history of punk rock/avant-garde/free noise music. This concert film provides a rare up-close look at one of the most unique and mysterious bands to ever emerge from New Zealand.

Decadance with Faux Fox/Sydney Confirm/Tigerfight! (Fallout Lounge)

Neko Case/Giant Sand (Granada)

SUNDAY

Rival Gang/The Heartstring Stranglers/Febrifuge (Swiss House): A solid and fairly mellow show will be taking place at Swiss House until Rival Gang gets up there and does, uh, what they do. It involves a flying V I think. Get there early to check out the chronically undernoticed Febrifuge. Is that even a word? Not according to blogger it isn't.

Cola Freaks/Black Time/Wax Museums/Secret Bangs/Bad Sports (Muscle Beach, 907 Denton St.): Very solid garage punk show this evening starring Denmark's (oops) Cola Freaks, a band that seems to take a good deal of influence from fellow Australians The Saints while injecting a dose of classic garage rock into the mix. And oh yeah, be sure to check out some tracks from Denton's excellent Secret Bangs, particularly "Violent Love" on their Myspace page-- nice keyboard attack in there with some "wait, is this really a local band" vocals. Sounds promising.

Lazy Magnet/Pro Bro Gold/Animal Forces/Aunt's Analog (House of Tinnitus): Check out the drugged and deranged abstract 90's rave inspired dance stuff from Pro Bro Gold... sort of a change of pace for Tinnitus and very interesting. Too bad I have to miss this one. :-(

It List: Thursday

Spiritualized/Grand Ole Party (Lakewood Theater): When it comes to Spacemen 3, I've always been more of a Sonic Boom kinda guy, and after interviewing the man himself last year, I was left with sort of a mixed impression of both Sonic AND Jason Pierce on a personal level-- the constant fighting and he said he said stuff between the two of them was sort of a turn off in a sense, although it made for an entertaining read to say the least. Through Spiritualized, Pierce has certainly emerged as the more commercially successful former member of Spacemen 3, and although I would argue that his career has been less consistent, challenging and interesting than Sonic's, it is hard to deny that when Pierce has one of his moments, his music can be purely electrifying. Take the title track to his classic 1997 album Ladies and Gentleman We are Floating in Space for instance-- I'm pretty sure that nothing in Sonic Boom's solo catalogue has had the immediate emotional impact that the aforementioned song had on me the first time I heard it, and this is just one small example of how the relative accessibility of Pierce's material has worked in his favor time and time again. Lakewood Theater is an interesting choice for this show, and I've certainly never seen a concert there that packed the kind of volume this show is sure to. I wonder what is going to happen? Stuff starts REALLY early over there, so plan accordingly.

Hot Chip/Drums of Death (Palladium Ballroom): Another early start (website says that the show begins at 730... can't a guy squeeze in a nap around here?) at Palladium for what will surely be a show worth seeing. I've enjoyed each and every one of Hot Chip's three full lengths a great deal, but they seem to get better each time. The band's latest, Made in the Dark, is easily their best, and the album's first single, "Ready for the Floor," is arguably the catchiest in a long line of very catchy singles from a band that takes bits and pieces of things like disco, punk, funk, soul and synth pop to create a sound that has produced so many inferior sound-a-like bands over the years that it probably deserves its own genre. This is fun dance pop written and performed by people who actually have a better record collection than you do, so here's to hoping that some of the kids out there will learn a thing or two tonight between smoke breaks.

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien/Bukue One/Tee Double/Headkrack (Granada)

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

Give Away-- Cut Copy

Thanks to our friends at the Granada, we have three pairs of tickets to give away to Cut Copy's September 30th performance at the Granada Theater with the Presets. We'll give them to three random winners who email us at weshotjrtix@yahoo.com with "Cut Copy" as the subject line, any time between now and noon tomorrow. Good luck!

Art List

I guess it must be the musky dander of Big Tex in the air, because there is a whole shit load of not much going on this weekend. Please let me know in the comments section if you think something should be added.

THURSDAY

Arno Rafael Minkkinen [link]
Richland College Lago Vista Gallery
Closing Reception & Artist Talk, 8-9 PM

This seems to be the major event of the week. Minkkinen is a Finnish-American photographer who has a tendency to show up uncomfortably naked and sometime butt-wrinkly in his own photographs. If you take into account that he doesn't digitally manipulate his images, some of this is really impressive. Instead of a tiny LCD screen, he uses Polaroid T-55 film, so he can get instant feedback while trying to construct a shot. When asked by the EGG Art Show (PBS) why he's always naked, he responds:

If I had any stitch of clothing on, it'd be about fashion. It'd be about a shirt or a tie or a coat or shoes. Running shoes, running on water. By being nude, it links it immediately back to nature. It links it to the same nudity that I find in the water, in the trees and the rocks. And the sky. Just as normal or natural. Also, it is always me because I didn't want to ask anyone else to be nude in the cold and leaning out over a cliff or putting themselves in harm's way. I had to be nude, in all the seasons and all the conditions I could find.

SATURDAY

Heavy Hitters Art Exhibition
F6 Gallery [link]
Saturday Night ONLY

The spirit behind the F6 group seems good. F6 was voted "Critic's Choice for Best Gallery 2008" by the Fort Worth Weekly. Also, check out the new F6 Gallery web site.

Surprise!

Turns out we won't have time to take the 2008 We Shot J.R. Awards ballot down until later this afternoon, and since it'll still be up there for most of the day anyway, we figured we might as well continue to allow people to vote for a few more hours.  You can go here to vote, and you'll be able to do so until the It List is posted later this afternoon.  And as hard as it may be to believe, we've received a very large number of thorough and thoughtful votes this year, so don't fuck up, ok?  

It List: Wednesday

Not much going on today, which is not surprising as Wednesdays are often terrible. As I double-checked and scoured for anything at all, I noticed that a local website suggested that you could perhaps eat at "Hooligans Pub," while catching the Lupe Fiasco show at UTA's Texas Hall in Arlington. I once had my on-stage microphone cut off early at an event I spoke at in Anaheim, CA, because I compared Anaheim to Arlington. They were NOT at all happy about the comparison. I thought the similarities were all too obvious. Oh, well.

