Off With Their Heads | Baconator | Negaduck | Over Stars And Gutters (1919 Hemphill) Off With Their Heads and Over Stars And Gutters (Damn these long names) are the two touring acts, and they are almost indistinguishable from one another. The opening samples on their respective Myspace pages sounded like they had the exact same stock melodic punk riff. I just can't handle that, and I usually escape out of the page before the vocals even start. Anyways, the two locals are both much better; Negaduck has a very teenage-sounding vocalist, and that's not an insult since blind hardcore rage sounds more believable the younger you are, unless you're Negative Approach. And finally, I'm willing to admit that Baconator might have some of the same issues I brought up with the touring acts if I were to hear a recording, but they were great live.
Disqo Disco (Fallout Lounge) Tonight's guests are Blake Ward and Van Damme.
Somewhere in my brain, I've always compared the evolution of the Sly and the Family Stone discography to that of a party. The early records are the arrival of the guests, first drinks, fun conversation, maybe dancing for those that are so inclined. "Stand" represents the drunken, albeit well-meaning, argumentative phase, while "There's a Riot Goin' On" is the hazy freak out that everybody loved but nobody quite remembers. I suppose that, following this logic, 'Fresh' is the paranoid, introspective thoughts that are going through your head after all of the fun has worn off and you can't sleep because the sun is coming up and the people fucking in the other corner of the room aren't even trying to be quiet about it.
And a Bonus--
What a shitty week for music. Animal Collective get their asses kissed worldwide, Florian Schneider leaves Kraftwerk, AND fucking Ron Asheton dies!
I bought the first Stooges record when i was 13 or 14 years old and played the shit out of it. I remember listening to 'i wanna be your dog' and coming to the realization that you don't have to play like Hendrix or Kirk Hammett or even J Mascis to pull off kick ass guitar solos. That song in particular (and the rest of the record) was a fucking life changer for me. Thank you Mr. Asheton, RIP.
Merriweather Post Pavilion Listening Party (the Cavern) Looks like the Cavern will be the place to be tonight, weather and all, as Gorilla vs Bear's Chris Cantalini teams up with Radio UTD and Domino Records for a listening party for Animal Collective's latest record, Merriweather Post Pavilion, which will be released this week on vinyl and MP3 download. After reading today's Pitchfork review of the record (9.6) and having heard quite a bit about in the past few weeks (including some empirical research with my own downloaded copy), I just have to wonder aloud what everyone is getting so excited about. Is this a good record? Yes, it's a good record. Is it worth a 9.6 rating? I have no fucking clue. I guess so. I don't know. I don't care. Pitchfork's ratings are maybe 1/10th as important as they used to be, and frankly, their reviews usually make me hate whatever album they're talking about anyway. Just look at this shit from today's review:
"The lyrics focus on the body, basic human connection, the need to take care of oneself, the puzzle of existence. Where the churning electronic sound, with its fizzes and echoes and underwater cast, brings to mind altered states and the confusing gap between the familiar and the strange, the words seem like a running commentary on the essential mystery of being alive."
Really, guy? Are you kidding me? I enjoy writing like a dickhead more than anyone else I know (Other than DL, duh), but let us actually sit here for a second and analyze what the fuck those sentences are supposed to mean. Or let's not. The point is that I could care less what Panda Bear's thoughts are concerning the "running commentary on the essential mystery of being alive," and if that's really what Animal Collective intended this record to be about, then I'll just pretend that they're singing in gibberish or something. Look, Animal Collective is a good band. They're a fairly interesting band. They used to be better but they're still good. I've been reading overblown reviews and blog comments on this record for the past few weeks, many of which involved the authors placing bets on what rating Pitchfork would give it, how many year end lists it would end up on, whether it will be the record of the year or if Grizzly Bear or Arcade Fire will "beat it out" or if Panda Bear will formally release some remix album of all the songs that will actually be better than the album and blah blah blah. This record isn't going to change the world, and honestly, it sounds pretty much like the last Animal Collective and Panda Bear solo records, which, last time I checked, were only "revolutionary" to 16 year olds who hadn't had a chance to discover the group's influences just yet. So love this band all you want, but if I'm supposed to care about the fake blog media storm that Animal Collective's PR agency has created about their above average new album, then I quit.
Oh, and I'm not sure if this will be downstairs and Cool Out will be upstairs or what. Maybe someone in the know can tell us in the comment section.
