1. Grandaddy - Just Like the Fambly Cat
2. Danielson - Ships
3. Gustafer Yellowgold - Wide Wild World (DVD)
4. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
5. Gomez - How We Operate
6. Built to Spill - You In Reverse
7. Various Artists - Soul Sides Volume 1
8. The Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics
9. Secret Machines - Ten Silver Drops
10. Wolfmother - Wolfmother
11. Starlight Mints - Drowaton
12. Great Lake Swimmers - Bodies and Minds
13. Riverboat Gamblers - To the Confusion of Our Enemies
14. Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
15. Various Artists - Electrolush
16. Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I Am Dreaming
17. Tunng - Mother's Daughter and Other Songs
18. Tapes 'n Tapes - The Loon
19. The Theater Fire - Everybody Has a Dark Side
20. Tool - 10,000 Days

(as a side note, the worst part about the dumb little fights I got into last week was that someone compared this blog to Tool. I almost cried. Not kidding. In other news, I would be interested to see how the Theater Fire album starts selling after they get their inevitable Observer album review. I've always been curious about the relationship between local media, CD sales and concert attendance. I wonder if any of the bands or people involved in the music industry would care to comment on that. Does a good or bad album or concert review in the Observer have some kind of direct, measurable effect on these things?)

Your are Nice. And so is your site! Maybe you need some more pictures. Will return in the near future.
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Josh is on the way out, seriously. I used to be a fan, and I find myself listening to podcasts, the Good Show and Paul Slavens religiously now. I just couldn't take anymore emo and pop-punk.
You know what? There is some seriously cool music coming out of Dallas lately. Treewave, Spitfire Tumbleweeds, Theater Fire, Midlake, Bosque Brown, the Earlies. Am I just crazy, or is there a REAL scene developing here? I'm kinda proud. And I think, as much as he annoys me, Sam is getting people talking about local music. Even if they're arguing. I love to read him and TexasGigs et al go at it. Juicy!!!!

well, thats Clear Channel for you. National playlists and less DJ control over what they do are a corporate policy with those clowns.

Not that Josh would be playing anything much better if he DID have complete freedom.

That's pretty embarassing. You'd think, as a DJ, he'd just play the cool shit he likes.

From an interview with Josh Venable of KDGE on TexasGigs.com:
"TG: Can you give us a brief overview as to how KDGE 102.1 The Edge decides on the regular weekly playlist/rotation?

Josh: "My boss, me and Chris [Ryan] sit in a room every Tuesday for a few hours listening to stuff we think may be good for the station. We look at what sells here, what is getting played around the country, what videos are big, what is being downloaded a lot, what tests well with listeners, requests, etc. We take all of this into account after we decide what we actually like and think the majority of listeners will as well."

They're obviously not looking at "what sells here" meaning Good Records or even CD World.

"It's strange that the Observer might have more of an influence over record sales than the actual music itself. What the real question is, is the rest of the world paying attention to Dallas? Do Sam, Cindy, Slavens and Hunter have a voice outside of the local indie-rock circles? I think not.
Unless the Theater Fire move to NYC (a-la Secret Machines) or has some mad cashflow (Tim DeLaughter,) they're doomed to limbo in DFW. It doesn't matter that the album beats the shit out of Ten Silver Drops, (and probably the Fragile Army too.)"

you are so right!
don't discount how local popularity, whether it be tons of people attending your shows or maybe just record sales, can help boost confidence and spread some word about a band/artist to others who can help get out of that limbo.
also don't discount the fact that many bands don't have a peep mentioned about them locally and they go on to have the sales, promotion, reviews, etc. outside of dfw

really, seems like everyone would prefer the best of both worlds. however, i'll take having my name printed outside of the metroplex and never within than vice versa.

a good question is also: do critics in dfw (talking mostly about sam and hunter because i dont consider cindy or paul as actually dealing with music criticism for the most part) try to extend their sphere of influence past dfw? i dont think they do personally, at least not sam (don't read hunter too much - just no opportunity). the observer ergo sam's audience is dfw.
i think if someone wanted to extend their sphere of influence they could, a la stevie chick (careless talk cost lives, loose lips sink ships), things like artrocker mag, and so on.

ahhh, meringue pie today.