I almost forgot: Wanz Dover is celebrating his birthday tonight at The Lounge with a new group, Eldridge Meatcleaver and The Soul Reavers. I'm sure you can guess the genre, and the set-list is said to include everything from Etta James, to Booker T. And The MG's, to The Sonics, and Serge Gainsbourg. Should be interesting. Wanz will also be DJ'ing along with DJ Gabriel.


Taxi Fare (Zubar)

Finally: Today is the last day to vote in the We Shot JR Awards. So please do so.

It List: Tuesday

The Juan Maclean (The Loft): Stonedranger thought I wouldn't be too familiar with The Juan Maclean and took it upon himself to give me this little primer:

1. they are touring as a four piece
2. Front man John MacLean used to be in Six Finger Satellite
3. He was one of the original members of the DFA crew, and anticipated a return of Chicago house and disco as early as 2002, when he started working with James Murphy in NY
4. Album due out later this year, new single "Happy house" has become a huge club hit over the summer, and it is pretty much straight-up Chicago house, complete with a pounding straight piano loop... you can listen to it on the myspace page if you want to hear for yourself... wait until about 2:30 into the song in order to get a feel for it.

Coolz?"

I would just like to add that I have been a fan of Maclean's music for over a decade, though I think his straight-faced foray into straight-up house music has moments that are better than others, which I suspect is precisely why SR sent me the informative e-mail. I've seen some live videos that have definitely sold me on seeing the group perform this music. Six Finger Satellite's recorded output from 1993 to 1998 is so ahead of its time, that I'm hard-pressed to think of a 90's band that sounds less dated, especially for a group on Sub Pop. Murphy's weirdly distorted beat production on the last SFS album Maclean was featured on, "Law Of Ruins" is still a fascinating listen over two LP's. I am still kicking myself for choosing not to see the group at Rubber Gloves, so many years ago. I hate teenage Defensive Listening.


UPDATE: I should also mention that Keith P is opening this show.



Thee Oh Sees/Sic Alps/Dogme 95/Ty Sengall (The Lounge): Though San Francisco's Pink And Brown were quite respected and respectable, the duo, consisting of John Dwyer and Jeff Rosenberg, maintained that respect largely by involving themselves in such a diverse list of projects: Coachwhips, The Hospitals, Young People, and of course, Thee Oh Sees. Thee Oh Sees aren't necessarily my favorite out of this list of noteworthy groups, they sound about what you'd expect from a band that uses "Thee" in their name: energetic, reverbed out, garage rock, with some psych passages. Thee Oh Sees have an excellent live reputation and this sounds like a show worth catching overall. The Sic Alps released a record on Siltbreeze over the summer, and have a sound that is as anachronistically inspired as Thee Oh Sees, but is dirtier, druggier, and more sprawling. Local act Dogme 95 has done everything from solo folk stuff, to remixes of other artists' music, to revisionist Nirvana covers.


PS-No hard feelings, SR. You big jerk.

Remember to Vote For the WSJR Awards 2008

Just a reminder that voting for our 2008 WSJR Awards ends at roughly 1am on Thursday (Wednesday night, basically), so if you want to have a say in the only local music awards that actually matter to anyone with taste... click here and vote now.

It List: Monday

Miss Kittin and the Hacker (The Loft): Monday night in Dallas is pretty much a total bummer setting for a show in which "sex with movie stars" will be a primary lyrical focus, but I guess a lot of people would argue that the novelty of "electroclash" is a pretty big bummer too. Of course, picking on electroclash has sort of become like picking on a retarded kid in elementary school, hasn't it? Yes, anyone who has picked up a single lifestyle magazine in the past six years knows that electroclash was a flash in the pan, but really, was it as insignificant as people like to claim? I don't know, but I have a hard time imagining that any of the trends that we've seen in dance music over the past several years would have occurred in the same way without the influence of people like Miss Kittin and Felix Da Housecat, for better or worse. They kind of served as a gateway drug for moody indie kids to finally accept the fact that dance music was ok to listen to even if you didn't take Ecstasy. And whether you're happy about what has become the dominant and single most significant development in American and European underground music in the past decade (the embrace of electro), you can hardly call it insignificant, and you can't say that tracks like Miss Kittin's "Frank Sinatra" didn't play a noteworthy part.

The Queers/The Independents/The Lash Outs (Doublewide): This is the coolest show I've seen booked at Doublewide in many months, and obviously, that isn't saying much. Oh and by the way-- the Independents have been touring pretty much non stop since 1995, and they refer to themselves as a "horror ska" punk band, which is so awkward that its even hard to make fun of. Uh, Nelson Mandela is already free, mkay Danzig?

Cool Out (The Cavern)

Fast Give Away: Hot Chip and Juan MacLean

As you might already know, Juan MacLean will be playing tomorrow (Tuesday) at The Loft, while Hot Chip will be playing Palladium Ballroom on Thursday. The Palladium people were nice enough to give us

*One pair of tickets to Juan MacLean
*Two Pairs of tickets to Hot Chip

But since we have to give them the names of the winners ASAP, we'll just say that the first two people to send us an email to weshotjrtix@yahoo.com titled "Hot Chip" will win the Hot Chip tickets, and the first person to send us an email titled "juan maclean" will win tickets to his show. I've seen both live and they are fantastic. Anyway, go for it.

