New Year's Eve is obviously the most important night of this particular weekend, so we'll start the list with Sunday and work backwards. There appears to be a few cool things going on around town on Sunday night, and several of them are happening in Expo Park, which might be a good place to be for anyone that just wants to hop in a cab, go somewhere and drink without worrying about running around all over town and avoiding the goddamn po-lice (at least in your car). Obviously there are a lot of house parties and things of that nature happening too, but if you want to go OUT out for New Year's, you can try some of this stuff:

Select | Big J (Clever Monkeys) New Year's Party (Monkey Bar- 408 Exposition)
My favorite thing about the Monkey Bar is that it isn't the Expo Lounge. Don't get me wrong, I liked hanging out in that place as much as the next guy, but if I hear one more person talk about how its "not the same, man," I'm going to have to get Marty McFly to go back in time and destroy the place by running into his other self or losing a Sports Almanac or something. The truth is that Monkey Bar has been holding its own all year with a lot of different hip hop parties and DJs that actually play music you haven't heard before, and their New Year's eve party should be a good representation of what they've been doing over there lately. Once you get past the Tikis, all that will be left is the fact that Select and Big J will be playing better records than just about anyone in town in a place that leaves plenty of room to dance or just sit around and be drunk. These guys know how to throw a party, and the fact that its free pretty much makes it a no brainer. Expect the usual diverse set from Select, along with a lot of good hip hop that you know you'll want to hear more and more with every alcoholic beverage you consume.

Happening just down the street at 842 1st Ave. (loft apartments above the Meridian Room and Bar of Soap) will be the High Society New Year's Party featuring Dj performances from Lolita Massacre, Paris Riots and Justin V. of the High Society crew. They'll also have several kegs and a bunch of booze which you are free to drink with the purchase of a moderately priced cup. Everyone is welcome, but if you want to go, just RSVP at the High Society Myspace page and let them know that you're coming. These guys (and girls) spin a lot of trash pop, hip hop, electro, dancepunk and pretty much anything else you can think of. Always a good time, this could either be a fantastic after hours spot or a place where you decide to camp out all night. A smart dance party where you're allowed to act stupid because the High Society kids are always acting like weirdos and having a blast.

At the same time just below the High Society thing, The Smoke will be doing their New Year's Eve party at Avenue Arts. Six bucks gets you in to hear a whole shitload of motown, northern soul and 60's psychedelic, and the BYOB thing makes it even better. Jerky drunk dancing is a strong possibility.

If you've got 50-75 bucks that you want to waste or use to impress someone you're trying to take home at the end of the night (presuming said person doesn't really have any taste), then you might want to try fighting through the lines of Republicans, trust fun bros, My Chemical Romance look a likes, snobby gay guys, ex Dallas Cowboys and strippers at Ghost Bar to see a half naked member of Pussycat Dolls and some DJs and stuff. I dig that "buttons" song ok and everything, but even trying to park at the W on New Year's eve is probably too high maintenance for me. Coke consumption is assumed.

The Gorilla vs. Bear approved Ghostland Observatory will be playing at the Gypsy Tea Room with someone named Dj Booth. Its a bit expensive to get in ($15 a pop) and yes, Ghostland is a bit derivative of a lot of the disco/dance punk bands that everyone is sick of, but they do what they do very well, and I don't see any way that this show will be anything less than fun (and I must admit to sorta digging on that "Sad Sad City" song recently too). I'd expect a big crowd at this one.

Elsewhere, Unconscious Collective will be performing at Lee Harvey's... I'm quite sure I'm not a Shanghai 5 guy (who are also playing), but UC is usually more than enough of a reason to take a short trip in Dallas.

Over in Ft. Worth, Koji Kondo is playing with Boogdish and Galuc Dadu at 1919 Hemphill.

As far as Denton, I'm not seeing a whole lot up there that I would be interested in. Of course Current Leaves is playing at Dan's, which is a good thing, but they also happen to be playing with the Drams, which is not such a good thing. Not that I have a bone to pick with dudes, I just don't feel the need to listen to the Singles soundtrack EVER again. And that's the truth, Ruth.

There might be some other random things going on in Denton that we just haven't heard about yet, so check back with us this weekend or take a peep at the comment thread. Now for the rest of the weekend, which is actually happening before all of this stuff:

FRIDAY

Teenage Symphony | Sydney Confirm | Joey Kendall (1919 Hemphill)


A good show for Pop fans. Especially with the adorably mopey harmonizing of Teenage Symphony and the complex pop of Joey Kendall.

SATURDAY

Shapes Have Fangs | The Party (Art Prostitute
- $10 cover with free drinks)

Shapes Have Fangs make their Dallas debut with this show. They list both The Monks and Ana Da Silva as influences and I'd like to see them on that alone. Top it off with The Party and you have another AP event that will probably be unlike anything else in Dallas.

Stumptone | Pleasant Grove | Dovehunter (Doublewide)

The Paper Chase | The Crash That Took Me | Hardin Sweaty And The Ready To Go (Zac Crain fundraiser Club Dada)

The Mavs are still better than the Suns. In fact, they're the best team in the league right now. That is all.

Druids on Parade | The Sandrags | Rocket for Ethiopia | Baile de Destruction (1919 Hemphill)

This show is all hardcore with some leaning towards early eighties thrash and some of it being more modern and spastic powerviolence. Baile de Destruction is a one man laptop and guitar noise act.

