So as a lot of you probably already know, this Saturday'sLost Generation concert at Hailey's will serve as the final performance of Mazinga II, as Wanz appears to have officially disbanded the group. It also appears that the Black Arm Band will be calling it quits too, although its not clear when or why. This, of course, leaves Wanz bandless in DFWd, which is sure to make some of you sad, others happy, and some completely indifferent. Well, here is what Wanz had to say about it via Myspace, on a post about Saturday's show:
"This also happens to be the last Mazinga show and those that know me know that I like to go out in style. After this weekend I will be in no bands. I may start playing drums part time for one of my friends band, but I will have no input in that project and will be doing it for shits and giggles. I am doing a few shows with The Falkon(Original line up) later this summer, but we are not getting back together. The label that was gonna release The Black Arm Band debut is gonna release the unreleased Falkon record that we recorded with Matt Pence a few years ago. There is a reason Falkon split and those reasons still stand. I do not want to be in any band full time right now or anytime soon. I have a solo album coming out on Mixtape Meditation out of Lawrence,KS and have a lot of friends from several cities/states helping me with it. I also have a few projects in the fires with people in other parts of the country. I have landed a residency with DJ Nature and Stephen R(of Zygote) at Club One and Laptop Deathmatch is getting bigger and better. I have never been an easy fit in the DFW scene. I don't think either of my bands are gonna be missed all that much by most, but to the few that have shown great love and support I sincerely thank you. Cheers!!!!"
No, its not a broadcast station, but UTD's student internet radio is the best DFW based source for good new music, and all of you should listen to it. Chart:
1. danielson - ships 2. serena maneesh - serene maneesh 3. mojave 3 - puzzles like you 4. mission of burma - the obliterati 5. minmae - le grand essor de la maison du monstre 6. walkmen - a hundred miles off 7. aloha - some echoes 8. mono - you are there 9. oakley hall - gypsum strings 10. jolie holland - springtime can kill you 11. flaming lips - at war with the mystics 12. elf power - back to the web 13. shearwater - palo santo 14. wilderness - vessel states 15. feu therese - feu therese 16. a whisper in the noise - as the bluebird sings 17. phoenix - it's never been through that 18. black heart procession - the spell 19. daniel johnston - welcome to my world 20. lylas - lessons for lovers 21. glissandro 70 - glissandro 70 22. ben vaughn - designs in music 23. the theater fire - everyone has a dark side 24. i love you but i've chosen darkness - fear is on our side 25. matmos - the rose has teeth in the mouth of a best 26. seekonk - pinkwood 27. parts & labor - stay afraid 28. gnarls barkley - st. elsewhere 29. dead heart bloom - dead heart bloom 30. starlight mints - drowaton
Radio 200 Adds: 1. lansing-dreiden - the dividing island 2. rhys chatham - rhys chatham sampler 3. camera obscura - let's get out of this country 4. oppenheimer - oppenheimer 5. the heavy blinkers - the night and i are still so young
Hopefully you'll be in a good mood after what should be a Mavericks win (I really think they took control of the series on Sunday, so we'll see what they do with it), and you'll want to go out and have a few drinks while listening to some good music. Well, as usual for a Tuesday night, you can head to the Cavern (Upstairs) for the Lost Generation with Wanz. Here is some of what he is playing tonight:
The Get Hustle, Oneida, Einsturzende Neubaten and a lot more. I also have new cuts from Diplo, The Futureheads, Sonic Youth, Me, various members of Laptop Deathmatch, Hot Chip, Boards of Canada, Beirut, Gnarls Barkley, Yo La Tengo and Matmos.
We have now checked this night out a couple of times, and both have been entertaining and well attended, with a bit of dancing starting to go down in front of the DJ table. Props.
1. Danielson - Ships 2. Walkmen - A Hundred Miles Off 3. Grandaddy - Just Like the Fambly Cat 4. The Black Angels - Passover 5. Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers 6. The Theater Fire - Everybody Has a Dark Side 7. Beirut - Gulag Orkestar 8. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere 9. The Black Keys - Chulahoma 10. FM3 Buddha Machine 11. Starlight Mints - Drowaton 12. Boris - Pink 13. Serena-Maneesh - Serena-Maneesh 14. Various Artists - Soul Sides Volume One 15. Phoenix - It's Never Been Like That 16. Scott Walker - The Drift 17. Alias & Tarsier - Brookland/Oaklyn 18. Nobody & Mystic Chords of Memory - Tree Colored See 19. Astronautalis - The Mighty Ocean & Nine Dark Theaters 20. Wolfmother - Wolfmother
Nice to see some Scott Walker, Black Keys, Boris and Serena-Maneesh on there. That Phoenix album is pretty good too, and I'm not sujre what to think of Wolfmother. I liked it quite a bit the first time I heard it, but I think I got sick of it after a couple days. Maybe I'll get unsick of it again.
Oh, and have you guys heard of this totally badass new band? They rock!
