It List: Tuesday

I just got done watching the Scott Walker documentary 30th Century Man and found it quite fascinating despite the fact that I honestly haven't dug too deeply into the guy's catalogue thus far in my life. I think I might be tempted to explore it quite a bit more, however, after learning more about Walker's ideas and approach to recording, even though I can't say that I've always been particularly moved by every piece of music that I've ever heard from him.  Anyway, shows tonight:

Patrick Wolf/Living Things/Jaguar Love/Plastiscines (Granada):  Patrick Wolf is one of those musicians who is initially intriguing to me because of the level of anger he seems to inspire in the kind of people that are full of "opinions" about music but are usually totally wrong about everything.  This isn't to say that the guy isn't pretentious, of course, or that everything he does is great by any stretch, but his musical ambition, and particularly his attempts at reaching grandiose heights at almost every moment throughout his recordings, are certainly interesting in their own way, and much of his material often works very well despite the inherent difficulty, at least on paper, with combining elements of classical western music and literature with electro-pop and folk.  And because Wolf always seems to reach so high with everything that he does, even his failures are somewhat appealing in that wonderful train wreck sort of way, as his over the top persona becomes campy and cartoonish, providing entertainment, whether purposefully or not, even in his worst moments.  I saw someone in one of the comments sections comparing him unfavorably to David Bowie, but come on-- since when is "not as good as David Bowie" an adequate reason to dislike a musician?  If big egos, high drama and an almost fascist admiration for classics are a turn off for you, then by all means skip out on this show.  But within the confines of our current "indie" "subculture" that seems to value comfort over innovation and pastiche over purpose, its at least a little bit refreshing to encounter a musician as over the top as Wolf, whether he succeeds in his efforts or not.  If Grizzly Bear can get away with posting Youtube videos about how to make veggie omelettes or whatever the fuck they do, then surely we can avoid getting angry with Patrick Wolf for cross dressing and singing about mythology with just a touch of mystery, can't we?  

Disqo Disco (Fallout Lounge)

90's Night with Yeahdef (Hailey's)

It List: Monday

Before we get started, you should check out this developing story about a disturbing incident that occurred in Fort Worth over the weekend. Unbelievable.

Cool Out (The Cavern): We've been told that tonight will be an MJ tribute, with lesser heard material from the performer's early days and not the "usual three songs everyone's been hearing all weekend." Should be a good time.

Paul Slavens (Dan's Silverleaf)

The Extraordinaires/Tiger Shark Death Brigade/Kijoto/Touching Tongues (Rubber Gloves): Why didn't anyone tell me that Street Hassle changed their name? Possibly inspired by their own Myspace URL, they're now called Touching Tongues, though it sounds like they are no different sonically. Definitely some questionable names on the bill tonight period, especially in the case of Tiger Shark Death Brigade. The group has some pretty standard distorted punk riffs, but it's eventually largely improved upon by a very spirited vocal performance. Kijoto plays the kind of Deep Elm Records, super-serious, start/stop emo-rock you hear less and less of as the decade fades out. If you had told me back in 2000 that it was going to end like this, I would have never believed you.

Free Patrick Wolf Tickets

Our friends at The Granada have very generously given us 5 pairs of tickets for tomorrow night's Patrick Wolf show. The first five people to email weshotjrtix@yahoo.com
with their full name in the body and "Patrick Wolf" as the subject get them. Thanks.

Monday Morning Rock

SHOWS OF NOTE THIS WEEK

TUE: Patrick Wolf/Living Things/Plastiscines/Jaguar Love (Granada)
THU: Bone Awl/Ashdautas/Volhan/Lychgate/Ashes (House of Tinnitus)
THU: Peter Hook DJ Set (Lizard Lounge)
FRI: Teenage Cool Kids/Angry Businessmen/Fungi Girls/Video (Rubber Gloves)
SAT: Yeahdef, WMO, WSKR and ETC ETC Presents INDENTONDANCE with DJS Nature/Tommy Boy/Yeah Def/Fur/Females/BANDS: Damaged Goods/Darktown Strutters/Florene/Fizzy Dino Pop/Orange Coax/Sore Losers/Cartright/Kashioboy (Hailey's)
SUN: Beyonce (American Airlines Center)

Weekender

There has been so much controversy this week about whether or not we should care about the deaths of famous artists. So, today we're going down the list, to see who would care if any and all of the artists playing this weekend died. SR descriptions are in italics, since he wasn't in on this. Ready?-

FRIDAY

Big Fiction/Legsweeper/Gun Gun/MuhammadALi (Bike House) The grieving in this case would be people into straight-ahead, big-riffing, "rock music." They would be mostly people from Texas, since these bands are all from around the state. Fans of slightly humorous all-female duos would be mourning as well. If the Bike House died, people who are into the rare but increasing occurrence of Dallas DIY that is more than just an after-hours twee or electro-acoustic show would definitely be bummed.

Cryptacize/Fishboy/Shiny Around the Edges (Rubber Gloves): The affected in this case would include people into deconstructed Steely Dan covers and bands that are surprisingly more interesting than some of the current Grizzly Collective sound-alike glut that is sweeping the Late Night Show circuit, in the case of Cryptacize. They sound extremely conventional one second, and then will sloppily throw in some overly loud and out-of-place guitar part to throw everything off. I might even care if Cryptacize died. Considering all of the people complaining about their opening set for Danielson along with Mount Righteous last year, it only made me like them more. As far as Shiny Around The Edges goes, local fans of Jarboe and people that don't like backbeats would be grief-stricken. As far as Fishboy goes, well, fans of the quirky, "Grapevine Mills" pop sound would be heart broken. So would the sweatshops that are ripping off American Apparel and currently making athletic headbands for Target.

Ben Kweller/Jones Street Station (Granada): The grieving: Anybody that graduated from Texas A&M Commerce, and people that still hold out hope for MTV 2.(DL)

God. I recently read the chapter on Ben Kweller in John Seabrook's book Nobrow, and all I could think about as I read was how embarrassing all that shit must be for him now. The chapter profiles Kweller at the beginning of his career as a teenager in the mid 90s, playing with his former band Radish in and around Dallas as they prepared to sign a huge major label record contract and attempt to "make it big," with the added fun of having A&R douches label Kweller as the "second coming of Kurt Cobain" in case he didn't feel enough pressure. In addition to the fact that Radish was an absolutely terrible band (what else would you expect from a 15 yr old? No offense, Fungi Girls, you guys r kewl), Kweller came off as a dopey kid being used by dopey adults to sell pathetic music to other dopey kids, and the whole thing was so inconsequential that I could barely bring myself to laugh, even though it was pretty funny. Sort of a Michael Jackson story minus the fame, money, talent, and pretty much anything else that was remotely compelling about Michael Jackson. Kweller has, of course, transformed his public persona to a degree over the past decade with a series of mildly successful "indie rock" solo records, and it's clear that the guy must be doing something right if we're still discussing him more than 15 years after his brush with major label stardom. The music media around here loves to pat Kweller on the back whenever possible in order to bolster his status as some kind of local micro-celebrity, but in reality, this guy is about as famous as he probably ever deserves to be, and although he clearly has a talent for writing pop songs, he seems more useful as an example of how to handle child stardom than he does as a musician, even if the large number of slightly adventurous rock fans at the Granada tonight would loudly disagree with me. (SR)

Drink To Victory/Kaboom/Tweenhattan Lobstars (Hailey's): Shady online dealers of spare, outdated pieces of analog equipment, as well as most of the breweries in Milwaukee.