Pilotdrift | The Push | Red Monroe | St. Vincent (The Granada)

Pilotdrift are the Good Records prodigies that made a local splash by being the first act signed to the store's associated record label with the same name. The Push have a website with an intro that sounds a lot like Come on, Eileen. Local favorites Red Monroe are are making this their last Dallas show of the year before embarking on what looks like a very well planned tour in January. According to St. Vincent's Myspace page, singer Annie Clark has played with Glenn Branca but she's also played with The Polyphonic Spree. That's kind of like saying you've played basketball with Michael Jordan but you've also played with the "special needs" kids from your local middle school. I thought the songs on her page were well written and fairly pleasant, actually.

DJ G (Hailey's)

No cover, as always.

The Pumpers | The Terminals (J & J's Pizza)

Two entertaining and energetic bands with different approaches to the same genre. The Terminals play garage rock that's rooted in a lot of organ-heavy 45's from yesteryear. The Pumpers are dirtier and more punk influenced.

ADD: Lost Generation will be happening at Fallout Lounge tonight. Here is what Wanz will have:

"From 10pm to 11pm I will be showing Miles Davis Live at The Isle of Wight 1970. This concert took place 6 months after the recording of Bitches Brew. It is pretty sick and every member of Miles's band looks like they are on Acid.This week Dj Sets will feature: 1. the Best of 2006 mix which will feature my favorite records, best bands and DJ's I saw this year 2. a James Brown Tribute mix3. A garage rock mix that will rock your socks off."

The Day God Died | Violent Squid | Chief Death Rage | Lindby (Rubber Gloves)
Featuring a diverse line up to say the least, the headliner might very well scare the crap out of any indie pop fans that show up to hear Lindby, a band that apparently features three different dudes named Nick. Honestly, considering how young the Nicks are, Lindby's ready for Ben Fold's opening slot theater pop is pretty well put together, but you'll probably have a hard time listening to it for more than five minutes unless you're "totally into cute stuff." Elsewhere, you guys know the deal on CDR, one of the best bands in Denton as of right now, and judging by what I've learned about Violent Squid in recent weeks, there is absolutely no telling what you're going to get with their set, but it will very likely be highly experimental and a lot of fun. Maybe Ty can tell us whats up in the comment thread. Denton's The Day God Died is a tight and rhythmically forceful metal band that you could probably label "speed" if you wanted to, although they probably aren't as fast as, say, Slayer. We'll just say that if you're looking for rock tonight, there is probably nowhere else you should be.

Flashlight Party | Gazelles | Wild In The Streets | Jeremy Yocum (Hailey's)
Unfortunately, this will apparently be the last Flashlight Party featuring the full crew, as the guys are packing up for New York and Austin some time this week. I've had the pleasure of seeing Flashlight Party spin on a number of occasions, and I must say that even though they probably play some of the same records you'll hear at hipster dance parties around the country, they really seem to have a natural ability to move a crowd, keep them into it, and throw in enough surprises to keep things interesting throughout their sets. Great taste and a party throwing instinct are pretty much the fundamentals of being a good DJ, and these guys have both. I'd expect a big crowd to send them off (or big for Denton during Christmas break anyway), and even though I can't say a ton of good things about the predictable MTV2 playlist keyboard pop of Gazelles, I'd imagine this show is going to be a lot of fun.

1. Midlake-The Trials Of Van Occupanther
2. The Polyphonic Spree-Wait
3. Grandaddy-Just Like The Fambly Cat
4. Wolfmother-Wolfmother
5. Band Of Horses-Everything All The Time
6. Nobody & Mystic Chords Of Memory-Tree Colored See
7. Theater Fire-Everybody Has A Dark Side
8. The Flaming Lips-At War With The Mystics
9. Thom Yorke-The Eraser
10. Black Angels-Passover
11. Danielson-Ships
12. Red Monroe-Red Monroe
13. Beirut-Gulag Orkestar
14. Built To Spill-You In Reverse
15. the pAper chAse-Now You Are One Of Us
16. Decemberists-Crane Wife
17. Sufjan Stevens-The Avalanche
18. Raconteurs-Broken Boy Soldiers
19. Yeah Yeah Yeahs-Show Your Bones
20. TV On The Radio-Return To Cookie Mountain
21. Fair To Midland-Drawn And Quartered EP
22. Sufjan Stevens-Songs For Christmas
23. Regina Spektor-Begin To Hope
24. Belle & Sebastian-The Life Pursuit
25. Joanna Newsom-Ys
26. Astronautalis-Mighty Ocean & Nine Dark Theaters
27. Vetiver-To Find Me Gone
28. Starlight Mints-Drowaton
29. Pilotdrift-Water Sphere
30. Sufjan Stevens-Illinois

We're not like those other lazy shits that take the week off from blogging so they can be with their "families" or whatever. We're just lazy shits with nothing else to do but write, and we hate families, family values and freedom anyway.

So in that spirit, we'll be doing a couple good posts this week, including a year end look at local music.

We'll also have a post full of all the new year's eve stuff you could possibly want to know about, and we'll be posting it some time on Thursday to give you a head start. So if anyone has any new years events that you think we might want to write about, drop us a line at weshotjr@yahoo.com and give us all the details.

Couldn't find anything today. Feel free to post anything you know that's going on.