Here is an essay written by a guy who is talking about how he talks about Chuck Klosterman's way of talking about certain things that other people talk about and how he (the guy) doesn't really like the way that Klosterman talks about things because he (the guy) talks about them in the same way and then talks about this similarity with other people who in turn talk about how he (the guy) talks about things, and then this guy publishes an essay about himself talking about how he talks to other people about Chuck Klosterman' annoying tendency to talk about the same things in the same way, and that these things usually involve the ways in which people talk about stuff. Its pretty good.

Cindy Chaffin from Texasgigs.com wrote a response to one of our posts in a comment thread, and we've decided to share it with you. Before you read, note that we aren't planning on starting a blog v. website bitch fest, and that this will be the last post on this subject. We aren't into personal attacks either, and you won't see that here. And judging by some of the problems that the guys at dconstruction had to deal with when they touched on a similar topic (and for the record didn't personally attack or say anything unwarranted about Cindy Chaffin), we'll repeat: nothing personal. We don't know Cindy Chaffin, she could be a wonderful human being, and we have no problem with her. And blah blah blah. Heres her post:

Cindy here from TexasGigs.com. I started TexasGigs.com 3 1/2 years ago as my own personal blog to...yeah...PROMOTE!!!!...the music scene, as a ***music promoter.*** There are a lot of local bands I think are amazing. There are tons more that I think suck. But the point...er...my mission was (and still is) to support and provide as much information as I could so that folks could make up their own mind as to shows to attend or CDs to purchase.

TexasGigs.com was (and still is) a passion for me. I will write about Salim Nourallah 'til the cows come home because I love the guys music and I love the guy. I'm a passionate gal, so I tend to send out messages of over-luvin' I suppose.

I think folks have misinterpreted some of the posts/stories. Just because I/we report news on bands, CD releases, shows, etc., doesn't necessarily mean we think they are the greatest thing ever. We are simply getting the information out there to the readers and supporting the scene as a whole.

If you look closely at the over 4000 blog posts I wrote over the past 3+ years, you'll notice that the bands I tend to gush over on a regular basis are the same dozen or so.

There are big buzz bands out there that lots of folks and critics rave about that I just don't get. But that's NOT the point of TexasGigs. It's there to offer information about the local scene, be it a garage band made up of 12 year olds who gig 3 times a month at The Door, to the Old 97's blow-outs at the Lakewood Theater. My personal favorite bands and then some are always going to be gushed over because...well because it's my site and I can do whatever the hell I want.

I started this little project to be exactly what it is, supportive, informational, timely etc. There are loads and loads of blogs, publications, etc. to tell us all how much we (me, bands, music, venues, etc.) suck. That just ain't my thing.

I merged with Pegasus News because they had the ability and technology to make the site more than just a gal and her blog. Now with lots of hands, opinions and tastes in music involved, you'll see a lot more than just my gushy posts and exclamation points.

Our Response:

1. The fact that she wants to "promote" the local music scene "as a whole" and as a "promoter" is precisely our problem. The music scene "as a whole" does not deserve to be promoted or supported, and the fact that people feel an obligation to do so is one of the main reasons that the Dallas scene, and many others like it suck. Of course its not really her obligation to make the scene any better, nor is it anyone else's, and we don't fault Texasgigs.com for that. Its just that many Dallas music consumers like us are fed up with being told that Daryl and Pleasant Grove are awesome or that Polyphonic Spree is a great "experience" or that we should "totally check out" some stupid Emo band at the Christian club in Deep Ellum. That is one of the reasons we started this blog: because we were bored to tears with Dallas music "as a whole," and with the generally positive tone of the media's coverage of it. We think that if people actually take the time to listen to local music and form intelligent opinions on it, a lot of the crap will go away and the better bands will get bigger... and better. So we agree with Cindy that there is some good music in Dallas, but that there are in fact "tons more bands" that suck.

