Weekender

Written by Defensive Listening

FRIDAY

Daniel Folmer/Dust Congress/Nervous Curtains (Good Records In-store, 7pm)

Tapes N Tapes/Wild Light/Les Americans (Club Dada): I believe there was a time when Tapes N Tapes would have to play a bigger venue when they'd come through town, but that's how things go in the current cannibalistic world of the blog/indie/record industry; a sinking ship where one day you're all the rage with the stay-at-home journalists, only to wakeup and find you can't even get a lousy Myspace message returned. Don't sweat it, dudes. We're all in this together!

The Party (Zubar)

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE@ HOUSE OF BLUES IS CANCELED: When you tour with ten people and one of them gets a cold, you're fucked.


SATURDAY

My Son My Executioner/Era/Out To Sea/Fighting Chance/Choices (Molly's Hamburgers located at 4720 Little Rd. In Arlington): I love hardcore names. I really do. They either sound really epic and cool, or like a Saturday afternoon movie about an abusive relationship on the Lifetime Network.

The Hex Dispensers/Fungi Girls/Occult Detective Club/Bad Sports (Bunker Hill, 2614 N. Elm St., Denton): The Hex Dispensers are an Austin garage rock band that sound like a less-quirky version of The Spits. Their sped-up, dumbed-down version of paranoid Waver classic "Down In The Park" is definitely fun. Somehow missed Fungi Girls last weekend even though I went to the show, as I forgot that some venues actually operate in a timely fashion. Better luck this time.

Mount Righteous/Drug Mountain/Fishboy/Mr. Troll (Rubber Gloves): Hats off to whoever added Mr. Troll to this show. I hadn't heard any of this man's music until today, and was surprised at the plain, unaffected vocal delivery improbably emanating from behind this snow-white beard and sunglasses. I hear a lot of singers on a weekly basis, and it's a rare occurrence when I actually stop what I'm doing and sit thinking to myself, "That's it. That guy's definitely not faking or trying to shove some forced sentimentality or sensitivity down my throat. Finally." Some of his arrangements also have a nice torch singer quality that you rarely hear from today's song-writer. A very good addition to an already healthily diverse lineup.

Los Campesinos/Titus Andronicus (Club Dada): Los Campesinos sometimes sound like the Wedding Present after they signed to Island, only that band managed to retain some of their charm whereas this group might not have any to lose. Sounds pretty harsh, but you could do a lot worse than to be compared to The Wedding Present. Extra points for making their accents so prominent.

Titus Andronicus is the kind of group you're just ready to despise after reading over some gushing press blurbs (Cobain and GBV comparisons?), but they redeem themselves by coming off as a pretty believable take on the kind of impassioned blue-collar rock that The Reigning Sound, The Replacements, and The Rock*A*Teens made famous, if not in sound then at least in effort.

It List: Thursday

Lewd Acts/Scumrush/Dark Forces/Trifle Tower (Exploding House): California's Lewd Acts are a surprisingly harsh and instrumentally impressive new school hardcore scream group that sounds sure to put on the kind of live show that you'd like to see at Exploding House, even if they aren't exactly "your thing." The rest of the line up, all local, follow suit. And props to Dark Forces for one of the most goofily cool logos I've seen in a while (pictured to the right).

Doug Burr/Daniel Folmer/Burntsienna Trio/Glen Farris (Hydrant Cafe, Denton): Daniel Folmer, the Dallas Observer's favorite indie "songwriter," has a new full length record coming out, as does the widely acclaimed Doug Burr (who received a set of solid reviews from respected publications for his last release), and both will be hosting this joint CD release tonight at a place in Denton I've never heard of. I'm guessing CDs will be available for purchaes if you're into that sort of thing.

Billingham's Defense System/Genova (Fallout Lounge)

Art List

THURSDAY
Artist's talk with Kevin Bewersdorf (Centraltrak) 6pm

FRIDAY
Florencia Levy and Frank Dufor: Highest Fidelity (Centraltrak) 6-8pm
Two shows opening at Centraltrak

SATURDAY
Electroshock Show(F6 Gallery)
For one night only.

It List: Wednesday

Musee Mecanique/C. Johnson from Telegraph Canyon (The Chat Room): Free show featuring the cinema obsessed, pillow-soft sounds of Portland's Musee Mecanique.

Lost Generation with Wanz Dover plus Farah/Slackbeat (The Lounge): Wanz has a new strategy for Lost Generation where he is going to start hosting different guest live acts and DJ's along with his own sets. He has some pretty interesting lineups scheduled with acts such as Big Elf, Rooftop Vigilantes, and local record collector and ex-Robo-Gnostic member, Jason Cohen. He also used to run Forbidden Books, and according to my dealer at one of my favorite hidden-gem record shops, he was just a few hours ahead of me on a recent record-shopping excursion in middle-of-nowhere, Llano, TX, one day after New Year's. Definitely a coincidence but, man, I hate competing with fellow North Texans in my sweet spots.

Tonight's show is a great start to Lost Gen's new set-up with the always great Farah, and Denton's Slackbeat, an unpredictable mix of acoustic instruments, turntable clicks, noise, and other random surprises. They rarely play in Dallas so definitely make it out.

13 Going on 30 Party with Yeah Def/Females/Schwa/Big J/Ghost Pizza (Hailey's): Birthday party celebrating Yeah Def and one of the guys from Gordon And The Whale.

Movie Premier: Macaframa at Angelika Film Center (Dallas): I know a lot of people have been excited about this movie focusing on the world of fixed gear and track biking. Film at 7:30.

not new music tuesdays

Sorry this was late today folks, my bad-- SR

Faust - So Far (1972, Polydor) 

I'll start off by saying that the opening song on this album, 'It's a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl,' is one of the best opening songs ever. Put it up there with Sonic Youth's "Schizophrenia," AC/DC's "Highway to Hell," the Stones' 'Rocks Off," or Budgie's "Breadfan." Damn, I may make a compilation of best first songs on records...

Faust actually got their start as an experiment conducted by german producer Uwe Nettelback for Polydor Records. He hand-picked the musicians, built a studio and started rolling tape. Never satisfied with conventional rock, Nettelback and Faust constantly pushed themselves to be innovative in both their recording and songwriting techniques. Nettelback once said of the group "The idea was not to copy anything going on in the Anglo-Saxon rock scene – and it worked..."

'So Far' was their second and final release for Polydor, who were kinda pissed that they refused to make any commercially viable music. Nettelback then signed the group with an upstart British label, Virgin Records, where their debut (the Faust Tapes) sold over 100,000 copies (at a price of only 49p!) in just a few weeks in the UK. The group also recorded the critically acclaimed 'Faust IV' for Virgin before calling it quits in 1976. They did get back together in the mid 90s and have toured and released several albums since then, including one in 2007 with Nurse with Wound.

It List: Tuesday

Before we get started, I want to point out how great these two covers are for the upcoming 7-inch releases from Teenage Cool Kids. They are watercolors, beautifully painted by TCK member, Andrew Savage. The first one, "Speaking In Tongues," is available for pre-order here, at Copper Lung Records. All pre-orders come with a free T-shirt. The second record, "Poison Sermons," will be available soon through Michigan-based Leroy St. Records.

Okay, tonight:

Nineties Night with Yeah Def (Hailey's)

Disqo Disco (Fallout Lounge): Special guest tonight is DJ Teenage Wolf, founding member of The Culnsweet Collective that regularly throws parties in Austin and Mexico, and I can only imagine what a party in Monterrey is like, but according to the DJ, it sounds like an experience. Teenage Wolf also helps run the highly trafficked Tejano Bounce blog and more info available in this Central Booking interview.

It List: Monday

Aside from the Cool Out and Paul Slavens at Dan's Silverleaf, nothing much seems to be going on tonight, which is good because it's supposed to ice over (95% of native Texans will cry and refuse to go anywhere). Luckily for you, we'll get to spend this evening working on features, and you might even see one posted later on, so hold your breath until it's up!

