Not the greatest weekend for music, but some solid stuff going on here and there. I again have to be a bit short today... guess I just can't get my shit together on Fridays. Anyway, we'll have the lists about an hour or two earlier starting next week, which will hopefully help a bit.
FRIDAY Tonight you can start the evening off with the Evangelicals, whoare playing a free in store at Good Records at 6pm. I guess you better hurry considering that you're probably reading this at 5:00. Anyway, Evangelicals have put out one of the most interesting psyche pop records of the year, and it also happens to be one of the most fun to listen to. And since its free, you might as well trust me.
Drop the Lime | DJ Mundo/ Keith P/ Tiny MC (Sons of Hermann Hall) This should be the place to be tonight. Drop the Lime is surely a touring DJ that is worth your time and trouble to see... his influences are all over the place, and the beats are insane. You can click here to read Central Booking's take on the night, and you'll also find a link to an excellent new Drop the Lime mix tape. I don't have much info on Mundo and Keith P, aside from the fact that they seem to be interested in uk garage and 2step, meaning that they should be a solid opener as well. I've never been to a dance show at Sons, and I'm guessing it will be... interesting? Yeah, thats the ticket. This show will surely be the most fun you could possibly have tonight.
Also, Strawberry Fieldsin Denton will be hosting a screening of the excellent bio pic The Devil and Daniel Johnston. I highly recommend it. And apparently, a shitload of other people do too. Starts at 9.
SATURDAY DJ Shadow will be doing an instore at Good Records starting at 2:30pm. I've heard various stories about his good records appearance. Some say that it is simply an autograph session, and others say that it is a full instore. Either way, I heard they'll have free beer, so I'm sure it will be worth it. You can also catch Shadow later on Saturday night at the Gypsy Tea Room with Lateef the Truth Speaker.
Jose Gonzalez(Gypsy Tea Room) Anyone that tries to tell you that Jose Gonzalez is anything but a brilliant songwriter is completely full of shit. He gained a lot of attention late last year with his cover of The Knife's "Heartbeats," which prompted a lot of people to pick up his record and discover that just about every song on it is absolutely fantastic. Everything he does has been done a million times before, and he's still fucking great. His music is soft, quiet, sad and hollow sounding, and yes, he's actually able to pull all of those things off without sound like a douche. In fact, he sounds absolutely brilliant more often than not.
Mad Happy | Wanz Dover | Beauregard | 1337 Geek Beat/ DJ Stephen R (Bell House; at the Corner of Bell and Summit off Lower Greenville) This show is going down at Stephen R's house off lower Greenville. Its three bucks to get in, and they will have two kegs for your consumption once you've paid your way inside. I'm sure there will be dancing too. Just mapquest the interesction above, drive to it, and you'll find it.
We've received some emails about the Projection comp and where to download it, so we've added a permanent link to the Projection post over on the sidebar. Just click that, then click the link in the post.
1. Serena Maneesh | Woven Hand | Evangelicals (Rubber Gloves) Serena Maneesh has received a lot of international acclaim for their resurrection of late 80's/early 90's reverb flooded guitar murk. They offset it with an occasional stab at more upbeat material but that part of their sound is probably not why they've been paid so much attention. The truth is that many music fans seem to long for that era of guitar rock judging by the enduring popularity of (mostly British) bands from that era. Also at Rubber Gloves tonight is Woven Hand, who feature the main songwriter from the now defunct Sixteen Horsepower. Their fan created myspace page calls them Gothic/Folk and I don't know if their fans are necessarily doing them a favor with that tag. Opening band The Evangelicals play energetic pop.
Looks like a good lineup at a fairly repulsive venue. I don't know if I've ever heard anyone say a single good thing about this place but that probably won't matter too much tonight. I'm interested in seeing Idi*Amin since I've heard there's been a lineup change and they now have a member of You are The Universe playing with them. I don't know if that means less guitar skronk and more Powerbook but we'll see. The Mad Scientists should be in good spirits since lead member Brannon is celebrating his birthday by playing this show. If I could make a birthday wish for him I would probably wish that he'd cut his solos a few minutes shorter. But that's part of the fun of The Mad Scientists. I've never seen Violent Squid but that's just another reason to go to this show.
Recent outings to this event have been really entertaining, even when I hated the artists on certain videos. I heard and saw a good mix of Soul, Pop, Rap, New Wave, Indie Rock, Classic Rock, Electronic Music, and old fashioned Metal the couple of times I've been. Good job on finding the especially obscure promo clips.