2. Cindy's personal taste: We don't really know anything about Cindy's tastes, and therefore aren't attacking said tastes. However, part of the problem is that we have no basis for determining what Texas Gigs likes and doesn't like, which makes it hard for them to have much credibility in our eyes. Like we said, its the Boy that Cried Wolf syndrome: how can anyone be expected to take a recommendation from Texasgigs seriously when they seem to absolutely love everything they talk about? And while we realize that our site is little more than a collection of personal tastes in written form, we feel like we are pretty straight forward about what we like and don't like, and that this helps people decide whether we're worth reading or just completely full of shit. Of course people are free to make up their own minds just like they are when they go to Texasgigs or any other website, but it seems like a waste of time to go to a site that you know is going to promote any and everything that is happening on any given day. If that is what you're looking for, why not just go to the Dallas Observer concert listings and sort through it all? Many people don't have time to sort through all the crap out there, so geeks like us try to do it for them. And people can take it for what its worth.

3. The one thing that we think Cindy is totally wrong about is the statement that there are "a million blogs out there to tell us we suck." We pretty much assumed the same thing when we started this blog, but quickly learned that it just isn't true, at least as far as blogs that focus on Dallas are concerned. There really are very few that talk about Dallas/Denton music in any depth, which is why we've kept this up for the amount of time we have. Of course, Texasgigs is trying to serve a different purpose than we are, and maybe one day it will be a great website full of the kind of commentary that is worthy of a city with as many people and opinions as Dallas has. For now however, its just not something that we can support or recommend to anyone that wants to get beyond local scene gladhanding and find out what is really going on. Surely we can do better too, and there are probably a lot of people that think this site is total crap. But when it comes down to it, "folks (can) make up their own mind," and so will we.

Thanks to Cindy for her mature and thoughtful post, and also for reading and linking to our blog. We feel no ill will towards her, and it seems based on her post that she doesn't have any towards us either. Lets keep it that way.

JR- weshotjr@yahoo.com

Not sure what this picture has to do with anything, but it is what it is. We're also going to have more posts today with good stuff like Mp3s and our usual brand of brilliant writing. This time we actually promise to, you know, post too.

The List, probably the longest Wednesday edition we've had so far:

1. Starlight Mints/Ryan Lindsey/El Paso Hot Buttons (Hailey's Denton)
Do you ever get the impression that Fiery Furnaces and Architecture in Helsinki are just trying to do what the Starlight Mints started doing five years ago but can't quite pull it off? Although there is certainly some room to disagree on this point, we really just wanted to take this opportunity to say how much we hate Fiery Furnaces, as well as to point out that the Mints have been doing the schizo psyche pop thing for a long time and probably do it better than anyone. Anyway they're a great live band, and I'm sure they'll be playing some new stuff that will most likely be the shit.

2. The Party with DJ Nature (rubber gloves Denton)
You'll probably want to start going to The Party now so that when it blows up in the next month or two you can tell everyone how old school you are. I'm sure you can stop by after the Mints show.

3. Sisters of Mercy and the Warlocks (Gypsy Tea Room)
This show costs 25 bucks, so you really have to be a fan. We are, and we're sure many of you are, so it might be worth checking out. And the Warlocks are bad ass despite what Pitchfork tells you.

4. Japanther (Cavern)
Good noise post-hardcore band that played in Denton last night is coming to Dallas tonight after an early show in Ft. Worth. You should really take a chance and see something a little different from the Valentines every once and a while. Maybe this will be that show.

1. Japanther | The Show is the Rainbow | Bring Back the Guns (Rubber Gloves Denton)
Brooklyn's Japanther is a pretty damn good post-hardcore noise group that can at times sound like Lightning Bolt with a dance beat, and at other times like old Joy Division with no beat at all. Pretty interesting stuff (although you shouldn't judge from the crappy live tracks on the Myspace page). The Show is the Rainbow does some fairly catchy experimental electro, and Bring Back the Guns is a Houston band that sort of has a Les Savy Fav thing going on.

2. Lost Generation with Mwanza (Cavern)
shoegaze, post punk, elector, krautrock and more.

An interesting and brief article by the widely respected historian and political theorist Francis Fukuyama appeared in the New York Times magazine this week, discussing what basically amounts to his renunciation of the neoconservative school of thought. It gives a nice rundown of what the movement was, what it has become, and where U.S. foreign policy should go now that the Bush administration has made sure that no one ever tries the Neocon approach again. Not sure if I agree with everything he says, but a good read none the less.