Monday Morning Rock

SHOWS OF NOTE THIS WEEK

FRI: Tapes N Tapes/Wild Lights/I Love Math (Club Dada)
FRI: The Party (Zubar)
FRI: Broken Social Scene/Lymbyc System (House of Blues)
SAT: The Hex Dispensers/Fungi Girls/Occult Detective Club (Bunker Hill, 2614 N. Elm St., Denton)
SAT: Mount Righteous/Drug Mountain/Fishboy/Mr. Troll (Rubber Gloves)
SAT: Los Campesinos/Titus Andronicus (Club Dada)

Weekender

First of all, swing by this Vice post that links to a blog started by a rather sleazy associate of We Shot JR, and while you're there please feel free to have a few laughs at the parade of douches you'll find and the captions below their pics. Even though this is NOT a local blog, you might even recognize a couple of them! We can't reveal her identity, but that makes it more fun, you know? Now for shows, hos (and sorry we're late and short today, but without our jobs, we couldn't pay to go to all these shows and cover them for you, you know? Oh wait, we never pay to get into anything. sowwy):

FRIDAY

Fungi Girls/Electric Vengeance/Scoff (Cleburne Skate Center): I know you probably aren't going to drive to Cleburne for this, but considering that Fungi Girls have received more national press than any other local band so far in 2009, we had to put this up here, right? Apparently these dudes got played yesterday afternoon on XM satellite radio, which is just the latest in crazy things that have happened to them over the past couple weeks. Anyway, if you're interested, Fungi Girls go on at 715 PM apparently.

Akkolyte/Vorvadoss/Fighting Change/Scumrush/Enemies of Inertia/Blood OV (Reno's): Pretty brutal show at a pretty brutal venue. In the first instance, brutal means fierce, harsh and fun. In the second, it means "Why am I in Deep Ellum on a weekend night? Get me the fuck away from this rockabilly convention." JK guys, Akkolyte and Vorvadoss are worth braving most shitty crowds in order to see.

Genova/Panda Toes/Van Damme/Females (the Cavern)

Matthew and the Arrogrant Sea/RTB2/The Beaten Sea (1207 Annex Ave., Dallas): Now that Swiss House is more or less gone, Dallas pretty much has a total of zero regular locations for house shows. Maybe this could end up being the first.

Uptown Fridays with Select (Zubar)

Stag Film/The Me Thinks/Bastardo de Sancho (Doublewide)

Awkquarius (Rubber Gloves)

SATURDAY


Aquarius Party with Big J and Select (Fallout Lounge)

Drug Mountain/Fungi Girls/No Babies/A Smile Full Of Ale (1919 Hemphill): Great local and kind of local lineup along with a band I've heard great things about: Mobile, Alabama's No Babies. -DL

SUNDAY

Some Jerk Off/Orange Coax/Geistheistler (Majestic Dwelling of Doom): You know what the best part about being me is? I can tell you that two really great bands are playing at Majestic Dwelling of Doom on Sunday, and then I can just ignore the other crap that may or may not be occuring at the same place around the same time. Way to go Potato, your publicity scheme worked like a charm!

It List: Thursday

KRS One (Minc): Co founder of the legendary Boogie Down Productions and one of the most respected political voices in hip hop, KRS-One will be dropping by Minc Lounge in Dallas tonight on his Stop the Violence tour. We don't have a lot of other information on the gig other than that since promotion for it has been rather, uh, light to say the least, which is a shame considering what a legend KRS One really is.... but it's Dallas, so no one is surprised.

John Legend/Vaughn Anthony (Nokia): The least annoying adult contemporary R&B singer of the decade. The Central Booking crew will be hosting an after party for the show at Aura Lounge on McKinney, and you can RSVP here if you want to. Warning: possiblity of the place being a bottle service douche hole joint appears quite high based on the website. Apparently you have to "call for reservations" if you want to hang out with these Dallas "vips." Ha. If you're a big John Legend person, however, get excited and shit because he WILL be there.

The English Beat/Bad Manners/Eleven Fingered Charlie (Granada): The Beat has toured with David Bowie, The Clash, Talking Heads, The Police, and the Specials, meaning that if Jeff Liles were in charge of the world, they would probably be considered the best band in the universe by decree. I mean, they make a living as musicians and you don't, right? In real life, however, they're just a solid ska band that began to adequately explore westernized African pop music later in the career with a good deal of success. Honestly, if you had to go listen to an old English Ska revival band from the 70's, they're certainly the least offensive of the bunch other than the Specials, and they're often better than them too. Really, the aforementioned list of touring partners is a pretty great indicator of what they sound like--- often more Police and Talking Heads than Reel Big Fish or whatever the fuck you're thinking, it's probably unfair to even refer to them as a ska band since they rarely ever sound like one. I've been listening to their greatest hits for the past half hour and I've decided that I like it. Ok? It couldn't possibly be ska, right?

80's Night with DJG (Hailey's)

Billingham's Defense System (Fallout Lounge)

Art List

THURSDAY
Erik Lee Thompson: Black Jesus & Others (Magnolia)7-10pm
Closing tonight

SATURDAY
Show # 21: Protagonist (And/Or) 6-9 pm
Including artists Kara Hearn, Jonn Herschend, Wendy Red Star, Alex Clausen, Victor Offen, Raymond Uhlir, and Susan O'Malley- check out RH's piece below.

Burt Sugarman's Midnight Special (House of Dang) 6-9pm
Presented by House of Dang, And/Or Gallery, and Centraltrak.


Inaugural 09 (Barry Whistler) 6-8 pm
An inaugural celebration show! Inlcudes artists Kirsten Macy, John Pomara, Lorraine Tady, Allison V. Smith, Andrea Rosenberg, John Wilcox, Michael Miller, and Leslie Wilkes.

Judith Lea Perkins: Empire of Belief (Kettle Art) 7-10 pm
A show from one of the original founders of Kettle Art.

Christopher Blay: Microaudiotellarevolution (Gallery 414) 6-9 pm

Greatness: Susan O'Malley

Susan O'Malley is an artist based in San Jose with a piece in the next show at And/Or Gallery, opening this weekend. She sat down to express some hard-hitting art opinions for this week's Greatness.

Richardson Heights: What do you do all day?

Susan O'Malley: I am the Assistant Curator at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, a mid-sized non-profit organization. Day-to-day I am usually doing things related to our exhibitions and programs: scribbling on post-it notes, making to-do lists, calling and emailing, writing, meeting with artists, reading and looking on the internet.

RH: What is your favorite basic shape and why?

SO'M: A circle of course! Because they are so cute!

RH: So, then, what is it, more or less, that you're trying to do as an artist?

SO'M: It often depends from project-to-project. Generally I hope that the work shifts the weirdness of our everyday lives into something more poetic. Lately, I've really been into making inspirational buttons and posters.

RH: You've taken the idea of "artist in residence" a step further by using your own neighborhood as a canvas, kind of Andy Goldsworthy style. How did you develop this idea?

SO'M: I love that framing things as art gives permission to do things that I may otherwise not do (but really want to). I wanted to do a project with people's front lawns in suburban San Jose but I also didn't want to invade their spaces. Distributing flyers in the neighborhood to announce my residency allowed people to opt-out if they were not interested. It also gave me the confidence to do what I wanted to do in their yards. I was really hoping that if neighbors saw something out-of-the-ordinary on their block they would wonder if it was art (whether or not it was something I did).

RH: Could you describe your latest Pep Talk Squad event?

SO'M: Since Christina Amini (my Pep Talk Squad collaborator) and I have not given official pep talks for some time (with the typewriter, jackets, buttons and brochures) we like to think of ourselves as undercover pep-talkers, providing encouragement and pep wherever we happen to be. We both work in office-type situations, a landscape always in need of some pep.

RH: Do you have an actual studio, or are you more of a movable artist?

SO'M: No official studio, I'm movable.

RH: Can you tell us a bit about how you created the piece you've got in the show at And/Or this weekend?

SO'M: Yes! This is a project I did with another Bay Area artist, Alex Clausen, about an eccentric and inspiring bike shop owner named Alexander LaRiviere. LaRiviere has rented a crooked Victorian bike shop in downtown San Jose for the past 30 years and the future of his business and home is uncertain. In spite of all of his obstacles, his belief in the bicycle keeps him going. There will be a short video and images at And/Or about him. We really hope you like it.

O'Malley's and Clausen's video Desire To Fly will be at And/Or Gallery through February 28th. The opening reception for the whole show is this Saturday, January 24th, from 6-9PM. Images courtesy of Susan O'Malley.

It List: Wednesday

Man, I almost forgot to do the It List. I hate it when that happens. I even got text messages about it. Anyways, just have a couple of weeklies to report:

Yeah Def/Females/Billingham's Defense System (Hailey's)

Detour with Slider Pines/Ishi (The Cavern): Featuring artwork by tattoo artists, Chandler Foley, Sam Yamini, and Josh Williams.

While I'm still thinking about it: The terrorist, I mean, blogger chatter is really picking up over South By Southwest. I get new emails about it everyday. What do you guys think? Looking forward to it? Do you even give a shit? Please let us know.

Oh, and check out this excellent photo essay of yesterday's potluck.

