Solid weekend of shows. And be sure to check our MP3 section as we slowly but surely start to add more and more to it. Within the next couple of weeks, we hope to be posting multiple tracks a day. Shows:

FRIDAY

Night Game Cult | White Bitch | Violent Squid (Rubber Gloves)
We've seen various squabbles in the comments sections concerning whether or not Silk Stocking will be playing this show, so for now, we're just going to assume that they aren't. But in more important news, Kyle Cheatham's Night Game Cult comes back to town sounding just as insane as ever but probably a bit more ahead of its time than many people gave the guy credit for when he was here. Seeing artists like John Maus, Kelley Polar, Strategy, Jeremy Jay and others blow up around blog land over the past year really makes me thing that Night Game Cult could have enjoyed some of the same success if it weren't for the fact that his music is, in many ways, quite a bit more daring than that of the aforementioned artists. Not to say that Night Game sounds much like Strategy or anything, but part of that same ingredient is present-- you know, the one where it is ok to take Pet Shop Boys and Naked Eyes seriously. Night Game adds a twisted lyrical innocence and an unbalanced outlook that is particularly nervous, especially in a live setting. The respected Matin Iles will also be doing some rather interesting video work for this show. Apparently he and Mr. Cheatham have been working together to prepare a video presentation designed to match every song in tonight's Night Game set. Based on some of Iles' previous work, I'm excited to see this.

The Party (Zubar)
Will feature the Cultura Fina dudes in some capacity.

Centro-matic | South San Gabriel (Dan's Silverleaf)
Expect a packed house of devoted fans at a venue with a climate that seems tailor made for any project involving Will Johnson. Dan's devotees should feel fortunate tonight because they will get to see not one but two of Johnson's bands this evening, both of which are preparing to release new albums. In fact, they are both about to release the same album, or the same double album, entitled Dual Hawks, with each band given their own disk. I hear rumors that there might be some copies at the show, but I can't confirm this.

Marked Men | Teenage Cool Kids | Total Abuse | Back Stabbath (715 Panhandle)
Fun, crowded, and sweaty show not to mention one of your last chances to catch The Marked Men in Denton for a very long time. The band is just coming off of a triumphant set at Chaos In Tejas that took place in Austin a couple of weeks ago, and I've been meaning to mention what a good time that event was. Bands as different as the spookily melodic Vivian Girls to the truly punishing Los Crudos played to packed crowds and there were better spirits and attitudes around the Red River area than I've experienced in some time. My only complaint was having to deal with after hours shows getting shut down or finding out about impromptu sets on my way back to Dallas, causing me to miss Limp Wrist. Oh, well.Back to the 715 business, even though Teenage Cool Kids and The Marked Men are the better known bands around here and they're certainly worth watching, I would wholeheartedly recommend the recently reunited Back Stabbath as well as as Austin's Total Abuse. The eleven seconds of Back Stabbath's "Hi Fives and Dumpster Dives" is exactly the kind of fucked up thrash I seek at shows like this, and there is nothing like the sight and sound of people losing it between every short burst. Total Abuse includes one half of Best Fwends (which might explain a review in Fader), but the hoarse fury of their Reagan Era hardcore replicas couldn't be more different. Barbecue at six. Show starts at seven sharp. Get there early.



Treasure Fingers | Kill the Noise | Keith P (The Loft)

Sarah Jaffe | The Heartstring Stranglers | Alan James (Chat Room)

SATURDAY

Final Strawberry Fields Oak St. Concert (Strawberry Fields)
The final concert to take place at Strawberry Fields' Oak Street location will be an all day, free affair starting at 1pm. Highlights include White Drugs at 7:30, Fight Bite at 10:30, and Drink to victory at 11:15. Check this thread on Denton Rock City for the complete schedule. It's sad to see this place go, but it always seems that just as one era of Denton DIY ends, another begins. We'll see what happens next.

Dub Assembly (Green Elephant)

Female Snake | Division of Power | Rocket for Ethiopia | Bad Sports | Without Thought (Exploding House)
This show is three bucks and starts at 8pm. Go early for bad Sports please.

