Weekender

This list was written by SR and DL, and if you want to see even more shows that we didn't have time to cover here, check the show calendar. Here we go:

FRIDAY

Dance Your Face Off One Year Anniversary with Damaged Good$ and SOCIAL feat. Females/Schwa upstairs (The Cavern): The one year anniversary of the Dance Your Face Off party will feature a performance from the excellent Damaged Goods, photos from stephieyaknow and solid set lists both downstairs and up. One of two big dance parties on lower Greenville tonight. Damaged Good$ goes on at Midnight ya'll.

Starlight Mints/Grass Fight/Recorder (Hailey's)

Council of Doom (Public Trust): Central Booking will be hosting the Dallas premier of Council of Doom, a documentary film about a group of fixed gear bikers in California that, according to this clip, appear to do a lot of freestyle riding. Shit, don't ask me any details, I don't know anything about this stuff. Looks pretty interesting though. Its free and starts at 8pm. Free keg too. They'll be moving the party over to Zubar after that, and a lot of people are apparently planning to ride to both places if you'd like to join them.

Dave Brubeck (University of North Texas, Murchison Performing Arts Center): Wow, we weren't even aware that this was happening until earlier this afternoon, but its quite exciting that Dave Brubeck is still fucking alive, much less playing in Denton tonight. Some people like to complain that his west coast jazz is responsible for helping white people "understand" the music while simultaneously watering it down, but those people are just bored liberal arts students.

Jucifer/Hawk vs. Dove/Tendril/Soviet (The Lounge): Jucifer is louder than any band on this bill, or on any bill, period. But as a beach-hick heckling a band in San Diego once taught me, "Loud doesn't equal good." Jucifer is fine actually, but I think that Soviet is probably the most impressive band on this bill, one that's pretty crowded with groups pushing the extremes of volume and power. The one exception is probably Tendril, who claims to be a "rock conglomerate" with a "unified mission" to "bring down the house," but that will be tough to do against the other three groups.

The Party (Zubar): This will, of course, follow the thing at Public Trust tonight.

Gordon and the Whale's Watchmen Party with Sun Club/Yeah Def (Rubber Gloves): Sun Club, one of the more promising new DJ groups in Denton or Dallas will headline this Gordon and the Whale party for the Watchmen. They usually have a lot of giveaways at these things, and most of the time the crowds are quite impressive.

The Pretenders/American Bang (House of Blues)

SATURDAY

Silver Shampoo/Bleach Boys/Wiccans/Lychgate (Bunker Hill, 2614 Elm St, Denton): Very solid line up at Bunker Hill this evening. Silver Shampoo is one of the more exciting Denton bands I've heard in a while, actually-- check out "Jethro Skull" on their Myspace page and you'll see exactly what I mean. Yes, you can here the influence of shitgaze or noise pop or whatever buzzword you want to use in there, and comparing them with groups like Eat Skull, Nodzzz and even Human Eye wouldn't be unfair, but they seem to tread in the slightly more pop punk side of the pool, and it really works for them-- sing songy verses and super catchy riffs that allow you to find them rather than getting right up in your face. Quite catchy and highly recommended, and remember-- every comparison we mentioned is a GOOD one, ok? And we haven't had the chance to catch Wiccan yet (UPDATE: We just did, and we were right), but the group features members of Orange Coax and Wax Museums, so you can probably place a safe bet on quality. And Lychgate is a frightening must see. This will be a fantastic show.

Akkolyte/Vorvadoss/Cleric/Embolization (Bike House): Obviously glad to see more DIY shows in Dallas, especially one that doesn't sound so...glossy. And though we have said a lot about most of these groups, I would have loved to have also mentioned Embolization's actual music, but they don't have any tracks posted yet. Guess we'll have to actually, you know, show up. Isn't that right, Stoned Ranger?

Dub Assembly with Reso/Mundo and Lifted MC/Royal Highnuss/Koteki and Mishap (Green Elephant)

Prizzy Prizzy Please/Orange Coax/Boogdish (1919 Hemphill): Prizzy Prizzy Please sounds too much like a music school in-joke, but it seems like they'd probably take that as a compliment. They ironically jump from genre to genre to the point that it's not really ironic anymore. Not having a guitar but still managing to have shitty solos is probably the "craziest" thing about this band. The rest of the lineup makes it worth it, though.

Sleep Whale/Hotel, Hotel/Sunnybrook/My Empty Phantom (Rubber Gloves): Sleepwhale is the band formerly known as Mom, in case you didn't know, and Sunnybrook is one of the more interesting songwriters in Denton that you probably haven't noticed in between your daydreams about Will Johnson or whatever, so give it a listen.

The Heartless Bastards/Record Hop/Will E Lee (Hailey's)

Jack with One Eye/Many Birthdays/Zanzibar Snails (The Cavern)

Daniel Folmer/Dirty Birds/Young & Brave (Annex House)

Wednesday 13/Dommin/Ghoultown/Bastardos de Sancho (Club Dada): I don't think anyone really needs a detailed breakdown of a gothic/horror-punk/hellbilly show, but I was really pleased with myself after hearing the found-percussion, blues-rock clang of the costumed Dallas act, Los Bastardos de Sancho and muttering to myself, "Doo Rag! These guys remind me of Doo Rag." I look over to the Influences section and it's the first band on the list. Nailed it. Look, I'm all for a band just coming out and admitting who they borrow from. There is not enough honesty in music lately. At least they didn't claim to be influenced by Marie Curie or Anna Karenina the way so many ultra-pretentious interviews read. I always want to tell a band to jump off a fucking bridge when they have the nerve to say that shit. You don't have to read an entire Russian novel to rip off Jesus And Mary Chain.

SUNDAY

Bosque Brown CD release/Fight Bite (Dan's Silverleaf): This will be the CD release party for Bosque Brown, a group we've covered for a long time on this blog and recently interviewed a few weeks ago for the first time. There seems to be a lot of local and regional anticipation for this release, so go grab it at the show while you can.

For Your Pleasure with DJ G/Gabriel (Hailey's): Quality set with lots of funk, reggae, soul and krautrock. Might be a nice place to hit up after the show at Dan's.