I don't use the Good Records chart as a measure of quality. Its just the biggest record store in Dallas that isn't a Virgin megastore or a mall store, and I figured that their sales would be of interest to people in the area because the records on that list are the ones that your neighbors and the guy standing next to you at the show are buying.

It's strange that the Observer might have more of an influence over record sales than the actual music itself. What the real question is, is the rest of the world paying attention to Dallas? Do Sam, Cindy, Slavens and Hunter have a voice outside of the local indie-rock circles? I think not.
Unless the Theater Fire move to NYC (a-la Secret Machines) or has some mad cashflow (Tim DeLaughter,) they're doomed to limbo in DFW. It doesn't matter that the album beats the shit out of Ten Silver Drops, (and probably the Fragile Army too.)

why do you utilize good records' sales as a measuring tool for music.....isn't that what this is supposed to help us measure against?

Soul Relentless is one of the biggest jokes around. The guy just got into hip-hop and now he's saying "son" every other word and somehow opening for Blueprint and RJD2.

If it's not on RadioDisney, then I don't listen to it!

Ashley Parker Angel is SOOOOOO fuckin' dreamy, guys!

i use it for the same thing! its like kitty litter but for birds and its free! poop on your reviews Observer!!

my parakeet loves observer
poop
poop
drop
drop
droppings

speaking from direct experience,there is a direct effect - and whoever said any press is better than no press is exactly right. nothing worse than being shut out completely by your local area music mag, for whatever reason reason that may occur. one can be in NME, Spin, Pitchfork, whatever, but if people dont read that stuff or dont know a band in those mags is a local band, then i think it hurts because they dont seek you out so much for live shows/album sales, etc.
hope i make sense. it's been a long blue monday.

It is all about Pops Carter and the Funk Monsters

I think because there is only ONE paper left in town (thanks for eating up The Met giant pacman corporation)- that is the only reason why anyone reads it. If you are smart enough not to read it or follow it (as in think because so and so said it sucks in print then that must be the word of God speaking)then bravo for you- tell your friends to do the same and feel free to check out bands because you decided that's what you wanted to do that day. Review stuff yourself that's why you have a brain.

I definitely think there is a direct effect on cd sales and concert attendence when any press is involved. And whether anyone likes it or not, A LOT of people read the Dallas Observer, so this is the publication that affects cd sales and concert attendance the most.

And yes, I didn't get an order from Good until Friday, so they didn't get cds until Saturday. I'm taking them more today and I'm hoping Theater Fire will be much higher on the list next week.

they are the east coast media's bitches, pure and simple. so, forget it! tennis anyone???

With all that in mind I would like to have faith that the general public has sense enough to see through a lot of the BS found in Observer reviews and go check out the bands themselves at shows, stores, sites, etc. So many times I've seen that paper rip up a band only to come kissing their asses when a "cooler" media gives them their stamp of approval.

in the end, any press is always better than no press it all. whether it's positive or negative, dallas observer, we shot jr, etched on the bathroom wall at the landing or whatever.

Reviews are certainly important to an album like the Theater Fire. Mostly because it lets people know it's out. One thing about that album being low on the list is because it took a few days to actually get in stock at Good, so it missed its technical street date on Tuesday.

I'm sure with the Observer and other publications, the album and the cd release shows will do faily well.

Reviews are certainly important... look at that Danielson album... that has to be a result of that 9.1 Pitchfork review.

I got a bulletin from Preserve Denton's myspace. There is some girl from a group called Dream Underground. This is part of the bulletin that she sent out. I haven't even heard of any of these bands. I'm just wondering what kind of affect this is going to have on Fry Street. In all honesty, I couldn't see it having any impact. Anyway, read it and see what you think.

"Dream Underground is focusing on the effects changes on Fry Street will have to the music community. We are a coalition of musicians, artists, and writers working to protect and preserve Denton Music.

This Saturday, May 20th, we will be hosting the first annual Dream Fest in support of local music. Gaah(n), Duc, Sunward, Soul Relentless' DFC, Chica y Los Gatos, Fatty Poindexter, and Pops Carter and the Funk Monsters will all be performing from 2pm-midnight."

I'm not going to comment. Lets make this a blog about something other than blog fights. It could be about music or something.

Its a new morning in America.

how exactly did they compare this blog to Tool?

I would like to reiterate that the guy who compared this blog to Tool has Sartre quotes on his myspace page. This is something a Tool fan in ninth grade would also do. So don't worry about it.