Apparently someone over at TexasGigs has been dreaming about me again. And it looks like they think I have a nice ass too. I was hoping it was Scott Chaffin, but some things just aren't meant to be.

1. Secret Machines - Ten Silver Drops
2. Starlight Mints - Drowaton
3. Black Angels - Passover
4. Riverboat Gamblers - To the Confusion of Our Enemies
5. Islands - Return to the Sea
6. Ambulance LTD. - New English EP
7. Why? - Elephant Eyelash
8. Black Tie Dynasty - Movements
9. Voxtrot - Mothers, Sisters, Daughters and Wives
10. Tapes 'n Tapes - The Loon
11. Feist - Let It Die
12. Mates of State - Bring it Back
13. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
14. Sondre Lerche - Duper Sessions
15. Elf Power - Back to the Web
16. Calexico - Garden Ruin
17. Death Cab for Cutie - Directions (DVD)
18. Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
19. Philip E Karnats - Pleasesuite
20. Eagles of Death Metal - Death By Sexy...

See, Black Tie Dynasty sells records whether we like them or not. They probably get lucky more than we do too. And will people stop buying fucking Death Cab stuff please?

1. Islands | Why?/Cadence Weapon (Hailey's Denton)
Islands has put out one of the best records of 2006 so far, and although I have seen two Unicorns performances, one great and one not so great, I'm really looking forward to this show because I think they've really improved as a band. I'm not sure if I'm really that into Why?, but I'm willing to give it a shot. Cadence Weapon sounds interesting, and has earned some pretty good reviews of his latest mixtape. This will probably be a really fun show.

2. Laptop Deathmatch (Doublewide)
You probably know what this is about already, but before you go you can stop by The Cavern and see Teenage Symphony opening for The Pit That Became a Tower and American Werewolf Academy. Um, AWA is blah blah blah I don't care boring and the Tower band is a sort of decent indie pop act, and the fact that they are from Israel and take manger scene pictures in the holy land is kind of funny I guess. So go see Teenage Symphony, possibly stick around for Tower, and then go to Doublewide to see some interesting local electronic performers block rock some beats. That would be our advice.

If you still had doubts about whether Dirk Nowitzki was a bona fide NBA superstar, that three pointer with 15 seconds left probably just convinced you that he was. And you would be right. The Mavericks just weren't the kind of team that won in overtime on the road in the playoffs before Avery Johnson took over, and now they appear more ready than ever to take on the Spurs. Lets brush these fleas called the Grizzlies off in game 4, hope for a long Spurs-Kings series, and get ready to play some fucking basketball.

1. Acid Mother's Temple | The Antarcticans | The Great Tyrant (Hailey's Denton)
The best Japanese experimental noise psych freak band of all time! Really, this should be a great show. AMT will require you to take acid at the door. But even if you don't, you'll still really enjoy it if you don't need music to have a good beat that you can dance to. Antarcticans and Ft. Worth's The Great Tyrant sound pretty good too. Check it.

2. iDi* Amin | Ghostcar (Cool Bean's Denton)
Show starts at 930 and should be a good one, featuring one of Denton's more interesting up and coming noise acts with one of the area's staple experimental fusion jazz etc. groups. Or maybe the area's only. Its on the roof of Cool Beans apparently, and the weather is just right for that sort of thing.

Last night at the Kid 606 show, I was thinking about people who primarily listen to rock music, particularly those that are serious indie or punk fans, and how those people tend to react to dance or electronic music. Then today, I was going through the comment posts on here, and came across one that provided a good example of the attitude that I was considering:

"at least btd (Black Tie Dynasty) play their own instruments.but what is sad,is that any monkey can push any key on a computer program and sound good.it seems easy enough.but sadly enough, not always the case..ie.treewave"