Dance Your Face Off: Trash Yourself/Genova/Justin Bell/Richard Blake (the Cavern): First of all, the extremely active Twitter community of Dallas Dance music would overload the site, and I say that with certainty, since I spend an embarrassing amount of time reading their Tweets. Also potentially affected: employees of Native Instruments.

The Boom Boom Box/The Polycorns (the Barley House)

The Percolator w/Broken Teeth featuring Select/DJ a.One/Keith P/Prince William/Schwa/Baby Ruthless (Zubar)

SATURDAY

Waxeater/Daniel Francis Doyle/A Smile Full of Ale/The Sneeze (1919 Hemphill): Well, it's almost like the Sneeze did kind of die, since everyone always talks about them as this legendary missing link in the local punk underground. People have been bringing up the split they did with Japanther for years, and it will be cool to finally see them. Waxeater's death would greatly impact makers of aluminum guitars, and I have to say, I'm always a little suspicious of the quality of groups brandishing special aluminum equipment. The loss of DFD would send shockwaves of grief through the Wrangler Jeans community, and pretty much any other clothing maker whose products can be found within the same vicinity as leaf blowers and outdoor gas grills.

Our Brother the Native/Religious Girls/Zanzibar Snails (Majestic Dwelling of Doom): People that download all 400 Les Rallizes Denudes live albums and post them on geeky message boards who have really silly "psychedelic" user-names and misspell everything (or worse, use archaic spellings) to prove how "out there" they are. Anyone else tired of this shit? All kidding aside, this show is probably worth checking out.

Sleep Whale/Power Animal (Hailey's): Sleep Whale is one of those groups that I refuse to discuss any further until they have a new album out or something (I mean, don't you know enough about these guys already?), but Power Animal is a one man project that plays live as a group, utilizing a lot of found sounds, random telephone voice recordings (some sent in by fans) and a variety of traditional and non traditional instruments that results in a junkyard style of collage structured, off-beat pop that seems to exist somewhere in between early Beck, Microphones and Boards of Canada with nods to early K Records twee and contemporary K Records earnestness. It's pretty decent stuff for the most part, fairly catchy and just adventurous and impacting enough to remain interesting and occasionally moving, such as on "Track 8," where a recording of a telemarketer is used in a surprisingly tense and pleasing way. It would be interesting to see how it all plays out on stage, as stuff like this is usually completely hit or miss live. (SR)

Annex House BBQ with Diagonals/Pillow Queens/Sir Wes Coleman/Pataphysics/ Follow That Bird/Eyes Wings and Many Other Things/The Polycorns/Orange Peel Sunshine (Annex House, 3PM): A good handful of these bands are from Austin and they represent the dark underbelly of the Austin music scene, the one that actually has taste. That's probably the best summary I have for this show. I would hate it if anyone from said underbelly died. They're saving Austin from being as overrated as everyone tries to tell me it is.


SUNDAY

Finally, if SR and died, maybe our moms (big maybe), and Red Sean would care. That's probably it I think.

Art List

THURSDAY

Texas Sculpture Association 2009 State-wide Juried Art Exhibition
HCG Gallery
1130 Dragon Street, Suite 190, Dallas, TX 75207
Thursday June 25, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

ART SOCIAL with Annette Lawrence and Brian Fridge
CADD Art Lab
1608-C Main Street, Dallas, TX 75201
Thursday June 25, 7:00 PM

FRIDAY

Point Of View
Marilyn Biles, Suzanne Fuqua, Ellen Soffer, Ken O'Toole, and Kim Wyly
Cerulean Gallery
6609 A Hillcrest Avenue, Dallas, TX 75205
Friday June 26, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Kim Wyly (featured image) and Ellen Soffer both look promising.

my mother was a computer
Visual Arts Building of University Of Texas at Dallas
800 West Campbell Road, Richardson, TX 75080
Friday June 26, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

SATURDAY

Aralyn McGregor: A Thousand Words Or Less
Cedars Art Gallery
1114 S. Akard Street, Dallas, TX 75215
Saturday June 27, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Sorry to be my mom, but it's "a thousand words or FEWER". A better title might have been A Thousand Words Or ELSE.

Michael O'Brien: The Face of Texas
Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery
1202 Dragon Street, Suite 103, Dallas, TX 75207
Saturday June 27, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Leslie Wilkes: Sequels
Polly Lanning Sparrow: Sleeper
Barry Whistler Gallery
2909 B Canton Street, Dallas, TX 75226
Saturday June 27, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Cash & Carry: An Ever Rotating Summer Show
The Public Trust
Opening Reception: Saturday, June 27, 6-9 pm
On view June 27-July 18, 2009

From the flyer: "Cash and Carry will be the answer to the often asked question, 'What is in your backroom?' The less formal presentation of the exhibition will allow people to take the work immediately after they purchase it."

Image courtesy of Kim Wyly

It List: Thursday

I had a long intro to today's post, but I don't feel like being a jerk right now. Michael Jackson RIP.

Fader Party featuring Prince Klassen (Space Studio)

Billingham's Defense System/FEMALES (Fallout Lounge)

Hawk VS. Dove/Free To Kill Again/Mini And The Bear (Club Dada)

Starlight Mints/Evangelicals (The Granada)

Comrade/Jubilee/Sundowners/Trifle Tower/Zwounds (1919 Hemphill)

Wild In The Streets (Amsterdam)

Manned Missiles/Spooky Folk/Dirty Birds/Mental Dentist (J&J's Pizza)

Paul Van Dyk (Lizard Lounge)

John Vanderslice And The Tallest Man On Earth (House Of Blues)

Daniel Francis Doyle Records Available Online

We're happy to announce that We Shot J.R. Records' latest release, Daniel Francis Doyle's We Bet Our Money on You, is now available through our website and at Good Records (it'll be in a few other stores soon too, and we'll let you know about that when it happens).  If you'd like to buy it directly from us, just click here to visit our Shop page and purchase.  One lucky online purchaser chosen at random will have their record mailed to them with a love poem written by DL, so get those orders in if you're feeling lonely.  Dan is currently finishing up a tour of the West Coast and will be performing this Saturday night at 1919 Hemphill with Waxeater, A Smile Full of Ale and the Sneeze.  

It List: Wednesday

Dark Castle/Four Days to Burn/Maleveller (Pastime Tavern): Dark Castle, a male/female duo, play a doom influenced, sludgy and slow brand of metal that seems to work way more often than not, even if it contains only a few surprises for those familiar with the genre-- its well crafted and exciting, though, and will likely be a blast to hear live. Four Days to Burn, meanwhile, are similar in influences and style, but seem to have a harder and slightly rawer edge to them that adds quite a bit to what they do. Pretty quality all around, and I couldn't think of a better venue for a scuzzy metal show like this. Oh and one more thing-- Dallas' Maleveller takes a more classic approach than either of these two acts, with nods to speed metal (although certainly not classifiable as such) and earlier European stuff for a sound that will be familiar to any casual metal fan, but will also appeal to a lot of you. Very solid local group that I'd recommend checking out if you haven't heard them before-- finally, a Dallas rock group with balls that actually doesn't sound like fucking grunge leftovers.

