It's a short list today. Expect this shit to blow up next week.

THURSDAY

Auction to benefit the Gustavo Ipina Memorial Scholarship Fund (Gallery 2910) 5-9pm.

FRIDAY

Uncommon Sense (Fort Worth Contemporary Arts) 6-9pm.
I still haven't made it out to Fort Worth Contemporary, but this exhibit might be a good time to get over there. The show features the work of Rebecca Baron, Tom Sachs, and Richard Wentworth. Artist talk with Rebecca Baron at noon.

So we already told you why we're excited to see Indian Jewelry this evening at the Lounge, and in antcipation of their performance, we decided to ask them a few questions via email. We wanted to talk about their live show, their rotating membership, and how they go about writing their songs. Some of their answers are more informative than others, but hey, what can you do when you're answering email questions on tour? Our questions and their answers are below:

1. The last time we saw you guys in Denton, you had an insane live show that was particularly intense thanks to use of a strobe light flashing at the audience for literally the entire performance. What do you guys aim to do to or with the audience when you play live?

What an audience does is an audience's business so long as they show us some respect and stay out of our space. If they don't that's fine too. We have acquired a bullwhip. With the strobe light flashing any insolent fools won't know where the lashes are coming from, only where they are landing. It used to be that we were trying to help them find their way to total freedom through the time-worn paths of hypnotic light and sound. But then we heard that freedom wasn't free, and we weren't feeling that generous after all.

2. How crucial is visual art to what you are trying to do with your music?

You may not know it but I was once on top of the art game, vis a vis writing and curating. i retired a champion, undefeated. The difference between me and any other artwad is that I walked out upright and on the same legs that brought me in. Art, like everything else, is fine in its time and place but like everything else it is full of pimps and other middlemen and they all need to get out the way.

3. Can you tell me about who started the band and how it was started? What inspired you early on, and what were things like in Houston when you got started?

Erika and I started the band as 2001 turned to 2002 new year's weekend in big bend. We had big plans. Full bore aesthetic hijacking for king's ransoms. Beauty in volume. Spirit frequency smearage. Swarm of angels guerilla warfare. Disindoctrination. Blood on the parquet. Dancing in the bus lane. Houston, however, don't shine to big plans. Then as always it was a spotty place where inspiring people and lifeless jackoffs share chips and salsa every night without regard for snobbery or even basic aesthetics. At the time we were mesmerized by the utopian promise of noise. It took us a while to realize that it was just another closed-circuit social channel.

4. I've read that the band's membership is constantly changing and fluctuating depending on who happens to be around. What are some of the advantages of working in this manner? What are some of the disadvantages?

It is true to a point. Our membership of active players does change fairly often, but we have circles within circles. Certain people have been with us from the start and they work their way in and around the general mess. The advantage to the way we work is that we can get more done than other bands doing it the older way, especially with regards to recording and touring. Also, it keeps us from becoming too complacent, especially insofar as our band identity is hardly fixed as we, and here I mean both erika and I as well as the whole working group, have to adapt to the ideas and the ways of the different people we play with. On the other hand, it is difficult to make everyone feel fully invested as they step in and out of the circle of activity. It can be hard work scaring up a posse, and sometimes we lose momentum abruptly. What's more, I love the old romance of the classic rock band and i hate to see people come and go.

5. Can you tell me a bit about your songwriting process? Your music is obviously very unpredictable but certainly not random or purely improvisational in nature, and I'm curious as to how this all comes together.

Not to be glib but while we write songs as they come to us they are in fact written. People might not believe it to see us play live but we put more care into every second of our music and lyrics than most precious singer-songwriters invest into their whole wee catalogs.

6. What has touring been like for you recently? Do you find that you have a healthy audience throughout the country?

We used to have fans and no audience. Now we have an audience but fewer fans. And I'd hardly call it a healthy audience, looks to me like they could spend less time in the buffet line and more time outdoors.

7. Your new album sounds a bit more accessible and a tad less dark than your last one. What do you think accounts for this slight shift in sound, if anything?

Psychology. Invasive Exotics (first record) is about dark feelings. It was written in the midst of dark times and dark places. Free Gold (second record) on the other hand was supposed to be morning music, the kind you put on in the morning, but things soured. To be sure, it has a lot of California in it in my opinion, and reflects the time that we spent in los angeles.

8. What is your typical set up when you play live?

In a nutshell, three things. Things what repeat, things what amplify sound, and people what get the job done.

9. It seems that you guys apply elements of classic psychedelic rock and droning electro pretty much equally in your music. Can you tell us some of your favorite psyche rock bands and early electro/experimental groups?

We are barbarians at the gates of the palace of the record nerds. We've spent so much of the last several years writing songs and making records that, sadly, our own
listening habits have suffered. But van time is different, and there you have Fleetwood Mac, classic rock radio, and occasionally rap stations.

10. Any funny stories from this current tour?

Funny is tragedy plus time and we haven't had the time.

11. Any noteworthy plans for the immediate future?

There is no future. only now. Of course, that is until the next bout of now and I'm a little nervous about that one and the one after it.

(Indian Jewelry play this evening at the Lounge in Dallas)

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.

Cool Out (The Cavern)

SHOWS OF NOTE THIS WEEK

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:


ADD:
Faux Fox | Telethon | Hello Lover (Hailey's)

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.

Judas Priest | Heaven And Hell | Motorhead | Testament (Starplex)


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?

Calhoun | Monahan | Doug Burr | Telegraph Canyon (Lola's)

The Great Tyrant | Spindrift | Restavrant (Chatroom)


SATURDAY

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 | Darktown Strutters (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.

SUNDAY