Blog Exchange: Austin Sound Interviews Lions

Here is another installment of Blog Swap, a monthly feature in which we exchange articles with two other great Texas music blogs, Austinsound and Skyline. This month, Austinsound sent us the following interview with Lions, and we'll be sending one of our pieces to Skyline. Anyway, check it out:

Last month, the Lions rereleased their 2007 onslaught, No Generation. We took the opportunity to speak with head Lion Matt Drenik about their success in 2008, which included opening tours with the Toadies, signing with management firm Uppercut, and getting songs placed in everything from the TV shows "Californication" and "Sons of Anarchy" to "Guitar Hero." Latter in January the quartet, which now features brand new bass player Mike Sellman, will head to LA to record their next album with Matt Hyde, and are planning to finally hit a European tour in the Spring.

Austin Sound: Did you guys just get back from doing a European tour?

Matt Drenik: No, we just signed with a European agency group called Helter Skelter, and they kept trying to get us to go over there but every tour that was coming up, there was always something conflicting over here. So we're kind of here until we finish the new record.

AS: But y'all are planning on heading over there in the Spring, right?

MD: Yeah. Pretty much we're on call at this point. Whenever it comes up, they're going to bring us over to London right away. Which is cool; I've never been over there. I have no idea what to expect.

AS: How did the deal with Helter Skelter come about?

MD: Well, as I recall, we were in New York City and we belonged to a local agency at the time. We played in Brooklyn and a bunch of labels came out to see us, and one of them was Columbia. Columbia was pretty hot the band for a while, and the A&R rep that was kind of scouting us was friends with the guy that owns Helter Skelter, so he kind of turned him on to us.

AS: Are there any labels interested now?

MD: Well, first there was the Road Runner thing and that kind of fell apart, but as of right now, no. But we're also not really that interested in doing anything right now. It's a bad time to do something, especially with a big label. We've got these friends that were on Warner Brothers for a couple of years, and now they're on Reprise, and their record hasn't even come out yet. We're nervous about shit like that happening.

AS: You guys have had a lot of success in getting your songs placed on TV and in video games, so I was just wondering y'all's take on if licensing was a big part of the new musical economy.

MD: I do. I think it's one of the only ways that you can actually make money, besides playing live. The main thing about TV is it's so diverse. The "Sons of Anarchy" thing came up, and that is such a niche program about a motorcycle gang, that our music kind of fit well with it. I think for us, it gives us a lot of exposure, and for them, they get to kind of try out new bands that either production guys or musical directors like, and that's how we got hooked up with a lot of that stuff, the music directors would come out and see our band.

AS: As some advice for other bands, how do you recommend getting those deals and getting the directors out?

MD: Get a manager. We signed with a guy named Steve Hutton [of Uppercut Management] over SXSW. We already had a manager in New York at the time that was doing a lot of day to day stuff, and then once Steve kind of came on board, he had a huge roster at the time and we were kind of his baby band. I mean, he was Kid Rock's old manager. But he's managed a lot bands before, big bands and indie bands, and he's gotten us a lot of things. "Sons of Anarchy" actually contacted us about doing the theme song for the show, so we took a shot at it and didn't get it. I mean, we were doing it, but then all of the sudden they were calling us up and said "You know, Slash wants to do a version. What would you guys say about playing with Slash?" So for that two hour period, at least, we thought we were going to play a track with Slash, but then they were like "Slash doesn't want to do it. You guys aren't big enough." [Laughs] Whatever.

AS: Do y'all have a lot of control or say over what your songs get used in?

MD: We get final say on everything. If a show wants to license it, they come to us and we approve. Now, however they want to do it in the show, we don't get any approval over that. Like "Californication" used one of our songs during some blowjob scene. It works I guess. I haven't seen it yet.

AS: Do you think that in the music industry, more of the emphasis and control is tilting towards managers and figures like that?

MD: What's really weird is that all of the sudden there are these 360 deals that have been going on, and to me it's a total conflict of interests. You want your manager to fight for you. Your manager's supposed to go out there and if they offer you 2 grand, he's supposed to go, "No, 4 grand." That's his role, to just kind of be the dog. These 360 deals totally take that out, because the manager is working for the label and what's the incentive? They're basically just taking cuts out of everything, and a lot of labels are kind of going in that route. So some labels won't even touch us because we already have a management team. I think that having a good manager is as strong as anything else. You don't need a major label to get placement in television shows if your songs are good enough, or to put on a great tour. We've been touring over the past year without label support and selling everything out of our van. I don't know, if your band is good, people will probably pick up on it.

AS: Well, we hope anyway. Tell me about the re-release of No Generation. What's new with it, and why are y'all re-releasing it?

MD: Well, we knew that we were going to go in and do a new record with Matt Hyde in January, and the record had come out in October of last year and we didn't really do much with it in the sense that it was kind of getting shopped around. When we lost the deal with Road Runner, we kind of didn't know what to do with it and waited till SXSW. Then we signed the management contract, and then the UK thing happened, and then the "Guitar Hero" thing happened, and by the time everything started happening, we really hadn't done anything with the record. We thought that that there were some good things about it and some good songs, but nobody had really heard it. So we got a pretty big national PR team behind it to do the re-release. There's new artwork, and we have a new member in the band.

AS: Mike Sellman, right?

MD: Yeah, Mike. He's awesome. Basically we had a pretty bad break up with our old bass player, but it was all for the best. But we wanted to keep the band rolling full steam, and we called up our friend from Kansas City to do this Toadies run on the west coast with us. And then Mike called us up and he was a guy that I had known for a little while. He's from Cleveland and I'm from Cincinnati. He had read that we had lost a bass player and he wanted to come down and join the band, full steam! He had seen one of our songs on some show, and said, "Dude, I want to join your band right now." And he nailed the audition, so we gave him the gig. So he went up to Cleveland, packed up a U-Haul and put his motorcycle in it and he's on his way right now. It wasn't the ideal time to do what we did, what with writing the new record, but sometimes things happen and you just got to roll with it. He sings too, he's a great singer, so he'll be doing a lot of back up vocals and adding a lot more to the band than we thought.

AS: What can you tell me about the new record? When are y'all heading out to LA?

MD: We're heading out there in January, leaving on the 26th and are out there until the first week in March. We were playing the Roxy with the Toadies and we had a great show, the turnout was excellent. So Matt Hyde comes up to me back stage and says "Hey, I love your band. Come in the studio and let's do a track!" So we went to the studio on Sunset Boulevard, and it totally worked out. I mean, that guy's got a Grammy on his console! That's fucking crazy!

AS:: What would y'all say y'all are trying to do with this record?

MD: It's definitely more song oriented. We've been writing a lot quieter, if that makes sense. And then we turn it up loud. So in essence, it feels a little bit more structured and balanced than the other one. I don't know, probably like growing up a little bit, getting out of southside Trophy's hangouts, and move up a little bit. But [Hyde's] going to give a big production type sound. He's done some pretty cool shit, so I imagine it's going to be pretty pumpin'.

AS: About No Generation, to me that album really felt like a kind of call against a generational apathy or malaise.

MD: Yes! That's exactly what it's meant to be and nobody got that. It's always been disheartening to me when I would like pick up a review and somebody would talk about it being like KISS or some dumb Seventies rock thing. I really felt that all of us, in a conscious effort, were trying to speak something a little more loudly than "I want to rock and roll all night, party everyday." We're not like that, really, as guys. We're pretty mellow dudes. We get up and go to work and watch MSNBC. I'm not like sitting there partying at strip clubs or something.

AS: So with the election, do you feel like there was that kind of awakening, especially among younger people?

MD: Yeah, it was great to see a candidate come out and offer something to kind of believe in. It felt nice to kind of wake up and watch a magnificent orator inspire people to do something better. In the end, they all seem kind of the same, but that's just how it kind of works.

AS: Well with that change, is there still that kind of urgency or edge to your songwriting?

MD: Well, I think once you say something once, you don't really need to say it again. I'm kind of into that philosophy. So we said what we wanted to say, and the record was more that we felt left behind. When the Road Runner thing happened and it took two years for that to kind of play out, there were these bands that came up and all of the sudden it was like I was too old to be in the bands that were coming up. I don't know, it felt like there was this kind of generation of music that got left behind, that was like, "Where are the bands that are speaking for me?" At the time, I think a lot of bands were referencing stuff like the Stones, and our influences were like Jane's Addiction and bands we grew up listening too, and I felt that that kind of voice in music got lost a little bit. First the emo thing came about and then the modern rock radio agenda with squashed guitars and really bad vocals.

But I like pretty much everything, and I kind of have to because I book a club, and I've watched a lot of these great bands grow up. Like Trophy's was the first club to have the Black Angels, and White Denim, that was their first gig. So in that sense, I really just like to see bands be happy doing something that they really dig. But there are also some other bands that kind of just ride coat tails a little bit and don't really have a vision of their own.