Left of the Dial with DJG (Rubber Gloves)

Get Fucked Wednesdays (Fallout Lounge)

ADD: Sound Clash with Royal Highnuss (dubstep, back room) Taxi Fare (dance hall, front room) (Zubar)

Sarah Jaffe (House of Dang): After the $22 coffee shop cover charge fiasco a couple weeks ago, Sarah Jaffe has decided to treat her Dallas fans to a free show this evening, starting at 8pm at the wonderful House of Dang. Again, I'm not saying that I think all shows need to be free because music is spiritual and spirituality can't be bought and sold or some shit like that, but this is certainly a bonus for her younger fans, and guess what? The coffee shop yuppies can come too!

not new music tuesdays

Moebius, Plank, Thompson - Ludwig's Law (recorded 1983)

When I saw the line-up on this record back in 1998 I knew I had to get it. I was a fan of Dieter Moebuis' fantastic work with Cluster and Harmonia, Conny Plank's name was on the production/engineering credits of several highly regarded 'krautrock' albums, and I considered much of Mayo Thompson's work with the Red Krayola fairly interesting. The album was shelved by Sky records for 15 years before Drag City made it available, so I really had no idea what it would sound like.

I rarely use the words 'weird' or 'strange' to describe an album, but I can't avoid them with this one. Moebius and Plank lay down a goofy, funky Talking Heads-y backdrop for Mayo Thompson's monologues on various subjects. It doesn't always work, but it sounds much worse on paper than it does on record.

It List: Monday

Maybe I was just having a great time anyway, but for some reason I really liked watching the band Lemonade on Saturday when they opened up for Telepathe. I wasn't expecting to enjoy them at all, and almost everyone I was with disagreed with me, but what I heard was a band with influences ranging from Acid House to A Certain Ratio to dub to afrobeat to Liquid Liquid to PIL to various other forms of rhythmic world music, and I enjoyed the shit out of it. Anyway, not a whole hell of a lot happening tonight, but here's what we got:

Bears/Collick/Zwounds/Jubilee (1919 Hemphill)

Cool Out (The Cavern)

Monday Morning Rock

Wow, slow week. If we missed anything, let us know.





SHOWS OF NOTE THIS WEEK

TUE: Jenny Lewis/Heartless Bastards (Granada)
THU: Starlight Mints/Evangelicals/ Matthew and the Arrogant Sea (Granada)
THU: John Vanderslice/The Tallest Man On Earth (House of Blues-- Pontiac Garage)
FRI: Big Fiction/Legsweeper/Gun Gun/Muhammed Ali (Bike House)
SAT: Waxeater/Daniel Francis Doyle/A Smile Full of Ale/The Sneeze (1919 Hemphill)
SAT: Cryptacize/Fishboy/Shiny Around the Edges (Rubber Gloves)

Weekender

FRIDAY

DJ Select (Murray Street Coffee): Special "King Yellowman" set from 5-9.

Peter Murphy (Lakewood Theater): The Bauhaus Singles Collection (Volume 1) is undeniable; a nasty, solid slab of extremely dark and desperate punk rock. The rest of their catalog is a murky, gothy swamp after that. I think I should give it another chance, and I'm partly saying this so some of you aging geeks with upside down anchs hanging in your closet can point me in a better direction than I've been led in the past. As for Peter Murhphy as a live performer circa 2009, he apparently still has what it takes after all this time. And I hear he's a hell of a dancer.

Bad Sports/Uptown Bums/Brother Machine/Kampgrounds/the Teenage Bees/the Cunts/Younger Sons (2311 Houston Pl. Denton):  Solid house show tonight should attract a healthy turnout amongst Denton's DIY community, which is probably struggling a bit to find a new home base after the recent closings of a few beloved house venues that had become impressive centers of activity.  And we should all root for this community to grow and prosper, because after all, I could have stayed in Denton during SXSW this year and seen almost half the bands I really wanted to see in Austin.  At houses.  With no crowds.  For next to no money.  And props to the Teenage Bees for having a "Teenage Bees" theme song.  I love when bands do that.  

Meat Puppets/Retribution Gospel Choir (House of Blues):  This is like the third time the Meat Puppets have been through town in the past couple of years, but this visit seems to have gone unnoticed by a lot of people around town, perhaps because its just strange to think of the Meat Puppets playing at House of Blues.  Anyway, I probably don't have to say much about this band to most people reading this site, but the band's first three albums absolutely can't be denied, and to tell you the truth, I even used to dig their 1994 Alternative Nation smash single "Backwater" quite a bit, which is nothing compared to their earlier material.  And almost all of their early stuff still sounds so goddamn fresh too-- if Meat Puppets II had come out this year, Terminal Boredom and Todd P would building shrines for them as we speak.  

The Cocky Americans/PVC Street Gang/Eaton Lake Tonics (City Tavern)

Unholy Grave/N.I.B.I.R.U/Magrudergrind/Akkolyte (Alamo, 8335 Camp Bowie, Ft. Worth): This all ages/BYOB show looks great, but I'm going to spare you and let Japanese grindcore legends Unholy Grave explain themselves (via their Myspace page description):

UNHOLY GRAVE was formed by TAKAHO (ex:DEATHPEEDM,ex:NAUSEA) to play GRINDCORE in very early 1993.since then, we have over 50 releases in underground. played at tons of gigs/fests includes foreign tours.(USA,UK,AUSTRALIA,EUROPE,SOUTH-EAST-ASIA) besides UG, TAKAHO is organizing "GRINDFREAKS"gig (since 2001) & "GRINDBASTARDS"fest. (since 2007) and with chew/CORRUPTED, TAKAHO is running underground records shop "GRAVE" & DIY label "GRINDFREAKS"...after 15 years of grinding struggle, still our passion for the "GRINDCORE" is real.....

Math The Band/Fishboy/Giggle Party (Annex House)

Mothfight!/Red Faced Laughter/Florene (Bee's Manor located at 306 Texas St.)

Big J/Sober (Suite Basement located at 4515 Travis St.): Free with RSVP (4 guests with RSVP). Email full name to: suite.basement@gmail.com


SATURDAY

Telepathe/Lemonade/Fight Bite (Hailey's): Telepathe are a Brookln based group that has received about as much online buzz as a band possibly can.  A lot of times this means I'm going to hate them, but Telepathe is an exception to this rule, with an interesting array of influences ranging from contemporary R&B and top 40 hip hop to mid 80's Wax Trax and the darker side of 80's New Romantic pop.  At first you might perceive the group's lyrics and vocal delivery as being a bit weak, but a few more listens reveal the subtleties of their approach and open things up a little bit.  This kind of music is hardly a revolution these days, but if you're going to go see a band like this, you could do a whole hell of a lot worse.  

Ear Pwr/Alex Atchley and the Bad Times/Eat Avery's Bones (The Handsome Kitten): Eat Avery's Bones joins a growing list of local bands with killer full-lengths that will never see the light of day. That's a shame, but if you make it to this show, ask them for a CDR at the very least.... you won't be disappointed.... not to mention that all the members of the band are some of the chillest bros and babez you'll meet in the 'local scene.'  Also-- its funny when a band sounds exactly like you think they're going to, as is the case with Ear Pwr-- super poppy, relentlessly hyper synth pop/chiptune influenced craziness thats SO punk because its SO not.  You've heard this before, but if you liked it, you'll like this.  Also a good excuse to check out the new Dallas DIY spot Handsome Kitten.  

DJ OPS/Kashioboy/Pocket Change (Muscle Beach): Pre party that takes places before the Telepathe show at one of our favorite DIY spots, located at 907 Denton St. 