Convextion | Total Vengeance | DJ G (Hailey's)
This is going to be right up the alley of anyone who knows anything about good dance music. Convextion is perhaps the most underappreciated electronic artist in north Texas these days, evidenced by the fact that he just returned from a Eurpean tour which included a performance at London's legendary Fabric Club (not to mention write ups in highly respected publications such as Boomkat and Wire, among others). But dude doesn't sound like Black Tie Dyansty or PPT, so I wouldn't expect a write up in most of the major local music media outlets any time soon. Convextion will be focusing his set on 4AD and Detroit techno, while Total Vengeance, a part of That's What's Hot Productions, will be spinning acid house and Dutch electro cuts after a set of post punk and other rarities from DJ G. This is probably the most tasteful and exciting dance line up I've seen around here in months. Highly recommended.

Existence is Elsewhere featuring Yells at Eels | SUBkommander (Avenue Arts)
The musical performances begin at 9pm, and this is one you aren't going to want to miss. Looks like this will be a very solid art show as well.

Baptist Generals | Band of Annuals | Matthew and the Arrogant Sea (Chat Room)

Lumberjack (Dan's Silverleaf)
Check the schedule here, highlights include Gun Gun, Birth To Burial and Deep Snapper.

Margot and the Nuclear So and So's | Matthew and the Arrogant Sea | Red Monroe (Rubber Gloves)
You know, someone in one of the comments sections (I know, I'm bringing them up a lot today) remarked that Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos might have THE dumbest band name in the world, and the more I say it to myself in my head, the more I think I agree. It's the kind of name that the quirky bff in My So Called Life would come up with, and I think they might want to take a little naming advice from Linkin Park-- be strategic about it, people. Of course, the band's music sounds much better than their name would lead you to believe, but that isn't saying a whole hell of a lot. It kind of reminds me of Coldplay and Travis and various other Radiohead water downers hiding behind the aesthetic fashion sense of indie pop marquee names like The Shins, Rogue Wave and Arcade Fire (and possibly Starlight Mints). The lead singer refers to a girl in one of the songs as a "Calico queen." Does that tell you enough already? This is another example of a show where the local openers far outshine the headliner.

SUNDAY

Starhead | Dark Valley Harvesters | Fancy Fist (Dan's Silverleaf)
Our friend Sally Glass will be performing on the biggest stage of her career this evening... don't screw up, Sally! Also, I hear rumors of a cool cover by Fancy Fist, and I kinda have the inside scoop on that shit, yo.

Scarily Terrible | Peace Corpse | Falkens Maze | Farah (the Cavern)
Fara will be opening up this show before she heads off to Los Angeles to play some Italians Do it Better shows. I still love how mad people around here get every time they're reminded that she has music released on a cool label and they don't. Keep being a "real" musician, brah. It'll get you places, I swear. Anyway, I hope Farah teams up with Johnny Jewel on some new tracks some time in the near future. The rest of this line up leans heavily towards the goofy retro variety of electro, with Peace Corpose the highlight in my mind. And although the name Scarily Terrible sounds like a band name that an Observer staff writer would pick for a Forever the Sickest Kids opening act, they are better than you might think.

The Black Angels | Brothers and Sisters | True Widow (Granada)

Lost Generation (Fallout Lounge)
This will be the very last Lost Generation DJ night with Wanz, like, ever, as the Fallout Lounge has decided to try a new hip hop night on Thursdays. Based on the many times I have stopped by Fallout on Thursday nights over the past couple of years, Lost Generation rarely pulled in a big crowd, making the awkward Fallout "dancefloor" even more difficult to dance on than normal, but Wanz Dover certainly should be given props for spinning some of the most diverse and forward thinking dance/electro sets to be heard anywhere in Dallas. Playing everything from rare funk to post punk to German minimal to tech house to French Disco to no wave/noise, Wanz was usually full of surprises and generally void of the blog house remix remixes that dudes in girl jeans like to "spin" on their ipods. Stop by and say goodbye to Wanz, and you might get a chance to hear a little bit of the following segement of his playlist for tonight:

Gang of Four, Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane, Modeselektor, The Boredoms, The Meters, Theoretical Girls, Scratch Acid, Ricardo Villalobos, James Chance, Portishead, Silver Apples, Aphex Twin, Kurtis Blow, Siriusmo, The Damned, Autechre, The Ruts, Midnight Juggernauts, (new) Ellen Allien,(new)Anja Schneider, Atari Teenage Riot, James Brown, Suicide

Sounds pretty good, check it out.

Great American Novel | Pretty Baby | Browningham (Lola's)
Browningham seems to be the only thing worth listening to here.

80's Night with DJG (Hailey's)
G didn't give us that playlist. Oh well. I'm sure We Made Out Once will be making out there regardless.

Vortexas | Mr. Dibbs | Rob Viktum (Rubber Gloves)

The CADD Art Fair is this weekend, as you may have read in Sally Glass's (no relation to Ira or Phillip, sadly) news post earlier this week. The fair will feature work from And/Or, Barry Whistler, Conduit, Craighead Green, Gerald Peters, Holly Johnson, Marty Walker, Pan, American, Public Trust, Road Agent, and Valley House Gallery and Sculpture Garden. Some bands will play, some people will speak, you'll see some crazy shit. Keep reading for details.

Also, a few closings this Saturday at And/Or, Barry Whistler, 500X, Fort Worth Contemporary, and Jeanette Kennedy. The Centraltrak show closes on Tuesday.

THURSDAY

Tania Kaufmann, "Loss of Time" (Magnolia)

FRIDAY

CADD Art Fair Preview Party (333 First Ave) 7-11pm
I'll be straight up- this little bash will cost you $45 in advance, $60 at the door. This fact probably means that most of you reading this will not be in attendance. For the trust fund babies out there, this event is hosted by Modern Luxury Dallas and Shapes Have Fangs are playing at 9:45.

Click Chicks + mostly women photographers (Dallas Contemporary)

Tony Bones, "Mug Shots" and Bill Daniel, "Who is Bozo Texino" (Webb Gallery)

SATURDAY

CADD Art Fair (333 First Ave) 12-8pm
Paige West, curator, owner of Mixed Greens Gallery, and author, will speak at 2p.m. Tickets for Saturday and Sunday are $10, or $5 for students. I believe one ticket will get you in both days.

I-35 Biennial Invitational 2008 (Dunn and Brown) 6-8pm
Work by 8 artists under 35.

SUNDAY

CADD Art Fair (333 First Ave) 12-5pm
At 2pm is the New Media Panel with Lauren Cornell, Executive Director of Rhizome and Adjunct Curator at the New Museum of Contemporary Art; Paul Slocum, from Treewave and And/Or Gallery owner; and Kevin Bewersdorf. The discussion will be moderated byDallas artist and SMU professor Noah Simblist. You can read our interviews with both Paul Slocum and Noah Simblist in our interview section.
At 3:30pm is the Dallas Issues: Care and Conservation discussion with John T. Campbell from the Nasher Sculpture Center; Lyzanne Gann, conservator of photographs; and Shannon Phillips and Tish Brewer, from the Center for Art Conservation. Cheryl Vogel, curator at Valley House Gallery and Sculpture Garden, will moderate.

Last summer we started the "We Shot A Mix" series in which we asked several of our favorite local bands and DJs to throw together an exclusive mix for us to share with all of you.  We've decided to do that again this summer with a whole new crop of bands and Djs, and since we can't remember how many mixes we did last summer (and don't feel like looking it up), we're just going to start using 2. whatever to number this year's selections.  What you're looking at is We Shot A Mix 2.0.  

We're really glad that our first mix of the summer comes from Tommy Boy, one of our favorite new DJs in the area.  The guy is REALLY playing some fascinating, hard to find (and often old school) stuff that you'll be hard pressed to hear from anyone else around town, and this mix is another great example of what I'm talking about.  But instead of me going on and on about it, I'll just leave you with the track list, the download link, and the little message that Tommy sent us about his latest:

It's my pleasure to bring you an exclusive mix for the summer blog season. The track selection is a collection of favorites I haven't yet worked into previous mixes, so this is truly a first. My intention was to cover a variety of sounds while offering a unique perspective on dance music. I'm really getting sick and tired of the re-re-remixes and the new-new-new sound that is assaulting us from all fronts. I purposefully went back, way back... all originals, all old, all good.

Download it here

1. Intro - Patrick Mcgoohan - Scanners
2. Mann's Earth Band - Angels At My Gate
3. The Who - Eminence Front
4. Unknown Cases - Masimbabele
5. Vangelis - Salomes Dance
6. Division of Labour - Criminal Minds
7. Venus Gang - Love to Fly
8. G.A.N.G. - Incantations
9. Escape From NY - Slow Beat
10. Escape From NY - Fire In My Heart Dub
11. Pink Project - Instrumental Project
12. Esavu - Spelling Love (Instrumental)
13. Massimo Barsotti - Right or Wrong
14. Nile Rogers - It's All In Your Hands
15. Zebras - For Your Love (Jaz edit)
16. Vivien Lee - Alright
17. Z.A.C.K. - Mr. Satellite
18. Supermax - Spooky
19. Zazu - Captain Starlight
20. Ganymed - Hyperspace
21. Savage - A Love Again

Snowden | Colour Revolt (The Cambridge Room-House Of Blues)
Snowden is still plowing through the done-to-death "post punk" style that had so many screamo mall kids trading in their SG's for Junos, only a few short years after they had scrapped their "Blue Voodoo" rap-metal setups due to cultural shifts that they just could not have predicted. It's remarkable that Snowden still has the stamina to keep up in this style. One would assume that they surely would have "evolved" into dirty open chord Springsteen posturing the way their Post Punk contemporaries like The Killers and The Pharmacy have. Bland and formulaic as this stuff tends to be, it's still just a notch above doing something like that. Colour Revolt is one of two bands in America with a member named Sean Kirkpatrick. I just can't figure out which one is better.

Erik Thompson | Dana Falconberry | On After Dark (Dan's Silver Leaf)
Erik Thompson is the frontman of Denton's veteran Lo Fi Chorus. Dana Falconberry puts on a fascinatingly flawless live show, and her best songs are complete with some really beautiful chord progressions that could almost pass for the melancholy melodic fragments of a Cole Porter piece.

The Scoop (Fallout Lounge)
Schwa will be guesting tonight.

Taxi Fare (Zubar)

The Jungle Rockers | Sawed Off Sick (Double Wide)
The Jungle Rockers are notable for combining two of the words you should never use in a band name.

I’m going to start this review off by stating that I am a big fan of Faux Fox live. No matter how many times I have seen them over the last half-decade or so, and no matter what lineup I happen to be watching, a Faux Fox show has always been a dependably entertaining night out and about. There’s usually a decent sized crowd with some attractive people and someone you know in it, lead singer George Quartz will have assuredly put some time in to an “outfit” of some description (maybe thin moustache and a rayon shirt, maybe fringed suede boots and a ski jacket, and so on), and the band can always be counted on to give an edgy energetic performance that leaves you seriously wondering why they’ve never made much of a dent outside of their home turf.

With that being said, I’ve never had a great interest in listening to Faux Fox’ recorded work. Going back to their debut EP, 2004’s Black Glove Or White Glove, Faux Fox on record has been a rather sterile proposition almost completely devoid of what might be termed “Wow Factor.” Stripped of the charisma and charm that their onstage presence brings to the proceedings, their songs have generally come off as same-y and lackluster with the band’s obvious wit and emotion buried under icy drones of the C-grade Gary Numan variety. So, is All That Remains the album that turns it all around and finally captures the Faux Fox live lightning in a bottle that you can listen to in the shower? A little bit of “yes” and a whole lot of “no.”

With half of it’s eight tracks breaking the five minute mark, the album’s biggest problem reveals itself right out of the box with opening song, “Class Ring,” a fairly middling six minute track that could have been a great four minute song. Sure, those longish instrumental passages make for dynamic live moments when accompanied by Quartz’s dancing and crowd baiting, but on record they just stand as glaring lulls that had me reaching for the “Skip” button. It is a problem that crops up again and again on an album where good ideas are stretched beyond the limits of casual interest, allowing everything to sink into an easily ignored wall of background noise. Two saving graces do arrive as All That Remains enters it’s second half in the form of “Dirt City Rollers” and “Nothing Gold,” the former a muscular, hook-filled anthem that fully captures the visceral fun of Faux Fox in the flesh, and the latter a playfully brooding ode to lost glories whose dynamic sound fully justifies it’s six minute length (and whose motorcycle racing-themed video you should definitely check for on YouTube). These are followed by “Personal Best,” another gem of a song that has an odd hint of early Erasure-style melancholy until it disappointingly collapses under it’s own weight. Closer “Brass Ring” is the worst culprit in the “More Is Less” stakes, as it wanders through a repetitious eight and a half minutes of buried vocals and teases of heading somewhere epic until it abruptly cuts out and ends the album on it’s biggest “Huh” moment.

In the end, All That Remains may be Faux Fox’ most frustrating moment yet because there are flashes of how great they can be scattered throughout it’s forty-five minutes. You can see the traces of an amazing album in here, and I can’t help but think that with a bit of judicious fat trimming this just might have been their ticket out of The Golden Triangle. I’m sure it’ll all sound great at The Cavern, though. I’ll be there.

(2.5 out of 5)

RADIO UTD CHARTS

1 PORTISHEAD Third
2 MICROPHONES The Glow, Pt. II
3 SUN KIL MOON April
4 ANIMAL COLLECTIVE Water Curses [EP]
5 DOSH Wolves And Wishes
6 FRIGHTENED RABBIT The Midnight Organ Fight
7 PATTERN IS MOVEMENT All Together
8 ERIC CHENAUX Sloppy Ground
9 LYKKE LI Little Bit [EP]
10 TIM FITE Fair Ain't Fair
11 INDIAN JEWELRY Free Gold
12 TICKLEY FEATHER Tickley Feather
13 BORIS Smile
14 RUSSIAN CIRCLES Station
15 M83 Saturdays=Youth
16 DIZZEE RASCAL Maths And English
17 DEATH SET Worldwide
18 FRENCH KICKS Swimming
19 65DAYSOFSTATIC The Distant And Mechanised Glow Of East European Dance Parties [EP]
20 BLACK KEYS Attack And Release
21 LITTLE ONES Terry Tales And Fallen Gates
22 OKAY Huggable Dust
23 WYE OAK If Children
24 MUDHONEY The Lucky Ones
25 ISLANDS Arm's Way
26 MEHO PLAZA Meho Plaza
27 FOL CHEN Fol Chen Make The Orange Sound
28 MORNING BENDERS Talking Through Tin Cans
29 LAST SHADOW PUPPETS The Age Of The Understatement
30 WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH Not Noiice

GOOD RECORDS LOCAL

1. Frogboy - Rides Golden Thread
2. Eleven Hundred Springs - Country Jam
3. Record Hop - Record Hop
4. Stumptone - Gravity Suddenly Released
5. Doug Burr - On Promenade

GOOD RECORDS OVERALL TOP 20

1. Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
2. Mates of State - Re-Arrange Us
3. Portishead - Third
4. No Age - Nouns
5. Islands - Arm's Way
6. National - Virginia EP/A Skin, a Night
7. Pattern is Movement - All Together
8. Old 97's - Blame It On Gravity
9. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Lie Down in the Light (LP)
10. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Lie Down in the Light
11. Animal Collective - Water Curses
12. M83 - Saturdays=Youth
13. Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Fight
14. Stars of the Lid - Carte-De-Visite
15. Foals - Antidotes
16. Black Keys - Attack and Release (LP)
17. Black Angels - Directions to See a Ghost
18. Mt. Eerie - Black Wooden Ceiling Opening
19. Samamidon - All Is Well
20. Santogold - Santogold

RECYCLED LOCAL TOP SELLERS AND NEW ARRIVALS

Top Two:

1. Mom - Little Brite
2. Record Hop - Record Hop

New Arrivals:

Admiral David V. - As American as Napalm (CD)
Admiral David V. - Letters from the Earth
Florene - Live at the House of Dang
Florene/Verulf - Mtn. Hiss
Florene - Room
Fur - Black Castles cassette
Mark Murphy - Real Country
Mark Murphy - That's Who I am
Neighborhood Allstars - Too Tight you Can't Deny It
War Next Door - War Next Door EP
Chris Watson - Just for Show
Verulf - Is it the Heart or the Spirit

The Golden Boys | The Make Believers | The Spider Bags | DJ Andy Rambler Cox (Hailey's)
Some shared influences here, filtered through three different groups and with varying results. The Spider Bags sound somewhat like "Sometimes A Pony Get's Depressed"-era Dave Berman, complete with bar clown lyrics. The Make Believers are the tremelo soaked new project from Current Leaves' Aaron White and bring to mind the pop lilt of the Left Banke as much as any of the obvious 60's country rock comparisons. And The Golden Boys seem to have toned things down a bit since I first saw them several years ago, but still have more garage rock grease stains than any of these acts.

Disqo Disco (Fallout Lounge)