When I was 15 and thought Bad Religion was the coolest band on the face of the earth, I probably would have completely agreed with that comment. Today, however, the very notion that someone is more "organic" or respectable because they "play their own instrument" is totally and completely laughable to me, and anyone with half a brain should know better. Not to pick on Black Tie Dynasty yet again, but lets just use them as an example since that is the example that the Anon poster used. BTD obviously play electric guitars, and they use amps, and PAs, and effects processors, and microphones, and pedals, and everything else under the sun to manipulate the sounds of the guitar, the vocals and even the drums. When rock bands like BTD play live, they are using a club's PA system in order to amplify the sounds so that you can hear them. When they record music, they go into a studio and more likely that not use digital equipment to record their songs and engage in all other kinds of digital sound manipulation, just like most performers do today. Again, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that, and that is exactly my point. There is nothing wrong with it. When you think about it, guitars were a technological innovation when they were first created, as was reel to reel tape, and sound proof rooms and mixing boards and microphones and pretty much every musical instrument that has ever been invented or studio that has been built to record them. That was all technology too. I guess the only difference that people like Anon see between a guitar and protools is that the technology is digital, and the manipulation of that technology requires slightly less physical activity than playing a guitar or drums. And if that is their basis for saying that there is something wrong with a band like Tree Wave getting up on stage and playing video game music, then I really won't even dignify the argument with a response, because it doesn't make any sense. Besides, I thought only rednecks in Texas militias and shit were afraid of computers. Guess I was wrong. The point is, digital programs are instruments in every sense of the word, created by humans to make music. Any music that incorporates anything other than vocals uses some kind of human created technology, and people should just learn to accept it, because their stubbornness will cause them to miss out on some really great stuff, and make them sound like they haven't put more than two seconds of thought into the whole thing.

Anyone that didn't go to last night's show really did miss out. When we showed up at the Red Blood Club, DJ Nature was in the middle of proving why he is one of the best DJs in DFWd right now. He played a great set of reggae, reggaeton, hip hop, experimental, dance rock, and even a little Kid A Radiohead. His mix was ridiculous, and the medium sized crowd at the show ate up every bit of it, dancing their asses off non stop until the end of his set. If you haven't at least thought about checking this guy out already, then I don't really know what to tell you. Just do it before he moves on to bigger and better places. No one else around here is doing what he does.

Tree Wave followed Nature with a set that, despite some sound problems, was one of the most exciting I have seen from any local band in a very long time. Creating music from old video game sounds and computer programs sounded like a gimmick to me, and if the music had in any way been cutesy or obvious it would have been really bad. But it wasn't. In fact, Tree Wave was exactly what what their Myspace page indicated: loud, noisy, spacey electronic that reminded me of My Bloody Valentine, Jesus and Mary Chain, Stereolab, and of course Eno, whom they covered to open the set. Like I said, they had some sound problems that might have prevented the show from becoming absolutely amazing (the sound at the club in general was full of treble and just not that great), but I'll tell you it was pretty close anyway.

At one point, the male member of the group played some old video game on stage that he had rigged to play music. I forget which game it was, but the screen was very similar to pac man. Every time he would go around a different sphere of the screen, eating all the dots, a different chord would be played, so the music that resulted was based entirely on where his guy on the screen was at any given time. He could make one chord play longer by staying in one ring for a longer period of time, or the opposite. The sounds built up, getting louder and faster on each new level, until it sounded like the whole thing was going to explode on a fast distorted, high pitched wail. Then it was over, and he didn't die once. It was really pretty insane, and the music was quite interesting too. That was what was so great about the whole thing. The music was really really good, despite the sound problems, and aside from the fact that they were making it with video games. It was great stuff completely on its own, with or without the band's back story. And props should be given to their female vocalist as well, who dealt with some sound issues but still gave a great performance, adding a whole other element to their sound that separates them from most laptop based electronic acts. The set was short, but we plan on seeing them again very soon.

Kid 606 was also wonderful. Not knowing nearly as much about dance music as I'd like to, I'll just say that he mixed in all kinds of genres, drum n bass, hip hop, old school Euro techno, and many others to produce an extremely dense, fast and hard sound that was completely captivating and danceable throughout the entire set, even though Kid hardly ever slowed it down to give you a breather. One look at the sizeable crowd dancing at the front of the stage indicating that many people didn't want or need a breather however, and a glance out into the courtyard about half way through the set revealed a good number of people drenched in sweat, all of whom went back inside to finish the set.

A friend and I were talking after the show about how "rockers" often don't know what to make of electronic dance music being played in a setting like Redblood club, which is primarily designed for rock music. All of that is probably changing, and soon many rock n roll fans that can't get into electronic music will have to change their minds, or just become completely irrelevant. But until then, I must deliver a message to many of Dallas' guitar based rock bands: you guys might "play your own instruments" or whatever, but most of you haven't come close to affecting a crowd the way that Kid 606, Tree Wave, and Nature did last night. And while I'm not suggesting that you sell all your guitars and buy turntables like the band in "Losing My Edge," you might want to think about some of the things that electronic artists around here are starting to do much better than you are. You might want to think about how you can put on a show that people will actually find, you know, inspiring. Because playing guitars and keeping time just isn't enough anymore. And thank God for that. Last night's show was one of the best we have seen within the Dallas city limits in months. And there wasn't one guitar in sight.

