Cocky Americans | Beau Turkey | Keith P (The Cavern) Another Detour show, this time featuring the artwork of Beau Turkey, who takes issue with a perceived lack of pen and ink work in recent times on his Myspace page, and who also has some decent imagery overall. I would like to see some of this work up close. The participation of Keith P will probably ensure that a sizable crowd gets to do just that.
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers | Steve Winwood (American Airlines Center) Tom Petty, though it seems counterintuitive, has some sort of weird street cred. He was involuntarily responsible for launching the career of The Strokes, since their big hit "Last Night" was pretty much an "American Girl" ripoff more than anything by VU or Television or whatever NME or Mojo said they were. Steve Albini has argued that the Heartbreakers are way more of a rock band than R.E.M. ever was, and even the 1919 Hemphill crowd seems to give him the "ok." He's a classic rock icon, even cheesy classic rock, and yet nobody ever really says anything bad about him. Kind of strange. I will say something bad about Steve Winwood, I saw some quote by him where he was talking about how talentless the first wave of 70's punk musicians were and he sounded like the most threatened, out-of-touch, hippie you've ever stomached in your life. Then he went on to make some of the most sappy Reagan Era sonic swill you've ever heard in your life. And no, I will not make an exception for "Valerie."
Nas | Talib Kweli | DJ Green Lantern (House Of Blues) I have to admit, it was somewhat of a letdown when Nas ended his epic and longstanding rift with Jay-Z, which resulted in some of the most entertaining back-and-forth attacks in hip-hop. Nas hasn't really lightened up in general though, and has taken issue with Bill O'Reilly's criticism of him, dedicating an entire lyrically scathing track to Fox News on his most recent record. Sample lyrics:
"The video slots Broadcast The Waco Davidian plots They own YouTube, Myspace When this ignorant shit gon' stop? They monopolizing news Your views And the channel you choose"
I really like the idea of a popular rapper questioning the corrupt aspects of Myspace. Anyways, Nas claims he wants to release two records on the same day, one produced by DJ Premier, and one produced by Dr. Dre. I would "blind buy" the DJ Premier production without even hearing it. The rest of tonight's all star lineup includes the more peace-minded lyricism of Talib Kweli, along with DJ Greenlantern, who has worked with the aforementioned Jay-Z and too many other big names to list here.
Disqo Disco (Fallout Lounge) Tonight's set will feature Justin Vacant of Pretty Vacant.
Some time last year we caught Indian Jewelry's performance at Rubber Gloves, and it was, uh, polarizing to say the least. The moment the band took the stage and started in with their swirling feedback, distorted, disjoined electronic beats and thundering live percussion, you could tell that several members of the small audience actually became frightened as they quickly exited the performance area. We, however, found it to be one of the best shows we'd seen all year, and we're really excited that they'll be coming back to Dallas this Thusday evening at the Lounge with Zanzibar Snails and Austin's Followed By Static. Parade of Flesh has a pair of tickets to give away to the show, and if you want to win them, email weshotjrtix@yahoo.com any time between now and Wednesday at noon for your chance to win. You know the drill-- include your full name in the body and title the email "Indian Jewelry." Good luck!
Best Fwends | Akkolyte (1919 Hemphill) Uh, yes. Best Fwends are kicking off their tour this evening at 1919 Hemphill, one of the spots that has been so kind to them throughout their existence. Many of you know both of these bands well by now, but it should be said that people with short attention spans will absolutely love this show-- Akkolyte's otherwordly bursts of grindcore will slay anyone who likes "indie" rock, and then Best Fwends will remind you of how shitty your band is when you realize that they've never taken one thing seriously and have still seen more success that just about any active area band. And I'll never get sick of that Xxxchange Remix of their song "M.Y.S.E.L.F."
Whoa! feat. Young Doc Gooden (Hailey's) New weekly for YDG where he'll be playing "the best of all genres hedonistic and profane." Probably a smart choice for a crowd of people willing to get drunk on Monday night at Hailey's. School's back in, sucka, so this might be kinda crazy.