I just want to quickly add that once upon a time when Dixie Witch was a local band, they were the only local band I could stomach and actually liked at the time. The drummer/singer is really something to experience live and puts on one of the most impressive displays of force and effort I've ever seen on a stage.
Before Ratatat took the stage at Gypsy Tea Room last night, you could sense the electricity in the room. After they finished their set, the electricity was slapping the packed house across the face.
Last night was one of those rare moments in Dallas music that made you feel like people actually give a shit, and whether it was just an illusion or not, it felt great to be in a sold out venue full of people who there to see a band that was actually worthy of the buzz.
Ratatat's performance was everything I thought it would be and more, easily earning a spot on my list of favorite shows of the year. When I saw the band perform a couple of years ago, things were a bit different. For one, the entire performance was little more than two guys standing still, a drum machine, and some psychedelic visuals in the background. For another, there were about 30 people in attendance, most of whom appeared to be relatively unfamiliar with the material. It was a great show to be sure, but the mood was a bit subdued and the crowd was a bit puzzled, as many in attendance couldn't seem to quite figure out what they were looking at. Last night, Ratatat put on a much more animated stage show complete with better visuals, a third member on keyboards, and a large, informed audience that treated the whole thing like a dance party instead of a rock show. Its a good thing too, because the energy of the crowd was a huge factor in making the show as much fun as it was.
As I said in my post yesterday, Ratatat seems to take inspiration from such a wide variety of genres and past movements in pop that they really end up sounding like nothing you've heard before. The most obvious reference points are disco, hip hop, post-rock, idm, funk, house, and a healthy dose of prog guitar groups such as Yes and King Crimson. In a live setting, their music is largely beat driven and funky, and it was clear that the band wanted their songs to be used rather than dissected, infusing their music with a level of complexity that is interesting on its own yet completely disposable, considering that the vast majority of the focus was on moving asses rather than impressing music dorks. Of course, that isn't to say that Ratatat's musicianship wasn't impressive, because it was. The songs were tight, the guitar playing was complex and flashy, and the layers of sound were mood altering and joyous. As the band moved through their hour plus set of album cuts and newer tracks, it became clear that much of the energy and thought that went in to making their songs so interesting was actually more of an afterthought for the band and much of the audience, who were busy throwing their hands in the air, freaking their girlfriends, and generally not giving a shit about how cool they looked. Its probably useful to note that much of this band's recent output has come in the form of dance remix singles, because their performance was so tight that it often sounded like a DJ spinning dance records rather than two guys playing guitar on stage. Even the more subdued songs had a robotic and electronic feel that made you forget that the music was being played by human beings.
Many people were there to see a rock show, no doubt, and in many ways they got it. But the band was so good at what they did that the crowd was able to interact with the music freely, without having to focus all their attention on the band itself. The culmination of this mood came during the band's last song, when dozens of audience members jumped onstage to dance one last time. The audience was as much a part of the show as the band and almost as important as the music, and it was clear that Ratatat fed off this state of affairs and thrived as a result.
As I watched people dancing and screaming and having a blast, I was reminded of Pitchfork's review of The Rapture's Echoes, which the site named record of the year for 2003. In it, the author discussed the newness of seeing "indie" kids dancing at what appeared to be a rock show. Of course, this phenomenon is nothing new these days, and I'm not going to try to tell you that it is. In fact, it really wasn't an entirely new development back in 2003 either, since many seem to forget the close relationships that existed between post-punk, disco, and hip hop in the late 70's and early 80's. However, its still quite refreshing to see an audience get so excited about a band as innovative and unique as Ratatat. Promoters and record labels can keep trying to shove the same old bland "indie" pop down our throats, but its clear that people are looking elsewhere for inspiration and entertainment. And its safe to say that last night, they found what they were looking for.
Ratatat | Panther | Envelopes (Gypsy Tea Room) Mark my words: you're going to be pissed off at yourself if you miss this show. I've come around on Ratatat's records, and now thoroughly enjoy both of them. However, I didn't really dig this band until I saw them live in Austin a couple years ago. I was completely blown away by the guitar playing, the stage presence, and the general power of their songs in a live setting. They might not move around and jump up and down on stage much, but their performances are really a sight to be seen. Their music is influenced by disco, hip hop, and synth pop, and they don't really sound like guitar music at all. But they are. And you need to see them play. The somewhat hazy and totally robotic synth funk of Panther should be a good start... think Art of Noise, an in your face Arthur Russell, and a dash of Tom Tom Club and Off the Wall era Michael Jackson if he had been a drug addict. Good stuff. I'm gonna go ahead and give you the ol' WSJR guarantee for this one.