Anyone that wasn't part of the sizeable crowd that attended the Liars show at the Tea Room on Saturday night missed what was easily one of the best shows so far this year in the Metroplex. And although I can't say that I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, I should say that as much as I like all of the Liars recorded material, I had never seen them live before Saturday and honestly didn't know what to expect. Bands like Liars that play rather non-traditional and noise driven rock music are usually completely hit or miss in a live setting for me, and I would guess that most people reading this would probably agree, no matter how much they enjoy talking about music that is "too difficult" for most people to "get."
The thing that stands out to me the most about Liars' music, and their new material in particular, is how much they are able to do with so little. Their music is all about rhythm, repetition and space, and although they are probably one of those bands that Sudgefan fans enjoy pointing to with their "too pretentious" flags at full mast, I would say that those basic elements are probably more in line with primitive American blues and rock n' roll than most of the commercially viable "new rock" that we would hear all the time if we actually listened to rock radio anymore. At the end of the day, Liars obviously don't sound anything like traditional blues based rock, but they do seem to tap into some of the same things, and in some way, appeal to listeners on a similarly basic level, albeit with extraordinarily different results. Take any song on Drums Not Dead, for instance. Pretty much all of them feature a pounding rhythm as a centerpiece (hence the album title I suppose) with minimal tones of distorted and nervous noise buzzing around in the immediate background, and patches of mantra-like vocals thrown in to sort of tie the songs together when they are about to come undone. The driving force behind all of them, to me, is the silent space that exists in between all of these elements. The emptiness creates a good deal of anticipation for what is coming next, and it is the use of space that seems to keep Liars' songs unpredictable and somewhat chaotic, even if most of them are in fact built on extremely simple and often repetitious sounds. Basically, it seems that they are able to strip rock music to absolute bare essentials and still create songs that don't really sound like anything else, especially rock n roll.
The live show captured these qualities, I think, but more importantly: it was just fun to watch. Angus is a pretty charismatic frontman, and seemed much cooler and more easy going on stage than I would have imagined. The band played several songs from the new record, as well as one or two old ones thrown in here and there, and a bunch of stuff I hadn't heard before (which I assume is new, although I could be wrong). Everything seemed to work quite well for them on stage, and the live drumming was completely captivating throughout. The sound probably could have been louder at times, but given the band's somewhat unusual setup, I would have to say that the sound was about as good as it could be, and certainly didn't take away from the show in any way. And by the way, they closed the show with a rather strange and completely kick ass cover of Nirvana's "Territorial Pissings" that really seemed to serve as a good example of why Liars are so compelling (as well as one of the night's highlights). Their music might be hard to swallow at first, but its obvious that they know why people listen to rock music, and they are clearly able to utilize that knowledge to create songs that are challenging and different but never boring or overly academic, which might be explained by simply saying that they never seem to do more than they have to. And you don't have to be a hipster, a record collection asshole or a wanna be music journalist to appreciate that.
There isn't anything going on anyway today, so we're taking the day off. We might add some content later tonight if your nasty. If not, see you tomorrow.
Lots of shows tonight, with the extra day off and all. If we can recover from the amazing Liars show last night, we might head out to one of these things:
1. Laptop Deathmatch (DoubleWide) A good chance to see a wide variety of electronic artists in Dallas fighting it out amongst themselves. The crowds keep getting bigger and bigger at every Deathmatch, and with good reason.
2. Happy Bullets | Tah Dahs (FREE- Meridian Room) Its a free concert. Expect a bunch of people, a lot of drinking, etc.
3. Flashlight Party (Elm Street Bar) The Denton crew is throwin' it down with one of the best dance mixes in town.
4. Nudity | Prayer for Animals | The Chimeneas (Metrognome Collective Ft. Worth) Olympia, WA's Nudity pretty much kicks ass. MC5ish loud psyche rock with a punk bite. Go to the Myspace page and see what I mean. This could potentially be the sleeper show of the night. Metrognome is booking some really good bands touring bands as of late.
Only one thing going tonight, and you know what that is:
Liars | Deerhunter | Apes (Gypsy Tea Room Tea Room) If you read this blog regularly, you know that Liars' Drums Not Dead is our favorite record from this year, but we also think it is probably the most IMPORTANT record of 2006 as well. To me, those are two different statements. A favorite record is just that: your personal favorite based on subjective criteria. But trying to figure out how important a record is in the big scheme of things is a different proposition, and might involve consideration of slightly more objective criteria such as the record's impact via sales, influence on other artists, media coverage, and its contribution as a work of art. Now we really can't completely defend our view since the very selection of criteria in judging the importance of a record is a pretty subjective process. But we think that as far as artistic merit, significance, creativity, and relevance, Drums Not Dead certainly tops the list for "indie" and experimental releases this year.
And we certainly plan on heading over to the Tea Room a little early to see Deerhunter, who we hadn't ever heard this week. They're fantastic from what we can tell. They've kind of got a little no wave meets krautrock vibe going on, and we dig it. Go to their myspace page with the link above and listen to "Cryptograms," and you'll see what we mean. Apes also sound really fucking good too, with a more melodic psychedelic sound going on. So come on Dallas, suck it up, go early, and see what will at the very least be one of the most interesting shows to come through the city this year.
And who knows exactly what they will be playing tonight, but here is a cool Liars video from one of their older EPs that we thought you might like:
