then you hate freedom and the troops and various other things that are good. Read what Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black had to say on the matter in a 1960 Supreme Court case that declared it unconstitutional for a state to require anonymous writers to reveal their identities:

"Anonymous pamphlets, leaflets, brochures and even books have
played an important role in the progress of mankind. Persecuted
groups and sects from time to time throughout history have been able
to criticize oppressive practices and laws either anonymously or not
at all. The obnoxious press licensing law of England, which was also
enforced on the Colonies was due in part to the knowledge that
exposure of the names of printers, writers and distributors would
lessen the circulation of literature critical of the government. The
old seditious libel cases in England show the lengths to which
government had to go to find out who was responsible for books that
were obnoxious to the rulers. John Lilburne was whipped, pilloried
and fined for refusing to answer questions designed to get evidence
to convict him or someone else for the secret distribution of books
in England. Two Puritan Ministers, John Penry and John Udal, were
sentenced to death on charges that they were responsible for writing,
printing or publishing books. n6 Before the Revolutionary War
colonial patriots frequently had to conceal their authorship or
distribution of literature that easily could have brought down on
them prosecutions by English-controlled courts. Along about that
time the Letters of Junius were written and the identity of their
author is unknown to this day. n7 Even the Federalist Papers, written
in favor of the adoption of our Constitution, were published under
fictitious names. It is plain that anonymity has sometimes been
assumed for the most constructive purposes."

You see that, we're heroes! So in the spirit of helping mankind progress, all I have to say is Boo yeah motherfucker!

The word of the day is "free," because both shows on the list today are free. You know what do right? Whenever anyone says the word "free," scream real loud! Ok, lets try it:

1. Lost Generation Concert Series (The Cavern)
Tonight is a special edition of the Lost Generation. Upstairs, Wanz will be Djing for most of the night with the Flashlight Party crew, which means that you should get a pretty nice dose of dance floor electro pop/disco punk along with Wanz' usual brand of hard to find tracks that no one else in north Texas plays in public. Downstairs will be a free (aahhh!) concert featuring Wanz doing some solo stuff (not sure exactly what kind of stuff this will be), along with performances from Silk Stocking, Plexus Loom, Sean Kirkpatrick and Daniel Huffman. We've been curious about Plexus Loom for the past week or two, ever since we briefly discussed their performance at the Amsterdam Bar. The band (it looks like a two person outfit) plays a strange, eerie blend of goth influenced outsider folk, and the Nick Cave influences discussed on their Myspace page are probably fair. Sean Kirkpatrick has to be one of the more interesting songwriters in Dallas right now, and lately I'm digging his stuff far more than the recent Paper Chase material. Quite pretty piano based songs that are dark and disconcerting at times, and probably recorded just the right way to capture the spirit of his material. And I can't find anything on Daniel Huffman other than the fact that he used to be a member of Day of the Double Agent, so maybe someone can share some info in the comments if you have any. And actually, I've never heard Day of the Double Agent either, so I have no idea what to expect. I've heard good things, but that doesn't really help me.

2. The Advantage | Fishboy | Jonathan Meiburg/ Swedish Teens (Rubber Gloves)
Another free (aaahhh!) show tonight, part of the Rubber Gloves Free (aaahhh!) Week. The Advantage plays covers of Nintendo soundtrack songs, which is an idea that I absolutely hated until I heard their music. Listening to The Advantage makes you realize how complex and difficult some of the old Nintendo music is, and how completely prog meets surf rock a lot of it sounds. I am going to go ahead and promise that the Advantage are a great live band, and if I'm wrong, its free (aaahhh!) so fuck it! On a different note, I read today that Fishboy is opening up for Spoon at Emo's later this month. Good for him. Sounds like a big gig.

And I promise to never do a Pee Wee themed list again.

1. The Polyphonic Spree - Wait
2. Red Monroe - Red Monroe
3. M. Ward - Post-War
4. Sorta - Strange and Sad But True
5. Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
6. Bob Dylan - Modern Times
7. Nobody & Mystic Chords of Memory - Tree Colored See
8. Ratatat - Classics
9. The Thermals - The Body The Blood The Machine
10. Ray Lamontagne - Till The Sun Turns Black
11. Broadcast - Future Crayon
12. Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
13. Snowden - Anti-Anti
14. Mountain Goats - Get Lonely
15. Chad Vangaalen - Skelliconnection
16. Pete Yorn - Nightcrawler
17. Headlights - Kill Them With Kindness
18. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
19. Vetiver - To Find Me Gone
20. My Brightest Diamond - Bring Me The Workhorse

If you haven't heard the Broadcast B sides collection sitting at the #11 spot, you should really give it a listen. Most of its tracks don't really sound like "B sides" at all because they are simply too good for that label. They are sort of like most Pavement B sides, which often make you wonder exactly why they weren't included on an album in the first place. Some of them are immediate enough to have been singles too.