Monday Morning Rock

SHOWS OF NOTE THIS WEEK

MON: Miss Kittin (The Loft)
TUE: The Juan MacLean (The Loft)
TUE: The Oh Sees/Sic Alps/Ty Segall/Dogme 95 (the Lounge)
THU: Hot Chip/Drums of Death (Palladium)
THU: Spiritualized (Lakewood Theater)
THU: Del the Funky Homosapien (Granada)
FRI: The Party (Zubar)
FRI: Culture Prophet/Top Secret Robot Alliance/Keith P/Prince William (The Lounge)
FRI: Fleet Foxes/Frank Fairfield (Lola's)
FRI: The Black Keys/Jessica Lea Mayfield (Granada) SOLD OUT
SAT: Thomas Function/Teenage Cool Kids/Wax Museums (715 Panhandle)
SUN: Lazy Magnet/Pro Bro Gold/Animal Forces/Aunt's Analogue (House of Tinnitus)
SUN: Rival Gang/The Heartstring Stranglers/Febrifuge (Swiss House)

Weekender

Pretty solid weekend for shows, particularly if you live in Denton. As always, if we missed something, let us know in the comments and we'll add it to the list if it's cool enough. And PS-- we're actually starting to post MP3s in our MP3 section now, so check it out over to the right below the pics.  We have a couple good ones available right now. And PPS-- vote for WSJR awards here. Whoomp here it is:

FRIDAY

Late Night with Operation Playmate (Dallas Museum of Art): Video artists/electro composers Operation Playmate (who we told you about earlier in the week) will be the most interesting thing going on at this month's edition of DMA Late Nights. The group will be performing music and displaying video inspired by the DMA's Materials and Meaning exhibit, which you can learn more about here. Late Night starts at 6, but this performance will begin at 10pm in the Atrium.

Zanzibar Snails/Geistheistler/Dirty Water Disease (J&Js): Dirty Water Disease? I think we might have a finalist for our "worst band name" award. I also caught Zanzibar Snails a couple weeks ago at the Lounge, and after about 10 minutes of confusing the shit out of me, I was quickly reminded of why I liked this band in the first place.

Back to School with Young Doc Gooden/Florene/Pepi Ginsberg/Make Believers/Grassfight/Bob White and the F Electrics/Sydney Confirm/Kaboom (Hailey's): A lot of variation on a bill that seems to be designed simply to herd as many UNT students into Hailey's as possible. If you haven't heard Aaron White's Make Believers yet, you should go to their Myspace and give them a listen-- the guy continues to reveal his talents as one of the more underrated songwriters in the area with a mastery of psychedelic pop/Bakersfield/etc. Pretending that he doesn't post on Denton Rock City will help you enjoy the music even more. JK guys! Ever since I heard that people have to pretend to hate us when they hang out at Dan's Silverleaf, I guess I've been a little jumpy. :-(

Bad Sports/Uptown Bums/Yeah Def (Rubber Gloves-- FREE): An amazing local garage punk band? Sounds like the butt of a joke until you hear Bad Sports for the first time. And when did Uptown Bums start being like WAY better than they used to be? Check "Running My Mouth" on their Myspace page for evidence of this.

Blackheart Society/Street Hassle/Jack with One Eye (The Lounge): Is it sexist for me to say that I have a crush on Mila, Jack with One Eye's lead singer? I guess the fact that I actually like her music sort of makes it a non issue since my mentioning this show has nothing to do with crushes... but after all this Palin shit, I'm pretty confused about what I'm not supposed to say about women. I wonder what those fearless feminists Karl Rove and Dick Morris would think of this issue? All BS aside, Jack with One Eye really is the standout here, reminds me of like a shoegaze Electrelane or something.

Uptown Fridays with Select (Zubar)

SATURDAY

Silver Jews/James Jackson Toth (Hailey's): I really can't stand poetry. Call me ignorant if you want to, but I've been spending the past few minutes sitting around trying to think of ONE poet who really means something to me, and I just can't do it. I think TS Elliot is good, for example, but I don't take enough time to allow much of his work to really matter to me. It's probably my problem and not his, but I mention this only to say that I recently went over to my hipster friend's house and picked up a copy of Dave Berman's poetry book on his table. After reading a few of his short entries, I, for the first time in my life, acknowledged that Dave Berman is a genius, at least on some level. Does his new album suck? Yep, big time. But he made me enjoy poetry.

Fight Bite (Central Trak, 800 Exposition, Dallas): Starts at 7pm at Central Trak, a gallery space run by the University of Texas at Dallas. There will be visual art on display, but I don't have the details on that. Maybe El Tocadiscos, WSJR VP of Visual Art and Media Affairs, could provide more information?

Visitations/The Diamond Center/Heartstring Stranglers (Fra House, 7pm): This show, like most others going on in Denton this evening, is designed around the Silver Jews show so that you can hit up both if you want.  Visitations' Myspace page lists a number of notable influences, including Faust, Negativland, Ghost and Fela Kuti, but, uh, they don't really sound like any of that-- I hear lots of 90's indie pop in there, a touch or two of Grandaddy, and maybe a splash of Athens' the Glands.  Remember them?  

Visitations (1110 N. Austin St., Denton): Starts at 2am in case you didn't catch them earlier at Fra House.

Operation Playmate/Phantastes/Tommy Boy (Knight House, 1433 Knight St., Denton): We already told you about this show in our news section this week, but let me say that anyone with an interest in early Detroit techno or mid 80's industrial should check out Phantastes at this show. Did you read the description of what they are trying to do at this house? Here's to hoping this stuff starts happening in Denton a lot more.  Stuff kicks off around 930 over there.

John Wesley Coleman (J&Js, 8-10pm)

The Theater Fire/Eyes Wings and Many Other Things/The Angelus/Clint Niosi/Chris Flemmons (Good Records): Starts at 5pm with Theater Fire taking the stage at 9pm to celebrate the release of their latest CD. Eyes, Wings and whatever? Another nominee in our "worst band name" award category.

SUNDAY

For Your Pleasure with DJ G and Gabriel (Hailey's): Probably the most unique playlists in town, people.

Thursday It List and New Year Album Review

The New Year/A Weather/Transona Five (Granada Theater): Let me start off by saying that the Kadane Brothers are the best songwriters that the Dallas rock scene has ever produced. Period. How they have managed to make so many records and never make fools of themselves for a single moment is unfathomable. Though I have enjoyed many local bands in the past fourteen years, and especially the last five, the chances of another one coming along that will have the timelessness, longevity, and impact of the Kadane Brothers is something I'm not exactly counting on.

See, it's all about standards with The Kadanes. Recording in studios that don't suck with people that aren't stupid. I know, I know. Hard to imagine in today's musical landscape, where every decision is made at light-speed and the results are worried about later. No violated design principles on their minimalist cover art. One of them (Bubba) has even spent a lot of time poring over details in the only local yet nationally reputable cd manufacturer that I know of, to prevent you, bands and artists, from cutting corners and making mistakes. They have never employed the lowest common denominator tactics of so many lesser artists, which is a rare thing indeed. I'm a huge proponent of spontaneity and intentional amateurism, but there is something to be said for such a flawless discipline and work ethic.