MON: Best Fwends (1919 Hemphill) WED: Tom Petty/Steve Winwood (American Airlines Center) THU: Indian Jewelry/Zanzibar Snails/Followed by Static (The Lounge) FRI: The Party (Zubar) SAT: Nouns Group/The Frenz/Fight Bite (Rubber Gloves) SAT: Zest of Yore/Ume/Record Hop (Hailey's)
Ok, here is what we have for now. We'll be making additions throughout the weekend, so check back with us, and if we missed something that you think is actually worth writing about, let us know in the comments:
Forgot to add this earlier. John Freeman's last Telethon show as a local.
FRIDAY
Denton Deluxe Players Present "Graveyard Love" | Rival Gang | Kaboom | The Faith (Rubber Gloves) This is the third and final night of the Denton Deluxe Players live theater in a rock setting and I hope to actually see it tonight. The performances have started much earlier than a band would, and I think that more people would have a chance of seeing it with a regular band set starting time. I still want to see Sloan act, but I have little doubt about his abilities as a singer, and his stage banter is impeccable. How come I've never heard a band make a shaky set joke about RGRS being a rehearsal studio in ten years plus of attending shows there? I'm sure it's been done, but it was the first time that I had heard it. Genius.
The Toadies | The Crash That Took Me | Riverboat Gamblers | Dead Twins (Palladium) Sometimes the comments on our site are so stupid, I feel like becoming a republican. Then I remember that friends of mine used to frequent "The Toadies Bulletin Board," in that overly publicized and epic lull between records. Now that was stupid. Come to think of it, the old Rubber Gloves message board was also ridiculous, though I still miss lurking on that old thing. What, did you actually think I was going to try to talk about The Toadies?
Melvins | Big Business (House Of Blues) I saw this exact same show a few months ago at the Granada (it was a WSJR sponsored show, as a matter of fact), and I'll tell you that some Melvins fans really come out of the woodwork for their shows. Like, dudes who look like they haven't left their houses since the great hash explosion of 1996. of course, once the Melvins take the stage, you'll see just how not insane these dudes actually are: the two drummer Melvins attack is a site to be seen for sure, and Buzz dorks out on guitar like no one else playing today. If you've ever had even a remote interest in the Melvins, then you need to see them at least once. I know I know, House of Blue(s) Balls sucks, but I'll put it to you this way: The Melvins live make Big Business look a little weak, and Big Business fucking rules.
My Morning Jacket (Palladium) Every time I hear people talk about My Morning Jacket, I can't help but think they are sort of like the "weirdo indie" band that dude brahs can get into so they can show their girlfriends that they're artsy and shit. That's cool I guess, but since I spend pretty much all my time trying to show girls how artsy I am, I figure I should help the brahs out a little bit-- the group has been around since the early 90s, starting off doing a reverb dominated take on Neil Young songs that came off as music made by people who had just started building their record collections based on what sounded good when they were high. However, with the release of 2005's Z, MMJ took a more experimental turn, highlighted by the Hype Machine topping blog single "Wordless Chorus." The track is actually a pretty good example of what this band is all about in a nutshell-- easily digestible? Yes. Totally chill, man? Yep. Atmospherics and doses of experimentalism that often mask pretty standard blues based rock songs? Of course. Still pretty good though? Sure, I suppose so. In fact, I usually have a hard time turning them off when I hear them, even if their brand of smoke and mirrors is pretty identifiable right off the bat. But you'll have to like them a bit more than that to sit through what will apparently be a 2 hour plus performance. I guess that's the price you'll have to pay, bro. Get high first.
Melissa's Pool Party with She-Dick | The Party | Schwa (Backyard Beach Bar, 7530 E. Grand) Well this will certainly be the Dallas hipster | scenester party of the weekend, and say what you want about that, but I have to give these people props for trying out a show at a place where most people reading this blog would never dream of venturing. For those who don't know, Backyard Beach Bar is kind of on the way to another hipster destination, the Goat, and it might be the perfect place to see what will end up being She-Dick's last ever performance. I never really dug these, uh, people, but I'm in the minority amongst most people I know, so I guess I'll just have to give in. The Party, coming of a massively successful performance at the Granada last night, will be on their game for sure, and Schwa might actually be the best summer time BBQ party DJ in Dallas, so be sure to catch him.