It List: Tuesday

Lots of inaugural parties, etc. to go to this evening, and really, that's probably what you SHOULD be doing tonight, if for no other reason than to celebrate the end of the most incompetent presidency in American history. Looks like there is a pretty good one at Hailey's tonight if you want to stop by... other than that, not much going on. Check here for stuff.

Not New Music Tuesdays

Wipers - Youth of America (Park Avenue, 1981)

By TC

Ok, so my bff lives in Portland, hometown of the Wipers. She recently went to see a fairly popular touring act and the singer of the group mentioned something about Greg Sage, singer/songwriter/guitarist from the Wipers. She was shocked when the packed house of hipster douchebags glanced at each other shrugging their shoulders, looking as though they had no idea who this person/band was. I found it hard to believe that such a great band could be relatively unknown in their hometown, especially this band, but what the hell do I know?

'Youth of America' is the group's sophomore release, coming out just a year after the fantastic 'Is this Real?' I would be remiss to say that YOA sounds completely different than 'Is this Real?'; it's not like the band changed thier sound, but it seems like the song writing process was handled in a different manner. Six songs in 30 minutes was definitely not the punk rock norm at the time and the production is some of the best i've heard on any record of any genre.

The original lps are pretty hard to find these days and they're quite expensive when you do. Thankfully they have been re-released on greg sage's zeno records. The albums were re-mastered by Sage himself from the original tapes and they sound fucking fantastic!

It List: Monday

There's nothing to do tonight and I don't care, because that means I don't have to write about any of it. Has anyone seen the Biggie movie yet? I asked someone about it this weekend and she said, "Oh, yeah. I just watched Hitchcock's "Notorious." Wrong answer.

Monday Morning Rock

Looks like a slow week for noteworthy shows, but if we missed something, let us know in the comments and we'll add it:




SHOWS OF NOTE

THU: John Legend (Nokia Theater)
THU: KRS One (Minc)
FRI: Akkolyte/Vorvadoss/Fighting Change/Scumrush/Enemies of Inertia/Blood OV (Reno's)
FRI: Matthew and the Arrogrant Sea/RTB2/The Beaten Sea (1207 Annex Ave., Dallas)
SAT: No Babies/Drug Mountain/Fungi Girls/A Smile Full of Ale (1919 Hemphill)
SUN: Some Jerk Off/Orange Coax/Geistheistler (Majestic Dwelling of Doom)

Weekender

Not the greatest weekend in the world for shows, but still a few things worth checking out:

FRIDAY

LATE ADD: Fizzy Dino Pop/Dj Ops/Blue Fabric (408 Ponder, Denton)

Yo Majesty/Natalie Stewart (Hailey's): You might be tempted to lump Yo Majesty in with some of that other hipster hop bullshit (am I the only one who tried real hard but couldn't ever get into that Cool Kids record?), but I've seen the women of Yo Majesty twice and they are pretty much the real deal. By the way, I recently rediscovered Queen Latifa's "Just Another Day." Remember that jam from back in the day? It rules. There is also a picture of a topless memeber of Yo Majesty somewhere on WSJR. Post the URL to win a free prize!

ADD: Teenage Cool Kids/Unicorn Basement/MC.Vl/Division of Power (Exploding House)

Cartright/Circlebirds/RTB2/Heartstring Stranglers (Fra House): DL once called Cartright the worst local band, and I had to laugh at that a lot because even though I actually don't mind Cartright much, I can totally see why someone would say what DL did. Fortunately for society at large, however, most people in the world are not like us, and in fact, Cartright, during their time in Denton, had one of the most loyal local followings of any band I've seen around these parts, especially when they played at their home base, the Yellow House. Yeah, I can see how they are a Cetro-matic and Replacements rip off, but I've seen several of their shows over the years and I've never NOT had fun. That might have been due to the settings more than the band, but isn't context EVERYTHING these days?

Uptown Fridays with Select (Zubar)

Nervous Curtains/The Make Believers/Followed By Static (Doublewide)

SATURDAY

Baptist Generals/Robert Gomez/Doug Burr/Dust Congress (Sons of Hermann Hall): Sons is an appropriate setting for this show for sure, and in my not-so-humble opinion, Dust Congress are the highlights here, although to quote a WSJR associate, Baptist Generals DID get like an 8.5 in Pitchfork six years ago. JK guys!

ADD: Violent Squid/Sarah Ruth/Echo-Toll (Knight House)

Tame...Tame and Quiet/Shiny Around the Edges/Kaboom (Chat Room): If you haven't been to the Chat Room yet, it's a pretty great place to see a show, so check it out. Oh, and you just lost Ft. Worth Vegan Scene points. Bummer.

Hot Flash (Fallout Lounge): The Hot Flash crew tonight will also feature Genova. Should be the usual hipster meat market at Fallout if you're looking for some, uh, meat. But if you're in the mood to dance, Hot Flash is always fun and relatively douche free compared to the rest of the dance clubs in Dallas.

SUNDAY

Three on Sunday with Martin Iles (Dan's Silverleaf): Martin will be bringing you the following:

HOOLI​GANSH​IP:​ ADVEN​TURE
Hooli​gansh​ip (​Peter​ Burr and Chris​tophe​r Doulg​eri)​,​ 2006 (6 min.)

In this anima​ted short​,​ band pract​ice is inter​rupte​d by “Dona​ld Trump​et”,​ who tells​ the music​ians about​ some of his probl​ems.​ These​ probl​ems inclu​de pizza​,​ hot dogs,​ soft serve​ ice cream​,​ and more.​

Hooli​gansh​ip is the North​west’​s answe​r to the visua​l cultu​re of Fort Thund​er,​ Force​field​,​ Paper​ Rad, and Dear Raind​rop.​ Using​ music​,​ anima​tion,​ insta​llati​on,​ and perfo​rmanc​e,​ the duo “reve​l in a hypno​tic abund​ance of digit​al infor​matio​n”.​ LINK

LORD of the UNIVE​RSE
TVTV (Top Value​ Telev​ision​)​,​ 1974 (60 min.)

He was the 16-​year-​old Guru Mahar​aj Ji and, as the Mille​nnium​ appro​ached​,​ he promi​sed to levit​ate the Houst​on Astro​dome.​ It was the early​ Seven​ties and anyth​ing was possi​ble so thous​ands flock​ed to his gathe​ring.​ Follo​w him from his mansi​on in New York to the limou​sines​ in Houst​on,​ liste​n to his follo​wers and watch​ the spect​acle unfol​d just as the gueri​lla docum​entar​y colle​ctive​ TVTV did in this long out of print​ Alfre​d I. DuPon​t award​ winni​ng docum​entar​y.​

“If this guy is God, then this is the God the Unite​d State​s of Ameri​ca deser​ves.​” - Abbie​ Hoffm​an

LINK

NINA SIMON​E LIVE
VARA/​GRANA​DA,​ 1965/​1968 (60 min.)

Featu​ring perfo​rmanc​es in Holla​nd on Decem​ber 25, 1965 and on Engla​nd’s Grana​da TV on Septe​mber 14, 1968.​

Songs​ inclu​de.​.​.​ Brown​ Baby,​ Four Women​,​ The Balla​d of Holli​s Brown​,​ Tomor​row is My Turn/​Image​s,​ Go Limp,​ Missi​ssipp​i Godda​m,​ Go To Hell,​ Ain’t​ Got No/I Got Life,​ Backl​ash Blues​,​ I Put a Spell​ on You, Don’t​ Let Me Be Misun​derst​ood,​ Why? (The King of Love is Dead)​.​ LINK

It List: Thursday

Sorry, we're really trying to start publishing these things earlier, but sometimes life gets in the way:

Damaged Good$/Prince William/Scuba Team Go/Johnny Moog (Granada): This is at least a partially great line up at the Granada tonight, and I hope enough people come out to see it so that the place doesn't look empty. Perhaps I'm underestimating the draw of Dallas' Damaged Goods, and I might very well be considering the appeal they seem to have amongst the hipster hop set, but when I see a line up listed in a local paper and my first guess would be that the show was taking place at Hailey's or the Cavern or something, the Granada just seems like it might not be the right place for it. Again, the line up is solid, and Kudos to the Granada for taking a chance on a nearly all local bill like this, I just hope that it works. That's all. Most of you have heard us talk a lot about Damaged Goods and Prince William by now (which is good since they are the highlights) they are , but we've only said a little about the other two acts. Scuba Team Go is kind of a strange one-- they sort of remind me of some of that white boy EMO hip hop shit, like Why? or something, mixed with like, uh, other EMO shit. I don't know. I don't care. Some of their beats are actually pretty decent, mixing 80's electro pulses with nods to 90's RZA, but I can't imagine seeing this group live and not feeling like I needed to be doing something else with my life. Johnny Moog is a friend and favorite of Prince William's, and his oversexed, slick r&b funk is solid as shit and well worth checking out.