It List: Thursday

Ghost Mice/Benny Lenny/Hoop Dreamz/County Lines (1919 Hemphill): Ghostmice continued where Operation Cliff Clavin left off, but with a significant lineup change, then adding a random member in France, and dropping the electric guitar altogether for an acoustic, campfire-punk sound. Okay, so they didn't really continue where OCC left off at all, except that the music itself is structurally similar, with the same kind of unsubtle, childishly hyper vocals and heavily political and preachy lyrics found in so much pop-punk. I've always had a hard time with that particular vocal-style, but I'm sure the many that disagree with me will make this a good time at 1919 tonight. Hoop Dreamz has a very positive, melodic, 90's underground sound and features members of Teenage Cool Kids and Trifle Tower. Excellent job on limiting their cassette release to 23 copies, as a tribute to Air Jordan.

Billingham's Defense System/Van Damme Disco (Fallout Lounge)

Son Volt/Doug Burr (Dan's Silverleaf): So I'm listening to Son Volt's single, "The Picture," from their newest record, and as it starts I think, "Hey, some Motown-horns, better than I thought so far." Then some overly wordy and unwelcome line in the lyrics clumsily appears, in this case, "Bad air index on a flashing warning sign," and that's all I can really handle. I know it's important that Jay Farrar was in Uncle Tupelo, but I could have predicted that he would someday write a lyric like that about ten years ago. As soon as singer-songwriters hit forty, they always start getting upset about totally everyday shit. Let me guess, his next album will be about "the news" or how there's "nothing on television." Kidding aside, it will obviously be a lot more of an enjoyable experience to see Son Volt at Dan's Silverleaf than any of the big Dallas venues that they seem more likely to have played.

Top Notch Thursdays with Sober (The Cavern): I'm not sure if this is a weekly, but I'll take Sober at The Cavern over most things at The Cavern.

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

UME/Record Hop/The League Of Fucking Decency (The Lounge): I have been curious to see The League Of Fucking Decency. They have these nerdy, obnoxious, group vocals that sound like Kustomized, with a similarly big guitar sound. But more importantly, where has Record Hop been lately?


Sun Club (Rubber Gloves): Tonight's guest is Wolf Versus Bear.

ADD:

Robert Bruce Weaver III/Warren Jackson Hearne/Will E. Lee (J & J's Pizza): This show reminds me of the famous Johnny Cash quote about his closet, "It's dark in there." Music at Ten.

Art List

SATURDAY
F6 Gallery Two Year Anniversary (F6) 8pm-midnight

Keith Carter: A Certain Alchemy(PDNB)5-8pm

Also, Graff, Tag and Bomb: the Influence of Graffiti opens on Tuesday (March 3rd) at the UNT Art Gallery, and the show will feature work from Tony Bones, Sergio Garcia, Mark S. Nelson, and Soner.

Photo courtesy of PDNB.

It List: Wednesday

This Will Destroy You/Mom/Shapes Stars Make (Granada Theater): This Will Destroy You. Shapes Stars Make. These are the kinds of band names that should trigger alarms to anyone with a pulse, as they seem to signify groups who are into expressing their emotions and "experimenting" with "atmospherics" and long, loud instrumental build ups and other stuff that Explosions in the Sky does. It's "earnest" music, and it usually sucks. San Marcos' This Will Destroy You recently released a split EP with Lymbyc System, which sounds like its probably pretty boring, and although their music is admittedly "well crafted" and often relaxing and nice and all that, I can honestly barely tell the difference between them and local openers Shapes Stars Make, and its hard to find a single compelling reason to dig deep enough to find descriptors other than "Post-rock" to share with you. Of course, that's probably too complimentary-- a lot of this stuff sounds like Coldplay without the vocals, if you want to get right down to it. And as a side note, apparently Mom has changed their name to Sleep Whale in an effort to, uh, I don't know.... Isn't there already a guy named Chase Whale? I wonder if he's pissed?

ADD: Detour feat. Show Me Tiger/Keith P (the Cavern)

Get Fucked Wednesdays with Mikey Rodge/Killtron/Whack a Tone (Fallout Lounge)

Lost Generation with DJ Mr. Rid/Redsean/Blixaboy (The Lounge)

And for those interested, we have an update on a new Dallas DIY venue in the news section, new pictures up in the photos section, and yes, after some problems over the past 24 hours, our show calendar is up and running again (although we are still doing some work on it here and there).

It List: Tuesday

NOTE: THE NO IDEA FEST HAS BEEN MOVED TO LOLA'S STOCKYARDS AT 105 WEST EXCHANGE (817) 386-5008

No Idea Fest (Lola's Stockyards): If you haven't heard, the No Idea Festival begins its bi-state, multi-city journey in North Texas tonight, an improbable location (and perhaps even more so if you consider the venue) for an event with support from not only the Austin Cultural Arts Division, but The National Endowment For The Arts, as well as cultural councils out of Berlin and Switzerland. I'm always amazed and impressed when people can actually snag grants and funding for their events, especially when they involve violin improvisations, drone electronics, and guitarists that play with the instrument flat on its back. It's hard enough to get people to go to such events for free, much less convince a government funded institution to help out. Excellent work. The mix of classically trained composers along with performers who are more used to J and J's should be a fascinating one. Tonight's event is split into three sets with different performers assigned to each. Order is as follows:

SET 1
Annette Krebs (guitar, electronics - Berlin)
with Mike Maxwell (electronics, kalimba)
Sarah Alexander (vocals, electronics)


SET 2
Jason Kahn (percussion, electronics - Zurich)
with Chris Cogburn (percussion - Austin)
Zanzibar Snails’ Michael Chamy + Nevada Hill (drones)



SET 3
Tatsuya Nakatani (percussion - Pennsylvania)
with
Dennis Gonzalez (trumpet)
Stefan Gonzalez (percussion)
Aaron Gonzalez (bass)


Disqo Disco (Fallout Lounge) Tonight is Passenger Panda's birthday, so wish him well.

Yeah Def/Bangs (Hailey's): Fat Tuesday Celebration with photography by We Shot JR's newest photographer, Stephie Ya Know.

not new music tuesdays

Airway - Live at LACE (1978, LAFMS)

With all of the excitement surrounding this evening's portion of the no idea festival at Lola's, I'm taking the opportunity to share one of my personal favorite pieces of improvisational music.

Airway was a project of Joe Potts, a member of the Los Angeles Free Music Society. This version of the these recordings were taken from the LAFMS box set, The Lowest Form of Music (Cortical Foundation, 1996), which are apparently "different in feeling" from the original vinyl release. Both the record and it's limited individual cd release on Harbinger Sound are fucking impossible to find, or retardedly expensive, so I can only provide this one.