What I'm getting at is that the Kadane Brothers are just giving us more of the same on their new New Year record, "The New Year," and when you consider that the two have spent so many years displaying such intelligence and excellence in so many variations on a theme, this is not at all a bad thing. I've heard so much hype about this being "the piano record" or something to that effect, and if that hadn't been mentioned so many times I probably wouldn't have even noticed. They have employed piano before, most famously on "The End Is Near," and have been using keyboards for at least a decade. So what's the big deal? I was actually expecting to hear ALL piano songs, with layered pianos for the big buildups, which is something I don't think I'd mind hearing them try.

But on just about every song you can point to other similar moments in their catalog, or at least a vague precedent that has already been established. If anything, the lone surprise here might be that there are more similarities to Bedhead than on the previous two New Year records, which isn't really much of a statement. It's like being surprised that Lou Reed solo records sometimes sounded like VU. For instance, album opener "Folios" possesses the same tense and repetitive snare hits used to close out "The Rest Of The Day," with chord changes and keyboard sounds very close to the track "The Present," a fan-favorite from Bedhead's triumphant career-closer "Transaction De Novo." Upon noticing the similarities, I had a good feeling this was going to be a winner from hearing the first track alone.

Elsewhere we find The New Year showing off their ability to do slow, almost country-like balladry far better than the legions that struggle to mine gold, or at least tolerable records out of that largely bankrupt territory. But they have done this at least as far back as "Any Life" from the "Dark Ages EP." The anti-rock found on "Wages Of Sleep" in the form of interwoven guitars and lack of back-beat is another facet of the Kadane sound, a reminder of the old art-world saying "Style is everything you do wrong."

There is, of course, a difference between the Kadanes' two projects, and this is largely attributed to The New Year's extended family of celebrated musicians, especially the recent announcement of Centromatic's Will Johnson joining the touring lineup. The fact that I'm not particularly a fan of Will Johnson, or even Peter Schmidt for that matter, but STILL probably won't mind hearing them tonight is just further testament to the Kadane's ability to improve everything around them. The New Year has often been compared to label-mates Silkworm for their more straightforward rock tendencies, and there is room for that comparison on the final track, "The Idea Of You," with its crunching guitar and keyboard combo. This is a logical and almost obvious comparison since Matt Kadane played some fairly raunchy organ parts on the last couple of Silkworm records, so it's safe to say it's a mutual influence. The Kadanes have also written shorter, up-tempo songs for most of their career, and it's hard to pin them down sonically, other than they seem to excel at whatever they choose to do. This record is proof of all these various abilities in one concise statement, and it could very well be my favorite of The New Year records so far.

When discussing the new album the other day, I realized that I've heard people complain about the "sameness" of The Kadane Brothers' output for over ten years now. Viewed from this perspective, the overall cohesiveness of their life's work is really something to marvel at, or as Wildcat said to me recently (paraphrasing), "their entire career is a concept." Despite the fact that they are still tragically underrated in their hometown, we should all hope that Dallas will eventually have another band that we can be equally proud of, at least in our lifetimes. (DL)

80's Night With DJG (Hailey's)

Ian Bangs/Summer Salt (Rubber Gloves)

Free Silver Jews Tickets

Hey there pals... I'm really tired, so I'll just say this: we have TWO pairs of tickets to give away to this Saturday's Silver Jews show at Hailey's (thanks to our good friends at Radio UTD), and if you want them, you should email weshotjrtix@yahoo.com any time between now and 3 pm today (Thursday).  Make "Silver Jews" the subject line and include your full name... blah blah I'm tired.  We'll pick winners at random.  

Art List

THURSDAY

Scott Anderson: Rendezvous Point and Daniel Mirer and Joe Pflieger (Light and Sie)

SATURDAY

CADD Art Lab Open House (1608-C Main Street)11-8pm
This is the grand public opening of the CADD Art Lab, a new gallery and educational center for contemporary art that will feature themed shows drawn from the collections of the CADD member galleries. The current exhibition, "Indexing the Moment, features work from work of David Dreyer, Vincent Falsetta, Greta Gunderson, Ted Kincaid, Janaki Lennie, Kristen Lucas, Kenda North, Brent Ozaeta, Rusty Scruby, Ludwig Schwarz, and Allison V. Smith.
This opening will also feature the issue launch for the Fall 2008 Art Lies, and artists talks at 2pm (with Rusty Scruby) and 6pm (Rachel Cook).

Stuff at Centraltrak
Man, Centraltrak has really packed in a full night for themselves. There will be three simultaneous shows: Ludic Space: Faith Gay and Ruben Nieto in the main gallery, Laray Polk in the Corridor and Unit 9 (her work is also at the MAC right now). The photographs of Kate Nelson will be in the Project Room. Fight Bite will perform at 7pm.

Rosemary Meza-DesPlas: Women Under the Influence
(Mighty Fine Arts) 6-9pm

The Story of the Nasher Collection (Nasher Sculpture Center)

Image courtesy of Rusty Scruby and CADD.

It List: Wednesday

Throw Me The Statue/The Boat Lights/They Were Stars (The Cavern): Throw Me The Statue is a Secretly Canadian band, rich with a wealth of perfect press snippets, and sometimes compared to The Kinks. Kinks comparisons are often dubious, and this is no exception. In fact, as I blasted this music out of tinny little computer speakers, the office consensus was that the music is a little more David Gray than Dave Davies. This is part of the "Detour" series and DJ Redeye will be playing as well.

We Love Techno with Blixaboy/Cygnus/ Mr. O from Total Vengeance (The Lounge)

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

Magnets/RTB2/PVC Street Gang/New Science Projects (Rubber Gloves)

Taxi Fare (Zubar)

It List: Tuesday

These Are Powers/When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth (The Lounge): When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth's follow-up to their 2006 debut, "Snacks," bears an appropriate and purposely annoying title, "Not Noiice," which has to be the most obnoxious name since two guys from Ft. Worth decided to call themselves Best Fwends. And of course, when you do something like that, you're bound to make as many enemies as "fwends." I can respect that WDRTE definitely go out of their way to grate on the listener with whatever it takes; two drummers, two singers, a small army on stage, and all of it just to get under your skin with a sound that is shrieking, screeching chaos and spidery guitar lines, jarringly interrupted by low-blood pressure sludge rock. You get the feeling they want to make you nauseated, which shouldn't bother you if you're already sick.