Also, I don't know about you, but the Beirut record has really been growing on me over the past couple of months or so. Its funny that Beirut sounds completely original in many respects, despite the fact that much of the music on the album is inspired by traditional eastern folk that is about ten times older than rock n roll and even blues. Does that say something about the xenophobia of the typical American music fan, or does it just demonstrate how boring Sound Team is?

And finally, I just can't get into that new Thermals record. Anyone else heard it? It seems that they've had it on autopilot since their brilliant debut, which was a true lo fi pop punk masterpiece. Maybe I just need to listen a little more, but I only had to listen to the first Thermals record once to get hooked.

1. Record Hop | Tha Bracelets | Mescalero | Sleezus Fist and the Latter Day Taints | Sunday Drive (Rubber Gloves)

I'm going to be brief since I've already had to work on Labor Day. Record Hop is playing a free show at Rubber Gloves tonight as part of "Free Week". This is an excellent opportunity to catch one of the area's best straight ahead rock bands and one of my favorite lead vocalists. I've heard that Tha Bracelets are a good poppy live act and they seem okay but I have not heard them enough to form an opinion. Please let us know what you think. I know you can be really shy about that. All I can tell you about the other bands is that they make this one of the strangest lineups I've seen for a local show in recent memory.

One thing going tonight:

Wild in The Streets @ Hailey's: here is what is going down tonight:

In a bit of last-minute news, I'll be joined in the booth at Hailey's this evening by Chad of Denton's new, cool music/book/video store Strawberry Fields. The store's great, and all the employees are nice and knowledgeable. Here's a little info on what they've got up their subversive sleeves:

Specalizing in media that your parents warned you about and what your uncle secretly stashes underneath his bed, Strawberry Fields is here to provide you with media dealing with counter culture, activisim, arts, alternative lifestyles, trash, left of center, shlock, radical, queer, erotic, artsy, fartsy, artsy-fartsy, forgotten, hidden, recently recovered, activism and what ever else you can think of that they dont sell at Barnes and Nobles.

So come out and dance/drink to some good music (60's & beyond garage, international pop, soul, soundtracks, instrumentals & more) ... some of us (ahem) don't have to work tomorrow, which is definitely cause to celebrate! No cover for 21 & up; $2 wells and domestics. 10p-2a.

Should be good times on your extra night of fun. Thats all. We're going to have a ton of stuff this week, so get ready.

1. Don Caballero | Fra Pandolf | Zombi (Rubber Gloves)

Fra Pandolf are a good live band but they'll have their work cut for them to hold their own tonight. They're playing with legendary and important Math Rock instrumentalists, Don Caballero. Don Caballero started as a group of guys who were basically aping Math Metal pioneers Breadwinner but they went on to form their own sound by expanding the rougher elements into really layered and nearly atmospheric instrumentals that sounded impossible to play by human beings. The frequent lineup changes were probably responsible for all the directions they went in and they are now back with no original members except the freakishly talented Damon Che. I have seen no modern drummer more impressive than Mr. Che when I've seen him play with Don Cab or Bellini, who I preferred him in. I would recommend this show as a required educational course for all local young and upcoming drummers. Anyways, now that Don Caballero is on Relapse Records their current album sounds like a summary of their entire career and they're blending their softer textured sounds and their more metal tendencies. I don't know much about Zombi but their songs sounded like Trans-Am's "Nightrider" period or Rush instrumentals. Take your pick.

2. Teenage Symphony | Hardin Sweaty and the Ready to Go | Swim Swim | New Science Projects (Club Dada)

Teenage Symphony are back tonight after taking a break from playing live. Hardin Sweaty and the Ready to Go I refuse to comment on because of their name but I'm sure they play pop music as does Swim Swim. New Science Projects we've mentioned before and they (he?) are probably the best bet in this lineup besides Teenage Symphony.