I can ramble on about this shit, but I think the liner notes are much more concise than anything I can say, so here goes:

"In the Spring of 1977, Joe Potts released the single, "Airway" as part of an art exhibition at the Lunami Gallery in Tokyo, Japan. The show featured morgue photographs with imbedded subliminal messages. The Airway single and the poster, which served as its sleeve, were designed to be taken home by the viewers to subliminally reinforce the message put out at the exhibition. After the exhibit, Chip Chapman and Joe put together a crude tape delay and processing system out of new and used bits and pieces (most prominently miles of tangled patch cords), in the hopes of recreating live, the "wall of Sound" effect from the single. The setup was revised for every performance, with varying degrees of success. The subliminal message which the music masked changed every time as well. This performance at LACE was Airway's first live performance. The gallery was on the third floor. During the performance the audience streamed out of the room until it was nearly empty. When the music stopped, a cheer came from outside. The volume level was so high that the drywall and hardwood floor vibrated like speaker cones, so apparently the optimum listening point was three floors below and across the street. This is the original uncut version of the recording, rather than the trimmed version released on vinyl as LAFMS #6. Recorded live 8-78. (SEE ESSAY). AIRWAY-Vetza; vocals, Dennis Duck; sax, Rick Potts; mandolin, Juan Gomez; bass guitar, Tom Recchion; drums, Chip Chapman; circuits, Joe Potts; circuits, tapes.

It List: Monday

There isn't a whole lot going on tonight other than the usual stuff:

Cool Out (the Cavern)

Paul Slavens (Dan's Silverleaf)

...so we figured we'd use this space to give you a brief head's up about tomorrow's No Idea Fest at Lola's in Ft. Worth. Curated in part by the members of Zanzibar Snails, the festival is celebrating its sixth year of existence this year, and will be making its first appearance in the DFW area. The Ft. Worth edition of the festival (there will also be performances in Austin, San Antonio, Houston and New Orleans) will feature several prominent improvisational musicians who have earned a great deal of respect in improv circles worldwide, including Annette Krebs, Jason Kahn and Tatsuya Nakatani.

Click the links for more info, but in case you want to read a little first, here are some excerpts from the bios Michael Chamy recently helped put together for his festival blog:

Annette Krebs:

Guitarist Annette Krebs is a key member of a young group of Berlin musicians who emerged in the late 20th century with a new, radical, and influential musical aesthetic. This group of artists, sometimes called the Reductionist school, mix composition and improvisation to form a music for which silence is as potent as sound. Dynamics are important, and part of the aesthetic involves extremely quiet gestures that draw the listener in, focusing the ear on subtle detail. Juxtaposition is a key component, as the expected and the unexpected are deftly employed elements of composition. Krebs, a master of musical texture, may seem more like a sculptor than a guitar player. A classically trained performer, Krebs has radically reinvented the guitar to suit her music.

She lays the guitar—an amplified one—flat on a table and precisely carves out sonic shapes and colors from a variety of objects applied to the instrument. The result is fascinating. A window between action and sound is made clear. Process and composition are revealed. Through amplification, microscopic sound is enlarged, as with a magnifying glass, to become the material for music-making.

Jason Kahn:

Jason Kahn's work includes sound installation, performance and composition. He was born in New York in 1960, grew up in Los Angeles and relocated to Europe in 1990. He currently lives in Zürich. He has given concerts and exhibited sound installations throughout Europe, North and South America, Japan, Mexico, Korea, Israel, Turkey, Russia, Lebanon, Egypt, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia. He performs both solo and together with musicians like Dieb13, Steinbrüchel, Kim Cascone, John Hudak, Steve Roden, Günter Müller, Kevin Drumm and Toshimaru Nakamura, using percussion, analog synthesizer or computer in different combinations.

He composes for electronics, acoustic instruments and environmental recordings. For larger groups of directed improvisation he has devised a system of graphical scores. Kahn creates his sound installations for specific spaces. The focus of these primarily non-visual works lies in the perception of a space through sound.
In 1997 Kahn founded the independent label Cut, producing to date twenty-five CD's, both of Kahn's own work and other artists.

“Kahn's work bears some similarity with the late music of Morton Feldman. What Feldman and Kahn often manage to do is suggest that what you’re hearing when you’re listening to their compositions is a continuum: moment without time.”
- Brian Marley, The Wire

Tatsuya Nakatani

Tatsuya Nakatani (percussion) is originally from Osaka, Japan. In 2006 he performed in 80 cities in 7 countries and collaborated with 163 artists worldwide. In the past 10 years he has released nearly 50 recordings on CD.

He has created his own instrumentation, effectively inventing many instruments and extended techniques. He utilizes drumset, bowed gongs, cymbals, singing bowls, metal objects, bells, and various sticks and bows to create an intense, organic music that defies category or genre. His music is based in improvised/ experimental music, jazz, free jazz, rock, and noise, yet retains the sense of space and beauty found in traditional Japanese folk music.

In addition to live solo and ensemble performances he works as a sound designer for film and television. He also teaches Masterclasses and Workshops at the University level. He also heads H&H Production, an independent record label and recording studio based in Easton, Pennsylvania. He was selected as a performing artist for the Pennsylvania Performing Artist on Tour (PennPat) roster as well as a Bronx Arts Council Individual Artist grant.

Monday Morning Rock

SHOWS OF NOTE THIS WEEK

TUE: No Idea Festival feat. Tatsuya Nakatani/Jason Kahn/Annette Krebs/Chris Cogburn/Yells at Eels/Zanzibar Snails/Mike Maxwell/Sarah Alexander (Lola's)
THU: Son Volt/Doug Burr (Dan's Silverleaf)
FRI: Damaged Good$/Trash Yourself/Genova/Mikey Rodge (the Cavern)
FRI: The Party (Zubar)
FRI: Starlight Mints/Grassfight/Recorder (Hailey's)
SAT: Silver Shampoo/Bleach Boys/Wiccans/Lychgate (Bunker Hill)
SAT: Dub Assembly with Reso/Mundo & Lifted MC/Royal Highnuss/Koteki and Mishap (Green Elephant)
SAT: Prizzy Prizzy Please/Orange Coax (1919 Hemphill)
SUN: Bosque Brown (CD release)/Fight Bite (Dan's Silverleaf)

Weekender

We'll have a few more updates for you in a bit, including more detailed write ups.... sorry for our lateness dudes:

FRIDAY

SOCIAL with Keith P/Females (upstairs) and Genova and Friends (downstairs) (The Cavern): Looks like The Cavern will be infiltrated tonight by one of Keith P's excellent DJ sets. The guy seems to be playing larger and more prestigious gigs more and more often these days, so this will be a chance to see him in a much smaller yet equally fun setting. If you can get past the rudest bartenders in town, then this is probably the place to go if you want to dance this evening. Females' Jason Faries has been making his presence felt in Denton, so here' s another chance for Dallasites to catch him if you're into that spastic, distorted synth disco/gameboy sound that seems to be derived from Alan Braxe, Fred Falke, Daft Punk, etc. Sort of the natural progression from all that Justice stuff in 07.