SUNDAY

For Your Pleasure With DJ G (Hailey's)

Free Telepathe Tickets

Hey there, our pals at Spune have given us two pairs of tickets for Saturday's Telepathe/Lemonade/Fight Bite show at Hailey's, and we're gonna give them away to the first two people who email weshotjrtix@yahoo.com with their full name in the body and "Telepathe" as the subject. We'll have a preview for the show a little later today, and we'll let you know when the contest is over. Good luck ya'll!  TICKET CONTEST ENDED A COUPLE HOURS AGO, SORRY TO THOSE WHO ENTERED RECENTLY :(

It List: Thursday

St. Vincent/Pattern Is Movement (The Granada): For me to say anything about St. Vincent at this point would be like me trying to give my two cents on Cowboys training camp. It's a completely overexposed subject in the local media that a bunch of "experts" weigh in on, boring everyone who has to read their press-release tainted tripe to tears, or even worse, until tears of pure blood drip down your face and stain the news-print document you clutch in your bored little hands.

I'm sorry. Let's slow down a little bit.

Look, the hype isn't her fault and I should mention that St. Vincent plays inoffensive, meticulously constructed, pop songs with superficially "weird" sounds thrown in, along with the occasional odd structure. Critics love that. There's nothing really terrible about it, but I used to get her mixed up with Regina Spektor, until I heard Regina Spektor do this wonderfully arranged and surprisingly decent version of "Real Love." I don't get them mixed up anymore.

Santigold/Amanda Blank/Trouble Andrew (House Of Blues): However unfairly, Santigold is often compared to MIA. For her sake, it would be a shame if Santoigold would ultimately be more known for her work being sampled more than anything else, a fate that has befallen MIA, who is rather successful in spite of that fact. Of course, this is nothing new, it's been happening since ESG had an underground hit with "UFO," but the track was much more known for being so commonly sampled in hip hop songs. Anyway, the track that made me think of this in the first place, "Brooklyn Go Hard" is on the Notorious soundtrack, and it's by Jay-Z, who Santigold is supposed to eventually collaborate with again at some point. Whatever comparisons you make with Santigold, don't just say anything about R&B. Her annoyance at being lumped in as an R&B artist produced some rather truthful insight on the vague racism often inherent in genre classifications, and she blurted some pretty choice quotes in this Lipster interview:

"It's racist (laughs). It's totally racist. Everyone is just so shocked that I don't like R&B. Why does R&B keep coming into my interviews? It's pissing me off. I didn't grow up as a big fan of R&B and, like, what is the big shocker? It's stupid. In the beginning I thought that was funny. I'm an 'MC', I'm a 'soul singer', I'm a 'dance hybrid artist'. And some guy said I looked like Kelly Rowland!"

Santigold claims that people are overlooking the New Wave and Rock influences in her music and it all kind of reminds me of when I worked at this record store, I won't name any names, and I had this one boss who insisted on putting Prince and Michael Jackson in the "Soul/R&B" section, as opposed to "Pop/Rock." I confronted him in my last five minutes on the clock, on my last day at work, and explained, "Prince and Michael Jackson are in the top ten list of the most important and iconic artists in POP MUSIC. Why do you insist on categorizing them otherwise?" Anyways, kids, I don't recommend basically calling your boss a racist on your last day at work, but sometimes you just have to.


Ty Segall/The Moonhearts/The Aquaholics (Club Dada): Wait, let me get this straight: A ONE-MAN BAND that plays GARAGE ROCK?! Wait, what? Are you serious? So, he just has a bass drum and a tambourine? And he drums while playing guitar? That is really crazy! And he could have chosen any type of music but he chose GARAGE ROCK! How fucking mind-blowing! How does he go on tour? Does he have to load all of his equipment himself? Is he one of those dudes that asks the crowd to buy him a drink from the stage? How does he sell his merch? He must have to bring a "band" full of roadies, haha. WHOA.

Little Black Dress (Good Records): Free show starts at 8.

80's Fucking Night (Hailey's)

Matthew Gray, Delves Into The Humanity Pools With The Six...(I refuse to type the rest of that name)/Baruch The Scribe/The Fox And The Bird/Angel Lenora And The Hand Combine (The Hydrant)

Wild In The Streets (The Amsterdam)

Conscientious Projector: No End In Sight (1919 Hemphill)

It List: Wednesday

First of all, I wanted to pass along this email from one of our recent ticket contest winners concerning the risks you run when you win tickets to one show and accidentally show up for another show:

So this is kind of a strange story. I accidentally went to the Lounge on Elm, thinking that the Holy Fuck show was last night. I walked up to the bouncer and told him I was on the list, he looked at me like I was delusional and said the cover was $5, so I paid him and walked in. This band from DC was setting up at the time,they were called Deleted Scene and as I walked around I thought, where IS everybody? I finally walked toward the stage and this drunk chick approached me and mentioned how it's strange that we were the only ones there. I agreedand so she said, "Well that means we can get away with showing our tits, right?" I was a bit bewildered at the comment, but not as much as when she pulled down her dress and let her tits hang out showing them off to the band and smiling. She attempted to take my shirt off too, but I kindly pushed her hands away. The band was definitely shocked and humored as well, they had a hard time tuning their instruments with the topless girl dancing about. I just sort of stood behind her laughing at their reaction and at her, obviously. She finally left for a very long cigarrette and I stood there, an audience of one,and listened to their entire set. The band wasn't all that great, but I was grateful to have shared such an akward moment with them.

This is truly amazing to me. Now for some shows:


Balmorhea/Tiny Vipers/Sleep Whale (Hailey's): Driving through Balmorhea, TX last year on my way to Marfa kind of helped me contextualize exactly what this band is inspired by and what they're trying to do, and although this certainly made me appreciate the material a little more (there IS a time and a place for it), this Austin, TX group feels just a little stiff and uninspired at times, making for a pleasant but less than thrilling listening experience

Copwatch/Conspirator/Violent Messiah/Ippur (Bike House, Dallas): I promise that "pleasant" and "listening experience" will never be used to describe any of these groups. And in this case, it means this show will be great.

The Wooden Birds/Other Lives (House of Blues): Features Andrew Kenny of American Analog Set.

Left of the Dial with DJG (Rubber Gloves): Spinning goth, industrial, shoegaze, 70's and 80's alt.

Art List

The Art List is a little early this week because I wanted to note the Skip Noah opening tonight. I was really impressed by his stuff when I started putting the List together this morning. So I emailed him some questions. And he wrote back. His show opens tonight at North Lake College in Irving (see below).

Greatness: Skip Noah

Richardson Heights: I was initially attracted to the name of your show opening this week, "Giraffes and Seahorses". What significance do those two creatures hold for you?

Skip Noah: Both giraffes and seahorses are very unique animals, and I’ve always had an affinity to anything out of the ordinary. I’ve included a character named Bacchus Giraffe in 3 of my paintings, Bacchus Giraffe Drunken God of Mythology, Dinner with Bacchus Giraffe and Pomegranate Seeds. My Bacchus Giraffe character is a modern take on the Roman God of Wine Bacchus. I’ve always thought the form of the giraffe, with her long neck, orange spots and gentle character to be very appealing to me. I’ve had dreams before where a giraffe has acted as a messenger is some way, conveying some underlying philosophy of life to me, as is the story with Pomegranate Seeds, where the giraffe tells me about the momentum of life reproducing itself infinitely using a pomegranate and its seeds as an example. As far as seahorses I’ve including them in a number of paintings as well, such as Persephone’s Part Time Waitressing Job in Hades. They are the ambassadors from my world (the one inside my head) to the world I’m creating on the canvas. They look on at the characters in the art with concern, scorn or acknowledgment. To me seahorses are the religious monks of the ocean kingdom, constantly wandering the depths contemplating their own existence and its relation to everything else.

RH: What is your studio set up like? What kind of environment do you create when you get down to work?