3. Deep Snapper | The Mad Scientists | The Distant Seconds

Deep Snapper includes former and current members of Birth to Burial but you wouldn't necessarily know that from their myspace page. Most of the tracks seem to be intense guitar driven rock but there is an off kilter feeling to the songs with treated vocals and manipulated instruments. I believe this is the band's first show and I think it will be a good one. The Mad Scientists are also playing and I think they'll be an appropriate match for Deep Snapper's debut. If you haven't seen them, they play this weird blend of psyche influenced rock with sharp funk rhythms and half shouted vocals. There is also some inexplicable guitar shredding to top it off but I've enjoyed them when I've seen or heard them. I prefer the originality of their music over a lot of Denton's "tasteful" retro country rockers, music theory students, jazz heads, and gear fetishists. Austin band The Distant Seconds finish out the lineup and they stand out for being a little more pop oriented but they sound pleasant enough.

4. Pegasus Now | Snowden | For Those Who Know (Amsterdam Bar)

Pegasus Now is playing at the Amsterdam bar and I'm sure they'll be playing stuff off of the ep that Stonedranger reviewed this week. See if they pull off their sonic diversity live. For Those Who Know play melodic rock with the detached whispered falsetto that accompanies bands who have a lot of British shoegaze influences. Touring act Snowden is from Georgia and they are very much along the same lines as For Those Who Know. They have notably released their debut album on Jade Tree Records.

Our time is very limited today, so we'll be ditching the Weekender for our old format this week. Sorry about that, but its the best we can do. Check back on Saturday for Saturday events. For tonight, there isn't a whole lot going on, so no big:

1. If you're in Denton, you might want to go Strawberry Fields (Oak and Bonnie Brae) at 9pm to check out their free screening of Kill Your Idols Click, a documentary about the New York No Wave scene of the late 70's/early 80's. I haven't seen the film, but I've heard that it is quite good, covering a lot about the no wave scene and drawing paralells between that time and the current New York art rock scene (and questioning whether what is happening in New York right now really has anything to do with "art"). This is a great excuse to check out what they have in the store too... word is that they'll be selling CDs from every artist that appears in the film.

2. The Central Booking Agency (Dj Nature and Select) will be having a party tonight at the Cavern, featuring performances from Prince William and his duo Krispee Ones, who appear to be on their way to becoming one of the better underground DJ crews in DFWd, along with Select, Sober and hip hop acts Black Page, Seeds of Concrete and Big Pharoah. We've heard a lot of good things about Black Page and Pharoah, and everything that Central Booking has been touching lately has been a complete blast... these guys are throwing the best parties in Dallas right now, so you should probably check them out while they are on their way to running the Dallas dance/hip hop scene. Prince William has also received some props on Gorilla vs Bear, who will be playing records upstairs at the Cavern tonight as well. Looks like there is only one place to be in big D on a Friday night. The good news is that it will probably kick ass.

1. Japanther | This Bike is a Pipe Bomb | Brickfight | Denton County Revelators (Rubber Gloves)
We've already talked Japanther up a bunch this week, so we'll just tell you to check out the MP3 at the bottom of our Japanther interview below, and/or go to their Myspace page to hear some good arguments as to why you should really be at this show tonight. This Bike is a Pipe Bomb sounds like a fairly solid straight punk band that leans more towards pop in that Dead Milkmen sort of way. Brickfight sound like one of those early 90's pop punk bands that you can't really recall because they are almost completely forgettable, and I can't find anything on Denton County Revelators, so deal with it. Probably not a solid opening bill, but Japanther will be worth it, cross my heart.

2. Zoo (Cavern upstairs)
Anyone that hasn't had the pleasure of seeing a Zoo performance on a Thursday night should really change that as soon as possible. You'll see all kinds of videos, and I promise that you've never heard of half of the shit this guy plays (that includes YOU, Mr. Record Collection), and almost all of it is really good. We've seen rare Cure videos, random Bowie videos, !!! stuff that we didn't know existed, Mazzy Star, and tons of rare shit from the 80's, 90's and now that seem to be thrown together one after another with no single defining characteristic. The only things that tie the sets togther are visually interesting videos and great music pulled from just about any genre you can think of. Total quality and a shitload of fun. A rare combo for a Dallas weeknight.

3. Dj G 80's house/electro at Hailey's

4. Hip Hop Night (Slip Inn)
Don't act like you don't dig it, cuz you do.