Billingham's Defense System (Fallout Lounge)

80's Night with DJG (Hailey's)

Starhead/Brass Bed/Zest of Yore (Lola's)

Local Q & A: Drug Mountain

Drug Mountain's debut at The Exploding House on Monday night was a startlingly confident performance; a mix of sax blasts, stop-start skronk, busy baritone lines, and very convincing screams tying it all together. In some ways the confidence isn't all that surprising. I want to go ahead and admit that I have met Bryan Mckendry, lead singer of Drug Mountain, on more than one occasion. I've actually met a lot of you many times, but few of you put on the type of show this guy does. I have been a fan of this man's music for the past five years, since before I had actually met him, when I heard his first group, Blank Blank. As far as confrontational front-men go, Mckendry is as unforgettably unpredictable as the best I've ever seen, along with David Yow and Mark E. Smith. Big praise I know, and I also know that Mckendry can be a prickly conversationalist. In fact, he once almost got me arrested after yelling "Fuck you, cop!" at a cop car...with a cop in it...a cop who had happened to have his window rolled down. So I tried to conduct this interview with a tone that I thought he would understand. I mean, he quotes Wolverine. I am not shitting you:


So, there are a lot of saxophones in bands now days. What's the inspiration for that? It seems like it's used more as a weapon or an annoyance. What gives?

I dunno how the sax thing happened. Bobby (Taylor) was supposed to play drums in the band, but he showed up with a sax instead. I got jealous and got one too. I suppose sax is our gimmick.

You've played in other groups like Blank Blank and Ancient Fistory. One is a hardcore/grindcore act and one is a harsh noise project. Drug Mountain is obviously not indie pop. What draws you to these sounds, and what are the origins of your interest in these various types of loud or extreme music?

In high school my favorite bands were Painkiller and Man Is The Bastard. I can get down to some Jimmie Rodgers, but something about ugly music always resonated with me. To be honest I don't have any real talent, otherwise I'd be playing western swing instead of pretending I'm John Zorn.

What separates Drug Mountain's music from the other acts I listed?

Three years and two saxophones.

The band name itself is instantly memorable. How did you come up with it?

A couple years ago I smoked weed one time and I rode a wave of creativity for almost two days. I made a big binder of MacGyver art in ms paint. one image showed MacGyver climbing a mountain with DRUG MOUNTAIN scrawled across the bottom. I thought the phrase was funny ever since. The [Mount] Righteous dudes think the name is a rip on them, but that's just not the case.

There has been a huge resurgence of bands discovering the joys of recording on boom-boxes and barely functioning karaoke machines. The recordings on your page aren't exactly of the same kind of poor fidelity that these machines result in, but there is some definite clipping and distortion. Is it important to you to have the recording process match the nastiness of the music? What are your recording plans at this point? How do you plan on releasing your music, if at all?

We recorded that stuff on a crappy four track with one mic just so we dont forget the songs. Sorry I don't have Cubase. We're going to Electrical Audio in April to record. If all goes according to plan we will put it out on Real Vinyl, it's a label we threw together with Ben Rogers from The Chat Room and Metrognome [Collective]. There should be some other cool acts on that as well.

One of your tracks is entitled "Milk Is Gay." That's pretty offensive. I'm assuming you don't mean "Milk Is Happy." Maybe you're referring to Harvey Milk? Look, I know there is a healthy vegan community in Fort Worth, yet I will stop short of generalizing the scene there. Would you say these lyrics are pro-vegan? Are any of your lyrics? Would you like to maybe share a verse of this track with us?

One of our first songs was vegan. It was called "You're Eating It." We wrote that when we were trying to be a doom metal band. Turns out we don't know shit about doom metal. "milk is gay" isn't all that vegan, I just hate milk. I hate soy milk too Fuck all the milks. I never ate cereal as a kid just to avoid milk. My mom thinks milk is more important than water. Why would you want to consume milk beyond infancy? Especially milk for some critter? Fuck that. Milk is gayer than a catholic priest.

Your live show is generally pretty confrontational and I've seen you push audience members, throw things at your own band, and try to order food mid-song and just leave the rest of your group hanging. Care to enlighten the rest of us as to why you'd behave so rudely to your staunchest supporters and allies? Is it safe to say there's a bit of suburban rage involved there? Is it all an act or are you an angry person in your daily life as well?

Dude, you know I'm moody as all hell. I've got some crummy qualities but I make OK use of 'em on-stage, to quote Wolverine of the X-Men, "I'm the best there is at what I do, but what I do isn't very nice." I'm pretty sure getting all pissy on stage helped me be a nicer guy the rest of the time. I'm not the prick I used to be.

I know you have a lot of roots in the Grapevine/Colleyville area and so do the members of Mount Righteous. I see you're playing a show together soon with Fishboy, who I believe is also from the same area. Do you consider these acts to be your peers pushing towards a similar goal, or is it more of a friendly rivalry?

Yeah, we went to school together. I'm still pals with some of the Righteous crowd but thats a whole different mountain. When Joey [Kendall] asked me to play at Rubber Gloves, I was pretty sure he had the wrong number. I like diverse shows, it ought to be fun.

What would you do if a young fan walked up to you after a show and asked, "You got any merch?"

YEAH, RIGHT.

It List: Wednesday

In order for this list to make any difference at all, I must go ahead and post it without getting to say much. Sorry about that. I can say that this is a handful of decent shows for a Wednesday. The 1919 show was very last minute and thrown together in the past few days from what I can tell. Check back with us tonight for more exciting conspiracy theories and the usual parade of cowardly sucker punches. I mean, extremely insightful commentary from all of our best friends. Love ya!

-DL

Wanz Dover/Giggle Party (The Lounge)

Deleted Scenes/Deep Snapper/Darktown Strutters/Cocky Americans (Rubber Gloves)

Hatred Surge/Mammoth Grinder/Dark Forces/Baconator (1919 Hemphill)

Not New Music Tuesdays

 By TC

Heldon - Interface (1978, Cobra)

As far as I can tell, the French prog scene of the 1970s was composed of Magma, Heldon, and people that played with Magma, Heldon, or both. Richard Pinhas' (and I thought my pseudonym was awesome!) Heldon is by far the more accessible of these two groups and I love damn near everything he ever recorded, but Magma's excellence should not be overlooked by the more adventurous.

'Interface' was Heldon's sixth record, marking somewhat of a turning point in their sound. The King Crimson influence was still heavy on Pinhas' brain, but he started to incorporate a more rhythm heavy, drums/big moog bass sound to accompanyh his Robert Fripp-like guitar work. This may not be the most user-friendly release in the Heldon/Pinhas catalog, but it is certainly one of the most rewarding and a great starting point for the uninitiated.

It List: Tuesday

Main thing to mention is that Select will be joining Disqo Disco at Fallout Lounge. So, Friday night caliber talent on a Tuesday.

The Exploding House was great last night. More on that soon.

It List: Monday

The Pharmacy/Raggedy Anns/Drug Mountain/Trifle Tower (Exploding House, Ft. Worth): Big show tonight. Fort Worth, you're lucky to have something this good to do on a Monday night. We're pretty pumped about seeing the official debut of Ft. Worth's Drug Mountain this evening, as they sound like they might end up being one of the harshest and most interesting local groups you'll encounter this year. Featuring members of Orange Coax and Nouns Group, among others, Drug Mountain's sax dominated rhythmic attacks remind me of bits and pieces of everything from Savage Republic to Maximum Joy to DNA, with the added distinction of sounding simultaneously precise and highly chaotic. Shit's stressful, and it's good. Highly recommended. Headliners The Pharmacy are a solid pop group that sound like so many different things all at once that it's almost stupid to attempt to describe them in terms of influences. Maybe that's what "indie rock" is now. I don't know. But I like it, so I know that couldn't be right. Anyway, The Pharmacy sounds like one of those bands who could play Exploding House in January and pack a "legit" venue three times its size in March.

The Donkeys/Orange Peel Sunshine/League of Fucking Decency (The Lounge): League of Fucking Decency have this one song on their Myspace page called "Old Timers" that's basically a really shitty cover of "Head Like a Whole" by Nine Inch Nails, and it's annoying enough to be kind of funny. Otherwise, I don't know why I'm listening to this group. San Diego's Donkeys are sort of like a country doo wop group for hipsters (we're talking like Gram Parsons and Exile on Mainstreet stuff here), but they are actually pretty good too. Go figure.