SN: My home is my studio. I like to have a set number of hours set aside before I paint, because I lose track of time completely. What seems like 15 minutes can in reality be 3 hours when I’m at work. I usually like to have some music playing while I paint, I enjoy Indian Ragas and Sufi music, or more popular bands like Gorillaz, Bjork and Radiohead. My studio is pretty messy, paints everywhere, a graveyard of abused paintbrushes scattered about like the aftermath on a battlefield, a rainbow of dried colors on the floor.

RH: I'm glad you found a use for all those old computer parts. Can you describe the techniques you employ when assembling your mixed media pieces, such as Pierre Reading the Odyssey?

SN: A discarded motherboard looks much nicer in a piece of art that it does sitting in a landfill in a developing country. In the piece Pierre Reading the Odyssey [featured image], I took a big bag of “stuff” that I had collected and just went through it piecing together this scene. I wanted to have it as dimensional as possible so the viewer would want to reach out and put their hands on it, to feel the different textures with their own fingers, to feel as if the could be sitting there in the room with Pierre. I would first put together the basic structure of the painting, Pierre (my favorite character from War and Peace) holding his copy of The Odyssey (one of my favorite classical stories), the candle, the flowers and so on. Then I start building outwards, adding layer on layer until I achieve the effect I’m looking for. I glued a variety of materials together to create this piece, everything from cardboard, computer parts, human hair (I shaved my head and used the hair), Japanese fan, a discarded hookah, coins and many other things. I consider my mixed media pieces a type of sculpture on canvas. Lots of glue, paint and random objects are what I use, and placing them together like a collage to make a new, consolidated creation.

In Peony I wanted to have a stand alone mix-media sculpture without the canvas. I found a tree limb on the ground in the woods in Austin that was the perfect fit for the woman to lie on. I built a skeletal frame and built the body out from that. I added a white cloth to drape around her waist, to add vertical balance and a sense of purity. Everything on the statue (except the wood, shelf and cloth) I built using recycled mixed media.

WEDNESDAY

Giraffes and Seahorses
Skip Noah
North Lake College
500 North MacArthur Blvd., Irving, Tx 75038
Reception June 17, 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Through July 7th...

THURSDAY

Hey Goss Michael, your web site sucks! But I was able to extract that this is "a group exhibition featuring new acquisitions of Contemporary British Artists" intending to "transform the galleries into a place of reflection, introspection, and a cabinet of curiosities". Due to the preponderance of artists in this list with either Wikipedia entries or Saatchi Gallery profiles, I guess this is a big deal:

Eat Me, Drink Me
Matt Collishaw, Matthew Darbyshire, Ian Dawson, Tracy Emin, James Hopkins, John Isaacs, Rachel Kneebone*, Mark Titchner, Christian Ward, and Gary Webb
Goss-Michael Foundation
2500 Cedar Springs, Dallas, Tx 75201
Reception June 18, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM

*would also make a great band name.

FRIDAY

I appreciate anything in the suburbs. The ArtCentre is probably the best thing to happen for the Plano art scene since John Ledbetter's Plano Center for Art. All North Texas artists:

The Art of the Bicycle
Kelly Berry, Todd Gutmann, and Janet Karam*
ArtCentre of Plano
1039 East 15 Street, Plano, Tx 75074
Reception June 19, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

*Dear Janet Karam: I don't think your paintings are "abstract" by any definition. Sorry to break the news to you.

Robotica
Kent Maris and Eben Lee Hall
Gallery 2910
2910 Commerce, Dallas, Tx 75205
Reception June 19, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

VACD June/July 2009 Summer Exhibition
Sussan Afrasiabian, Gregory Brown, Fields Harrington, Carrie A. Kersey, Bob Nunn, Junko Otsu*, Jan Partin, Natalie Prikhodko, and David L. Roden
Visual Arts Coalition of Dallas
2902 Maple Avenue, Dallas, Tx 75201
Reception June 19, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

*"Junko is incredibly skillful, careful, and fun to meet in person. [...] She is Japanese. So she has very special mind which is come from her back ground as Japanese. Calm, quiet, gentleness, peacefulness, happiness, solace, restful, comfort or so. Her paintings show these expression came up from her inside."

SATURDAY

"Groundbreaking"! I really like this photo of Justin Bua with Sir Mix-A-Lot.

Justin Bua
4th Wall Gallery
2925 Fairmount Street, Dallas, Tx 75201
Reception June 20, 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM

In The Finest Tradition - Daniel Mirer
The Road South - Raven Schlossberg
Light & Sie Gallery
129 Leslie Street, Dallas, Tx 75207
Reception June 20, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Omar Hernandez and James Lassen
Mighty Fine Arts Gallery
419 North Tyler, Dallas, Tx 75208
Reception June 20, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Acumen: Melikyan, Mueller, and Wallis
Sevan Melikyan
Jeff Mueller
Shawn Wallis
William Campbell Contemporary Art
4935 Byers Avenue, Fort Worth, TX 76107
Reception June 20, 6-8 pm

Don't forget Chad Hopper at And / Or Gallery, closing this weekend, if you haven't seen it. Goodbye, And/Or.

Image courtesy of Skip Noah.

It List: Tuesday

Camera Obscura/Anni Rossi (The Loft): Camera Obscura is one of the only pop groups of their stature that I not only can tolerate, but that I wholeheartedly support. And by "stature," I mean that I was recently listening to modern classic, "Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken" in my car, and the song was almost playing exactly where it left off on the PA when I walked into a grocery store.

I usually can't stand overly precious groups in this genre. The type of hyper-produced bombast that they overload their songs with is something that many have attempted since Belle And Sebastian's peak around ten years ago, often to embarrassing results. Most people just don't have the first clue about how to gracefully insert a trumpet or flute into their music without it sounding completely forced or silly. I wish that weren't so, but more often than not, it is. There is some intangible to CO's music that transcends the whole kitchen sink nature of the instrumentation and the inevitable weepy melodrama that plagues so many of these records. It could be lead singer Traceyanne Campbell's ability to sound meek while simultaneously belting it out, or that the writing is so strong that these songs wouldn't suffer with even more sonic embellishments tossed in, or the opposite: if they were under-produced, covered with hiss, and released on cassette. In either case, I think Camera Obscura would still be a completely enjoyable experience. They conquered the near-impossible task of playing a convincing yet unavoidably brief set at a SXSW day show at the Mohawk when I saw them, and I'm sure they'll be even better tonight.

Free VIP Backstage Passes to Santigold

So we have a pretty special contest to pass along to you guys-- we were recently contacted by a representative of the (RED) Nights Concert series, which is a group of shows put together by Bono's (RED) organization and Live Nation in an effort to raise money and awareness about the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa. Santigold has agreed to turn her Thursday night performance at the House of Blues into a (RED)Night, meaning that a portion of the proceeds from the show will go directly to the aforementioned organizations to assist in their important work.

The group has been nice enough to give us two tickets to the show that include two VIP passes that will get you back stage and into a special meet and greet event with Santigold. If you want to win the pair, please email weshotjrtix@yahoo.com any time between now and tomorrow (Tuesday) at 4PM. We'll select a random winner.... good luck!

It List: Monday

Grizzly Bear/Here We Go Magic (Granada Theater): First of all, I'd like to note that if you'd like to gain a little more insight into both of these bands, you don't even have to leave this website: we have interviews with both Grizzly Bear (from a couple years ago) and Here We Go Magic (more recent) for your reading pleasure, and you should definitely check out the part where DL recommends that Grizzly Bear cruise by Spring Creek BBQ for a true taste of Texas. Total bro pas, my man.* Second, unless you already have a ticket or are at least as cool and well connected as I am (which I highly doubt), you can't get into this show because its SOLD OUT. Total indiebummer!

Grizzly Bear has been around for five years plus now, and although they kind of broke through into the indie rock mainstream in 2006 thanks to their excellent single "Knife," it seems that 2009 will actually be their breakout year into the "real" mainstream, or at least as close as a band like this could get, thanks to stellar reviews and fashionable blog-buzz concerning Veckatimest, their latest full length. Although a lot has been said about this record already by a variety of reputable sources, I think its worth noting that whatever your opinion might be of its quality, it is difficult to describe exactly what this record sounds like in terms of influences. When I listen to it I can hear so many tiny parts of so many different kinds of music that it really doesn't feel very appropriate to use any of them as descriptors here. The phrase "70s AM radio" keeps popping into my head, but I'm not even sure if it's really all that accurate, just more of a feeling it conveys than anything else. Reviewers often refer to it as "chamber pop" as well, but I often wonder whether a lot of those people even know what that means. In short, we can probably just borrow a phrase from Justice Potter Stewart and call this music "indie rock," using only "I know it when I hear it" as a defense because we really can't be moved to care enough to dig deeper.

And that's the problem at the end of the day. Grizzly Bear is "good." Their new album sounds very nice. Most of the songs are tasteful, easy to listen to, fairly interesting, whatever. They seem like smart dudes and a lot of people I respect seem to really like this record, so I'm not taking anything away from it necessarily. There's nothing wrong with it. The problem is that it just doesn't do a goddamn thing for me (this seems to be happening a lot lately). I don't even know why really, but I seriously doubt I'll listen to this record at any point ever again after I make a 2009 year end list in December and give it "one more chance" before I leave it off my list. Nothing grips me, nothing compels me, but I don't even dislike it. That's the problem. I kind of DO like it. It just means fuck all to me, and whether that is my fault, Grizzly Bear's fault, or just the current state of whatever the fuck indie rock is supposed to be these days, it seems like a big problem to me, especially since I'm not sure I can even explain it. Oh, and here are some phrases and sentences from Pitchfork's review that kind of pissed me off before I ever even heard this record:

"compositionally and sonically airtight"

"a painstaking chamber-pop record that never once veers above the middle tempo"

"fluttering opener... takes off and circles back like a flock of birds"

"one must consider both the overall structure and the connective tissue between the abundant highlights to judge it a success"

"there is something prim and proper about the record"

"four guys so completely serious about music-making"

"searching for perfection through meticulousness"

Uh... fuck it. Nevermind. I'm going to go to this show tonight and enjoy myself, and maybe try my best to forget that I ever read an article about Grizzly Bear. Think I can?

In the Face of War/Hercules/My Son My Executioner/Heinous Genetix/Negaduck/Jubilee (1919 Hemphill)

Cool Out (The Cavern)

* JK BUD-E U R KEWL!

Monday Morning Rock

SHOWS OF NOTE THIS WEEK

MON: Grizzly Bear/Here We Go Magic (Granada Theater)
TUE: Camera Obscura/Anni Rossi (The Loft)
WED: Balmorhea/Tiny Vipers/Sleep Whale (Hailey's)
WED: Copwatch/Conspirator/Violent Messiah/Ippur (Bike House, Dallas)
THU: Ty Segall /The Moonhearts/The Aquaholics (Club Dada)
THU: Santigold (House of Blues)
THU: St. Vincent/Pattern is Movement (Granada)
FRI: Peter Murphy (Lakewood Theater)
FRI: Unholy Grave/Phobia/Magrudergrind/Akkolyte (Alamo, 8335 Camp Bowie, Ft. Worth)
SAT: Telepathe/Lemonade/Fight Bite (Hailey's)
SAT: Ear Pwr/Adventure/Eat Avery's Bones (The Handsome Kitten)
SAT: DJ OPS/Kashioboy/Pocket Change (Muscle Beach)

not new music fridays

Robert Wyatt - Rock Bottom (1974, Virgin)

Sorry dudes, I've been super busy this week, hence the belatedness of this post. Things should be back to normal next week.

I suppose I'll continue, and hopefully conclude, the Soft Machine themed posts that started with last week's not new music and carried on with Monday's morning rock video by presenting Robert Wyatt's second solo album, Rock Bottom. Wyatt was writing songs for the third Matching Mole record when he was paralyzed from the waist down after suffering a fall from a fourth floor window, thus ending his career as a drummer. He continued to write throughout his recovery and the results ended up being this album.

I can't say much about Rock Bottom that hasn't been said before, and I'm not even going to try. This album will slowly kick your ass, and you'll probably be better off for it. Enjoy!

Art List

Mini Greatness: Nathan Ezra Trimm

Nathan Ezra Trimm is participating in this weekend's Oak Cliff Visual Speed Bump Art Tour 2009, Saturday from 12 - 6 PM. He sat down with us for some hard-hitting questions for this week's mini-greatness...

Richardson Heights: What is your current studio set up like? (location, lighting, material, extent of mess)

Nathan Ezra Trimm: I have a studio set up in my house. It's pretty centrally located in my house so I try to keep it pretty tidy, especially since I have two cats that like to use my brushes as toys. Probably the most important thing to me in the studio is my grandparents' dining table from the 60's. It's this awesome white formica table with turquoise bucket chairs. I actually started painting at that table when I was a kid, so it's kinda nice to still be using it after all these years. It kinda ties me back to my childhood which is a big influence in my work.

RH: In your artwork, do you employ any particularly unique techniques that you've developed on your own? (Why wood panels?)

NET: I don't really have any unique techniques that I can think of. I mainly paint with acrylics on plywood or found wood. I started painting on plywood because I liked the idea of painting this synthetic world that is based on universal human experiences on a natural material that is actually heavily processed by man.
I manipulate emotion, societal themes, sexuality, religion into this odd child-like synthetic world just like the the natural organic wood has been manipulated into something synthetic.

RH: Who/what/where is your most unknown and/or non-obvious influence?

NET: I have a ton of different influences... I'm influenced by Japanese pop culture, anime and manga, American consumer culture, religion, astrology, sexuality... artists such as Takashi Murakami and other members of his Kaikai Kiki Collective, Tokidoki, pop artists like Warhol, Surrealists like Dali & Max Ernst, as well as Tole Painting and Saturday morning cartoons. I've always been interested in pop culture and societal trends and how these elements affect our collective subconsciousness as a society. I kinda grew up kinda as a social outsider... my sister and i were kidnapped at a young age by my mother from my grandparents and we lived touring in the Renaissance Fair circuit for about a year. During this time we lived out of a car, in tents in a national park and finally ended up in housing projects in the mid-west. Then, I was brought back to the upper-middle class life of my grandparents where I attended a private Christian school. Also, growing up gay in a small town in south east Texas had a huge influence on how I see and interpret the world around me. I take all of these experiences and observations on how society interprets various philosophical and visual ideas and use them to tell my story. The imagery I use is easily identifiable, but the context and meaning I assign to these images is deeply personal and serves as a small glimpse into my subconsciousness. WOW... that got really deep! Actually, I just like painting cute animals & meat balloons. Sorry for keeping the answers short and sweet!

