LOCAL TOP 5

1. Mom - Little Brite
2. The Polyphonic Spree - Live from Austin, TX (DVD)
3. Red Monroe - ¡Policia! ¡Policia!
4. The Polyphonic Spree - Live from Austin, TX
5. Adam Pacione - From Stills to Motion

OVERALL TOP 20

1. Mom - Little Brite
2. Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
3. Soundtrack - The Darjeeling Limited
4. Akron/Family - Love is Simple
5. Bruce Springsteen - Magic
6. Tunng - Good Arrows
7. Kevin Drew - Spirit If...
8. Stars - In Our Bedroom After the War
9. The Polyphonic Spree - Live from Austin, TX
10. Flaming Lips - U.F.O.s at the Zoo
11. Calvin Harris - I Created Disco
12. Cloudland Canyon - Silver Tongued Sisyphus
13. Dirty Projectors - Rise Above
14. Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
15. Feist - Reminder
16. Ween - Friends EP
17. Bat for Lashes - Fur and Gold
18. Red Monroe - ¡Policia! ¡Policia!
19. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
20. Shout Out Louds - Our Ill Wills

Matthew Dear | Mobius Band | Tree Wave (The Granada) Just about everything you need to know about Matthew Dear is covered by Stonedranger in his excellent interview with the man himself if you'll look below this post. Matthew Dear has been somewhat of a crossover act this decade, due to his charmingly minimal "Microhouse" records and his increasing tendency towards pop experimentalism. Treewave has continued to be great as a one-man act this year and I loved watching him baffle the crowd at a Voot Cha Index | Black Tie Dynasty show at Hailey's this past summer. He made an onstage announcement that his next set would feature (paraphrasing here) "reworked Christian music, and I'm not joking." We'll see if that's the case tonight. Mobius Band is affiliated with Matthew Dear's Ghostly International as well as highly regarded Austin, TX imprint, Misra. There are electronic touches blended in to their work, but it's a little more straight-forward rock music.

Naxat | MC Router | Cheap Dinosaurs | Red Rocket (1919 Hemphill)
This is the debut show for Alex Atchley's Naxat project, which is melodramatic 8-bit metal. Continuing in that vein is touring act Cheap Dinosaurs, who's 8-bit sound is more pop oriented. MC Router plays with similar sounds but instead, raps over it. Red Rocket takes things a little more seriously, with electronics that don't sound as throwback and anguished vocals.

Jesu | Wolves In The Throne Room | USSA (Hailey's)
With a pedigree that includes Napalm Death and Swans, Jesu doesn't exactly bring the ominous and heavy attack you would imagine. The music is dense, thick and dark, but it's much more atmospheric and melodic with whispery vocals to top it off. Wolves In The Throne Room might steal this show, with music that's not exactly all that heavy but with uncontrolled shrieking and screaming that will probably be awesome live. USSA is a real disappointment for Jesus Lizard fans, as if Tomahawk wasn't bad enough. Seems like Duane Denison can do no right since the band that made him famous disbanded. Let's just hope that Qui is as good as I heard they were live, later this month. I can tell you myself not to bother with their debut record, unfortunately. I blame the Mike Patton connection.

Great Lake Swimmers | Doug Burr (The Cavern)
Local favorite Doug Burr is celebrating an album release as he opens for this acclaimed breezy pop act.

So far this year, it would be safe to say that Matthew Dear's Asa Breed has been one of the new records that I've listened to most. Combining influences that range from Talking Heads to New Order to Tropicalia to traditional Southern folk, it's a strange record to be sure, but one that over time reveals itself as an accessible and thoughtful selection of electronic pop songs. In anticipation of his show tonight with Mobius Band and Treewave at the Granada, we gave Matthew Dear a call so that we could talk to him about his new album, his various musical projects, and dance culture:
So I read that you grew up in Texas, is that right?

Yes I did, I grew up there until I was 16 and then I moved to Michigan.

Where?

San Antonio, just south of there actually. My dad lives in the Austin area now, and my mom is moving back to San Antonio, so I'm still very much a Texan.

Do you get to come back a lot?

Yeah, I try to come back once or twice a year to visit my father, and it's good to have a show there too, kind of kill two birds with one stone.

And I read that there is a song on your new album based on a true story about one of your ancestors being gunned down by a Texas Ranger?

Yeah, it's the last song on the album called "Vine to Vine." It's based on a story my dad told me about one of our relatives getting murdered by a Texas Ranger for their land. Back then, south Texas was pretty lawless.

So it was kind of more like a mafia hit than law enforcement?

Yeah, it sounds like it.

What made you want to write a song about that?

It's really one of the only songs I've ever written based on a story I've been told. It just kind of came to me, I just felt the need to put it down. It sounded like a great story, and I think I did it more for my family and my father than I did for myself. I already had a guitar loop that sounded like it would fit perfectly, and it just kind of work out naturally.

So the idea came together after you heard that guitar loop and put two and two together?

For sure, absolutely.

So how did you end up hooking with Ghostly International in Michigan?

My mom had made a move from San Antonio to the Detroit area for a job when I was still in High School, and when I finished school, I went to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor 40 miles west of Detroit, and around that time I met Sam Valenti who had an interest in starting a label and shared it with me, and we hit it off really well and became good friends, and about a year later he put out my first and Ghostly's first record in 1999, and we've been colleagues and really good friends ever since.

Do you play any role in the label these days?

Well its definitely Sam's thing, and although I interact with him from a musical standpoint, its his label for sure. If I find some people on the road that I really like, I can bring it to Sam and put in my two cents on what we should release, but it's definitely Sam's brainchild and he has the monetary investment and all that.

So what was the vision behind the label and what you guys were trying to do when you first started out?

Sam I think is still finding it, he's always finding it. He was an art history student so he's very much involved in the artistic end of things, not just sonically, but visually and the overall package that goes with it, which is always changing in his mind. In the beginning, we wanted it to be a dance music label, we wanted it to be a 12 inch DJ culture, but it quickly became more avant and different, and he wanted to cover all the aspects of what he thought electronic music should be. And what started off as my first 12 inch, a dance record, soon after was Tadd Mullinix's first record, which is more listening music or IDM as they were calling it back then. And from there the label just grew, and now we have bands like Skeletons, which is more like an art jazz band punk rock band and Spectral, which is still dance floor techno based.

I know you work under several different monikers, and I wonder if you could tell us a little about each one.

Yeah totally. Audion came about from my need to make really dance floor heavy techno, and at the time I was still doing dance music under my own name, but from that, I think I've evolved to where I want anything under my own name to be my eccentric experimental pop side, it's going to have words and be song based, and from now on, anything that's a dance record meant for the clubs is going to Audion. And False is a bit more subversive, dark, moody dance music.

Do you like working on one project more than the others, or is one more challenging?

No, definitely not, the good thing is that they represent different styles of living and working. This tour that we're doing under my own name right now is completely backwards from an Audion tour that I'd do in Europe. Right now we're at a rock club in Chapel Hill, NC, and dealing with rock venues, and singing and playing guitar and giving more of a performance set. And the crowd is totally different, they are more into standing and watching the show rather than dancing the night away at a club. In Europe, I play big festivals and big crowds that are more into techno and dancing and partying and I'm both of those people. I love going to a techno club late at night and dancing the night away, and I also love going to rock clubs and seeing my favorite bands play, so to choose one of those would be impossible, both of those characteristics are a part of my persona.

I find the differences between European and American audiences very interesting because electronic dance music is so much more a part of the mainstream culture there than it is here, and I wonder if you have any ideas on why that might be?< There are many factors that contribute to that. Europe in general is a lot more relaxed about many things that give dance music more room to breathe. Closing times for clubs are more open, you can have 24 hour clubs there that stay open until whenever they want, the laws aren't cracking down on them, they serve alcohol until they close, there is not cut off time. So it's a much later lifestyle out there. Regular people don't go out to dinner until 9 or 10, and stay out to dinner until midnight, they have really long late social hours all over Europe, Spain, Germany, that's just normal over there. But over here, a lot of people go to sleep by that time, your average family. So that definitely lends itself to a later night life. When someone stays out 50% longer than someone that lives in that states, that just adds to this desire for dancing and techno clubs to be open that late. Also, drug laws are a lot more relaxed over there, you can get away with it a little more, obviously in places like Amsterdam, so there are many reasons that people over there can soak up techno music, and it's not thought of as a bad thing over there, whereas here, techno has a bad association with drug use and illegal raves, and warehouse parties, and it's kind of been shunned by mass media and people in general.

It's interesting because it's a chicken and egg argument-- maybe if "rave" culture had been allowed to exist in a more open and legitimate manner in the United States, then maybe it wouldn't have become associated with a lot of the darker things that you mention.

Totally, I think that's right.

Well in American underground culture, there has definitely been an intermingling between dance culture and underground rock/punk/post-punk culture over the past few years. Do you think this is a fad, or are we catching up to Europe in the sense that dance music will play a more prominent role in our culture?

I definitely think rock musicians are embracing it more. You have groups like LCD Soundsystem and things like that, and I think the "indie" scene is gaining a respect or an understanding of the importance of electronic music and the history of our whole musical library, and I think that is cool. I think people are noticing that it's not just a rhythm in a sweaty club, but that there can be a lot of musical genius involved in it, and that there can be creativity within the form, so in that sense I think it's great. You can never tell what is going to happen, it's always shifting and changing, but it would be great if it got a bit more of a foothold and more respect from the music community.

Switching gears, I guess the story I've read is that Asa Breed is your "pop" record, and I was wondering if that is what you set out to make, or if it just ended up being that way, or if you agree with that sentiment at all.

I like to call it experimental pop music, and by pop I mean melodic, and there is nothing wrong with melodic music. Some of my favorite bands are inherently pop musicians, whether it's New Order, Front 242, Nitzer Ebb, Talking Heads, Radiohead, it's all based on catchy melodies and songs. So in that sense, I say it is pop, but I didn't set out to make it that way, it's just what I've been doing since I was a kid, messing around with songs and guitars, and it's just been a matter of time since I've been able to put it out on record. I started off with electronic music, but I've always continued to work on this stuff on the side, and I thought it was time to put all this stuff out under my name.

Did you find it challenging to work with more traditional pop songs, or did it seem natural?

It was a very natural change for me, I've been working on this album for almost four years, and some of the songs had been sitting around for that long, so for me it wasn't drastic at all, this has been in the back of my head all the time. I didn't make a decision to try something new, this is, to me, just what I do.

Could you tell me what your stage set up has been on this tour?

With the band we have a laptop, which is kind of the brains or skeleton of the music, and we have a live bass player and a live drummer, and I've stripped down the tracks to accommodate the musicians on stage, so it's kind of a mix of computer software and live music, and I do vocals with a backup vocalists, and I also play guitar. I think it has enough to keep people interesting live, but it has enough of the original songs to remind people of the album.

So on this tour, you're mixing live bands and laptop stuff, and on the album, you're mixing your electro and rock influences. What kind of music inspired you first as a listener?

Oh everything. I mean, when I was 8, I got into my brother's dance music records, a lot of new wave and experimental electro that really turned me on. I knew I liked anything synthetic sounding, I was really into samples and stuff even though I didn't know what they were, I was grabbed by that kind of music. But of course I also like country and folk and rock music. I've always been into all of these styles, and this album, to me, reflects my love of all the different angles you can take with modern music.

So I wanted to ask you about living in Detroit, because obviously there is the huge history of electronic music there. Do you feel that spirit in the city there, or has a lot of it gone away?

Well I actually just moved to New York, to Brooklyn, three months ago, it's a good time right now because I don't have children, and my wife and I both wanted to move there. But you most definitely feel that spirit in Detroit, it's there in small numbers. The people there are holding on to the electronic scene, and they really respect Detroit and the history involved there, and they know the history. It's not too big of a scene, but you can definitely feel it when you're there, and it was a really good time to be there and feel it, and do what I could do to contribute.

Any new projects in the works?

Yeah, I've got 10 to 12 new songs for a new record under my own name, and I have some new Audion remixes on the way, and some new Audion stuff that will come out next year.

Photo by Ryan Dombal

Not a lot going on today other than the norm (Cool Out at the Cavern, Jazz at the Amsterdam), but I've been meaning to check out one of Bernard Wright's Monday night sets at Gezellig on Greenville. The Miles Davis connection is pretty interesting for sure (according to Gezellig's Myspace page, he played with Davis at some point during the 70's, although I don't know in what capacity), and aside from that, it might be a good way to start the evening (starts at 9pm) for those who plan to head to the Cavern.

We'll have new stuff posted this evening.

SHOWS OF NOTE THIS WEEK

TUE: Matthew Dear/Mobius Band/Treewave (Granada)
TUE: Jesu/USSA/Wolves in Throneroom (Hailey's)
TUE: Great Lake Swimmers/Arthur & Yu/Doug Burr (The Cavern)
WED: Lazy Magnet/Work-Death/Superior Human Vomit/Yellow Crystal Star/Doug Ferguson (House of Tinnitus)
SAT: Timbaland (Palladium--Free with RSVP, details to come)
SAT: Birth to Burial/Medicine Window/Douche (Secret Headquarters)

FRIDAY

Gowns | Glen Farris (Monkey Bar)
The first of two good shows from Parade of Flesh this weekend-- Gowns is quite strange and highly intriguing to me, with quiet, slow and drained sounding songs

Jeff Samuel | Stereo on Strike (Minc)
You may not know much about Jeff Samuel, but anyone interested in Chicago house or the contemporary electronica scene in Berlin should probably take note of this show, as Samuel has made a name for himself as a DJ and producer spinning at places like London's Fabric, Tokyo's Yellow, and Berlin's Panoramabar. And although he scores major points simply for being remixed by Ricardo Villalobos, his tracks are fantastic all on their own, ranging from jack house influenced stuff to more minimal blip stuff that is fashionable in his new home town of Berlin. Great DJs don't often attract great crowds in Dallas, but I hope this is an exception. Stereo on Strike will be spinning on the patio as well.

SATURDAY

Devendra Banhart | Jana Hunter (Granda Theater)
I actually really like most of Devendra Banhart's music, but I can also see why the guy annoys people-- the goofy outfits, the cutie pie California hippie thing, etc. And although he certainly faulters a bit on his records (too many throw aways, too much goofing off), there are genuinely powerful moments on all of them, and his ability to jump from tropicalia to eerie English folk to cricket chirping Americana while maintaining a unique and readily identifiable sound throughout is quite impressive to me. He's made a couple great records, and I still listen to them quite a bit.

Strange Boys | Brimstone Howl | Sean Kirkpatrick (Pastime Tavern)
Dallasites with good taste in rock music who ARENT into Devendra will probably show up here for what will probably be a roudy loud show hosted by Parade of Flesh. I didn't get a chance to see Brimstone Howl the last time they came through town, but I have always been really impressed with what I've heard from them, and seeing them at Pastime sounds like a good idea to me.

Infinity Crew 10 Year Anniversary with the Party (Nine Eyes)
Art gallery party thing happening from 8 until midnight featuring The Party spinning all evening and free catering and what not.

Rilo Kiley | The Bird and the Bee | Grand Ole Party (Palladium)

Rock Lottery 9 (Dan's Silverleaf)
Most of you probably understand the concept of Rock Lottery at this point, and although I don't hold the event in the high esteem that so many others seem to, I would consider checking this out for sure, especially given the number of quality local musicians involved this year-- Shane English, Matt Burgess of Eat Avery's Bones, Megan Carroll of Nouns Group, and Mike Seman of Shiny Around the Edges just to name a few. Some very nice selections from the RL people this year. Could be interesting.

SUNDAY

Sonic Youth | Meat Puppets (House of Blues)
Sonic Youth swings through town after an appearance at the legendary Marfa, and despite the high ticket price, if this ends up being anything like their last performance here in Dallas, then it will be a can't miss. I was a bit skeptical of their last show simply because I hadn't seen them play in like a decade and wasn't sure if they continued to pack the kind of punch that you'd expect. Damn, was I wrong. Mixing in the best of their most recent records with a lot of older favorites, Sonic Youth absolutely blew me away last time around. They played everything with the kind of precision and fire that most bands half their age can't even pretend to display, and although I've never been one of those "dude, got that new Sonic Youth Japanese import B side collection" dudes, that last show left no doubt about SY's place in the history of American experimental rock music.