Cool Out (the Cavern)

Monday Morning Rock

MONDAY MORNING ROCK

MON: The Donkeys/Orange Peel Sunshine/The League of Fucking Decency (the Lounge)
WED: Deleted Scenes/Deep Snapper/Darktown Strutters/Cocky Americans (Rubber Gloves)
THU: Damaged Good$/Prince William/Scuba Team Go/Johnny Moog (Granada)
FRI: Yo Majesty/Natalie Stewart (Hailey's)
SAT: Baptist Generals/Doug Burr/Dust Congress/Robert Gomez (Sons of Hermann Hall)

Weekender

SR helped put this thing together and DL basically wrote it. Sorry it's a little short, and a little late.





FRIDAY

Uptown Fridays with Select (Zubar): I have always been impressed with Select's live sets, and his birthday party last Saturday was no exception. Most people can't even stay conscious during their own birthday party, and he was able to put on a brilliant set. This is easily the best thing going on in Dallas tonight.

Jubilee/Zwounds/Sarah and the Octopuss (1919 Hemphill)

Johnny Lloyd Rollins/Bridges and Blinking Lights/RTB2 (Doublewide): See above.


SATURDAY

High Life/Dios Mio/Negaduck (Rubber Gloves): NOTE: This extremely early show starts at 4 PM.

Byron House/Small Pox/Haves & Thirds/Slackbeat/Wounded Infidel (House of Tinnitus): You may not realize it from the usual overdose of hyperbolic fuck-speak that always accompanies news of a HOT show, but this will apparently be tamer, or at least less harsh, than one of their usual events. There's supposed to be a huge live collaboration featuring members of SDS, Lychgate, and Mistress, which leads me to doubt the potential lack of harshness at this show.

Tunneldigger/Language of Light/Echo-Toll (Knight House): I can't believe I live near a place where you have the option of choosing between a show like this and the Tinnitus show above. Makes Denton seem a lot farther than it really is.

Vega/Genova/Disqo Disco/Billingham's Defense System (The Cavern): This might get The Cavern a little crowded, and though I'm glad Vega has stayed in town, I'm a little confused as to which of these shows are a live set with vocals, and which are straight-DJ.

Blixaboy/Xenos/Farah/Tommy L33JON3Z (Fallout Lounge): Farah at Fallout Lounge is a no-brainer. The smaller the venue, the less likely you are to be comfortable, the more you'll enjoy this show. To quote a classic children's book character, "I'm not locked up in here with you. You're locked up in here with me."

The Angelus/History at Our Disposal/Dust Congress/Timeline Post (Rubber Gloves):

Fight to Die/Unit 21/DCOI/Raging Boner (1919 Hemphill)

Two Thousand Hate: The Year That Was (By We Shot JR and Pals, Peers, Associates, Respected Rivals, Community Leaders, Youth Pastors, and Aldermen)

So I know this is what you would consider "late" as far as year-end summaries are concerned, but do you know which other completely respectable music-writing entity NEVER puts a year-end list together until after the new year? The Wire. It's most likely because they're waiting on that last New Zealand hand-made cassette release to be mailed to them in the waning days of any year, and I can certainly respect that more than the salivating hype-monster that starts listing stuff in late August.


Wanz Dover/Blixaboy

Best albums of 2008:
1.Portishead - Third
2.Bruno Pronsato - Why Can't We Be Like Us?
3.Anja Schneider - Beyond The Valley
4.Millie & Andrea - Black Hammer/Gunshot
5.Fall - Imperial Wax Solvent
6.Andy Stott - Bad Landing
7.Murcof - The Versailles Sessions
8. Shackleton & Appleblim - Soundboy's Gravestone Gets Desecrated By Vandals9. Scuba - A Mutual Antipathy
10.Arthur Russell - Love Is Overtaking Me
11.Benga - Diary of an Afro Warrior
12. Ricardo Villalobos - Vasco
13.Hercules & Love Affair - s/t
14.Ricardo Villalobos - Vasco
15.Matmos - Supreme Ballon
16.Ellen Allien - Sool
17. 2562 - Aerial
18. Anthony Braxton,Milford Graves, William Parker - Beyond Quantum
19. Shed - Shedding the Past
20. Quiet Village - Silent Village


Best Shows of 2008:

1.Glen Branca 100 guitar ensemble/St.Louis Symphony Orchestra -The St.louis Symphony played Frank Zappa's G-spot tornado, Edgar Varese's Arcana and debuted Branca's Symphony 14. The 100 guitar ensemble was a strange ensemble featuring players from a wide variety of backgrounds. 15 year old kids, guitar enthusiasts that did not know who Branca even was, Jazz fusion legend Joh Patitucci and of course 4 lucky individuals from Dallas all coming together to play on the most intense and cutting edge guitar music of the 21st century. Probably the best show I have seen ever.

2.Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - You can't fuck with a top notch soul band and they are the best soul band on the planet right now. I took my parents for there anniversary present. My pop said he had not seen anything like that since he was a young lad going to see shows on the chitlin circuit. I have never seen them smile that big.

3.Melodica 2008 - It was a bad ass array of all of my favorite local bands and a few acts from other places. Despite the fallout afterwards, I'm glad it happened.

4.Meat Beat Manifesto @ The Granada - bad ass drummer. All of the movie samples in the set actually came the video they were projecting.Dub, techno, krautrock like explorations and innovative video work. A decent turnout, but a lot of people missed out on this one.

5. Juan Maclean @ The Loft - I turned 35 at this show. I danced my ass off at the front the stage for the entire show. The live version of Happy House was like Can playing Chicago House. I normally don't get into much house music, but on this night they made me a believer. The drummer was bad ass and they played the fuck out of their synths and sequencers. Unfortunately there were only 20 to 30 people at the show guaranteeing that they will probably never come back.

6.Dub Assembly - Mad props go out to Dub assembly for bringing so many top notch producers like Hatcha, Scuba, Martyn and Caspa(I actually mised Caspa). I could list 6 different dub events for best shows so I will just bundle them up into one. They consistently showcase the most cutting edge dance music around town.

7.Corima @ Red Blood Club -3 young guys who play magma influenced zeuhl music. They renewed my faith in live music. They played a 15 minute set and it was one of the most magical moments I experienced from a live band all year.

8.Venetian Snares/Otto von Shirach/Cyrus Rego @ Elysium


trends I hate:

*Cliques and Politics - I hate to be an old guy, but it did not used to be as bad as it is now. People need to wake up and unite before it is too late.

*People not going to live shows. Not just my shows, but any shows. I am often one of 10 people at a good show. Local or roadshows.

*People relying on blogs to tell them what is cool instead getting out their and finding and buying music for themselves. Blogs are a good source for new music, but it should not be the defining source. (This is not directed at weshotjr)

CJ Davis (Pancakes For Mattie Records)

My memory fades...

Records:
1. Samamidon - All is Well
2. Stars Like Fleas - The Ken Burns Effect
3. Emeralds - Solar Bridge
4. Koen Holtkamp - Field Rituals
5. Haunted Graffiti - Live in Pacific Palisades
6. Pattern is Movement - All Together
7. Quinn Walker - Laughter's an Asshole/Lion Land
8. Tape - Luminarium
9. Juana Molina - Un Dia
10. School of Language - Sea from Shore


Shows:
Samamidon/Mom/Voices & Organs at Glasslands in Brooklyn.
Steve Reich showcase (he ran lights) at St. David's Church...SXSW.
Akron/Family at Emo's...SXSW.
Mika Miko and No Age in a parking garage at SXSW.

Memories good and one bad:
Phosphorescent shutting down a showcase in Austin after jumping into the pool.

'Little Brite' being released in Japan.

Me- "Excuse me, Sir. Sir. Mr. Reich. Sigh. Mr. Reich! Oh, Hi. Could we take just a minute of your time for a photo?"
S.Reich- After looking at wife for approval..."OK, I suppose. Let's just make it snappy."

Finding a copy of The Feelies 'The Good Earth' LP for 25 cents at a garage sale in Oak Cliff.

Leaving Good Records for the last time.

Congrats to everyone who released records this year, especially MATAS and Fight Bite (though that 7" was my idea. Wink.)
-C.J.D.

Hunter Hauk (Quick/DMN)

ON THE MENU IN 2008

Local and national flavors included.