Black Joe Lewis/Boxcar Satan/Deep Snapper/Daniel Francis Doyle (Rubber Gloves):

Matthew Gray/Sarah Jaffe (Opening Bell Mosaic): This isn't a knock against either of these performers, but why the hell would you want to spend Friday night at a coffee shop unless you're a right wing Christian or something? JK guys, coffee is cool.... I just always feel like I should be listening to NPR when I drink it.

All The Saints/Dust Congress/Jack with One Eye (Hailey's): Our local readers are familiar with Jack with One Eye and Dust Congress, and All the Saints are one of those indie rock bands that classifies themselves as "experimental" or "psychedelic" because they use feedback and distortion here and there and ambient vocal effects and stuff. It really isn't bad when you compare to most of the other crap you could be hearing tonight, but I just can't determine what sort of experiment they're conducting other than "hey, let's see if we can get a showcase at SXSW this year."

AA Bondy/Telegraph Canyon/Doug Burr (Lola's Stockyards): You know how some people like to say they're into Whitehouse or Velvet Underground or something to show how totally crazy and weird they are? Well I like AA Bondy so I can show people how normal I am. This is pretty straight forward singer/songwriter stuff laced with traditional Americana folk and country that actually happens to work on just about every level. Imagine that. Centromatic fans should get in line now, because I'm guessing this will be a pretty well attended show in Cow Town. Does that piss Ft. Worth residents off when people call it that? Cuz I don't mean to be a jerk, sheesh.

Hank Williams III (Longhorn Saloon): Never been a fan, but it's cool that he likes Samhain and stuff. If Hank Williams was my grandfather, I'd probably act like this guy too, whether I wanted to or not.

Uptown Fridays with Select (Zubar)

SATURDAY

Daniel Francis Doyle/Farah/Rival Gang/Drug Mountain/Orange Coaxe (Chat Room): So a lot of people seem to be debating whether or not they should head to Ft. Worth on Saturday or go to Denton for the House of Tinnitus show (pulling off both is possible but not advised unless you're awesome at driving drunk). I'm not going to tell you where I'm gonna be because I don't want you following me around all night or whatever, but shit, it's pretty hard to argue with this mostly local line up (yes... some of the bands playing have "financial ties" to WSJR, ok Price Waterhouse?). Austin's Daniel Francis Doyle is just about ready to release a new record, and Farah has been posting a lot of new, rough demos on her Myspace page, so expect to hear new material from them. Drug Mountain and Orange Coax are two of the best live bands I've seen locally in some time, and to top it off, the Chat Room seems to be about the best thing other than a house show for this group of bands.

After Death Records Release Party with: Werewolf Jerusalem / Goat / Ashes / Black Guys / Sabertooth Cavity / Snowstorm / T.E.F. / S-21 /Zero Sum/ Scanning for Satellites / Akkolyte (House of Tinnitus): This is the big kick-off party for the newly formed After Death Records, whom we interviewed earlier this week, and all I really would like to add is that you should definitely remember to buy a tape, since it always seems like complete anarchy trying to roundup the donations at H.O.T. And as excited as I am about these upcoming tape releases, I don't think anyone would argue with the notion that seeing someone as brief and brutal as Goat live is an incomparable experience.

Negaduck/Division of Power/Rocket for Ethiopia/Electric Vengeance/Scoff (Exploding House):Man, there is a ridiculous eight-minute plus Youtube "flier" for this show floating around. I can't believe how much time and technology these young bands have on their hands now-a-days. Let me tell you what it was like in my time: You saved up all your money from working at the music department in Circuit City and went to record in a high-priced studio with "professionals," because home recording sounded like complete shit and that was only cool for about ten months in 1995. Who knew the '95 sound would be so hip today? Anyways, you then took your thousand dollar "demo" (which still sounded like a home recording) and drove down to shitty clubs you weren't old enough to get into. You sheepishly ask the door guy if you can come in just for a second for the privilege of handing your tape to a bunch of subhuman, slime-covered monsters called booking agents who know only one sentence in the English language, "I'll get back to you." On the off-chance that you're lucky enough to open for a rap-rock band on a Wednesday night in Deep Ellum, you make a really attractive flier (the old non-Youtube kind on paper) with a Marks-A-Lot and a Xerox, and you risk your weak, little teenage ass by running around Downtown Dallas (since people actually hung out there) posting them on every telephone pole you can find. Then you play a show, and everyone wonders why you're not playing rap-rock. Or everyone would ask that, if there were actually people there. Anyways, fuck you.

Warren Jackson Hearne And The Merrie Murdre of Gloomadeers/Clint Niosi/Delmore Pilcrow/Hail Seizure (Fra House)

Hot Flash Featuring Richard Gear/Schwa/Genova/Killtron (Fallout Lounge): Austin's Richard Gear will be this month's guest DJ at Hot Flash.

Gil Mantera's Party Dream/PVC Street Gang (Lola's Stockyards): I saw Gil Mantera's party dream once like a year and a half ago, and they pissed me off so much that I decided I liked them. PVC Street Gang's minimal, almost shitgaze recorded garage/punk/rock combo thing is finally starting to get some love in the local press, and I'd go by early enough to see those guys if you're planning on being in Ft. Worth on Saturday.

Tame,Tame...and Quiet/Boxcar Satan/ Deep Snapper (the Moon, Ft. Worth)

SUNDAY

There are several more shows you can check out on our show calendar, duh.

Written by SR and DL. Blame both of us.

It List: Thursday

...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead/Funeral Party/Midnight Masses (Granada): I wasn't too deeply involved in the Trail of Dead craze that occurred at the beginning of the decade, although I did happen to pick up their supposed masterpiece in 2002 and I thought "this is pretty good." Then they came out with that concept record about post-911 emo feelings and shit, and I thought "these keepin' it weird Austin dipshits want to be the American U2 except they suck ten times more." And I don't even like U2 that much. Apparently their latest album, called a "return to form" by numerous publications, is a return to the form of the aforementioned concept album, meaning that it sucks less than their last records, which I never actually heard myself but is rumored to be even worse than the 9-11 concept album. Wait, why am I writing about this again?

ADD: They are playing at GOOD RECORDS RIGHT NOW (6PM) IF YOU WANT TO TRY AND FIGHT THE CROWD.

