Theres nothing to do, and its too damn hot to go anywhere anyway.

1. Thom Yorke - The Eraser
2. Feist - Open Season
3. Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche
4. TV On The Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain (import)
5. Nobody & Mystic Chords of Memory - Tree Colored See
6. Tapes 'n Tapes - The Loon
7. Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
8. Grandaddy - Just Like the Fambly Cat
9. Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
10. Hot Chip - The Warning
11. Band of Horses - Everything All The Time
12. Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
13. Golden Smog - Another Fine Day
14. Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I Am Dreaming
15. Danielson - Ships
16. Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope
17. James Figurine - Mistake Mistake Mistake Mistake
18. Astronautalis - The Mighty Ocean & Nine Dark Theaters
19. The Theater Fire - Everybody Has a Dark Side
20. The Black Angels - Passover

That new TV on the Radio is really good, isn't it? I loved their first EP, but I thought the first full length was pretty weak for the most part. This one is worlds better, and I would suggest giving it a chance, even if you didn't like their first record.

Taking the day off today, although I will remind you that Castanets are playing an excellent bill at Rubber Gloves tonight with locals Sarah Reddington and Shiny Around the Edges. See you tomorrow.

1. Lost Generation Concert 2 (Doublewide $5)
The line up:

830-9 Ashburne Glen
915-945 Record Hop
10-1030 Jack With One Eye
1045-1130 The Falkon
1145-1230 The Stange Boys
1245-130 Pleasant Grove

Another excellent installment in this weekend's Lost Generation concert series... not sure who is DJing at the bar tonight, but knowing Wanz, I bet it will be someone good. We like pretty much every band on this list, again, and you should go, again, unless you've decided to go see:

Midlake @ Hailey's. This place will probably be crowded as shit tonight, so I hope they've got the a.c. going. This is CD release weekend for what could (and most likely will be) the most commercially successful rock release from north Texas this year (unless Flickerstick or Drowning Pool puts out another record), so all of you detached observers will enjoy it. And I know that you could reasonably argue that Midlake isn't really doing anything new on Van Occupanther or however you spell it, because they aren't. But if you're into American pop rock, you will hear how well these guys are doing what they do by the time the first chorus on the first song hits, and you won't really care too much about rock history after that.

We're especially looking forward to the Falkon and Pleasant Grove tonight.

So there are quite a few things going on this weekend that are worthy of a little attention. Therefore, we're going to break the Weekender up, and do one post for tonight (this one) and one for the rest of the weekend early tomorrow morning, mkay?

1. Lost Generation Concert Series (Double Wide $5)
Although he's not playing this show (except as a DJ), Wanz Dover has put together one of the largest and most impressive local line ups that we've seen in a quite a while for this two evening event. I guess its sort of like a mini festival, except it doesn't have any of the features that can make festivals suck: it doesn't start too early, doesn't last too long, and is in a decent bar with a good stage and mostly great sound. Its also spread out over two days, which is good. Tonight will SURELY be the rare Friday night at Doublewide: it will actually be a lot of fun. And even if you don't like every band playing, you can check out Djs Cee Pee, G, and Wild Bull (Wawnz) spinning at the bar all night. We're into just about every artist that is performing tonight, so we don't think we'll need very many breaks. Tonight's line up:

830-9 The Friendz (special secret band, so we haven't heard them. We're going to roll the dice and see what we get, based on the word around town.)

915-945 Dutch Treats

10-1030 Silk Stocking (you know we're down with Silk Stocking)

1045-1130 Kidko (one of the best of the Laptop Death Match crew, if not THE best. His music is fractured and somewhat upbeat, but a bit dark and often quite pretty. Some might call it IDM, but I would just call it really good.)

1145- 1230 Unconscious Collective (These guys don't have a Myspace page or website to my knowledge, so you're just going to have to believe that they put on a ridiculously great live show. We've had the pleasure of seeing their noisy free jazz performed live a couple of time, and were blown away on all accounts. And if the words "free" and "jazz" scare you, don't let them: even people not normally into that sort of thing should really dig what these guys do, because they sure don't sound random or improvised, and we haven't seen a single toaster anywhere near them so far.)

1245-130 Jetscreamer (should be a great end to a great show. We're liking this band more and more every time we hear them.)

2. 3/5 of the iDi* Amin gang will be playing as Zanzibar Snails @ Counter Culture Vintage at Mockingbird Station tonight. I'm going to go ahead and guess that they are the first noise band to ever set foot in Mockingbird Station. And just think, if you go and don't like them, you can stop by the Gap or pick up a Killers CD or whatever at Virgin after! iDi member Nevada Hill will have art on display as well, and you'll be able to pick up their excellent new CD too. Its from 7-10, and the band starts at 830.

3. Starlight Mints | Colourmusic (Hailey's $8) Probably don't need to tell you about Starlight Mints, and Colourmusic sounds really good. Have also heard great things about their live show via some trusted sources, so this should really be a show worth seeing.

4. Voot Cha Index | Teenage Symphony | Hardinsweaty and the Ready to Go | Chris Garver (Rubber Gloves $5)
Another good Denton show. We've never been sure about Hardin Sweaty because of their Myspace songs (and lets be honest, their name), but we always hear good things about their live shows, etc, so they might be worth checking out... we'll give it a shot. The other performers are all certainly worth it.

Oh and Flashlight Party will be spinning a house party in Ft. Worth tonight at 2115 6th Ave. Its BYOB, and you can rsvp or get more info here.

Gotta post this by 5, so see ya.

A touring show that I'm looking forward to quite a bit (and one that hasn't really received much local coverage) is Castanets at Rubber Gloves on Sunday. I caught a captivating and rather intense Castanets performance at SXSW a couple of years ago, and I've been looking forward to seeing Ray Raposa play again ever since. In between travels by plane and two busses yesterday, Ray was kind enough to answer some quick questions for us. He has also commented on his enjoyment of the We Shot J.R. Comment Section Beard Wars. I wonder which side he's on?

So are you currently touring in support of your last record, or is there new material being released soon?

It's a kind of tour for First Light's Freeze. Follow up tour. Extra innings. We've got a super limited split 7" with Wooden Wand on our table this time. Split 10" with Dirty Projectors is set for fall release. Tracking the new record in Sep/Dec. Playing some of those song on this trip, as well as some from Matthew Phosphorescent Houck and I's new band.

I've read that you like to do a lot of improv when you play live. What is the motivation behind that? Boredom? Challenging yourself? Do you feel that the recorded material should stand on its own, and that you should attempt change things up in a live setting in order to create something of a new piece of music?

Trying to keep it fresh enough that we all don't quit tours halfway through. Trying not to cover ourselves. I think that records are very much their own final piece. Shows are where the songs get to breathe. Driven out to the country with the top down.

A lot of your music is obviously quite dark and minimal in sound. It seems that you feel quiet atmospherics and space can be a very effective element in a song, and you seem to utilize both quite well in your songwriting. Why do you suppose that space and low level noise can have such an impact on listeners? Or does it?

The sounds and instruments used for a song or album are the ones that I feel suit the song or album best. I have no concept of their impact on others.

I read somewhere that you were working on a piece of fiction writing. Could you tell us a bit about the work, and if its been or will be released?

Lost in the great unpaid storage space seizure of '06.

Do you find any similarities between writing songs and writing stories?

On occasion. They stem I think from similar impeti. Very different in execution.

I've also read that you are involved in an experimental avant jazz project. Could you tell us a bit about that, and other kinds of music that you make, or are interested in making?

Little things here and there. The jazz thing might've been a record that came out on Eclipse a few years back called Womb. A lot of the Cathedral players are on that. I've doing a lot less improvisation lately. Thinking about hip-hop a lot. Dub. Red from Peter and the Wolf and I are both looking deep into those Ethiopiques records as wells. Matthew Houck (Phosphorescent) and I have a band in mind with the song titles all in place. First track's called "Blow Me Down Easy". Four part harmony.