Elsewhere, it looks like a million people attended a free Stones concert in Rio recently. Now the city has to clean up their mess.

Finally, SXSW announced its schedule a couple days ago.

More to come today, including a band profile and stuff.

1. Good Records Good Mornings with DJ Cee Pee (Cavern)
guess all he has to do now is walk about 30 yards to get to this gig. Indie hits, etc. are played.

2. Deftones/ Thrice (Nokia Theater Grand Prarie)
Ha ha, gotcha!

Saturday night's Supergrass show was, well, adequate. I got to hear some of the hits that I knew and loved, was forced to hear new stuff that I didn't like, and was left pondering whether or not the whole experience was worth fifteen dollars, especially considering the mind numbing cold that I faced walking down Commerce St. to get there. The first half of the show absolutely bored me to tears, mostly due to the fact that the band stuck to playing songs off their new album Road To Ruen, which some have called their "mature" record but I consider to be quite bland compared to their earlier releases. Besides, who wants maturity from goddamn Supergrass anyway? Aren't they supposed to be brats?

Things picked during the second half of the show when they started to play some of their earlier favorites, but even that was little more than merely satisfying. Although the band played many of the songs a little slow and was sloppy in spots, it wasn't really their fault. The whole experience actually reminded me of the Pitchfork article about the new Lollapalooza, or what they termed the "Alternative Rock Hall of Fame." I felt like I was there for the same reasons that my parents might go to an Eagles or Rolling Stones concert, even if Supergrass is still putting out decent music while the other two bands haven't not been horrible in decades. I was there to hear songs that I used to like a lot, songs that while still good just aren't part of my current rock n' roll experiences. I was there, at least in part, to relive the past. If you went, I'm guessing that you had at least a somewhat similar motivation. If Supergrass released In it for the Money this year, I doubt I would give it much of a listen and I wonder if many of you would either, since its really not anything new or exciting. Hearing that album at the tail end of the mid 90's Britpop thing and being 16 or 17 at the time both played a part in my love for that album, and my attitudes and experiences in 2006 would surely play the same kind of roll, even if they would in fact lead to a different result. I still like listening to the old Supergrass stuff, but I can't help but suspect that nostalgia plays a large part in that experience. Not that its really a bad thing per se, but its just strange to realize that I am probably old enough to want to attend what essentially seemed to be a "Greatest Hits" tour by a band that initially became popular at a time when I was old enough to like them. Supergrass probably isn't the best example of this considering that they put out one of their best records only four years ago, but I suppose I'm just really dreading the inevitable moment when I hear my friends talking about their Luxury Box tickets for the new Soundgarden reunion tour. Face it, it already happened with the Pixies, and theres no reason not to assume that Frank Black's belly is only the beginning...

You aren't cool enough to not listen to this show (from Myspace post)

"TONIGHT,We'll be spotlighting the Texas Cropdusting Tour with Record Hop, Woozy Helmet, Sharks and Sailors & Tame...Tame and Quiet. Cory from Record Hop will be in the studio to talk about this special Texas tour.

Also NEW Belle & Sebastian, Black Tie Dynasty, Smile Smile & Celebrity!As well as songs from Wilco, The Blow, Talking Heads, Mathstorm, Carissa's Weird, Jon Brion, Marshmallow Coast, Sufjan Stevens, Lali Puna, Devo, The Tah Dahs, Eniac, John Dufilho, Cordelane, Meyercord, The Black Heart Procession, Pavement AND SO MUCH MORE!!!
10:00 (11:00/10:00 c) p.m. on KNTU 88.1FM in the D/FW metroplex
OR LIVE ON-LINE at KNTU.FMjust click the Listen Live link

don't forget to post your comments during the show at the "unoffical" Frequency Down Message Board:Frequency Down Message BoardIf you feel like calling during the show, please do so!The number is 940-988-0045"