See Mr. Trimm and others at the Oak Cliff Visual Speed Bump Art Tour 2009 this Saturday from 12 - 6 PM. You can see more of his artwork at desperateforfriends.net

****

Not exactly exhaustive, these are my picks for the weekend:

Weekend Event

CityArts Festival
Friday 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Saturday 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Sunday 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Dallas Art District, Dallas, TX 75201

FRIDAY

Becoming Human by Billy Keen
American Modernist by Everett Spruce
Valley House Gallery & Sculpture Garden
6616 Spring Valley Road, Dallas, Tx 75254
Friday, 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Geometry In Dallas : Work From Local Artists
Lane Banks, Shirley Bode, Joseph Chimbel, J. Brough Miller, Rich Morgan, Stewart Reuter, Sandi Stein, Gisela-Heidi Strunck, Juergen Strunck, and Michael Tichansky
The Museum of Geometric and MADI Art
3109 Carlisle, Dallas, Tx 75204
Friday, 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM

More about MADI.

SATURDAY

Why not give 'em a chance?
Grand Opening
E Gallery Studio
1330 Motor Circle, Dallas, Tx 75207
Saturday, 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM

All Dallas artists at Craighead Green this weekend:
The Secret Life of Flowers by Carolyn Brown
Directions For A New World by Norman Kary
Recent Work by Kendall Stallings
Craighead Green Gallery
1011 Dragon Street, Dallas, Tx 75207
Saturday, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Mostly not-Dallas artists at Holly Johnson:
femme fatale
Virginia Fleck, Sharon Louden, Kim Cadmus Owens, Kim Squaglia, and Sarah Walker
Holly Johnson Gallery
1411 Dragon Street, Dallas, Tx 75207
Saturday, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

I like me them serene landscapes a lot:
Recent Paintings
by Darlene Wall
PanAmerican ArtProjects
1615 Dragon Street, Dallas. Tx 75207
Saturday, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Image courtesy of Nathan Ezra Trimm

It List: Thursday

Well hey there everybody! We're having a lot of issues today, one of which is power thanks to these aggro thunderstorms, and another is time, which we really don't have today. Thankfully there isn't a whole lot going on, so we'll just leave you with the following list and assure you that we still think we're better than you:

John Congleton/Joey Kendall (Dan's Silverleaf)

Top Notch Thursdays with Sober (the Cavern)

80's Night with DJG (Hailey's)

Wild In the Streets (Amsterdam Bar)

It List: Wednesday

Holy Fuck/Crocodiles/Damaged Good$ (The Lounge): Holy Fuck has gotten a lot of mileage out of a "crazy band name," but in reality they are one of the safest groups around, playing instrumental music that is somewhere between the emotional hollowness of Neu or perhaps a much more subdued Battles, with less flashy drumming. They are so safe in fact, that according to a recent Sterogum article, they are actually lending out their music to the wounded car company, Chrysler. Also curious about Holy Fuck is the fact that the "electronic" element is really emphasized in any article about the group, but to my ears, the straight-ahead rock rhythms are the most overpowering aspect of their music, no matter how many blips are thrown in. That's not a complaint about the band itself, but more of the inexplicable way that music writers can pigeonhole acts in ways they may not necessarily deserve or even ask for. I would actually like to see them live to see if I still feel the same way afterward.

Crocodiles have been mentioned a lot for sounding like Jesus And Mary Chain, a sound which has been attempted so many times at this point, who even needs Jesus And Mary Chain themselves? You can listen to an entire genre of groups that sound exactly like them. They also lose some points for putting the name "Jesus" in the title of one of their records. Not a smart move, fellas. Damaged Good$ are opening the show, which guarantees that this will be a big, fun event, despite any derivative tendencies on the part of the artists, or misguided overemphasis on the part of the journalists who love them.

Very Disco: A Daft Punk Tribute (House Of Blues): So two guys from Athens, GA tour to try to recreate the Daft Punk experience as closely as possible, since Daft Punk almost never tours the United States. Definitely gives you some perspective as to how huge Daft Punk truly is, the fact that a tribute band covering their music plays the House Of Blues. Can you imagine if they play Dallas anytime soon? The city would probably crumble.

Merle Haggard (Bass Performance Hall)

Left Of The Dial With DJ G (Rubber Gloves)


ADD: Woven Bones/Bad Sports/Uptown Bums (Majestic Dwelling Of Doom located at 731 Texas St.)

It List: Tuesday

The Sycamore house show in Denton last night went beyond my expectations. Both local acts were great, but I was really surprised by Best Friends Forever. The A/C in the house didn't work, so I had no intention for watching more than a couple of minutes of their set due to the extreme indoor temperature. However, once they kicked in with their rhythmically captivating (somewhere between Kira Roessler and every band on 99 Records) set, it was impossible to leave. A friend had warned me that they weren't very good, but luckily he was wrong.

Also: Ended the night at The Cavern where people were applauding Schwa for winning "Big DJ" at Quick's "Big Thing." It was actually nice to see such a positive reaction, completely free of the pretense found in many other aspects of the lokewl music scene. Congrats.


Little Joy/The Present/Queens (Club Dada): Apparently Little Joy will be missing founding member Fabrizio Moretti for most of the tour this summer; not sure what kind of an impact that will have on the public's desire to see the band perform. I can say with complete certainty that it has no impact on my own.

The Present includes notable indie rock producer, (Panda Bear "Person Pitch," Animal Collective, "Sung Tongs") Rusty Santos, who mixes improvisation and restrained, Satie-like, piano parts with this subdued yet dramatic trio. Ever wonder why some improv acts just bang away, while others tend to play what sounds like nothing but completely rehearsed "sad" movie scores? Chalk it up to style I suppose, but remember kids: style is everything you do wrong.

Leatherbag/RTB2/Delmore Pilcrow (Rubber Gloves)

Free Holy Fuck Tickets

Parade Of Flesh hooked us up with a pair of tickets to catch Holy Fuck, Crocodiles, and Damaged Good$ tomorrow night, and if you want to win a pair, just email us at weshotjrtix@yahoo.com any time between now and Wednesday (June 1oth) at Noon with at least one sentence explaining why you should win. Next time we're going to ask for an entire essay, but we're pressed for time.

It List: Monday

Wolves in the Thorne Room/Kill the Client/Vorvadoss/Embolization (Rubber Gloves): We've been digging Wolves in the Throne Room a lot lately, and its safe to say that they are a black metal band who truly do push the boundaries of their genre, from their lifestyles and beliefs (which we discussed at length with them in an interview a few months ago) to their ability to take the essential elements of black metal and move beyond them. Their most recent full length, Black Cascade, seems to be a step closer to a more traditional black metal record than their previous release, Two Hunters (not including the theatrical and atmospheric Malevolent Grain EP), but its still very brutal and rather outstanding, depsite what Pitchfork says. I caught a Wolves show several weeks ago and it was fantastic, by the way, completely heightening the band's power while taking nothing away from their songwriting and precision. Highly recommended if you have any interest in this kind of music.

Best Friends Forever/Fred Xepplin and the Meatles/Drug Mountain (503 Sycamore, Denton): Great house show in Denton this evening that, according to the post on our show calendar, will "start early so you can see Wolves in the Throne Room." Sounds like a really good idea. Fred Xepplin features Nevada Hill, Sarah Alexander, Sinevil and Adam from Orange Coax, and Hill will also sit in with Drug Mountain on violin for a song. Looking forward to it.