WINE and BEER (Loosens you up)

— Black Tie Dynasty, Down Like Anyone
— Toadies, No Deliverance
— Collin Herring, Past Life Crashing
— Ne-Yo, Year of the Gentleman
— Madonna, “4 Minutes”
— Lil’ Wayne, The Carter III
— MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
— Hercules and Love Affair, “Blind”

APPETIZERS (Small, savory bites)

— Mount Righteous, When the Music Starts
— Sorta, Sorta
— The O’s, The O’s
— Faux Fox, All That Remains
— Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
— James Morrison, Songs for You, Truths for Me
— Santogold, Santogold

SOUPS (A concoction made from many ingredients)

— Hot Chip, Made in the Dark
— Of Montreal, Skeletal Lamping
— Girl Talk, Feed the Animals
— My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges
— PPT, Denglish
— Astronautalis, Pomegranate
— Matthew and the Arrogant Sea, Family Family Family Meets the Magic Christian

SALADS (Raw, nutritious)

— Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, Cardinology
— Nada Surf, Lucky
— The Black Keys, Attack & Release
— Metallica, Death Magnetic
— Record Hop, Record Hop
— Stumptone, Gravity Suddenly Released
— Pinebox Serenade, Let the River Take Them Home

MAIN COURSE (Tastes good, sustains)

— The New Year, The New Year
— Dove Hunter, The Southern Unknown
— Erykah Badu, New Amerykah Pt. One: 4th World War
— Centro-matic/South San Gabriel, Dual Hawks
— Death Cab for Cutie, Narrow Stairs
— Sia, Some People Have Real Problems
— TV on the Radio, Dear Science
— Q-Tip, The Renaissance

DESSERT (Sweet, addictive, rots your teeth)

— Roy G and the Biv, self-titled EP
— Ghosthustler, “Only Me to Trust”
— B-Hamp, “Do the Ricky Bobby”
— Danity Kane, “Damaged”
— Beyoncé, I Am … Sasha Fierce
— Chris Brown, “Forever”
— Lady Gaga, The Fame
— Britney Spears, “Womanizer”
— Miley Cyrus, “Fly on the Wall”

AFTER-DINNER SMOKE (Calms you down)

— Sarah Jaffe, Even Born Again
— Fight Bite, Emerald Eyes
— Elkhart, The Moon
— Daniel Folmer, A Leaf
— Menkena, “Rocketships”
— Scarlett Johansson, Anywhere I Lay My Head
— Adele, 19
— Nine Inch Nails, Ghosts I-IV

Tommy Boy

I must admit, I was hard-pressed to come up with my list for 2008. Seems there's an elasticity to my record appreciation. After years of scouring for the best, new release of each year, I've found I tend to go back in time more and more. Most of the tracks I've collected this year came out 20-30 years ago.

That said, my selection contains current 2008 releases which focus on the nostalgic, retrofuturistic aesthetic with a heavy leaning towards disco production. I hope people are able to find a few more gems in this list to add to their '08 iPod.

1. Medio Mutante - Inestable [Cititrax]
Blending Hip-hop, Jazz, Latin Freestyle and New Wave records from Europe, America and Japan, Medio Mutante released an album that sounds like none other this year. A mutated blend of raw and propulsive energy emanates from their retro analogue gear. They've created a classic "Third Wave" recording that will fit nicely into anyones cold/new/no wave collection. Like Flexipop for the 21st Century. Not to mention the fact that this release came from our neighbors in Austin, TX. Crazy!

2. Quiet Village - Silent Movie [Studio !K7]
Silent Movie is the soundtrack to an imaginary movie that is yet to be filmed. The stand-out track, "Pillow Talk", is a slow and sensual scorcher utilizing samples from Alan Parson's Project "Voyager". From the Spaghetti Western mood of "Circus of Horror" to the almost eerie 70's soft porn "Broken Promises" this is a record that floats like water from start to finish. It's the best late night, chillout record your money can buy this year.

3. The Time And Space Machine [5D Recordings]
1/2 of the brilliant outfit "Beyond The Wizards Sleeve" (another honorable mention for best of 2008), have crafted an album of reworked obscure 60's and 70's psych pop tracks that are a million miles away from their usual remixing duties. Like some long lost "Nuggets" compilation, the album meanders between Psych Pop, Freakbeat, and Kraut effortlessly. The perfect soundtrack to smoke dank and watch "Holy Mountain" to. Best psychedelic record to come out in 2008.

4. El Bum - Bumrocks [Bumrocks]
Compilation LP from my favorite blog of 2008(bumrocks.com). Enlisting the "Indiana Jones'" of the disco crate digging community, Tako and the Beat Broker, the compilation serves up some of the rarest holy relics of Discodom. Bumrocks has released the best "must have" compilation for any Baleric/Cosmic Disco enthusiast. Ultra limited and completely collectible, this record is my personal favorite of the year.

5. Cosmic Balearic Beats Vol. 1 [Eskimo Recordings]
The Eskimo label presents the first volume in a series dedicated to Cosmic Balearic beats featuring tracks from up'n'coming nu-disco producers like Coyoyte, and Lovelock(1/2 of Zombi). This trans-global intergalactic funk odyssey blends '70s disco, early '80s electro, and horror-disco making for a very rewarding journey. Roll down the windows, turn the stereo up and let the cosmic Balearic beats flood in.

6. Black Devil Disco Club - Eight Oh Eight [Lo Recordings]
The third and supposedly final part of a trilogy of releases in the last four years, Black Devil Disco Club has proved yet again that disco can be just as dark and brooding as any genre. Black Devil Disco Club is a mysterious fella. His first album Disco Club, supposedly produced in the seventies, was anointed an underground disco classic though no one seemed to know much about it until its reissue in 2004. Ignoring the mystery that remains around the origination of this group/sound, the album speaks for itself. Mystical, Tribal, Dark, Dissonant, Horrific, billed as "Salvador Dali meets Cerrone" and sounding like some hybrid of Fela Kuti and Claudio Simmonetti, BDDC maintains their enigmatic creative originality with this release. There just aren't enough analogies or descriptive words which can qualify the brilliance of this series.

7. Elaste Volume 2 - Space Disco [Compost Records]
Eskimo has yet another stellar release. This label has really set the bar for quality year after year. The compilation selected by Tom Wieland is simultaneously sultry and extra-terrestrial. Each track comes off sounding like some divine offspring of a Cerrone-Moroder marriage. This compilation remains a crucial cosmic/space disco to keep even the most insatiable crate digger satisfied.

8. Arthur Russell - Love Is Overtaking Me [Rough Trade]
I'm not going to spend much time describing this since it's on alot of top 10s already. Needless to say, genius. Heaven sent. Ahead of it's time... all that. Not just a best of 2008, but in the "all time" category. A must have for any audiophile.

9. Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue Reissue [Legacy]
I was one of those stubborn, angry, anti-Beach Boy, Brian/Dennis Wilson haters a few years back when bands like Vietnam, Spiritualized, and Polyphonic Spree were getting a lot of attention. For some reason, their music didn't resonate with me. Fast forward a few years, allow life to beat you down a bit and see peers drop off one by one, and then reintroduce Dennis Wilson's brilliant opus "Pacific Ocean Blues" and it all makes sense. Years of hard living and lack of exposure due to the huge shadow his more successful brother Brian, left this emotionally raw, grandiose psych-soul masterpiece in a black hole of anonymity. Thank god someone saw fit to remaster and release this gem along with some amazing songs from Dennis's unfinished "Bambu" recordings. A true classic.

10. Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna [Warp]
Again, this is in most "heads" top tens for 2008 for all the same reasons. Not to belabor the point, GGD is most of the most intriguing, brilliant groups of this or any era. It's great to have another quality release from this group.


Sober (The Party/Central Booking)

1. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
2. A.B.N. - Assholes By Nature
3. Santogold - Santogold
4. Hercules And Love Affair - Hercules And Love Affair
5. Q-Tip - Renaissance
6. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
7. Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
8. Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It
9. Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
10. Lykke Li - Youth Novels

Anthony Mariani (Fort Worth Weekly)

Kenny Garrett ‘Sketches of MD: Live At The Iridium’

Boredoms -‘Super Roots 9’

Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou ‘Volume 1: The Vodoun Effect 1973-1975’

Foals- ‘Antidotes’

Coconot -‘Cosa Astral’

Calhoun -‘Falter.Waver.Cultivate’

Collin Herring -‘Past Life Crashing’

ES -‘Sateenkaarisuudelma’

Taylor Eigsti - ‘Let It Come To You’

Jose Gonzalez -‘Live at Park Avenue’

Ulaan Khol -‘I’

Fujiya & Miyagi -‘Lightbulbs’


Zac Crain (Frontburner)

Here are Top 10 new records (in no certain order, except WAVVES, because that would be No. 1 in every iteration of my list)

WAVVES, s/t
The New Year, s/t
Jay Reatard, Matador Singles '08/Singles 06-07
Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III
No Age, Nouns
Deerhoof, Offend Maggie
Cool Kids, The Bake Sale
Fight Bite, Emerald Eyes
TV on the Radio, Dear Science
Jay-Z, unreleased tracks from The Blueprint III

Rick V. (1919 Hemphill)


Top 4 shows that nobody came to at 1919.

4. Best Fwends Tour Kick Off Show: It was advertised the wrong day in the weekly papers. All the other bands that were supposed to play (Akkolyte and Orange Cokes) canceled. Best Fwends played to five people and two giant blow up gargoyles.

3. Ippur, Bolth and a band that canceled: Somebody brought a fog machine and the whole upstairs looked like a Slaughter music video. The three people and the guys in Ippur chanted "Dads" over and over again while Bolth was playing. Inbetween every song somebody would say something about their dad. After the Bolth set, the singer called his dentist dad up and asked about my wisdom tooth pain. His dad wasn't too pleased that people were applauding him on our side of the line.

2. Mose Giganticus, Death to the Doomriders, The Emotron and others: You missed Death to the Doomriders least sloppiest set, a one man freakshow that lifted weights with his eyes and lit a firecracker in a bucket where his testicles were also residing and Mose Giganticus playing Temple of the Dog's "Hunger Strike". You also missed the Emotron which was probably the most insane visual and most terrible musical act in the world.

1. Tattered Flag, TBA: Not even the bands showed up. I closed up 1919 at 7:pm and drove to Austin to see Underground Railroad to Candyland and Japanther. Best 1919 show ever.

Payton Green (Wax Museums)

BEST TOURING BANDS I SAW IN 2008

- SEX/VID@ 715 Panhandle - First time in a long time that I saw a band that was actually really good AND so loud it hurt

- HUMAN EYE @ 715 Panhandle - Same as Sex/Vid but EVEN LOUDER + weirdest punk I saw in '08

- THE OH SEES @ the Lounge - I've always liked this band but I never really GOT IT till this show, I was completely blown away.

- THOMAS FUNCTION @ 715 Panhandle - One of my favorite bands of the year overall, it was triumphant to see them actually pull off playing in the same room where they failed miserably to last year

- MARKED MEN'S LAST SHOW @ Rubber Gloves - Hopefully not actually the last forever, but they played almost every song and it still felt like it flew by

- MY 21ST BIRTHDAY @ 715 Panhandle - Marked Men and Total Abuse totally ripped it up and made the best birthday of my life

- PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT/FABULOUS DIAMONDS @ the Chatroom - First and only time I've been there, had an incredible time.

- TERRIBLE TWOS @ 818 Hickory - This band sounds so much like they're from the future that this might should go on best of 2009

- TIMES NEW VIKING/PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT @ Strawberry Fields - both bands pretty much at the top of their game, one of my favorite TNV sets ever, Psych Horseshit was a little better in Ft. Worth I think but they were still great.

- COLA FREAKS/BLACK TIME @ Muscle Beach - So much fun, successful doubly international show, unfortunately the beginning of neighbor problems at MB.

- The Intelligence @ Club Dada - It's a shame that no one was there, blew me away.

- Vivian Girls @ Exploding House - Sounded impressively like the records, funny how much huger this show would be now, only a little more than 6 months later.

- The Dutchess and the Duke @ the Loft - Touched my heart! So good in contrast to Fleet Foxes, who introduced me to a whole new level of boring. Also the fact that Jesse from D&D repeatedly walked across the stage during the FF set to grab beers was a highlight of my year in and of itself.

Dave (Muscle Beach)

Because I am lame I don't think I listened to even close to ten albums that came out in 2008. I really enjoyed Beaks to the Moon by The Shivers, though. Pretty sure that came out in '08. Oh, and that Mount Eerie and Julie Doiron record. I played that one a lot, too.

top five shows
1. Dynasty
2. Falcon Crest
3. How I Met Your Mother
4. Silver Spoons
5. Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios. com

Music I hated in 2008 and why

Teenage Cool Kids: Jerks
Wax Museums: Pill poppers
Orange Coax: Motherfuckers
Trifle Tower: Also motherfuckers
Mom: Misogynists

And finally my number one moment for 2008 was when I was named president of the marzipan club. I can promise big things in 2009*

*As long as they have something to do with marzipan.

Fungi Girls

Our top 15 albums of the year in alphabetical order:

Abe Vigoda - Skeleton
A very, very fun album that's a huge step up from their older stuff.

Crystal Stilts - Alight Of Night
Beautiful pop songs with Joy Division-esque vocals that's nice for laying in your bed on a rainy day.

Deerhoof - Offend Maggie
Pretty straightforward album that’s not nearly as experimental as their older albums. Somehow it turned out great, though.

Deerhunter - Microcastles
Even more gorgeous pop songs that's nice for laying in your bed on a rainy day, like the aforementioned Crystal Stilts.

Ducktails - Point Pleasant Beach [7”]
Tropical psychedelic pop tunes from a guy from New Jersey that’ll keep you warm on these current, cool winter days.

Fantastic Magic - Sea Of Gold [7”]
Summery psychedelic folk that also has the guy from Wavves in the band. It’s a shame they split up after this 7”.

James Ferraro - Clear
Very interesting and almost indescribable album (just like the rest of his stuff). Kind of like alien arcade game music or something.

Pocahaunted - Peyote Road
A haunting psychedelic drone release.

Religious Knives - The Door
Lovely, chilled-out psychedelic rock that, we think, has a very desert-y feel to it. Don’t ask us how, though, because we’re not entirely sure.

Sun Araw - Boat Trip
Creepy yet beautiful tropical-psych-drone tunes. The song “Canopy” is practically flawless.

Thee Oh Sees - The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In
Probably Thee Oh Sees’ greatest stuff yet. Fun garage rock that is really fucking kickass live.

Times New Viking - Rip It Off
Lo-lo-lo-fi noise pop tunes from Columbus’ finest.

U.S. Girls - Introducing...U.S. Girls
A noisy, avant-garde pop masterpiece.

Wavves - Wavves
A beach-y punk-tinged noise pop album that has been the latest phenomenon amongst blogs and the independent music scene in general.

Women - Women
Wikipedia says their sound is like "sunny Beach Boys pop was dragged into a dark alley and gleefully mutilated". We think that’s an appropriate description.

We were going to only do a top 10, but there were too many we liked.

Defensive Listening (We Shot JR)

This was a rather uninteresting year for actual record releases, though shows were a different story. I felt like I listened to more publicist-speak than music. Judging by a lot of lists (present company excluded), it looks like we all did. But, here's mine in no particular order, because I'm sick of looking at music like the BCS:

Harry Pussy, You'll Never Play This Town Again
Medio Mutante, Inestable
Kool Keith, Dr. Dooom 2
Tommy Boy, Automatic Loverboy Mix
The New Year, s/t
Flipper, Gone Fishin' Reissue
Wax Museums, s/t
The New Bloods, The Secret Life
Girlfren, Dem08 cassette
Nisennenmondai, Tori/Noji
Fight Bite, Emerald Eyes
AIDS Wolf, Cities Of Glass
The Organ, Thieves

That Organ EP is really unbelievable, especially since it's from a band that has been broken up for quite some time, and it's nothing more than their last demo. They somehow manage to put their most diverse group of songs on a little EP, and Katie Sketch goes a long way toward proving she really is the female Morrissey. I would even recommend this record to total morons, and friends of mine that have no taste.

And one more thing: writing these down made 2008 seem better than it actually was. Don't be fooled.


Sally Glass (We Shot JR/Fancy Fist)

I will say that my We Shot JR "year in review" could be summarized by: road trips, sleeping on floors, Thurston Moore, bathing in clothes, drunken shows, sober shows, Ipod inspections, pancake houses, rickshaws, La Vista, pot lucks, heart-to-hearts, cynicism, blind optimism, good hugs, uncertainties, new friendships, Nouns Groups, nervousness, support, family dinners, Denton, Dallas, Cool Out, bad photos, good photos, lots of driving, couches, the fucking Loft, devastating encounters with waiters in Lewisville, anger, frustrations, dickhead commenters, sensitive photographers, appreciation, lots of work, Flickr, NO money, really incredible music, bridges, Fallout Lounge, Meridian Room, The Libertine, The Fucking Cavern (upstairs and down), Pete Freedman, Fucking Zubar, hipsters, block parties, and a family that I never would've had if you didn't take a chance on me. Love you guys.

Forever yours,

Sally



Photo By Corrine Day.