These Are Powers blend noise and dissonance into their song structures in a rather different way, though an easily recognizable way where it's immediately apparent the band is determined to be taken more seriously than the aforementioned pranksters. Theirs is a throbbing, thudding attack, with some tribal-like pummeling as well as some willfully machine-like rhythms. Some of the extended monotone moaning sounds somewhat like the vocals in Live Skull, or the mini-genre of groups that "kind of sounded like Sonic Youth" in the mid to late 80's. Both acts certainly have their moments and that shouldn't be overlooked due to either their occasional mischief or pretense, respectively.

Ratatat/Panther/E*Rock (Granada) THIS SHOW JUST SOLD OUT: In my mind, Ratatat is a band that must be experienced live. Some might see that as a backhanded compliment of sorts, and maybe it is, but it also happens to be the truth. Most of Ratatat's recorded material is solid, dance leaning instrumental music that takes cues from influences as diverse as DJ Shadow, Bollywood and Iron Maiden, embracing heavy metal's past in one instant while looking towards abstract hip hop in the next. This is all well and good, but the experience of sitting down and listening to an entire Ratatat album on an Ipod can be a little bit tedious at times-- the songs tend to get a bit repetitive and eventually become a tad difficult to pay attention to. Live, however,the band is certainly more than a worthy experience. I've been able to catch them several times in the past few years, and watching them do what they do on-stage is highly entertaining in and of itself. Mix this with a lot of volume and an appropriately excited atmosphere, and Ratatat transforms into a can't miss show.

Disqo Disco (Fallout Lounge): This is an after-party for the Ratatat show, and The Frenz will have copies of their new ep.

Both, DL and SR, contributed to today's post.

Free Fun Fun Fun Passes

We've kinda been pals with the guys and gals that run Fun Fun Fun Fest ever since the event's inception a couple years ago, and now we might be well on our way to becoming BFFs-- the organizers have been nice enough to provide us with a pair of passes to this year's Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin (November 8th and 9th at Waterloo Park), and we're giving them away to you. Highlights of this year's fest include:

* Bad Brains
* Flipper
* Clipse
* Dan Deacon
* Yacht
* ALL
* Kool Keith
* Deerhoof
* Islands
* Dead Milkmen
* Centromatic
* Frightened Rabbit
* Experimental Dental School
* Tim and Eric

You can check the full line up here, and if you want to win the passes, just email weshotjrtix@yahoo.com any time between now and this FRIDAY at noon. Be sure to title the email "Fun Fun Fun Fest." Good luck!

Fader Discusses Dallas Hip Hop

In case you hadn't seen it yet, there is a nice feature article in this month's Fader Magazine concerning Dallas' suddenly noteworthy hip hop scene.  The article is rather detailed, particularly for a "lifestyle" publication like Fader, and the author gives props to Big T Bazaar, Play N Skillz (of course), Tum Tum, Big Chief, Big Tuck and Lil Wil, among others.  Read it here, and cue the inevitable rockist commentary about how rap is dumb and stuff.

(Photo courtesy of Fader)

It List: Monday

Usual stuff... Cool Out @ Cavern, Young Doc Gooden @ Hailey's, great night for sitting outside listening to jazz at Amsterdam. More posts coming tonight, including news and MP3s.... also, take this opportunity to vote for our 2008 Awards.

Monday Morning Rock

Saw this video for Salem's "Dirt" over on Gorilla VS Bear the other day, and after a quick trip to the group's Myspace page, I realized that I kinda dig them. Anyway, I'm curious as to what everyone thinks of this video since it's very, uh, provocative to say the least. And by the way, this thing is absolutely NSFW, and probably shouldn't be viewed in front of children or old people either. Get ready for depression:


SALEM - DIRT from ACEPHALE on Vimeo.


SHOWS OF NOTE THIS WEEK

TUE: Ratatat/Panther/E*Rock (Granada)
TUE: These Are Powers/When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth/Scarily Terrible (The Lounge)
WED: Throw Me the Statue/The Boat Lights/They Were Stars/Red Eye (The Cavern)
THU: The New Year/A Weather/Transona 5 (Granada)
SAT: Silver Jews/James Jackson Toth (Hailey's)
SAT: Visitations/Heartstring Stranglers (Fra House)

Weekender

Hey best friends-- I've been a little busy at work this week, so unfortunately, you guys will have to make up many of your own shithead comments for this weekend's set of shows. I'll try my best, though. Here we go:


FRIDAY:

Dr. Dog /Delta Spirit/Seth Kaufman(Lola's): This show is sold out, and it's nice to say that about any quality show, really.

Hamburger Headache with Select/Keith P/Prince William (The Lounge): So far I've heard nothing but complaints about The Lounge-- bad bar service, no credit card machine, expensive drinks, poor sound system, etc., and it really sucks because I think the people who book the place are really trying to take the right kind of chances with their small but compelling Deep Ellum space. These are probably all indications of a business making mistakes as it finds its footing in the community, but I hope they fix some of these problems sooner rather than later. Should be a very solid show tonight as three of the area's best DJs play House, Juke, B'More and more. Some of these Dallas hipster kids could really use a house lesson or two, you know? Not everything is a fucking mash up, ok Gen Y?

Faux Fox/Sydney Confirm/Rival Gang/Gun Gun (Chat Room): This is the first of two CD release shows for Faux Fox this weekend (that makes a total of 23, correct?). I have heard Sydney Confirm sound very solid AND rather terrible at different shows, so I hope they've got the goods tonight because I think they are attempting some ambitious dance material. One of my favorite things about seeing Rival Gang the last time I caught them was watching dudes hit on them as they packed up after their show. "So, you like music, babe? You should check my shit out. It has like the intensity of Rage Against the Machine but it's soft and sweet like fuckin Counting Crowes or some shit." Uh, you DID just see their set, didn't you Von Dutch?