Cotton Jones/Sabra Laval (The Hydrant)

Cool Out (the Cavern)

Free Wolves in the Throne Room Tickets

Our friends at Rubber Gloves were nice enough to give us a pair of tickets to tonight's Wolves in Throne Room show, and since we don't have a lot of time to give them away, the first person who emails weshotjrtix@yahoo.com with "Wolves in the Throne Room" as the subject and a full name in the email body will win them... so go for it! We'll let you know when we have a winner. CONTEST IS DONE YALL

Monday Morning Rock

SHOWS OF NOTE THIS WEEK

MON: Wolves in the Throne Room/ A Storm of Light (Rubber Gloves)
MON: Best Friends Forever/Fred Xepplin and the Meatles/Drug Mountain (503 Sycamore, Denton)
TUE: Little Joy/The Present/Queens (Club Dada)
WED: Holy Fuck/Crocodiles/Damaged Goods (the Lounge)
WED: Woven Bones/Uptown Bums/Bad Sports/TBA (Majestic Dwelling of Doom)
FRI: Peaches/Drum of Death (Granada)
SAT: GVSB Presents: White Denim/Harlem/PVC Street Gang/Fight Bite (Pastime Tavern)
SUN: David Byrne (Majestic Theater)

Weekender

FRIDAY

Mika Miko/Strange Boys/Bad Sports /Rocket for Ehtiopia (Rubber Gloves): It sucks that Mika Miko dropped their former drummer, Kate Hall, for a new bro drummer, since she was probably my favorite thing about that band. I heard a rumor that it was because she wasn't "good enough." I really hate concepts like "good enough" and "better." Or even "acceptable," "on beat," and "competent." These things really have a way of ruining music. I actually don't know how much interest I would have in seeing Mika Miko without Kate, and I was really impressed by her when she filled in as a drummer for Finally Punk when we had them play the Melodica Festival last year. Rocket For Ethiopia also go a long way to prove that finishing each song live is vastly overrated. I could care less whether a band can get through a song or not, just don't be boring. Finally, I have heard nothing but good things about The Strange Boys' new record, even from people that really wanted to hate them. (DL)

Constantines/Crystal Antlers (Sons of Hermann Hall): Canada's Constantines have slowly built up a strong audience over the years with a sound that is often labeled "art punk," but could probably be more accurately described as some sort of earnest hybrid between post-hardcore, specifically Fugazi, and some of the more obvious influences of contemporary "indie rock" (Springsteen) with just a small dash of soaring post-rock guitars and noise thrown in the mix. Although a fairly solid band, Constantines seem to be one of those groups that thrives on the "art" or "experimental" labels they've been bequeathed by critics and fans without really delivering much in the way of either most of the time. Not that this necessarily makes them a "bad" band, because they aren't, and I'm guessing much of their highly listenable and energetic material will make for a very good live set. It's just that if you've been following the last few decades of American underground music, you've heard this before. Openers Crystal Antlers are a band that I was largely indifferent to on record when I first encountered them some time early last year, but when we caught them several months back at Swiss House, they put on one of the loudest and most brutal performances I ever witnessed at that venue, and afterwards, their compelling mix of prog, garage and 60's psyche rock, all put together with a fuck all lo-fi sensibility, revealed itself as an often exciting take on a number of different sounds that it seems like pretty much everyone enjoys on some level.

Quick's Next Big Thing with Play N Skillz/Damaged Goods/Dove Hunter/The O's/RTB2/Smile Smile/Mount Righteous (Granada): This is the Awards Ceremony for Quick's local music awards, and I was pleased to have been selected to be on the nominations panel again this year. Glancing at the nominees list quickly will reveal a rather diverse group of local talent, including WSJR favorites like Fight Bite, Damaged Goods, the Great Tyrant, Darktown Strutters, Fungi Girls, Fergus and Geronimo, Orange Coax, Prince William, Mundo, The Party and more. The cover is $5 and its hosted by 1310 the Ticket's Gordon Keith. Sounds like a good time.

Brutal Juice/The Boom Boom Box/Saboteur/The Chameleon Chamber Group (Club Dada): Holy shit, this reminds me of listening to the Adventure Club in middle school or something yall. Brutal Juice is probably pretty, uh, brutal live, and I'm sure this show will be a shitload of fun, but still-- no matter what anyone says, Dallas is better now than it was in the 90's. At least I feel like that sometimes.

90's Party with Yeahdef/Clever Monkeys (Suite): This takes place in the basement of Suite, which is apparently a nice refuge from the douches on the main floor. I'm glad Suite came up with this concept.

Theater Fire/Baptist Generals/Robert Gomez/Listen Listen (Dan's Silverleaf)

SOCIAL with: Keith P/Females (The Cavern)

Deep Snapper/Tre Orsi/Kaboom (Spooky Haus, 1314 Austin St., Denton): Seeing scraggly little bands that play house shows every other weekend is one thing, but seeing bands that actually have a little polish to them, bands that actually practice like Tre Orsi and Deep Snapper, in a house setting is almost always an improvement. For what it's worth, Kaboom has the distinction of being something in between these two classifications. I have just been overexposed to the rock club sound in general, where every roto-tom is mic'ed up and every tiny little thing you don't necessarily want to hear is digging into your ear canal and orbital bone like a rusty dentist drill. This is most likely Deep Snapper's last show for quite some time, since bass player Pat Ferguson will be out of the country for a year, so you should stop by and wish him well since chances are he probably has lent you or someone you know a guitar at the last second, fixed one of your amplifiers for zero compensation, or has given you a ride home when your shitty little dance party gets busted by the cops. Oops. (DL)

New Science Projects (Record Release) / Dust Congress / Real Live Tigers / Kids Of Cons (J&Js)

Ringo Deathstarr/This Old House/Western Giants/Manned Missiles (Moon Bar)

SATURDAY

Bonnie Prince Billy/The Howling Hex (Granada): It suddenly occurred to me today that Will Oldham is the godfather of "Dustbowl Hipster," a trend that eventually replaced "alt country," though my theory about Dustbowl Hipsterism is that it is more of a lifestyle choice, where someone actually looks and acts like they're suffering out on the plains during said era, as opposed to the more uppity urban cowboy look that still haunts Dallas-Denton-Fort Worth music in particular. Dustbowl Hipsterism and Gutter punk culture cross at some point and this is perfectly embodied in Oldham's small role in the recent film, "Wendy and Lucy," which is basically like an emo "Where the Red Fern Grows."

Besides maintaining his popularity in the States, Europe in particular eats this shit up because they will actually believe somebody grew up on a farm or that he was raised by feral Pentecostals simply for rocking an unkempt beard. They'll have no idea that they actually just used to down Malibu and Dr. Pepper Cocktails at the Meridian Room on Wednesday nights, or grew up shotgunning brews and hitting on married women at Louisville Cardinals games. I realized this when I saw Will Oldham at the UK All Tomorrow's Parties, walking around like he fucking owned the place. And he basically did.

The guy has made a lot of "moves," and is often as interesting as he is annoying. One minute he's practically recording with Johnny Cash on his deathbed, and then he's off wearing all white and talking about how genius he thinks bands like The Cranberries and TLC are. Which is valid, but the minute you see a guy that looks like that describing his favorite records, and they all happen to be R & B/Top 40 stuff, it just gets a little...suspicious. I mean, I "get it," but it just wears a little thin sometimes. Sometimes I'm just annoyed that I didn't think of it first.

Oldham has a huge catalog, and there are actually a lot of good moments that tend to stick with you; an absurd lyric, country music performed with a drum machine, and even hiring Nashville session musicians to rework his early music. He is also a very dependable live performer; I pretty much hated his music before I saw him put on an excellent show at Rubber Gloves too many years ago. Mining similar similar territory in the trash-stained poses of American music history, though much harsher and psychedelic, is Neil Haggerty, who opens with his Howling Hex. (DL)

Western Giants/Baruch the Scribe/This Old House/Seryn/Younger Sons (Tree House, 2205 Oak St., Denton)

The Theater Fire/Client Niosi/100 Flowers (The Lounge)

SUNDAY