(EDIT: As my new best friend pointed out in the comments thread, DJ Stephen R. should get some props for putting together a really good show. I hope he continues to do things like this in the future.)

1. Kid 606 | Tree Wave | Dj Nature | Bexarametric | Dj Stephen R (Red Blood Club Deep Ellum)
The last time this blog recommended a show in Deep Ellum that wasn't at Gypsy was... well, a long time ago. In fact, I'd say that we have recommended maybe three or four shows in Deep Ellum since we started this thing in January. However, this show is a rare one for the hood: five different performers, all of which we want to see. Kid 606 spins a little bit of everything during his DJ sets: jungle, drum n bass, pop, house, hip hop, and all other kinds of sped up mashed up shit that is impossible to classify. A WSJR associate saw one of his sets in San Francisco and claims it was the second coming. Tree Wave is a local group that I can't believe we hadn't noticed until recently. Great glitchy, spacey electronica stuff that reminds us of Broadcast, Stereolab, Eno and even shoegaze. Good. Bexarametric is another local that mixes ambient stuff with strings and synths and insane beats on the lap top. Should be interesting to check out as well. We don't know what Stephen R plays, but his Myspace indicates that he has good taste, and you know the deal with Dj Nature. This show will be the most fun you will have in Deep Ellum for the next few months at least. Go.

2. Old Time Relijun | Kind of Like Spitting | Bring Back the Guns | Lemuria (Rubber Gloves- Denton)
Old time Relijun certainly has studied up on their James Chance, but thats not a bad thing... in fact, its a great thing. Listen for yourself, because nothing else sounds like this right now, except for the disbanded Black Eyes of course.... and they weren't nearly as good. Great dance beats, noise, and some pretty insane vocals. Should be very very cool live. And although Relijun is on K Records, Portland's Kind of Like Spitting sounds much more like a K band thats all mixed up with another Portland band we like, The Thermals. Not sure exactly how to describe them, but give em a listen, because they are good. Houston's Bring Back the Guns have played here before if we remember correctly, and they sound like Les Savy Fav and Fugazi and stuff. Lemuria is grrrlpower pop. Could do without it. Should be a really good show.

EDIT: Almost forgot: Theater Fire will be over at Lee Harvey's tonight. Not sure what time they start, but I would guess you'd be cool if you got there by 10. We'll have a review of their new album on Monday.

I like to tell people that I’m a fantastic foosball player. And they believe me, because I’m so good at everything else. I tend to boast, to challenge and bet money. But I always lose. When my reverse-hustle is played out, I’m left feeling frustrated and resentful, and my opponent is usually slightly richer. In this same fashion, I like to tell people I am a fan of local music. I brag and proudly promote shows and bands that seem promising, but at the end of most of these shows I drag myself home, defeated, discourage and broke. And yet, despite all reason, every once in a while I win. It’s usually an accident, or that the guy I’m playing is too drunk, but on rare occasions I win.

Rose County Fair is like that one perfect, fluke game of foosball. They restore my faith in local music and they keep me coming back. Too often, I see bands bog themselves down in tricks and noise, using inappropriate gimmicks to cover up what they don’t know. But Rose County doesn’t use gimmicks; they don’t need to. John Pedigo is a great songwriter, and although he usually shelves himself under novelty acts or rockabilly, with Rose County Fair he finally gets to spread out and write the songs he’s always wanted to. He also finally has a band that can step up to all his interesting changes and really fill them out. They don’t do anything flashy and they are nostalgic in tone, often reminding me of how good it felt to steal my dad’s Miller High Life in 8th grade. At the same time they sound fresh, reminding me of the first time I heard Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. They might branch out and noodle around if need be, but all at once they spin the handles and get the “ball in the hole,” if you know what I mean.

I think a lot of people might assume they are too alt-something to be considered a viable contribution to the scene, but if that’s the case, they’d be overlooking our own Dallas Alex Chilton. That’s right. I said it. I’m comparing Rose County Fair to Big Star. What are you gonna do about it? I’ll tell you what I’M gonna do, I’m gonna challenge YOU to come out to the Doublewide on Saturday night. I promise you’ll get one really good game in before [Daryl] plays and you lose all your money, get pissed off and go home.

(STONEDRANGER NOTE: I was skeptical of Rose County Fair, as I am of most of Taunto's recommendations, until I heard the first song on their Myspace page. You should give it a listen. )