Current Leaves | Grits N Gravy | I Love Math | Slider Pines (Club Dada) This is the LAST night of Current Leaves' residency at Dada, and you really should go see them tonight if you haven't had a chance to go to Dada this month. Go see what everyone is talking about.
And of course, you know you can head up to Denton to see Dj Natureand the party at Rubber Gloves.
And I almost forgot: Ratatat after party tonight at the Cavern. Its free with your Ratatat ticket stub, or five bucks at the door if you don't have one. Member(s) or Ratatat (not sure which) will be spinning around one a.m., but you should head over early to see Gorilla vs Bear, Soberand Select do their thing. This is going to be a shitload of fun.
the power of independent trucking: the touch and go 25th anniversary block party (text and photos by defensive listening)
Summer ended last week and along with it, the U.S. music festival season. So what did I miss? A chance to see Kanye West and AFI at Bumbershoot in Seattle? Hmm...Kanye and AFI are also playing at Street Scene '06 in San Diego. Did I miss paying $80 to see Blood Brothers and Yellowcard share the same stage? Oh wait, Yellowcard is playing Street Scene as well, along with Tapes 'n Tapes. But wait a minute, Tapes 'n Tapes is also playing some Coney Island Fest in New York, which is free thanks to festival sponsor Budweiser. You know, the king of Beers?
To get some perspective on the whole summer festival scene, I flipped through the Summer '06 issue of Filter magazine and took note of all the cross pollinated sponsorship in an attempt to figure out why the same fifteen acts were playing at just about every major festival in the U.S. this year. Filter even went so far as to congratulate themselves for the little party they threw for that most ghastly of festivals, Coachella, earlier this year. It ended with this little beauty of a paragraph:
"Extra special thanks to the folks at Honda in helping make the event happen and capturing silly shots of attendees in the new FIT ride. Shout-Outs to Puma and Napster for the goodie bags and arts and crafts; word up to ASCAP, Urban Outfitters, Indie 103.1 and Imeem.com, as well as Heineken, Red Bull and Glaceau for keeping everyone entertained and adequately sauced."
How 'bout big ups to Glaxo Smith Kline for making Wellbutrin and keeping everyone emotionally numb enough to endure three days of overrated bands? Props to all my motherfuckers at Lockheed Martin for keeping the US safe enough to spend $400 on something as trivial as a two day VIP pass to Street Scene. I was so amazed at the above corporate shout outs that I felt like I had made the whole thing up.
Recently, I've started to feel that so called underground music is being completely overtaken by indie culture's increasing flirtation with mainstream garbage, co-dependent publicists, and various corporate interests. In order to improve my mental well being, I decided on a whim to go to the Touch and Go 25th Anniversary Block Party in Chicago, hoping to find some light at the end of the tunnel. After three days and dozens of bands, I not only regained faith in underground culture, but in all of mankind as well.
First of all, the Touch and Go Birthday party featured more than 25 different acts over three days for a measly thirty five dollars, which comes out to a little more than a dollar per band. And considering that Touch and Go is arguably (and I will argue with you) the greatest independent record label of all time, the small price was more than worth it. Traveling all the way to Chicago was the catch, but it certainly didn't stop me. After all, if I had wanted to see something in my own state, the only option was Austin City Limits, which would have required paying $115 for the privilege of melting in a huge pile of baby boomers sweating it out to Van Morrison.
For too long now I've needed to wipe such repulsive situations out of my system. I was desperate to not think about the silliness and infighting of the local music scene, or the way big business swoops in and chokes everyone with advertising as they circle like buzzards around demographics data and pie charts on what's hip and who's for sale. This three day celebration was the perfect way to do that. To my amazement, there was not a single banner advertising anything behind the bands as they played. The stages weren't called Washington Mutual or At&t or anything else that has absolutely nothing to do with music. One stage was called Touch. The other, Go. You'd almost think Touch and Go was run by fools if you consider the cash they burned by not having sponsored stages. Touch and Go, however, is not run by fools. It is run by a man named Corey Rusk, and if I hadn't known that before the festivities, I surely would have known afterwards, considering that pretty much every band I saw unabashedly praised him onstage at one point or another.
Mr. Rusk's original business model for Touch and Go was a simple handshake agreement providing that everything would be split down the middle after the label recouped its initial expenses. This extremely fair relationship between artist and label was an anomaly at the time and in a lot of ways, it still is. Touch and Go has somehow remained vital and relevant these past 25 years through countless changes in the underground, the mainstream, and that hazy twilight where the two meet. They have been successful without compromising, pandering, yielding, or any of the other things that lesser labels spend much of their time rationalizing their way through.
