Yeah, Happy Valentines Day and blah blah blah (sorry). Anyway, onwards and upwards:

1. Lost Generation with Dj Mwanza (the Cavern upstairs)
Spinning bands such as My Bloody Valentine, M83, Sonic Youth, Ladytron, Jesus Lizard, Gang of Four, Black Sabbath, MF DOOM & Dangermouse, Boards of Canada, David Bowie, New Order, Annie, Silver Apples, Stereolab, Can and more (from the Cavern website). Do we really have to add anything to that?

2. The Hold Steady with Plastic Constellations (Hailey's Denton)
We're not crazy about the Hold Steady. I know that Pitchfork thinks they're bad ass and shit, but we see them more or less as a fairly boring frat rock band that just happens to have a decent record collection. However, we know that there is room to disagree on a band like this, so we put it up anyway. Also we do like Plastic Constellations, the opener, so get there early if you wanna be like us. And you know you do.

We've recently been talking with a relatively new band out of Norman, OK called the Evangelicals, and we decided to write a little something about them even though they're not a local band because 1) they're pretty damn good; 2) they've just signed with Austin's Misra records, which means that they'll be in Texas quite a bit, which means that they'll have to drive through Denton/Dallas on their way down south, which means that 4) they'll probably be playing a lot around here in the near future. Oh yeah, and 5) because I do what I want!

The Evangelicals were formed right around the time that vocalist and guitar player Josh Jones (formerly a guitar tech for the Mooney Suzuki) was apparently arrested for burglary and decided to be in a band instead of being a roadie and like, stealing stuff. Jones, along with bassist/keys player Kyle Davis and drummer Austin Stephens self-recorded their debut LP So Gone several months back, and Misra will officially release it in June.

Although the band lists Leonard Cohen and T. Rex as a couple of their influences, we hear Belle and Sebastian, Brian Jonestown Massacre and Spacemen 3, as well as some early Flaming Lips and maybe even a little Jesus and Mary Chain, if only because of the distinct 60's bubblegum sounds buzzing just beneath the manic fuzz and tempo changes (check the first verse in "Another Day" if you don't believe us). Their songs are catchy as shit and completely loose in structure and composition without ever wandering too far away from their pop core. We can tell you that there aren't any other bands in the greater north Texas/Oklahoma area that sound very much like them, and we're going to be sure to see the Evangelicals the next time they come to town, even if it means missing a totally sweet Deathray Davies show or something.

Some Mp3s if you please:

"Another Day" Link

"Hello Jen, I'm a Mess" Link

Even though its not really our function to write much about national music news since you can usually find better coverage elsewhere, we just wanted to link to this Pitchfork rundown of some of the more noteworthy tracks that J Dilla produced over the years. He was one of our favorite hip hop beat makers of all time, and his 2003 album with Madlib was one that we listened to pretty regularly for months after its release. Although he didn't get a lot of recognition in his day, you can expect a flood of postmortem commentary about how great he was in the next few weeks (sort of like the one you're reading right now). Its just a shame that people were too busy with goddamn Puff Diddy to show him much love while he was actually, you know, alive and everything.

1. Good Records Good Morning with Dj Cee Pee (Cavern 10pm)
Manager of good records plays all the latest indie releases and various other goings on. We'll try to post a typical set list soon if we can get our hands on one.

I guess we probably don't have to tell you that radio in DFW is about as cool as getting a lap dance from Jerry Jones, so we won't bother. We also assume that many of you don't have to be told about how good Frequency Down on KNTU is, but we're going to go ahead and say it anyway for those of you who, like us, haven't bothered to listen to local radio in quite a while. The show, which airs sundays at 10pm on 88.1 (or online if you click the link above), is surely the best thing going in Dallas radio, as a brief glance at their playlist will confirm. Yep, thats Dinosaur Jr, Built to Spill, Wolf Parade, New Order and the Tah Dahs on there, as well as a lot of other stuff that you won't hear anywhere else in the metroplex. Give it a listen if you can remember how to work your radio dial.

JR

There is no It List for tonight. Thats ok. Its Sunday, the Lord's day of rest... so maybe thats what we should do. Rest. But we're not going to. Instead, we're going to make a couple posts of interest later on tonight, including a band profile and our Mp3 blog roundup. Stay tuned.

For Denton on a Saturday night: Violent Squid and You Are the Universe, two interesting Denton experimental bands are playing a free improv show at J+Js on the Square. I believe it starts at 10pm. Violent Squid sounds like Jandek one minute and Magnetic Fields the next, while You are the Universe sounds like, um, I don't know. Listen for yourself.

1. Fishboy | Voot Cha Index (Rubber Gloves Denton)
Both of these bands played for free today at Good Records, but if you're reading this and you didn't see them already, then you're outta luck. Voot Cha Index plays a cool sort of space pop thats worth giving a listen, while Fishboy is like a non retarded Daniel Johnston, which is a good thing since being retarded would suck.

2. Red Monroe (Club Clearview)
Ok ok, I guess every fly-over city in the United States needs their own local Strokes these days, and the Valentines are ours. They aren't particularly bad or anything and they write catchy songs, its just that we've heard them all before... being played by other bands that is. Needless to say, this means that the Valentines have a better chance of being big than most of the bands in Dallas right now. Red Monroe, a band we like quite a bit, is opening for them along with What Made Milwaukee Famous (pretty average) and the infamous Belafonte (you know what we think of them).

3. Lollipop Shop (Avenue Arts 825 Exposition Dallas)
Cute girls and art kids and hipsters dancing to soul, garage, psyche and other 60's stuff. Five bucks, BYOB, starts at 10 and goes until after 2. Probably the best place to meet a new friend tonight if you dress cool.