Your songs seem to have a very intense emotional element in them. Do you think that listeners can truly discover much about you as a person through listening to your songs? Do you even want them to?

They won't and they won't by design.

Finally, ever been to Texas or the Dallas/Denton area? Any good stories to share?

Been there plenty. It's always awesome. I lived in Mckinney for a few months when I was seventeen. Making almost daily drives with the girl to pick up wine in a county that wasn't dry. Shows at Hailey's and in Dallas proper have always been great. I can't count the number of good people in these parts. Truly.

Sorry, work issues, etc. have forced me to post a short but sweet list today. Weekender will be better tomorrow. And I've been having more problems with Myspace today that I don't feel like dealing with, so sorry if you haven't been getting bulletins or messages from me today (if you were expecting one.)

Warmermilks | You Are the Universe | Violent Squid: This is a FREE byob house show in Denton, and there is talk of a keg being in the area as well. Will be a fun show I'm sure. The house is located at 628 Lakey St. in Denton. HERE is the map. Starts at 9pm. Warmermilks are a great fucking band, and you know we're into URTU and VS, so you won't want to miss this. And its free, crybaby.

And DJ G will be throwing down at Hailey's tonight as usual with 80's house/electronica.

And moody post-rockers From Monument to Masses will be @ Rubber Gloves tonight.

Idi*Amin's debut cd, "B.C.E." is not just a cdr in a brown paper bag being passed around amongst local noise fans, but instead comes in a package that is beautifully illustrated and folds out like a wedding invitation. To package your average burnable cdr with such lavish visual presentation is a striking statement in itself. It's an insight into the philosophy of a group that may have recorded part of their record on the roof of Cool Bean's, but present it with all the attention and respect that they feel such an experiment (and the people that purchase it) deserve(s). I can respect that.

For a local band that is notoriously challenging, the album starts off with a misleadingly accessible tease. The first track, "GNU" churns along with some fairly melodic sax playing and comes off more like the score to a foreign film shot on DV. This is probably one of the weaker moments on the album, simply because I don't think the sax should be able to get away with playing what the band would probably find inappropriate on guitar if the roles were reversed, meaning that the sax part seems a little too light and safe in the context. Semblance to convention is quickly discarded, however, as the album moves on to"Carbide," its second piece, which sounds like an amplified rubber band being stretched across an empty warehouse by generator noise and random sax stabs. And once the third piece hits, all hell officially breaks loose, just like you thought it would. Here, Idi*Amin launch into a full on panic attack of abandon, with a dose of muscular drumming to help the sax and machine noise along to the middle of the record, which shifts into more lethargic territory. The guitars become so deconstructed and anti-riff at certain points that they would hardly be recognizable as the "chick magnets" young men once saw them as. Well, the dream is still alive for iDi* Amin if today's gals are into bleak, apocalyptic, and atonal nightmares.

The fifth track, "Coelacant" [sic], clocks in at nearly ten minutes and combines the aforementioned pieces ofIdi*Amin's sound with a great deal of feedback. By this point, the sine waves start to sound like lowflying warplanes as the ominous haze of the record builds ever outward and hits a true climax as the first track reprises, if you could call it that, with "G.N.U. II". Once Mike Forbes' sax starts it's repetitive Albert Ayler cadence, Idi*Amin's music really seems to come together almost gracefully. The guitars, drumming, and noise play off of these stunted phrases, and it's some of the most intriguing playing you'll hear from any local band. The next to last song, "Ziggurat" starts off with the same pattern, and if I had any power to change DFW's shitty rock history, this would replace"Possum Kingdom" as our most widely known local hit. The record ends with a lone scream, stray gunfire percussion, and the trickle of a slide running up and down the strings of a guitar and promptly dying, shortly after playing the album's only recognizable guitar melody. Along with the rest of the record, this piece is so menacing that I should probably correct my previous statement: "B.C.E." unfolds like a funeral invitation.

(Note: Star rating out of a possible five)