Yells At Eels | Silk Stocking | DarktownStrutters (Rubber Gloves) This is a great lineup, though I'm still never clear on whether or not Silk Stocking is still active. I think I'll go to this just to make sure. Yells At Eels works impresses in so many ways, that it is almost frustrating if you've ever tried to learn an instrument. In fact, these guys probably depress virtuosos as well.
Cool Kids | Flosstradamus | Ricky Blaze | The Party (Granada) One of the bigger shows of the week (obviously) featuring three huge names in the eclectic dance/hip hop scene that has been fueled and nourished by publications like Fader and XLR8R for a few years now. First things first-- if you wanna go to this thing, just head over to this corporate website and RSVP. You'll want to do it now, and you'll probably want to show up early too, as this FREE event will get packed pretty quick. I promise. Cool Kids' nods to late 80's early 90's hip hop should come off as cliche hipster fodder on paper, but somehow their tracks are almost universally successful due to fantastically minimal beats and a solid flow that answers any style over substance the right way pretty quickly. Chicago's Flosstradamus caught my ear a couple years ago with a fantastic mash up (I know, I know) of Twista's "Overnight Star" and a Sigur Ros track (don't recall the name, but it's #2 on their first album) that actually worked as an emotionally charged hip hop dance track, if that makes any fucking sense at all. Ricky Blaze is a young, pop oriented dance hall MC from Brooklyn who made waves with this video last year, and I'm sure his cuddly crowd pleasing anthems will go over very nicely with The Party's crowd . I'm not sure if Central Booking put this show together or if corporation in question just had them added to the bill, but either way, props to them for being involved in such a huge show.
Intronaut | Mouth of the Architect | Behold... The Arctopus(Club Dada) In the strange times we live in today, where self aware mid period flashback retro hip hip competes with hardcore and metal for a hipster audience thats supposed to be listening to I love You Barcelona or whatever the fuck that band is called, Parade of Flesh might have their work cut out for them on the eve of the big Granada show. However, this will end up having more to do with the shortage of hipsters in Dallas more than anything else. Intronaut is a fairly interesting prog metal act from LA that treads the line of slickness without ever crossing the line into doucheness. It's not my thing exactly, but those who are into melodic song structures and huge riffs and bands like High on Fire and Mastodon will dig it for sure, especially if said people are also into Rush and stuff. Mouth of the Architect sounds like they do something similar but a little less successful, while Behold the Arctopus sounds like they really like to fuck with odd time signatures like a heavy metal Yes. Totally. Being a dork IS cool again.
The Program (Conduit) 7-9pm The final week of The Program will feature the films of John Bock and David Adamo, along with installations from JODI, Joel Holmberg, Yu-Chin Tseng, Ryan Trecartin, and eteam. You can see the schedule here.
Imprinted Traces (Bath House)7-9pm A show from 8 female printmakers.
I'm not going to lie, it's a pretty shitty night for the most part.
Texas Achiever | Greg Ginn And The Texas Corrugators (Lakewood Bar And Grill) Innovative Black Flag guitarist and founding member, SST founder, and basically one of the people most responsible for the underground/punk/indie touring circuit of the late 20th Century, will be performing at Lakewood Bar And Grill tonight. Curiously, Ginn is now based in Taylor, TX and has relocated his historically Californian operation there. His current band basically just jams the whole time, but Ginn's playing is still recognizable. I would like to see this, in spite of the venue. Maybe I can actually get in this time.
Dj Holla | Flashlight Party (Rubber Gloves) Who will win the battle of the Denton dance parties this evening?
Joey Kendall | Har Herrar | Brad Lee Dougher | Disco/Hate | The Landed Gentry | Sorry About The Mess (J & J's Pizza) This show is mostly Mount Righteous members playing their solo projects, and I prefer the less-is-more approach of some of the acts to their collective output.
Jessie Mayeux | Desirae Embree | Disqo Disco (The Cavern) Mayeux will be performing live tonight, with art provided by Desirae Embree. Disqo Disco will handle DJ duties.