The acts themselves were the living embodiment of all the things Touch and Go has stood for all these years. The festival started on a Friday afternoon with the precision rock of Shipping News, and ended with a Sunday night performance by the maraca wielding Calexico. Neither of these bookends, as enjoyable as they can be, really captured the intensity that lurked in the very center of this block party. Saturday was probably the single most satisfying day I've ever spent at a concert, so forgive me if that's where I'll tend to focus.
I can't imagine a better lineup even if you broke the label-only structure of the event. Bands started playing at noon and the New Year blew everyone away with a flawless lunchtime set. As much as I like The New Year, I couldn't believe the nearly dozen bands that would follow them, each somehow outdoing the last. Uzeda, a band of middle aged Italians, followed The New Year and threw down the gauntlet so hard that I thought the earth would crack and blood would rain from the sky. Uzeda was not just incredible for the way they built up and tore apart each sound they roared at the audience, but also for how they were noticeably older than a lot of bands that would later perform. Age seemed to be a theme on Saturday as many veteran and reunited groups completely stole the show from the younger bands playing on Friday and Sunday. That's saying a lot considering the number of beloved young bands in attendance (Enon, !!!, Ted Leo, and the Black Heart Procession for example), but they were really overshadowed by the chaotic firestorm of noise that left the crowd completely spent on Saturday.
Tim Midgett and Andy Cohen of Silkworm played a single song as a poignant respite between all the dissonant heavyweights on Saturday. Silkworm unfortunately met an untimely end when drummer Michael Dahlquist was killed by a young woman who intentionally struck his car from behind in a failed suicide attempt. Two friends and fellow musicians also died in the accident. Silkworm, as the world knew them, would never play again. Needless to say the remaining members of Silkworm performing a final song from their catalogue was moving for many people in the audience. Many in the crowd wept, and singer Andy Cohen visibly broke down when he left the stage.
Tim and Andy were followed by The Ex, and a raging joy returned to the audience at the beginning of their set. The Ex represent the opposite of everything wrong with rock music. They defy all odds, stereotypes, pigeonholes, rules, sonic boundaries, international boundaries, and every possible categorization. They are probably the only band that performed who were older than the label itself. The Ex truly believe in what they do with a purity that has always been rare but seems especially lacking in contemporary rock. Their debut album, "Disturbing Domestic Peace", put Gang of Four's "Entertainment" to shame and whatever album they release next will completely shred anything around its release date. What sets The Ex apart is that they have never broken up, never reunited. They have always just been there, living a parallel existence to Touch and Go. They literally bleed for their music, playing with such force that both guitars are caked with blood by the end of the set. They have toured Ethiopia. When I think about that fact alone, I laugh at all the local bands that catfight about who charges too much for drinks at what bar and how lame this or that booking person is for not giving their band a chance. Give me a break. There's an entire world beyond this dense little scene and people like The Ex didn't wait for it to come to them. They went out and did it. They didn't wait for someone to hand it to them. They fucking took it. Their clattering, chugging, improvised, exacting yet explosive music is some of the most significant art made in two centuries. I'm not telling you this to be a snob, but if you haven't already, please discover the truth of this band. By the time The Ex were done playing, it was still only 3:40 in the afternoon.
Following The Ex was a one-two-three punch of Killdozer, The Didjits, and Negative Approach. All three bands put on impressive sets for not having played in so long and each set was a love letter to Touch and Go for keeping their records in print all these years. Touch and Go famously keeps all their records in print which is not only a feat but also puts the label at odds with people like Sub Pop who have milked every limited edition collectible tactic they can, making them something of an annoying Ebay genre unto themselves. The crowd was getting noticeably more riled up at this point but I saw only one person actually get kicked out. Negative Approach in particular were very brutal and convincing, reminding me why hardcore blew my mind at age fourteen. Catching their full set caused me to miss my chance to find a good view during Scratch Acid, but I surprisingly enjoyed Negative Approach more. I really wished I had caught Scratch Acid play their hometown of Austin the weekend before. David Yow has not lost any credibility as the world's greatest front man in his absence from music. I got flashbacks of a 90's Jesus Lizard show where I hid in the balcony at Trees because the pit was so out of control. Scratch Acid was the only band I saw that played an encore and Texas should be proud that their oft copied sludge noise is our state's gift to the world. The only thing that could top a Scratch Acid performance and encore was the improbable reunion of Big Black.