Mom/Blixaboy/Voices And Organs (Swiss House)

SATURDAY:

Mogwai/Fuck Buttons (Granada Theater): I'm sure there aren't a whole lot of people on here that need a history lesson on Mogwai, but that new Fuck Buttons record is very confusing to me. I've listened to it several times, and despite my better judgment, I can't help but thinking of Fuck Buttons as "noise for the masses," you know? Like they're a noise band that my mom wouldn't be offended by. That isn't necessarily a knock against them, but rather an observation on how popular this kind of typically harsh instrumental/electonic music has become over the past few years.

Faux Fox/Darktown Strutters/Gun Gun (Good Records): Early Good Records in store starts at 6 with Gun Gun. Darktown Strutters are one of the better new bands I've seen all year, so I'd make sure to at least get there by 7 to catch them. No one in town is doing anything remotely similar right now. Faux Fox is on at 8.

Morris Day and the Time/Cameo (Nokia): Uh, get some money and take a date to this, you no-style motherfucker. Oh, and even if you aren't familiar with the work of either of these groups, a quick listen will reveal how much of an influence these bands have been on some of the more hip dance music to have emerged in the past few years.

Yatagarasu/Hex Crusher/Ferveur Noir/Alex Atchley/Ashes/Orange Cokes (1919 Hemphill)

Jana Hunter/Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez/Clint Niosi (Rubber Gloves)

Hands Up with DJ Excel and The Party (The Loft)

Evangelicals/Matt Bauer/Dust Congress (the Cavern)

Scarves And Bowties/Laura Palmer/The Tah-Dahs (Amsterdam Bar): This will be Laura Palmer and the Tah Dahs final Dallas show as Palmer and her husband, Tah Dahs' lead singer/guitarist Roy Ivy, head off to Chicago (I believe). Both have a lot of friends in the area, and I'm sure there will be a nice crowd there to send them off, unless it's really rainy and wet and shit. Will they move the show inside if this is the case?

SUNDAY:

Matt and Bubba Kadane of The New Year (Good Records): This will be a DJ set for the New Year's album release party, and it starts at 6pm.  

For Your Pleasure with DJG (Hailey's): 60's and 70's soul, R&B, krautrock and more. Here is a sample of a playlist these guys just sent us:

Bob James – Nautilus (74)
Hank Crawford-Sugar Free (73)
Briag Auger’s Oblivion Express -Light on the Path (70)
Horace Silver –Song for my Father (64)
Art Blakey-Hay no Problemas (62)
Shangri La’s-Great Big Kiss (65)
Johnny Thunders-ask me no questions (78)
Sparks-Bon Voyage (75)
T.Rex-Mambo Sun (71)
Stranglers –Get a grip on yrself (77)
David Bowie-V2-Schneider (77)
Can-Mushroom (71)
Crown Heights Affair-Dreaming a Dream (75)
Augustus Pablo-King Tubby Meets The Rockers Uptown (76)
Toots & the Maytals-Pressure Drop (69)
Weather Report- NonStop Home (73)
Airto-Tombo in 7/4 (73)

It List: Thursday

Gotta be short today sweeties:

Death Vessel/Micah Blue Smaldone/The Heartstring Stranglers (Rubber Gloves): Death Vessel are a folk based indie pop band on Sub Pop that sounds like an indie pop band on Sub Pop. Some Pac NW twee influences make them a tad more interesting than most similar acts, but I've tried to listen to this group several times and have never been convinced that I should give a shit.

Top Notch with Sober and Luke Sardello (The Lounge): Second week of Sober's new residency will feature guest DJ Luke Sardello, who has the resume of an accomplished local DJ-- he started spinning house in the late 80s, worked at Bill's Records in the 90s, ran several small house labels, and was a staple of the mid 90's warehouse party circuit. Sounds like he'll be spinning a lot of house and disco this evening, and I would highly recommend checking it out. Check out a full interview and a mix from Sardello here.

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

Avett Brothers/Justin Gordon (Granada): So the Avett Brothers have been getting a lot of praise and national attention lately, and if you're into roots/Americana stuff like Centro-matic and Band of Horses, these guys will certainly wet your whistle. If not, you can skip it, because there isn't anything too remarkable going on here.

Art List

Sorry the descriptions are a little short today- it's due to my shitty job, and not a lack of enthusiasm. Movies! Sculpture! Photographs! Get ready:

THURSDAY

Escape from New York (Centraltrak)
The second installment of Centraltrak's Thursday Night film screenings with Kurt Russell's most famous role.

Dallas Portfolio Exchange(Magnolia)

SATURDAY

Sold on Soylent: Sculpture's Back in Town (And/Or)
Guest curator Ludwig Schwarz presents artists Ann Craven, Danius Kesmina, and the Histrionics, along with work from the Estate of Uma Klick.

Allison V. Smith: Hall Pass (Barry Whistler)
School inspired large scale photographs from one of Dallas's most well known photographers.

Ritchie Budd (Road Agent)
Sculptures from the San Antonio based artist- remember it's next door to Barry Whistler!

Cartoon Apocalypse (Kettle Art)
Work from Tyson Summers, Miguel Aguilar, David DeGrand, and R. Thies

ADD: Mod Economy(Avenue Arts)
Man, I really don't know how I forgot to put this up. It's hell getting old. Designer toys from Jason Barnett, Tyson Summers, Edward Ruiz,Steven Vogeler, Diablo Texas, N'Reazon,and Ozone. My apologies to E. Ruiz.


SUNDAY

Teresa Hubbard and Alexander Birchler: No Room to Answer (The Modern)
Austin based video art duo in their first showcase in an American museum!

Speaking of the Modern, somehow I missed their Tuesday artist lecture series. Check it out here if you are interested- Kara Walker will be speaking next week.

2008 We Shot J.R. Awards

Ok people-- I'm sure you've all been fantasizing about this for months now, so I'll just tell you-- we're doing awards again.  The first year we tried them (2006), we had about 80 people cast their votes by replying in a comments section.  Last year, we got fucking fancy and decided to craft our own online ballot form, allowing for more than a 1000% increase in votes, thus annoying everyone more than ever before.  This year, we're doing something similar, but since we now dominate the music scene to a degree that no one ever anticipated, we're expecting this to be a real pain in the ass to count.

Just kidding. Kind of. We actually enjoy doing these things, and the only rational reason we have for doing them is that we are interested in what the more educated local music consumers think about our scene, and we think a lot of those people read and participate in this website, love it or hate it. We think this is a good opportunity for people to speak up about the music they like around here without dude bro Myspace bulletins and 1100 Springs getting in the way, and we hope that all of you take advantage of it.

But before you run off to vote, let me tell you a couple things first:

1.  Like last year, we will not permit anyone to vote more than twice within 15 minutes, nor more than 3 times in one day.  And how would we enforce such a rule, you ask?  Just trust me, we have a sure fire way of weeding out excess votes in a matter of seconds.  Just ask Matthew and the Arrogant Sea!

2. Other than that, you can vote however you'd like-- one category, all categories, whatever.  And you won't have to go through any bullshit registration to vote.  Just click on the link and get to it.

3.  And before you say it, the answer is YES, we do realize that some of the categories are problematic.  Coming up with a set of categories that are appropriately inclusive and as mutually exclusive as possible is a real pain, and we did what we could to make these categories as clear and as fair as we possibly could.  Of course, we're open to criticism and suggestions, but just know that we're aware of the imperfections of awards like this.  

4.  This year, we will NOT being having an Awards Party like we did last year, however, we do have some exciting things planned in connection with these awards, and we'll tell you all about our them after the awards are given out.  Which leads me to my final point:

5.  You have TWO WEEKS from this very moment, Thursday September 11th at 1249 AM, to vote.  At that point, voting will be shut down and we'll start counting them up. Here are the categories and the link to the ballot:

1. Best Band Overall
2. Best New Band (must have emerged in roughly the past twelve months)
3. Best DJ
4. Best New DJ
5. Best MC/Hip Hop Artist
6. Best Noise/Avant Garde
7. Best Metal (all sub genres)
8. Best Punk/Hardcore/Grindcore/Garage
9. Best Folk/Experimental Folk
10. Best Indie Pop
11. Best Solo Artist
12. Best Local Album or EP from the past 12 Months
13. Best Local Single from the past 12 Months (does not have to literally be a single)
14. Best Vocalist
15. Best Guitarist
16. Best Bassist
17. Best Drummer
18. Best Instrumentalist who doesn’t play guitar, bass or drums
19. Most Underrated Band
20. Best Live Show (Band, Solo Artist or DJ)
21. Best Use of Artwork (Either live or coinciding with record releases)
22. Best Sound Guy (or girl)
23. Best Promoter or Booking Agency
24. Best Local Spot to Record Music
25. Best Dressed Band
26. Worst Dressed Band
27. Worst Band Name
28. Best Local Music Journalist (OMG guys, thanks for thinking of us but we don’t count in this category)
29. Best We Shot JR Commenter
30. Best Local Music Blog Not Owned by A Major Media Corporation and Fine Line and that Phoreladelio or Whatever Don’t Count
31. Slimiest Scenester
32. How Old Were You When You Realized that D Magazine Actually Covers Local Music Better than the Dallas Observer?
33. Best Good Ol’ Fashioned Songwriter

Ballot

* Don't worry... we won't call anyone out in relation to item #31.

It List: Wednesday

There is a pretty high-priced show featuring Common and N.E.R.D at House Of Blues. Or you can see Nature for free at Zubar for his Taxi Fare weekly. Brooke Opie plays at Hailey's tonight along with What Laura Says and Daniel Folmer.

Is it me or does life completely suck right now? We're likely going to have twelve more years of Republican leadership, a huge hurricane is about to make landfall, and I couldn't get a root beer float at Meridian Room last night. I hate everything. Help me out here. Give me a single reason to be optimistic.

PS-Look closely for the implied and ominous connotations of this beautiful Thomas Kinkade rendering of our sacred House.

Free Mogwai and Ratatat Tickets

Our friends at the Granada and Radio UTD were nice enough to hook us up with THREE pairs of tickets to each of the following shows:

1. Mogwai/Fuck Buttons, this Saturday September 13th AND
2. Ratatat/Panther/E* Rock on Tuesday September 16th.


If you want to win them, just email weshotjrtix@yahoo.com any time between now and tomorrow (Thursday) at noon. Please include the name of the show you want to see in the subject line and your full name in the body. Good luck, losers!

Picture above is of Ratatat playing at the Guggenheim, apparently the first band to ever do so.

It List: Tuesday

WHY?/Mt. Eerie/Fishboy (Granada): First off I want to mention that Mt. Eerie is playing Good Records at 5:30, which is pretty much right now, so if you're reading this, leave the house right now and you might make it, as instores historically always run a little behind schedule. It will be an acoustic performance and a keg will be provided. I still have yet to warm up to WHY?, and it's no surprise since Anticon is a pretty hit-and-miss label in general. Well, what label isn't? Honestly, I guess it's been more miss than hit. But I got an unwelcome surprise to hear a slowed-to-a-slur cover of The Cure's "Close To Me" when I checked out their page today. It brought back nightmarish memories of white hip/rock pioneers 311 also unmerciful rendition of The Cure's "Lovesong." I will give WHY? credit for their Cure cover being several notches better than 311, as is the band itself. But perhaps they only win out for sometimes reminding me of another 90's rhyme rock casualty that was also better than 311: Cake.

Intelligence/The Wax Museums (Club Dada): We were surprised to get the late word on this show yesterday, not to mention a little disappointed, only because it's a highlight for this week's calendar as well as the perpetually struggling Deep Ellum. Intelligence has mostly defied a cohesive or event coherent description from those that have experienced them, judging by the contradictory genre descriptions and summaries available online. What is repeatedly communicated (and is obvious in their recordings) is that their dedication to distortion and overdrive on every sound is so absolute, that they make what could be just your average guitar band sound otherworldly and wonderfully unnatural. The vocals are equally fuzzed, and delivered in the classic punk rock amalgam of sarcasm, apathy, and force. Recommended.

I also want to take a second to complain about the fact that an Austinite was trying to tell me that Wax Museums were a local Austin band this past weekend, and it really pissed me off. Okay, they play there all the time but it actually made me stand up for a place I don't necessarily claim and correct her: "No, they are from DENTON, TEXAS. Thank you very much."

It List: Monday

Cool Out is happening tonight at the Cavern, but other than that, we got nothin'. Did we miss something? I doubt it. But fortunately for all of you, we'll have some exciting things posted throughout the week this week.....

ADD: I'd love it if some of the smart people on here would read this article and discuss. It's a bit long, but it's probably the most neutral and fascinating article I've seen thus far this season concerning the respective strategies of the major presidential campaigns and the ways in which the Palin nomination altered those strategies. Dear Democrats-- start being smarter please. We'd like to win one of these some time soon. Thanks.

ADD: We forgot about Young Doc Gooden's weekly at Hailey's as well. Sowwy. :-(

Monday Morning Rock

SHOWS OF NOTE THIS WEEK


TUE: WHY?/Mount Eerie/Fishboy (Granada Theater)
THU: Death Vessel/Micah Blue Smaldone/The Heartstring Stranglers (Rubber Gloves)
FRI: Dr. Dog (Lola's)
FRI: Hamburger Headache with Select/Keith P/Prince William (The Lounge)
SAT: Morris Day and the Time/Cameo (Nokia Theater)
SAT: Hands Up with DJ Excel/The Party (The Loft)
SAT: Mogwai/Fuck Buttons (Granada Theater)
SAT: Evangelicals/Matt Bauer/Dust Congress (The Cavern)

Weekender

Not a lot of stuff going on this weekend, pals, but here's what we got:

FRIDAY

Mudhoney/Record Hop/Melba Toast (Granada): Ok, since it's already been 20 years since Mudhoney first emerged on the national college radio circuit with their debut single "Touch Me I'm Sick," it is probably the perfect time to look back and assess how significant these guys really were in the grand scheme of things. It's funny to hear people talk about how gimmicky "indie rock" has become over the past few years, because really, the same complaints that some of the old folks around here make concerning groups like Ghosthustler and Roy G and the Biv could be lobbed right back at their early 90's heroes, couldn't they? Was (is) Mudhoney's music derivative? Of course-- classic rock radio and American hardcore are the two obvious ingredients for every grunge band. And how did their music end up being so fashionable? Well, as many already know, a little bit of smart ass and highly clever marketing from the founders of Sub Pop was what attracted the attention of the international underground community to the Seattle sound in the first place. Sub Pop created an air tight image of the Seattle grunge bands (particularly Mudhoney, Tad, Green River and Nirvana) as neanderthal, beer drinking smart asses that somehow stumbled on to the hippest sound on the planet, and all of this was cemented through the label's masterful manipulation of the media, and particularly the English media, where one simple little article by Everett True in Melody Maker launched a feeding frenzy for all things Seattle across the pound. And when one considers the caricatures and exaggerations found in that initial article, it's pretty tough to discuss the grunge phenomenon without using the word gimmick, no matter how talented many of the bands in that scene were. All this aside, however, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being in the right place at the right time, and the fact that Mudhoney is still playing large theaters like the Granada 20 years after the fact is testament to the longevity and success of their sound, not to mention the fact that they simply kick ass more often than not. Add in Record Hop as the perfect opening act for this show, and we should be in for a treat this evening, gimmicks and all.

Wye Oak/Brickfight/Nouns Group (Chat Room): Merge Records' Wye Oak headline this show at what seems to be everyone's favorite Fort Worth venue this evening. Their sound is something of a mixed bag of timely influences, and it's mostly a pleasant one-- you'll hear things like High Places, Electrelane, and Camera Obscura in there, and most of the songs off their most recent release are strong, if a bit safe and a tad bland at times. Overall, however, it certainly sounds worth seeing on a night like this. This will also be the last local shows for Brickfight, a group that will be departing for the Windy City soon. They've had their hands in both the Metrognome Collective and Fort Worth's Exploding House over the past couple of years, both of which ended up being very worthwhile ventures for the local scene. Best of luck to them.

Faux Fox/Hawatha Hurd/The Party (the Lounge): The first in a rather long series of shows at the Lounge, a place that seems to be giving the best effort we've seen in a while to get a little action going on in Deep Ellum once again. And although the concept of "saving" Deep Ellum comes off as "too little too late" these days, there isn't any reason why at least one place can't be relatively successful there, at least for the time being. This will be the CD release show for Faux Fox's latest LP, which we reviewed a couple months ago, and in addition to the Party DJing in between sets (and presumably after the sets), you'll have a chance to check out Hawatha, who has to be in the running for most underappreciated MC in Dallas.

Uptown Friday with Select (Zubar)

Eyes Wings and Many Other Things/The Angelus/Clint Niosi/New Science Projects (Doublewide): This is s FREE show.

SATURDAY

The Great Tyrant/Sean Kirkpatrick/Silk Stocking (The Lounge): Someone in the comment section called this a "gross" show, but if I were one of these groups, I would take it as a compliment. Especially if I was in Great Tyrant.

Rival Gang/Geistheistler (Fra House): Hey Fra House, you should really start telling us about your shows again.

Red Monroe/PPT/Baboon/Glen Reynolds (Club Dada): I was going to say that I thought PPT broke up, but then I realized that this PPT will just be Pikahsso and Tahiti, and then I totally forgot what I was doing and started doing something else. And what has Red Monroe been doing lately?

The Jakeys/Swedish Teens/Heelers/Starhead/Boxcar Bandits (Dan's Silverleaf)

The Jonbenet/The Dead See/Broadcast Sea/Soviet (Ruber Gloves)

SUNDAY

For Your Pleasure with DJ G and Gabriel (Hailey's Club)

Three On Sunday: Video Presentation with Martin Iles (Dan's Silverleaf): This always cool event features three eclectic choices from the seemingly endless video collection of Mr. Iles. Did I already call him the Irwin Chusid of North Texas? This week's presentation includes an early 80's hip hop themed TV show that didn't get past the pilot, Antony And The Johsnons, and a piece on carnivorous plants in 3D, glasses provided. More info:

"The Carnivorous Syndrome In 3D"

"Graffiti Rock"

"Antony And The Johnsons"

Event starts at 10:30 PM.