Young Doc Gooden, aka Austin Brown, has been making quite a name for himself in Denton over the past few months with a series of well attended parties and musical events that have exhibited a great deal of stylistic diversity and, well, style. Lately, Young Doc has been working on building up a weekly residency at Hailey's on Monday nights where he'll play the latest in southern hip hop, ghetto house and a lot of other stuff that inspires thoughts of purple drink and debates concerning high/low/no brow pretty much equally. Guy was nice enough to put a mix together for us, so check the track list and some little write ups Austin did for each track, then download it here. Tracks:
UGK – Itn’l Player’s Anthem (Chopped and Screwed) This is a lane hoggin anthem.
E.S.G. – Realist Rhymin’ (feat. Lil Flip) E.S.G. gets into some topical James Byrd flow towards the end which gives me chills everytime, but Lil Flip’s verse is the most crucial on this song. E.S.G. actually wrote “Wanna Be a Baller” by Lil Troy, but never got credit (or money) for it. There’s no telling how big he could have blown up if he had gotten credit for a number one hit. E.S.G. is the greatest rapper of the S.U.C. that never achieved his potential of mainstream success. He’s also mentally unstable.
Lil Keke – Down South (feat. A.G., Archie Lee, and Da Hitman) The instrumental on this track is a real classic. It sounds like when you go into Guitar Center and press play on one of the sequencers or really expensive keyboards. Slim Thug – I Ain’t Heard (Chopped and Screwed) What would Pharrell think if he heard what was done to his masterpiece.
Trae – Pop Trunk Wave (feat. Fat Pat) This song reminds me how good it feels to get paid. Trae is a self-proclaimed “asshole by nature,” and I think that’s awesome.
Fat Pat – Tops Drop If you listen to this song and click your heals three times, you can actually appear in a Cadillac on I-10 going through downtown Houston. Just be careful with that styrofoam cup in the cupholder.
H.A.W.K. – World Come 2 an End You can really see where Lil Wayne got his style listening to way H.A.W.K. flows. All of the similes and clever rhymes came straight from H.A.W.K.
Ghostwriters – H-Town Luv (Chopped and Screwed) “We’ve come a long way from comin down and sayin man.” Just seeing where rap radio is now, and seeing where it started with DJ Screw, its amazing how professional the whole scene has become.
Big Moe – Bar Baby I got in an argument at a party that Big Moe has better flow that Biggie. ‘Bar Baby’ is equivalent of ‘Juicy’ by Biggie. Listen to them back to back and you tell me I’m wrong.
Fat Pat – Jammin Screw This song uses the popular Slave – Watching You sample.
Big Steve and Double D – Supa Hoe Layer (feat. Granpapper Mafioso and Noke D.) “I took a trip to Louisiana and met a hoe at the mall.” That’s real life stuff.
Pimp C – Workin the Wheel I was watching Lou Reed at SXSW, and this guy with a camera and a microphone from some website asked me what my favorite rock lyrics of all time were. “I’m Pimp C I ain’t never made love.” Just think about it…
Mike Jones – Flossin (feat Big Moe) I went through about a month of my life where before I could listen to anything else on my iPod, I had to listen to this song at least twice. The only SwishaHouse rapper on this mix.
UGK – Somethin Good (Chopped and Screwed) An old school UGK hit the only way to hear it.
Killa Kyleon – Back to Front (feat. Slim Thug and Sir Daily) The super-used UGK “Front Back and Side to Side” sample, but this song gets me buck. “H-town: the home of the Rockets and the Texans, and we got the cheapest prices cause we cop it from the Mexicans.” Real talk.
Z-Ro – It Don’t Stop Z-ro takes a lot of influence from Tupac. Most of his songs are full of truth bombs and political rap. He has a pretty extensive discography, which is pretty impressive considering how often he is in and out of jail.
E.S.G. – Swangin and Bangin Forget Weezy, Jay-Z, 3000: E.S.G. is the greatest rapper alive. He’s still alive right?
Nothing today, except Disqo Disco at Fallout and Minimal Techno at Moosh. The Observer also wants everyone to know that they totally aren't falling for the hype on this Vega track, ok? They're just "dutifully spreadin' the word" by reporting on it. Look, if you're just doing your duty, no need to sound so threatened.
One of the things I really liked about Alan Palomo's work with Ghosthustler was that the guy just sounded so self assured and comfortable with what he was doing. A lot of these "blog house" or hipster dance or whatever you call them groups (even some of the better ones, too) feature some of the biggest lame asses of all time as vocalists or frontmen, but I always thought Palomo was leaps and bounds above most of them as far as style, delivery and lyrics. Well, as happens anywhere from 10-30 times a day every day, I've been proven right once again. Palomo's solo project, Vega (I'm guessing its an obvious nod to you-know-who), has just released its first single, "All Too Vivid," and yes, its quite good. The guy is playing to his strengths and putting his vocals front and center in front of some glossy ass synths and infectious dance beats. I don't think you could even really call this "blog house," it's probably more just a great pop song with an impeccable set of influences that Palomo discovered before you ever heard that Cut Copy record. Alan was nice enough to share this with us and a couple other blogs, so listen to it:
Nine Inch Nails | A Place to Bury Strangers (American Airlines Center) Trent Reznor re-emerged back into the American underground's line of sight briefly this year when he pulled a Radiohead and released not one but five albums independently via download and several other formats from his website. The first was a four CD set of 36 instrumental tracks, and the second was a more pop affair with vocals that has been downloaded for free nearly 2 million times since it was released. This is quite an accomplishment on many levels, but hardly surprising given the fact that 1) Nine Inch Nails is by far the most popular industrial group of all time and 2) dude has enough money to try whatever the fuck he wants. You know? Anyway, be sure to show up early and catch the set from NYC's A Place to Bury Strangers, who's industrial, shoegaze and noise influences came together perfectly on their uncomfortably loud debut record several months ago. People seem to throw the name Jesus and Mary Chain around most often when talking about this group, and although the link is clear, you won't find any of the latter group's subversively bubble gum vocal melodies hidden beneath the noise... this stuff is darker and even less organic. Highly recommended.
From The Depths | The Doomies | Maruta | Cult Ritual | Ippur | Division of Power (1919 Hemphill) Politically charged grindcore/metal/hardcore show with some fairly tight groups. The real attraction for me, however, is tonight's interactive workshop that features step by step instructions on how to crash the major national Parties' conventions this year, complete with advice on creating blockades and defending yourself against 5-0 when they start trying to fuck with you.
DJ Holla (Hailey's) Holla is a New York based DJ who seems to play (if his Myspace is any indication) some of the most stereotypical hipster dance mixes you could ever imagine. Daft Punk's "Around the World" mixed with Rye Rye? Yessir! Stardust's "Music Sounds Better with You" mixed with Simian Mobile Disco's "Hustler?" Check. Kavinsky and MSTRKRFT? As the Olsen twins would say, "you got it, dude!" I guess you could do a lot worse than this on a Monday night in Denton, but shit, its like this guy went back in time to Spring 07 so that he could give us 1.21 Jigowatts worth of no surprises. Expect a sizable crowd!
MON: Nine Inch Nails/A Place to Bury Strangers (American Airlines Center) WED: Greg Ginn (Lakewood Bar and Grill... not kidding) THU: Flosstradamus/Cool Kids/The Party (Granada) THU: Intronaut/Mouth of the Architect/Behold... The Arctopus (Club Dada) THU: Steely Dan (Starplex) FRI: Judas Priest/Heaven and Hell/Motorhead/Testament (Starplex) SAT: Melvins/Big Business (House of Blues) SAT: My Morning Jacket (Palladium) SAT: Yells at Eels/Silk Stocking/Darktown Strutters (Rubber Gloves)
Hands UP with DJ Craze | Dave Nada | The Party | Keith P (the Loft) Pretty big time show at the Loft tonight for anyone who knows shit about shit. Dj Craze has made quite a name for himself over his ten year career (he was even named "Best DJ of the Year" by TIME FUCKING magazine for God's sake) , but his most high profile gig came earlier this year when he began working as Kanye West's touring DJ. Aside from these claims to fame, this Miami based DJ has been running a record label and producing drum n bass tracks for a number of years, as well as working with the heavy blogged about A-Trak. Craze's remix work certainly leans heavily towards early Euro electro, classic house, 80's synth dance and Miami bass, and it's all very solid and well worth checking out. Although I hear the guy plays a lot of hip hop during his sets, I really hope he sticks with stuff similar to his remixes this evening, because Dallas could use a dose of it. Dave Nada is another highly respected DJ who recently joined the Am Only Roster along with Crookers, Richie Hawtin and MSTRKRFT, and he's considered one of the main figures on the Baltimore dance scene. Congrats to Central Booking for a very solid show.