Top Notch Thursdays with Sober (the Cavern)

FreeWill Benefit show with Stickup Kids/Playdough/Original Soul/Blaze Won/Street Tribe/Fort Nox/Rob Viktum (The Lounge): A Vigilante Music Group organized benefit for the late Free Will features Dallas hip hop staple Rob Viktum and headliners Stick up Kids, who put out an excellent mix tape early last year that was criminally underappreciated in the local press. Solid, raw beats and way better than average MCs. It doesn't have that "Dallas hip hop" sound that a lot of us happen to like (it seems more a nod to the golden era of early 90's east coast and current Detroit stuff), but it's well worth checking out if you can get your hands on it.

Billingham's Defense System/Yeahdef/Females (Fallout Lounge): Tonight will apparently feature a "prom" theme with photos from our friend Stephieyaknow. Do people do these prom themed parties because they loved their original proms, or because they hated them so much that they want a do-over of sorts?

And there's even more on our show calendar.

Art List

FRIDAY
Mark Wiener: Crossing Narratives (Decorazon) 6-9:30 pm

SATURDAY
Johnny Robertson, Robert Jessup, and Denise Duong (Conduit) 5:30-8:30 pm

there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you… (Marty Walker) 6-8 pm
Text art! from Archie Scott Gobber, Alexandra Grant, Mark Flood, Thomas Feulmer, Mickey Smith, and Wayne White.

John Adelman: Up to...half and Mike Osborne - On Location: Beijing(Holly Johnson) 5-8 pm
Two shows, with an artist's talk from John Adelman from 5-6pm.

Allison V. Smith (Barry Whistler) 3-6pm
A sneak peak of Smith's photographs of Marfa before they go to the Thunderbird Hotel. P.S. There will be cupcakes.

Colin Murasko and Carolina Sardi (Pan American) 5-8 pm

For the Love of Kettle (Kettle Art) 7-10 pm
A recession-friendly show- 100 pieces of 8 x 10 inch works all about $50.00.

Deft Touch: Anne Allen and Luke Sides (Mighty Fine Arts) 6-9 pm

Todd Stewart: The Garden (PDNB) 5-8 pm

Photo courtesy of Conduit Gallery, Denise Duong- Before They Wake Up

It List: Wednesday

Look, I'm sorry this is so late. Also, can we just calm down a little bit? Come on. Let's try to be a little more civil. I know we all have dramatically different opinions (big surprise), but is everything really worth getting that pissed off over? Someday it will all be over, and it will be just like that scene at the end of "Return Of The Jedi" with a holographic Stoned Ranger, Jeff Liles, and myself all hanging out and laughing. I'm not a Star Wars* dork or anything, just trying to lighten the mood.



Dance Fierce with DJ Itis (Mable Peabody's Beauty Parlor and Chainsaw Repair located at 1215 University Drive in Denton): After mentioning the quality of song-selection between bands at the Mabel's show last week, I was delighted to find out that there is an actual DJ behind the music and not just a random shuffle, DJ Itis. The DJ Itis "collective" has taken over Wednesdays at Mabel's and it's free. My only request is a little less Lili and Suzie. Yes, I know they really only have that one song. Starts at eleven.

Lykke Li/Sarah Jaffe (Granada): Lykke Li has made a huge impact in a relatively short time, and though I may not be as impressed by the Björn Yttling production as much as most, I have started to understand the appeal a little more lately. Li's songs require more than a casual listen, and some of the silly little hand-cymbal parts and tiresome Architecture In Helsinki-like attempts at "exotic" rhythmic touches are so distracting that they overshadow some of the melodies. I think either stepping back and stripping it down a bit, or going all the way and just letting DFA produce the next record would be an improvement. As it stands, I think this is a case of a fairly talented singer being weighed down by one of the least interesting musicians in recent memory. PS- I know everyone hates it when I say things like this, but "Little Bit" kind of sounds like the chorus to "Promiscuous," however unintentional.

Detour With Make Believers/Seth Hanon/Redeye (The Cavern): This is a rare Dallas show for Denton's Make Believers and smallness of the Cavern should be a good fit for their energetic power-pop. Before you bitch at me, isn't that what they describe Flamin' Groovies as in the All Music Guide?

Lost Generation With Wanz Dover and Akkolyte (The Lounge): This is one of two opportunities to see Akkolyte this week, and since so many Dallasites always complain about the long drive to Denton, I'd say take this one just in case you wimp out on Saturday.

Fuck You Pay Me (Tribeca): According to our shows list, this is a collaboration between Schwa from Cool Out and Redsean from Disqo Disco/Sydney Confirm. Tonight they'll be DJ'ing house, disco, funk, but will eventually incorporate live instrumentation.

Get Fucked With Mikey Rodge/Killtron/Whack-A-Tone (Fallout Lounge)

DJ Teenage Wolf/Yeah Def/FEMALES (Hailey's)





*"Mad Max" trilogy was way better.

It List: Tuesday

First of all, we have a ton of new pictures from our excellent new photographer Stephieyaknow over in our photo section (both party pics and live show pics) so go check those out.  We have more coming in the next day or so as well.  Shows tonight:

90's Night with Yeahdef (Hailey's): So I made a little trip to Backyard Beach Bar the other night to check out the party that was put together by the Etc. Etc! group, and aside from having to deal with what might have been the worst bar tenders in town, as well as being forced to watch one BBB employee pour a bucket of water all over a still-plugged-in speaker after it caught on fire (I'm no electrical expert, but this just didn't seem right to me, especially considering that Backyard Beach Bar has already burned down once), the party itself was a pretty good time.  I mention this only because the DJs (Billingham's Defense System, etc.) were spinning a lot of (formerly?) guilty pleasure 90's dance pop at the party, and I wonder if Friday night was a pretty good indicator of what most "90's nights" are like around here, considering that I've never been able to bring myself to go to one.  If so, then they aren't as bad as I thought, because I think I'd often rather hear this or this or this kind of disposable early 90's hip house and pop house (all of which I believe were played on Friday, and many of which seemed to be based on this critically acclaimed Chicago House masterpiece) as opposed to some no name local jackass playing "his own real songs with real instruments that he wrote" and blah blah "puts on a good show" support local music brah.  You know?  Apparently a lot of other people around here agree because there were probably as many paying customers at Backyard Beach Bar on Friday as there were in all of Deep Ellum that night, for better or worse.  

Disqo Disco (Fallout Lounge)  

New Science Projects/Big Spirit/Baby Talk/A Smile Full of Ale/Neil Corbett/Roy Robertson (1919 Hemphill): Most of our readers are probably familiar with the oft gigging New Science Projects by now (I have a really funny picture of that dude getting in my friend's face during a performance, but I'll spare you), but some might be both unfamiliar AND interested in the fragile folk of Detroit's Big Spirit-- yes yes, Iron and Wine and the Microphones and K Records and everything else you think of when you read the phrase "fragile folk," but this group is pretty enjoyable once you get past the "spot the influences" game.  

There are more events listed on our show calendar if you want to take a look.

Local Q & A: After Death Records

One of the few joys I've had, and trust me there are very few, in writing about local music over the past few years has been pretty much anything having to do with House Of Tinnitus. Terrific fliers, great band descriptions (Ex: [His] sound will crush you to the ground and you will beg for your fucking shitty life!), and one of the most consistent places to experience noise and related genres minus the detached academic attitude that I've all-too-often experienced at similar places in other cities. It's always more about having a good time than anything else, and a lot of the consistency is owed to proprietor Rob Buttrum's willingness to never compromise his aesthetic approach towards the aforementioned fliers, use of language, and the artists that he books at H.O.T.

It was for these reasons that I was glad to hear that Buttrum was starting up a label with Andrew Haas, a fellow member of his electronic ensemble, Lychgate. The label, After Death Records, will be releasing limited-edition runs on cassette by extreme electronic artists, that in most cases, have played at House Of Tinnitus. Judging by some previews of the cassette packaging, as well as the music contained therein, it's safe to assume that After Death Records will be the best way to own a tangible document of one of the area's most brutal artistic entities.

When did the original idea for the label first come up? Was it immediately decided that it would be a tape label, or did that decision come later?

We first met at Rob's house at a show in the beginning of 2007. We fast became good friends and after hanging out for quite a bit got to talking. Rob wanted to take things to the next level and we both mentioned starting a label. What seemed like a passing comment quickly turned serious when we both knew we wanted to really do it. We figured all the networking through House of Tinnitus could be put to good use and a label was the perfect outlet for it. From the get go we agreed "NO CDRS". CDRs feel cheap and crappy. Tape is a tradition in noise and industrial culture and we felt it was the best format to put out the music we loved. We plan on doing vinyl when we have the resources.


So far, it looks like most of the bands on the upcoming releases have played Tinnitus, with Vestigial Limb being the only exception. Has that made things fairly easy when it comes to communicating with the artists? Are there some people you're interested in doing releases for that haven't played Tinnitus, and if so, who?

Of course House of Tinnitus has opened up various avenues to us. Approaching a friend or acquaintance is easier than approaching a stranger. It's definitely made things more casual. Now that the ball has been rolling since October we've started to get people who have never been to Denton interested in doing releases with us. Definately wanting to work with people from all around the world who will probably NEVER come to Denton. Who, specifically? The possibilities are endless.

What can you tell us about the artists on your first three releases: Goat, Ashes, and Werewolf Jersualem?

Basically, we wanted to put out Texas noise for the first three tapes. We felt there was a lot of stuff going on in Texas that's not getting noticed in the noise scene but definately has merit. Ryan Talley of Ashes has absolutely ripped every time he's come through H.O.T. and we felt he just wasn't getting the exposure he deserves. We plan on releasing one local act in every batch of three tapes we do. It's our love for the local stuff that really got us wanting to start this project. Andy (O'Sullivan) from Goat and Richard Ramirez from Werewolf Jerusalem are both noise artists who have longevity and respect. They have been more than kind and patient with us in doing this first batch as well as being extremely helpful.

The artwork looks very uniform and thematic, same font and layout etc. Do you want to keep the visual theme permanent, or do see it as a possibility that it could change at some point? Do the artists turn in visuals, or do you guys take care of every aspect of the design? What are some of your visual influences?

It could always change, yes. Right now we wanted a uniform aesthetic, something to tie it all together. We like things that stay static but parts are always changing, like the covers. We do all of the artwork and would prefer to keep it that way. It's our visual interpretation of the artists' statement. It also makes the relationship more symbiotic and personal.

Was the overall amount of work more preparing the releases more or less than you thought it would be? What has been the most challenging aspect so far?

Hmm... It's all been a learn as you go process to be honest. What we thought would be done in a couple months has taken much longer.. The second batch will take half the amount of time since we know exactly what to do. There have been so many different aspects we have had to tap into to bring it all together. It's been a lot of work, but of course it's also been a lot of fun.

Are there any labels you feel especially influenced by?

Heavy Psych/Husk Records/905 Tapes have all been labels we've felt put out great releases that come to mind. There are a ton of great DIY labels around that garner respect. The main influence has been the music.

I know that Tinnitus itself has avoided media attention for the most part, but do you feel differently about the label getting attention or is it all the same to you? Has the feeling about the attention been that you just couldn't care less, or that the writers will just get everything wrong? That's certainly an understandable concern.

While we may be associated, After Death Records has been its' own animal. House of Tinnitus hasn't been avoiding the media... If anything, Rob's just being selective.

It's nice to be getting press this early in the stage, but it's not something we take too seriously.

Will these available online or at shows only? Have you made any distribution plans? Do you plan on keeping any at local record stores?

They will be available at shows and online. For the release party the artists' will be selling their copies. Most likely we'll have a spot set up at H.O.T. during future shows. As far as local record stores go we haven't really considered that. Distribution is iffy right now since we're doing such limited releases but working with other small labels/distros is an open possibility.

What was the process for dubbing the tapes? How hard is it to find tape dubbing equipment for large quantities? Where did you look for yours?

Tape duplicators are pretty easy to find for sale because to the mainstream the format is 'outdated.' We have a duplicator that makes 4x copies at 16x the speed so it's pretty simple.

You've stated that you'll primarily focus on extreme electronic music. Can you think of anyone that you would consider breaking that focus for? Or do you feel more like you could release a hundred different volumes before you would even consider messing with the format?

It's always possible we could release something non-electronic, but right now we are content with the format. If we released something else it'd most likely be in the extreme vein. There is a lot of exciting stuff going on right now in the genre.



After Death Records is having their first record release party at House of Tinnitus, this Saturday, February 21. The artists from their first three releases will be performing, along with eight other acts, including Akkolyte, T.E.F., and Snowstorm.

not new music tuesdays

Curtis Mayfield - Curtis (1970, Curtom)

My introduction to Curtis Mayfield is one of those indelible memories of youth that I recall every time I hear his music. I'll never forget watching Superfly on late night tv and seeing Curtis and his band playing live during the nightclub scenes. It was like watching Rock n Roll High School without knowing who the Ramones were... fucking spellbinding!