Suishou no Fune | ST 37 | Rahdunes | Zanzibar Snails (Hailey's)
It's too bad for us Dallas folks that this show is going on the same night as Sonic Youth, but Dentonites who don't feel like driving to Dallas AND paying a lot for concert tickets should consider checking this out. I admit that I don't know a great deal about Suishou no Fune, but considering the character of the band's ambient, dark psyche rock, perhaps their biography is better left a mystery. Very good stuff that comes off as challenging and hard to follow at first, but soon becomes hypnotic and starts to make a lot of sense just as you realize how good it is. Austin's long running ST37 is another band I didn't know much about, but their mixture of traditional psyche rock and American avant garde/noise is quite interesting... and of course, you'll probably get a preview of the new Zanzibar Snails release that I keep hearing so much about. Hopefully we'll get our copy soon and have a report for you.

Rock Lottery 10 (Dan's Silverleaf)
Just wanted to add that Rock Lottery is hosting its second night and ten year anniversary party on Sunday. The event is hosted by John Freeman with Wanz Dover providing the music between acts. Participants include many heroes and villains of Rock Lottery's past including Sarah Alexander, George Quartz from Faux Fox, George Neal of Little Grizzly, Daron Beck of The Great Tyrant and Pointy Shoe Factory, Ashley Cromeens of Record Hop and Rival Gang, Paul Slavens, and Tre Orsi's Matt Barnhart. This looks to be the definitive version of this event and I actually want to go more than I have in previous years. All proceeds go to the Denton County African American Museum which opens in February, so this event is not the self congratulatory free-for-all that some have previously tagged it as (including myself), and I think more big shows would do well to benefit more than just the participants.-DL

The people from Granada and Ghostly International have hooked us up with a prize pack in anticipation of Matthew Dear's show with Mobius Band at the Granada next Tuesday, October 9th. If you want to win it, email weshotjrtix@yahoo.com any time between now and next Monday at noon with "Matthew Dear" as the subject line. The prize pack includes:

2 Tickets to the show at the Granada

Matthew Dear's latest album Asa Breed on CD and LP

2 Mobius Band CDs

Ghostly International t-shirt

We're working on some big stuff today (both personal and blog related), so you're getting the short stack:

Black Lips | The Selmanairies | DJ Wild in the Streets (Palladium Loft)
I've never heard anyone saying anything that wasn't glowing about Black Lips' live show, and so far, Palladium Loft has not disappointed in the sound department, so I'd expect this one to be fantastic. Black Lips have put out some really fantastic garage punk/pop (what they've called "Flower Punk") over the past year, and I'm curious about their live show mainly because I want to see how some of their recorded material, which retains a lot of charm in my mind thanks to their production, will sound in a big loud live setting. Wild in the Streets is the perfect DJ to open this show too.

Kites/Russian Tsarlang/Judascow/Voyant/Dromez/Aunt's Analog (House of Tinnitus)
The KITES/Russian Tsarlag show has been the big story in the local underground this week, not just for the homemade instruments and the unlikely noise/psych folk aesthetic but for the fact that many of us have waited all week for the artists to arrive after car trouble> in California botched Sunday's show. These things happens when you take on so many of life's responsibilities yourself (no Blackberry texts from the Billions Corporation), and I'm sure the show will be worth the wait. Judas Cow and Voyant in particular were both great on Sunday with two different takes on Power Electronics. Voyant are a little more on the digital side of things, but both acts concoct a truly frightening room-filling throb of manipulated static. If you want the links, scroll down to the weekend list.

Numbers | Faux Fox | Ghosthustler (Public Trust)
This early show (things kick off at 8pm) provides a good example of Parade of Flesh's knack for bringing good bands to town that are both critically acclaimed and a ton of fun.

Low (Palladium Ballroom)

Stereo on Strike (Fallout Lounge)