Dub Assembly with Southern | Mundo | Royal Highnuss | Soy Capaz and Dragonman (Green Elephant) Another strong Texas centered line up at Dub Assembly that will surely be highlighted by Mundo. How do I know this? Well, we attended Dub Assembly's 2 year anniversary with a pretty big group of people, and pretty much everyone I was with remarked seperately that while it was a thrill to see Hatcha, it was actually Mundo's set that stole the show. I think they were right actually. Maybe it was just the fact that dude was playing in front of his home crowd, but the audience was completely into what he was doing, and I bet a lot of them would agree with my earlier statement. And oh yeah, Hatcha was great... if that tells you anything. It's also nice to see that the Dallas Observer finally heard about this dubstep thing and did a little interview with Mundo and gang some two years after the first Dub Assembly. Too little too late? Probably. Next week in the Observer: so what's the deal with this electroclash stuff everyone's been talking about lately? (side note, check out some of the insane stuff on Dragonman's Myspace)
Television City | The Scandals | Warcola | Youth Aggression (Eisenberg's Skatepark, Plano) I don't know much about this lineup, besides I think that Warcola is cool and seeing a hardcore show at Eisenberg's is cooler. What's more punk than the suburbs, right guys? You have no idea how serious I'm being. Note: This show is right next to a court house and Police Station. Tread LIGHTLY.
SATURDAY
Darktown Strutters, Possibly (Amsterdam Bar) So the big show at Amsterdam with Frenz, etc. was canceled due to double booking. However, Darktown Strutters want to play so bad that they are going to go down there and try to do so anyway. If you're interested in seeing if they can pull it off, check back with us before Saturday night and we'll provide you with any updates we may have.
Yellow Tears | Ahlzagailzehguh | Black Leather Jesus | Concrete Violin | Aphonic Curtains | GOAT(House of Tinnitus) If you caught the Halflings show at HOT last year, you could certainly understand why Yellow Tears will probably be an intimidatingly devastating show. This promises to be less structured than that laptop duo with a sound that is more guitar-based resulting in a freer, sludgier sound. AHLZAGAILZEGUH takes a stab at making a name harder to pronounce than a black metal logo is to read, and have released records on Prurient's respected Hospital Productions label. This project continues (as does the entire lineup) down the darker, more aggressive path of noise, lots of feedback, house leveling rumble, tape cutups and all other manner of sonic chaos. Black Leather Jesus is the project of Houston's venerable Richard Ramirez, considered to be a pioneer of Harsh Noise music for embracing the largely Japanese aesthetic way ahead of the curve in North America. Leave it to a fucked up musician to give you some Texas pride. Maybe the obvious respect Thurston Moore has for him will bring out a couple extra chin scratchers tonight, of the sort that used to infect the staff of 33 Degrees. The rest of the lineup is a rough collection of other Lone Star noisemakers who we have mentioned and enjoyed before. PS-- Just kidding, I really miss 33 Degrees.
Cex | Best Fwends | Stove Blow (Rubber Gloves) Cex is a pretty strange dude to say the least. One of the founders of the Tigerbeat6 record label (along with Kid 606), the guy ventures into all kinds of strange places with his avant hip hop and broken down beats. We caught him a while back around town, and the only thing stranger than his music was the mystery of how someone could smell as bad as he did without wanting to clean up a little. OMG take a bith or something! Just kidding, he really did fucking stink. None the less, I wouldn't worry about it too much, especially if you're into see Best Fwends piss everyone off in an entirely different way than they ever have before. I'm into it. Seriously, this band might be the least likely Texas music success story of the decade. Don't believe me? Just as go to a party and ask Bacardi.
For Your Pleasure with DJ G and Gabriel (Hailey's) New weekly featuring glam, funk, krautrock, and dancefloor jazz.