How does a band with a drum machine and four songs own an entire three day music event? Despite singer/guitarist Steve Albini's contentions, Big Black lived up to the hype of a band that formed to outweigh Heavy Metal and out-hard Hardcore. Their guitar sound was easily the most shocking noise I have ever heard come out of an instrument, period. The sound was akin to bombs dropping and bouncing a few times before they blow mid-air and unleash a torrent of treble, bent nails and gunpowder into every open eye, ear, pore and orifice in the audience. I will never forget the feeling of screaming along with 7,000 people, "I can kill a cow/Fast as any other fucker can!". Talk about camaraderie amongst strangers! There was a very healthy and friendly attitude in general during the weekend and people from all over the world knew they were experiencing something that was actually special, rather than the prepackaged "special" that comes at the ridiculous price that greedy organizers of other three day music events were asking for this summer. I saw Big Black open for Shellac and I can't even believe I just typed that sentence. It was a privilege.
Shellac could have and probably should have closed the festival. I was thrilled that they played Dallas early in the summer and I was still just as thrilled to see them in Chicago. Much like The Ex, I wish more bands would aspire to their lack of convention. They don't tour to "promote the album", they tour because they want to. They don't send out promo copies, they let the critics do some legwork and not just sit around expecting handouts. In other words, if they want to review the album they have to go out and find it (or in Stonedranger's case, download it). It's almost an unthinkable concept these days: A band that isn't begging you to like them or pay attention to them. I wish there were more. The world would certainly be more interesting. Shellac ended their triumphant set with drummer Todd Trainer dragging two girls onstage, handing them drumsticks and letting them hit cymbals with the rest of the band. It was a beautiful moment and a contrastingly gentle way to end such an overwhelming day.
Acts as diverse and respected as Seam, Pinback, and Coco Rosie played on Sunday but it almost seemed like a gloomy afterthought. I enjoyed myself anyways. The Monorchid was the last aggressive yelp of the reunited bands, and the festival came to a close with little fanfare after Calexico. I'm still recovering from that weekend... in a good way. Sometimes the cynical silliness of the local scene causes me to forget that original, transcendent, and challenging music even exists in the world. I'm just as guilty of the narrow mindset that I mentioned before because I let the pettiness and DFW tunnel vision cloud my own thinking. I can't stress enough how refreshing it was to have all that chipped away and realize that we can all be better. Better Bands. Better label owners. Better music fans. I was truly in awe of what Touch and Go had accomplished and what we could all possibly accomplish if we tried even a fraction as hard as Corey Rusk and all of those bands. If nothing else, I would like to thank Touch and Go for helping me detox the baggage of the local music scene out of my system, even for just a weekend. We're all very lucky this record label still exists. To quote Todd Trainer, "Thanks for enriching all of our lives."
We Are Scientists | Art Brut | The Spinto Band (Gypsy Tea Room Tea Room) Weren't We Are Scientists supposed to be like a huge band or something? You would have expected them to be if you had read the praise that many of the major MP3 blogs were giving them back in January. It was supposed to be a really big year for them, but considering that they haven't graduated from the Tea Room to the Ball Room, I guess it wasn't as big as many expected. This development is surprising to me, considering that they seem to have the perfect formula for fake indie to mainstream crossover success: a watered down amalgamation of just about every retro sound that has been fashionable over the past five years, mixed in with just the right amount of pop-punk to keep the kids bouncing. And OMG, they're from Brooklyn too! Of course, they really aren't quite as bad as all that makes them sound, but I would hardly tell you that they are worth seeing. Art Brut is a different story all together: almost everything about them tells me that I should like them, and I've seen them put on two very good live shows in the past year. However, I'm just not crazy about them. I like the Fall, and Television Personalities, and Buzzcocks, and everything else they seem to be influenced by, but theres something hold me back. I don't know why. The Spinto Band I can take or leave for the most part, but they might actually be the most interesting band on this bill. Probably not the coolest thing to say, but its true.
Lost Generation w/ Wanz (Cavern upstairs) What Wanz has tonight:
"Stand out tracks in tonights set: The new Slits ep(playing emo's nov.11th), some other more rare Slits material, Serena Maneesh(playing Rubber Gloves later this week, and of course Cygnus(Our laptop deathmatch Champ). I will have a few copies of The Lost Generation Ultimate krautrock mixtape on me tonight. If you wanna copy just let me know. Come by and have a drink and say hi."
