How about this Wall Street jabroni getting his ass straight up served to him on CSPAN this morning? We need more productive vulgarity like this on CSPAN...
The "EM DAWD," as it's called by insiders, continues to pull diverse, quality shows and is even throwing a major curve-ball by hosting a secret dance party soon, with an eyebrow-raising lineup of DJ's.
Speaking of booking oddities, did you know that Spune productions is doing house shows now? I heard it was the "thing to do," ever since some local paper hosted a couple of fake ones last year.
The Tanks | The Istics | Naxat | Division Of Power (1919 Hemphill): Naxat is one of those acts where the artist is playing this extremely complicated music, that would be hard enough with a full band, and yet he's standing there trying to keep it altogether, putting out each little sonic fire, one right after the other. Download an EP from Naxat here.
Ludicra | Magnus | Pinkish Black (Lola's) Ludicra has received a decent bit of positive attention of late, if not in "the trades," then at least on message boards and status updates, mostly for its impressive live show. I wasn't blown away by their recordings, but I don't doubt that their particular style of Black Metal translates better live. Fort Worth's Magnus and Pinkish Black are also on the bill, and Pinkish Black is the new project of The Great Tyrant'sDaron Beck and Jon Teague.
So after all that praising of Todd Rundgren the other day, he goes and plays almost an entire set of blues rock at Trees two nights ago. Ouch. It was cool hearing "Open My Eyes," originally performed with Nazz, but man, it was a bit much. I don't why older musicians feel the need to get in touch with their "roots," even ones they weren't necessarily ever in touch with in the first place.
Trees was the same as it ever was; it was as if it never closed. Todd was getting a bit grumpy about some of the set-up, which yielded his best quote of the night: "Man, I love this gig: Can't see shit. Can't hear shit. And my guitarist has a fucking tree in front of him." One wonders how used Rundgren probably got to larger venues in his heyday, and I hear that's a hard thing to let go of. After all, he was once rivals with John Lennon.
Now, if you'll notice by clicking on that link, very little has changed since Lennon and Rundgren were openly insulting one another in music mags. I found the exchange to be very similar to a couple of small-time musicians attacking each other on any comments section of any modern music site. It's oddly comforting.
The Printed Image - etchings, lithographs, monoprints and spit bites Andrea Rosenberg Barry Whistler Gallery 2909-B Canton Street, Dallas, TX 75226 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Introverted Floating World Brent Ozaeta The Public Trust 2919-C Commerce Street, Dallas, TX 75226 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
SATURDAY
Sin Limite - The Mexican Tsunami (M K Semos and Hugo G. Urrutia) Lego (Ruben Nieto) Decorazon Gallery 417 North Bishop Avenue, Dallas, TX 75208 6:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Beach House I want so much to like you. Contrary to some of my non-blogger friend's beliefs I don't dislike things just because they become too popular or relatively mainstream. These friends seem to have no other reason for my indifference towards Beach House other than cultural elitism. On the surface Beach House seem like a perfect match for me for it is no secret that I have a penchant for moody indie pop. Unfortunately I have been disappointed with Beach House ever since I saw them live alongside a very sparse audience at Hailey's a few years ago. It was a pretty boring show which sadly matched my expectations after giving their self titled a couple quick listens. Beach House make some pretty non offensive yet slightly left of center indie rock. This is the stuff American Apparel hoodies are made of.
I will admit that Teen Dream has some very lovely moments, especially early on but by the time Lover of Mine kicks in I can no longer distinguish one song from another. The whole affair gets very bland very quickly. Much like last year's darlings Grizzly Bear, Beach House holster one set of tricks that they execute over and over. The plucking guitar, the lurching organ and Victoria Legrand's vocals which shows little range or personality from song to song. Teen Dream is not a difficult album to listen to, in fact it's a very passive one. Repetitive and anti-climatic. After the third listen I was asking myself what else this album had to offer and I came up dry. Trust me I know that I am in the minority on this one but I hope to offer a voice for the voiceless amongst the hipster blog-o-sphere.
Frankly there are artist today in the same musical spectrum as Beach House that I enjoy more. Please feel free to disagree with me as I offer some examples. The new JJ album has a very similar feel to this one and while it might not have a cozy sound like Teen Dream it has way more personality and takes more risk. I had a feeling I was going to be greatly let down by the new High Places after not liking the last album as much as the previous singles but High Places vs. Mankind is really impressive and effectively expands on their sound, unlike Teen Dream which sounds purely like a step forward production wise. So since you missed out on tickets for this sold out show you should buy the aforementioned albums, or just put on one of your parents Fleetwood Mac albums. Bone Thugz-N-Harmony (House of Blues)
This is going to be much more entertaining fun than Beach House. See ya at the crossroads.