Having fronted the Impressions throughout the 60s, Mayfield was an established and well respected musician/songwriter by the time he released this album, his solo debut. This record represents a huge step forward in an already successful career, giving a funkier sound to the socially conscious soul of his former group.

It List: Monday

Punk Bunny/Andrew Burntette (The Lounge): It would be hard for Punk Bunny to top the show they played on Friday night; the lineup, the setting, the crowd, even the music between acts was so appropriate, it bordered on being absurd. Not to mention the fact that much of it was willfully absurd. Punk Bunny was even more of a spectacle this time around, with prepared videos accompanying their songs, and choreographed dance moves by three men in lingerie. Even the most hardened punk rocker I know had to crack a smile.  

The Lounge on a Monday night is certainly the opposite of Mabel Peabody's on a Friday, but I don't know of a group more capable of having a good time in spite of the weeknight odds. Opening act Andrew Burnette is a touring member of Punk Bunny, but the self-described "electronic softcore" of which his solo project consists is undoubtedly more of a subtle ride.

Paul Slavens (Dan's Silver Leaf) 

Cool Out (The Cavern)

ADD: New Science Projects/Dustin And The Furniture/Big Spirit/Daniel Folmer/Spooky Folk (J & J's Pizza)

Monday Morning Rock

Almost NSFW.... 80's Belgian acid house videos are almost ALL like this:







SHOWS OF NOTE THIS WEEK

WED: Lykke Li/Sarah Jaffe (Granada)
WED: Lost Generation with Akkolyte (the Lounge)
THU: ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead/Funeral Party/Midnight Masses (the Granada)
SAT: Daniel Francis Doyle/Farah/Rival Gang/Drug Mountain/Orange Coax (Chat Room)
SAT: After Death Records Release Party (House of Tinnitus)
SAT: Negaduck/Division of Power/Rocket for Ethiopia, Electric Vengeance/Scoff (Exploding House)

Weekender

FRIDAY

Darktown Strutters/Rival Gang/Punk Bunny/Pocket Change (Mable Peabody's): In what has become a semi-traditional lineup, Punk Bunny teams up with Rival Gang to present an explicit journey into proving how far a group is able take playfully wielding sex and sexuality like a weapon; basically forcing the crowd to stand aghast, often gasping like they were just hit with a cum-filled grenade. Add the further discomfort of confrontational performance artists Pocket Change with the cocky, "Night Porter" perversions of Darktown Strutters, and you have a very potent antidote to cure you from the feigned sentiments and overbooked dinner reservations of tomorrow night. This self-described "Gay Prom Bloodbath" also features a kissing booth. Or maybe it was a photo booth, I can't remember. A dunking booth? In any event, get soaked.

Friday the 13th Masquerade Formal with Vega/Schwa/The Famousish/TOMMYL33JON3Z (Backyard Beach Bar): This is the first event put together by new party planning crew Etc., Etc!, and it will take place at Backyard Beach Bar, deep in the East Side of Dallas at 7530 E. Grand Ave. They say black and white casual attire and masks are REQUIRED dress, but I'm not really sure how strict that requirement actually is. Either way, you'll see some great DJ performances I'm sure, and if you pay the cover to get into the party, it will get you FREE BOOZE at the official after party, which takes place at 5523 East Side Dr. in Dallas.

Dropdead/hatred surge/kill the client/hercules/unit 21 (1919 Hemphill): Dropdead formed almost twenty years ago, thus making them the kind of band that has been around long enough to have their own little culture around it, making them both a deity-like reference point for the group's followers, and a punchline for the many detractors of this particular sect of hardcore. I think they're vicious enough to lay waste to any of the uptight misgivings one might have about going to a punk show. After hearing an unbelievably pretentious interview with Andrew Bird on NPR, I'm ready to do just that. As for being face-to-face with Kill The Client when they take the floor, I might hide behind the bleachers.

Bangs/Females/YeahDef/Vega/Heartstring Stranglers (Hailey's): Pre valentine's dance party with some of Denton's most popular DJs that will probably be packed to the gills. Vega is listed as playing this show AND the masquerade party in Dallas tonight, so I'm guessing he's either doing double duty or there will be at least one set of Vega fans that will cry right into their XLR8Rs before the night is through. We'll keep you posted.

Greg Ginn (Club Dada): Former Black Flag and SST Records founder Greg Ginn lives in Taylor, TX these days, which is bizarre in and of itself, but the fact that he'll be fronting his new jam band at Club Dada this evening, Greg Ginn and the Taylor Texas Corrugators ,is even stranger. Let me repeat: This is the founder of Black fucking Flag, and also a guy who ran a label that once released music by Sonic Youth AND Dinosaur Jr. Jam Band. Cry. I don't know what to say.

Ghostcar/Jack with One Eye/The Frenz (the Lounge): This show will serve as Jack with One Eye's CD release show, and will also give the excellent Ghostcar a chance to showcase their stellar new material, some of which you can hear on their Myspace page.

Happy Bullets Video Shoot (Space): the Happy Bullets will be shooting a video for their song "Fuck Yeah I'm in Love with You" in which they'll ask as many couples as possible to make out on camera at the same time during the filming, meaning that you probably shouldn't show up to this alone unless you want to feel like a loser. King Bucks and Giggle Party will be playing as well, and things get started at 8pm.

SATURDAY

Hands Up Valentines Party with The Party (the Loft)

Red Faced Laughter/Holy Wave (Majestic Dwelling Of Doom)

Giggle Party/Cocky Americans/Ishi (the Cavern): A Melissa's Deluxe hosted event.

Fall In Love at Fallout with Billingham's Defense System/TraDemarx/Schwa (Fallout)

ADD: Treasure Fingers/Keith P (Lizard Lounge): You guys know Keith P already, and with his appearances on the Edge Club and this headlining gig at one of Dallas' largest staple dance clubs (seriously, has ANYTHING been open longer than the Lizard Lounge?), apparently a lot of other people know him too.  Treasure Fingers spin and remix very poppy, disco leaning house and if you're in the mood for that sort of thing, its quite good.

Agnostic Front/The Mongoloids/Hit and Run/Preacher/Broadsiders (Lola's): Reputable first wave, New York based American hardcore band Agnostic Front comes to Lola's tonight (strange place for THIS show, don't you think?) for a set of what I assume will be their usual metal/punk/thrash hybrid that pretty much bores the shit out of me. Not to generalize too much, but most of the more popular early NYC hardcore stuff comes off as bone-headed and ridiculous to me most of the time, especially once many of these bands start to cross over into metal and tough guy garbage. Seeing the film American Hardcore only cemented this view in my mind. Not that there weren't ANY good punk bands from NY at the time, I just couldn't think of anything else to say about Agnostic Front that hasn't already been said about any of these kinds of bands. Sowwy.

SUNDAY

The Cure in Orange (Dan's Silverleaf): Shiny Around the Edge's Michael Seman presents this Cure concert film.

Genova/Van Damme Disco (Fallout Lounge)

Check out our show calendar for even more shows please.

Art List

THURSDAY
Artist talk with Florencia Levy (Centraltrak)6pm
Levy is an artist in residence at Centraltrak, and she will talk about her Commute Portraits, taken in DFW in the summer of 2008.

Artist talk with Rosemary Meza-DePlas and Janet Chaffee (CADD Art Lab)7pm
In conjunction with the Drawing In exhibit up right now.

Works on Paper (Norwood Flynn)

FRIDAY
Margrét H. Blöndal & Lars Laumann (Fort Worth Contemporary Arts) 6-9pm

SATURDAY
Barbara Crane: Challenging Vision (Amon Carter Museum)

Otis Jones (William Campbell Contemporary) 6-8 pm

Also, Jeff Elrod will be speaking at the Modern on Tuesday night (Feb 17th) at 7pm.

Image: Janet Chaffee, courtesy of CADD Art Lab

House by House Fest Line Up Announced

Well in case you aren't willing or able to make it down to Austin for SXSW this year, it turns out you'll have a chance to see an impressive number of great SXSW bands in Denton at one of the many house show hotspots that have decided to team up together to put on HXHF, or House by House Fest. Take a look at these impressive line ups, many of which will appear before SXSW actually begins, and then ask yourself why you weren't cool enough to think of this:

Wed. March 18th 7PM
@ Bunker Hill
Box Elders/The Weakends/Frustrations/Bass Drum Of Death/Outer Spacists

Tues. March 17th 7 PM
@ 715 Panhandle
WAVVES/AbeVigoda/Fergus & Geronimo/Fungi Girls

Tuesday March 17th 11 PM
@ 818 Hickory St.
Psychedelic Horseshit/Thomas Function/Yuppies/Lover!

Mon. March 16th 7 PM
@ J and J's Pizza
Magic Lantern/Pocahaunted/Robedoor

Mon. March 16th
@ Bunker Hill
Lil Daggers/Deserter/ + TBA

Mon. March 16th
@ Muscle Beach
Viking Moses!/Pictish Trail/Golden Ghost/Rozi Plain

Sun. 15th
@ 818 Hickory
UH-OH + TBA, +1, etc.

Sat. March 14th 8PM
@ Muscle Beach
The Shivers/Weird Weeds/Shiny Around The Edges/Champagne Kickoff

The houses ask that you please donate $5 per show. Seems like a pretty good deal to me. We'll have more on this soon, but something tells me you better get to that Panhandle show pretty damn early....

It List: Wednesday

Loney Dear/Sunnybrook/Matthew And The Arrogant Sea (Hailey's): Hey, go listen to "Airport Surroundings" on Loney Dear's page. Shit sounds just like the refraining melody to Nate Dogg's vocal parts on "Regulate." That's probably the best thing I can say about Loney Dear. That, and he used to be a professional cyclist, which is a fun fact, but doesn't really help me out when I have to sit through someone's music. His page says he's influenced by "early U2." Hmm. I think even "Numb" is better than this. Sunnybrook and MATAS open and we really wanted to review MATAS' album last year, it's just one of those things that got away from us. We still might, just because.

Big Elf/Wanz Dover/Jason Cohen (The Lounge): Big Elf has to be one of the most over-the-top prog geek groups I've heard in a long time. It's too much, really. Makes Christopher Guest seem like Michael Stipe. Parade Of Flesh booked Big Elf, by the way.

Jessie Mayeux/Taylor Rea/Robbi K/JT Mudd (The Cavern): If anyone has links for any of these artists, please let us know.

ADD: Get Fucked Wednesdays featuring Mikey Rodge/Killtron/Whack-A-Tone (Fallout)

Our New Show Calendar

So lately we've been thinking about the way we do things around here and actually taking the time to listen to our audience for a change: we know it can be kind of a drag to wait until 5 o'clock to see our It List every day, especially if you'd like to, you know, make plans to go see a show and need a little more advance than we've been able to give you lately. And while we can't promise that we'll be able to post It Lists earlier every single day, we are going to make a few changes that will allow us to post lists at 3 or 4 in the afternoon as opposed to 5 or 530 from now on.  So that's the first thing we're going to do to make you people happy.

Next, even though we don't plan to change the content of the It Lists all that much, we do feel that it might be important to give you guys a more comprehensive look at upcoming shows, including shows that will occur a few weeks in advance, without having to write about all of them. Furthermore, we receive dozens of email and Myspace messages every week from people telling us about their shows, and unfortunately, we sometimes overlook these messages completely by accident, resulting in shows being left off our lists, and occasionally, a few hurt feelings to go along with it :-(.   So we wanted to do something that would help us with both of these issues, which is why we are introducing the We Shot J.R. Show Calendar. 

If you click on the link above, you'll find the simple beginnings of what the show calendar will become.  We'll be adding all different kinds of shows to this list in the next few days, including some of the bigger shows that might be happening months down the road.  The show list features all the usual show info you'll find in other places (time, place, cover, venue, bands, etc.), as well as links to bands' Myspace pages and venue websites (all of this will develop over the next few days, so please be patient).  And perhaps the best part, especially for bands, booking agents and venue operators, is the "add show" feature in the top left corner of the calendar-- you can click on that and submit information about an upcoming show of your choice using a very simple form-- there's even a space for you to include a line up list with hotlinks to Myspace pages, and you'll also be able to describe the bands, copy and paste short press releases, and share any other information you'd like to provide about the show in the "description" section.  As long as your information is legit, we'll add the show to the calendar without considering whether or not we personally like the bands involved.  If it's a real show, we'll add it to our calendar ASAP.  This doesn't mean we'll talk about everything on the calendar in the It Lists, but the information will be there for all to see in that section.

Essentially, this will be the best way to alert our staff about an upcoming show, and it will also be a great resource for readers too.  Give it a try... we think you'll like it.

And PS-- if you have any technical problems, please email richardsonheights@weshotjr.com to let us know.  We'd also like to thank RH for all the hard work and long hours spent making this thing a reality.