MON: Blueberry Fist/Rocket for Ethiopia/Roy Robertson/I Am Skogo (1919 Hemphill) WED: El Paso Hot Button/The Black/UME (The Lounge) SAT: Tunneldigger/Language of Light/Echo-Toll (Knight House) SAT: Byron House/Small Pox/Halves & Thirds/Husere Grav (House of Tinnitus) SAT: Vega/Genova (The Cavern) SAT: The Angelus/History at Our Disposal/Dust Congress/Timeline Post (Rubber Gloves)
I don't know what any of you lame asses did for NYE, but I had a blast and I hope you did too. I'm still kind of recovering from it all, but shit, it's the weekend, and I'll totally keep rockin' in 09'. The scene waits for no man, my man. This one doesn't have a lot of commentary as we've decided to pretty much take the rest of this week off, but we'll be rested and ready to go with more 2008 year end coverage starting Monday, so stay tuned. PS-- we wanted to thank everyone for reading and making 2008 the biggest and best year we've had so far. Here's to another year of pissing off the people in Dallas who think they run shit:
Strike A Pose (Green Elephant) This is a collaboration between Unit One and Central Booking to celebrate Select's birthday, featuring DJ sets from Select, Keith P and Vega (Alan Palomo). Should be the place to be in Dallas on Saturday.
I'm not going to waste too much time with descriptions, since- A. The nature of a NYE performance is that people often are familiar with your music. AND B. WSJR has a lot of plans that actually don't involve Dallas, and as such, we are running a little behind, hair still wet, car honking outside. Take care and be safe, thanks. DL
Vega | Damaged Goods | Gazelles | Villains (Hailey's) It's crazy to think that Damaged Goods has gone from playing the Fra House a couple of months ago to having shows booked in London and Paris. Pretty amazing actually, and we are very happy for them. Oh, and it's always good when Mr. Palomo is in town.
Disqo Disco | Ishi | Sydney Confirm | Schwa | Keith P (The Cavern) Wait, Disqo Disco AND Sydney Confirm? Won't that be kind of overkill, like the scene in "Stop Making Sense" where they play "Genius Of Love?"
Fischerspooner (Lizard Lounge) I know a lot of people that still want to hang this group for their cover of "The 15th." But since this is a DJ set, maybe you'll just hear the original.
Toadies | Lions | Boom Boom Box | Tendril (Ridglea Theater) I'm not much for the Toadies, but I'm interested in hearing this Boom Boom Box band, with members of Ghostcar and Falkon.
Eldridge Meatcleaver (The Lounge) Here's a brief rundown of the event from Wanz: We will be playing classic soul and garage from The Monks, The Sonics, Booker T & the MG's, Otis Redding, Carla & Rufus, A Certain Ratio("Shack up"), Nina Simone, The Small Faces, The Litter, Serge Gainsbourg, France Gall, Wilson Pickett and much much more.
The band features Ian Hamilton and Mila(Jack with One Eye), Guyton Sanders, Daniel Dacus, Wanz Dover, Ineka Guerra(The Frenz), and Ross(from Tiger Moth).
Unit 21 | Tolar | Akkolyte | Orange Coax | Rocket For Ethiopia | Division Of Power (Exploding House) This would be your best bet in Fort Worth, if not anywhere. A show just overflowing with various types of hardcore: weirdo hardcore, surf-tinged hardcore, and hardcore hardcore.
There were several notable music related deaths this past year. Eddy Arnold, Isaac Hayes, Bo Diddley, Odetta, Albert Hoffman; I'm sure I'm leaving out a few. It seems that the passing of Klaus Dinger (3/21/08) went relatively unnoticed, but his career certainly did not. He was Kraftwerk's first drummer and a founding member of NEU!
NEU! split in 1975 after the release of their third record, NEU! '75, which showed off both member's solo talents (think Spacemen 3's 'Recurring,' with less internal hostility). Michael Rother went on to do some great records with Jaki Liebezeit from Can, while Dinger formed La Düsseldorf.
'Viva' is the second full length release from La Düsseldorf, a surprisingly successful band in Europe, with sales totalling over one million for their three albums. David Bowie even went so far as to refer to them as 'the soundtrack to the '80s' in a Melody Maker interview in 1979. I guess growing up would have been a lot cooler if that were the case....
Disqo Disco | Females | Vega (Fallout Lounge) Obviously, this is a preview of various party lineups on NYE, and the rest of the week for that matter.
Old 97's | The Drams | The O's (House Of Blues) I actually got so sick after Christmas, that I almost had to be hospitalized. It really took a toll on my "holiday spirit." I thought to myself, man, I get a week and a half off of work, and here I am, laid the fuck out, spending my bonus on prescriptions, and I'll probably be bed-ridden on New Year's Eve. Sucks to be me, right? Then today I realized that there is actually a place on the internet where grown men argue about whether or not the Old 97's will take the top spot on a local "Best Of 2008" list, and whether or not putting Erykah Badu on said list is somehow "affirmative action." 'Twas then I realized that being me isn't so bad after all.
