Cex | Love of Everything | Various Laptop Deatmatch artists (Hailey's)
To sort of quote the Vaselines, Cex sucks. "IDM," if its a real genre at all, really has to be done well in order to work in my mind. The 19 year old kid that is Cex doesn't quite pull it off, because I just don't think the world needs another jokey white hip hop kid, even if his beats are a little better than that of the average jokey hip hop kid. The reason we are recommending this show, however, is the charming electro-folkpop of Love of Everything, and the always great participants in the Laptop Deathmatch scene.

things to do:

1. Sean Kirkpatrick | Chris Flemmons | John Wesley Coleman | Dj Nature and No2Self (Rubber Gloves)
This is a birthday party for Geminis I suppose, and there are two things you should know right off the bat: 1) Its free for everyone; 2) and there is free beer for people that can prove via id that they are in fact Geminis. Too bad for me. But even still, it should be a really fun show. Paper Chase's Sean Kirkpatrick goes on at 930 on the dot with some cool piano based numbers that don't sound a bit like the Paper Chase in parts but are much more melodic on the whole. Baptist General's Chris Flemmons will do some solo stuff right after, followed by a performance from Austin's John Wesley Coleman. We've only heard the one song on his myspace page, but it is that one song that is forcing us to consider driving up to denton tonight. Really cool wall of noise with sort of a Thurston Moore meets outsider vocal delivery that has us pretty intrigued. Would like to hear what the rest of it sounds like, and its free, so what do we (or you) have to lose? And of course, after coleman, Nature and NO2self will be kicking everyones ass with a great dj set until closing. Check out NO2self's stuff on the myspace if you haven't already.

You are the Universe at 1919 Hemphill IS CANCELLED TONIGHT.... so nevermind.

2. And Chris Garver will be in the early opening slot at the Cavern tonight with Brooklyn's Megan Reilly (snooze), Backsliders, and Naptime Shake (Noah Bailey of the Observer).

Thats all we knows about.

The first is the title track from Thom Yorke's forthcoming solo album, The Eraser. I've listened to the whole thing a few times, and I've got a message for all the people that have been waiting for this guy to fuck up: You'll have to keep waiting, because the album is really good. Sure, a lot of it does sound like Radiohead (duh), but the album also finds Yorke heading off in some different directions, taking a great deal of inspiration from German microhouse on many of the tracks, and stripping down some the Radiohead signature sounds to give us more space and a somewhat cleaner experience. The beats are fantastic, and the album as a whole is slighter happier and more dance oriented than any of Radiohead's stuff (but still has nothing to do with the kind of music that you would dance to at a club). He really sounds like a more somber Arthur Russell having a panic attack on a lot of these tracks, and appears to be getting a little more adventurous with his vocals too. Listen:

"The Eraser" MP3

And second, by request, we have a new track from Vetiver's latest, To Find Me Gone. There are some very hypnotic, sleepy and kinda dark folkish tracks on this one, and the opener would be a pretty great example of the general themes and sounds you would hear on the rest of the record. However, we've decided to post our favorite song, which is probably the least like any of the other tracks, being more blues influenced than the rest. Its very good stuff, and slowly becoming one of our favorites this year:

"You May be Blue" MP3

If artists, management or labels would like these tracks removed, please email Weshotjr@yahoo.com and we will take them down immediately. Thanks.

THE EVENT DISCUSSED BELOW WAS YESTERDAY. I WROTE DOWN THE WRONG DATE. ITS A FIRST FOR ME, I THINK. SO SUE ME.

The new Art Prostitute Space is at 2919-C Commerce in good ol' big D, for the one person that didn't know that. And Found Magazine will be there tonight at 8pm. If you haven't seen Found or don't know what its all about, click here. This should be a pretty interesting little event. Its a $5 donation at the door.

For the first time in a couple of days, it looks like we will be able to post an "It" list. I really hate blogger.

The New Year/Shellac show was pretty great last night by the way. I personally am not the biggest New Year fan (although I do like Bedhead quite a bit, particularly the first record), but I was pretty blown away by their set. I found their last album to be pretty boring, but this was the first time I had seen them live, and I thought there were some pretty powerful moments. Like one of the comment posters below said, "18" was incredible, and although they didn't exactly have a memorable stage presence, I thought the quiet noise guitar attack was pretty intense and more than made up for the lack of movement on stage. And by the way, I dissed the New Year back during WOS because I wasn't crazy about their newer stuff. Defensive Listening, a different writer, thinks differently. And after seeing them live, I think I might give them another shot.

I also have to give some props to the poster that said Shellac was just as guilty of being "repetitive" as the New Year, but in a completely different way. I agree, but I guess I like repetitive music because I really liked their set too. It was great to see Steve Albini here in Dallas, and the set was tight, energetic, and just plain rockin' most of the time. I actually really enjoyed some of the moments when they got very quiet and minimal, with Albini whispering over some feedback and guitar clanking before absolutely exploding and going back into their rhythmic assault. They're no Big Black, but who is?

Actually, I missed some of the New Year set because I was busy running up and down the stairs watching the Mavs win a huge ballgame last night. Shit, when Dirk and Josh shoot for a combined 25% and we still win, I think we're in really good shape. It was kind of surreal seeing the Mavericks in the NBA finals, and judging by their nervous first quarter performance, they agreed with me. Its like it took them a while to realize that they were actually playing in the finals. They didn't get much better at any point in the game, but they improved enough to take the lead in the last second of the first half (great shot, Dirk) and hang on to win it in the second. The only thing that worries me is that Miami seemed to get a good number of open shots at the end of the game... they just missed them. I think we played a pretty shitty game overall, but we're up 1-0 and thats what counts. If Dirk and Josh have big game 2s (and Jet continues his hot streak), I think we are going to fly into Miami with every reason to think we can finish em off.

And oh man, the Denton beards were in full effect at the show last night.

Tonight:

If you wanna go "Out" out tonight, as in dance and stuff, then I think you would be dumb if you didn't head over to Zubar (yeah yeah, I know, its Zubar) to check out Dj Nature with his friend $elect. Its completely free, and if the house crowd comes out for this like they did at Ave Arts the other week, it should be a blast. You know you wanna.

On the rock tip, Voot Cha Index is playing over at the Darkside Lounge.

Radio 4 kinda blows.

We'll have some good MP3s and stuff for you later as well.

Thursday night in Dallas marks a very significant event for the city. An occurrence that the storied streets of the Metroplex have never experienced. Downright historical, some would say. People will be arriving from all over just to see it. You know what I'm talking about... that's right! Shellac is playing Sons of Herman Hall in Deep Ellum. This is unprecedented in Shellac's thirteen or so years as a group. And to top off this Dallas first, they will be joined by the greatest existing band to claim roots here: The New Year. This show will feature two bands who are almost entire genres unto themselves.

For those who might not know, The New Year continued where Dallas legends Bedhead left off. Bedhead is considered by many to be one of the most important bands of the last decade, and The New Year continues to carry on in their tradition without being overshadowed by or repititious of their own past. The New Year is a dynamically different outfit than Bedhead, which is evident on both their debut "Newness Ends," and the followup"The End is Near". The tempos are increased, the guitars are crunchier, and yet for all the added rocking, they can still pull off gorgeous open passages like no other band. Bubba Kadane, along with brother Matt, are the principle songwriters of The New Year, and Bubba was an integral part of putting tonight's show together since he is the only official member of The New Year who still lives in Dallas. Some of you bands might also know him as one of the owners of Acme CD, who's client list includes many local and national acts. He was kind enough to answer 7 1/2 questions for We Shot JR:

Since you are maybe the only Dallas area resident that can answer this question, how does being on Touch & Go for the better part of a decade compare to being on Trance Syndicate in the Nineties? And do you miss Trance or maybe the era it existed in?

Touch and Go always did all manufacturing and distribution for Trance. I kind of feel like we have always been on Touch and Go in a way.

You run a compact disc duplication company called Acme CD in Exposition Park. Acme is widely known as having really high (internationally recognized) standards. I've heard that some bands have balked at your strict requirements such as images having to be 300 d.p.i. and up etc. Most of the work that comes out of Acme seems to avoid what I refer to as the "local look". What do you think makes Acme different from other CD duplicators around town?

Our customers definitely appreciate the care that we take to make sure that everything looks its best on a CD package. I would feel negligent if I didn't let people know everything that I have learned over the years. High resolution images are certainly not a"requirement" to place an order with us. We are just trying to be helpful when we let someone know that their print might not look how they hope that it will if they use low resolution files. Any time I have anyone do any work for me I certainly hope that they are looking for red flags on my behalf and that they let me know about any problems that they find.

I was surprised to see that The New Year had a track featured on "The O.C.". I know this has been a boost to other bands, but it seems like no matter how many great records you've put out or how much both of your bands have accomplished, you still seem to exist in this grey area of mild popularity. Do you feel that having a track featured on the show helped raise the band's profile, and would you recommend it to other bands if they were presented with such an oppurtunity?

The only thing it really helped raise was our bank account balance.We went over budget making "The End is Near" and the check from The OC paid for the excess amount that we spent almost to the penny. It was a rare lucky break for us.

One of the last Bedhead Releases was a split with Macha. I remember hearing that you and your brother Matt traded tapes back and forth by mail with Macha to write the record. Are you and Matt forced to work this way with each other now that he lives in the Northeast?

Matt and I have worked that way since 1994 when he first moved from Texas to NY. We always get together at various points throughout the year to make demos together, though.

I'm assuming the nature of running Acme as well being in a band keeps you very busy. It seems as if Matt was all over the place in the past few years playing with not only The New Year, but Consonant and the late and lamented Silkworm. Do you ever yearn to start other musical endeavors or are you opposed to side projects?

I am not opposed to other musical projects. Matt and I have done some soundtrack work and we may do some more later this year. In August we are planning to go into the studio with Josh and Misch McKay from Macha, who we have been friends with, and played music with, since we were kids. I have no idea what will come of that, if anything, but we have been working on music for it.

"The End is Near" was recorded and mixed partly at Electrical Audio in Chicago and partly at the EchoLab in Argyle, TX. Will the next record be done completely in Texas or will you split the process again?

I have never been more satisfied with the productionof a record of ours than I am with "The End is Near." First of all, you can't beat tracking with Steve [Albini] at Electrical. It is the ultimate. Secondly, I liked the freedom of mixing each song over the course of a few days, which was possible because the Echo Lab is local. I have no idea how we will do the next record, though.

Getting Shellac to play Texas might be the most shocking result of a negotiation since Jesse Jackson convinced Slobodan Miloševic to release U.S. Prisoners of War. Can you give me any insight on how you managed this?

About 4-5 years ago Steve asked Matt and I if we thought that Shellac would have good shows in Texas and said that he wanted to come here. It just grew naturally from there.

Pick the more dubious term: "Shoegaze", "Slowcore" or ...Beardcore

Looks like this goddamn blogger is working again. I wasn't able to post anything today, and all the comment threads were down too. Boo hoo. We'll be back to normal tonight, and everything should be working again as of now.

As I write this, there are probably more than a handful of rock critics and blog writers that are thanking the Paper Chase for releasing their latest full length on 666. After all, the allusions to Satan and evil and tongue in cheek creepiness that go along with the day's festivities provide the perfect "theme" in which to frame a story or review of a band that conjures up some creepy images themselves. And even though its pretty clear that the timing of the album's release was little more than a humorous and possibly self deprecating gimmick that the band and/or its label came up with for laughs and a little publicity boost, (Look, it worked!) you can bet that you'll read at least one review of Now You Are One of Us that draws on these themes, for better or worse.

This kind of thing might be somewhat helpful to the band on a national level, but the Paper Chase doesn't need any introduction in Dallas. In fact, other than that Polyphonic thing, the Paper Chase are probably the closest thing to a bona fide national indie band that this town has right now (you might be able to add Midlake to the list later this summer.) The members of the band are well known and respected around town for their musicianship and creative output, and frontman John Congleton has the distinction of being both a highly sought after producer and one of the more interesting figures in the Dallas music scene. Add in some strong record reviews from reputable magazines and websites nationwide, as well as the prestige of the Kill Rock Stars label, and you've got a local powerhouse with a realistic possibility of becoming a national one.

Needless to say, the Paper Chase are a band that commands a certain amount of respect around these parts, which is why I was somewhat surprised at how mediocre their new record seemed on first listen. The rhythmic, choppy noise and insanely dark lyrics that have come to define the band were certainly there, and it was clear from the get go that the record contains their most straight forward, carefully crafted and accessible material to date, which is a potentially exciting development. But for some reason, I just wasn't feelin' it. It was as if I was just a little indifferent to the whole thing.

As I listened a few more times, I began to pick up on what was going on a bit better, and started to like the record more and more. In fact, I recognized at some point that the album's first five songs probably make up the best stretch of any Paper Chase album to date, kicking off with the thumping bass, menacing percussion and twisting, angular guitars of " We Know Where You Sleep" (a quintessential Paper Chase anthem that sounds like no other band), and peaking with "Wait Until I get My Hands on You," a track that starts off with a haunted house opera vocal on loop that ends up exploding with an instantly memorable proclamation ("I'm Alive!") that turns the track into the best Paper Chase song I've ever heard. Elsewhere, the bare bones strings and sparse piano of the drumless "You Will Never Take Me Alive" is an incredibly catchy and effective example of minimalism at its best, and the pounding drum/bass/synth attack of "...And all the Candy You Can Eat" is a pretty good indication that the Paper Chase has absolutely perfected its relatively unique sound.

And that might be the only slight problem with the record. Well, one of two. The other is that the second half of the record seems to lose some of the boldness of the first half, dragging a bit at the end and becoming somewhat indistinguishable from one track to the next. I guess you could say that it loses some of its steam, but its nothing terrible, and most of the material is still pretty strong. But the main thing that seems to hold Now You Are One of Us back just a tad is not the strength of the material, but the fact that we've heard this all before. Of course, there is nothing wrong with a band having a sound, and the Paper Chase certainly has an interesting one. And there isn't anything wrong with a band perfecting that sound, which is what the Paper Chase has done here. Its just that long time fans might start to wonder where this band is headed, and if they are willing to start off in some new directions. If you liked previous Paper Chase records, you will certainly like this one just fine, and if you've never heard the Paper Chase before, this record is probably the best introduction you could get, which is why it could easily be a very successful release for the band on a national scale. The only problem is that I'm looking forward to watching these guys evolve, and I was hoping that they would skip a few steps in that process on this release. They didn't, and its not really a big deal because they've still made a very strong record. Its just that I don't want to become bored with a band that I really like, especially one that still actually creeps me out pretty much every time I hear them.