A written description of this record is extremely annoying. Some art kids from Chicago make an afrobeat influenced post-hardcore electro dance kinda thing and reference Bishop Desmond Tutu whenever possible. And have you seen pictures of these guys? What a bunch of assholes (in sort of a good way). But this was another one of those records that we listened to all year long, and one that many of the bloggers and Pitchforkers chose to ignore on their year end lists. This is in fact an afrobeat record that sounds like it was produced by the Velvet Underground in 1983 with an 808 and a Casio.

At first, the songs sound purposefully difficult and hard to swallow. Songs like "Vaxination" seem to come at you sideways, with a discernible dance beat and singing of some kind, but something is always a little off time... or so it seems. As you continue to listen, you start to realize how truly catchy, and dare we say poppy, many of these tracks are. "The Stubborn Horse" is easily one of the best tracks to be released by anyone anywhere this year, with jangly guitars and a "do do do" chorus that will remind you of VU's " Some Kind of Love" and Beck's Odelay at the same time... in a good way. Elsewhere, "The Rabbit" starts off sounding like a joke but ends up forcing you to shake your ass, or at least to think about it, with fake bongos and Romancing the Stone style Latin synth rhythms in your face. Other tracks on the record take on a sound collage structure, and often end up sounding like a much less harsh version of some of the stuff that Liars did on their last album. You will also here some Swell Maps and by extension, early Pavement coasting in the background throughout, although the singing on this record is much cleaner than anything those bands put out.

A great dance pop record with enough experimentation to keep it interesting, and a band that obviously knows their place in the post-punk timeline. We hear these guys have some major label offers in the works, so lets hope we hear more of what they can do this year.

We didn't have time to publish our latest entry in the Bestest of 2005, so today we're going to do two. Also, we'll have tonight's "It" list and some other stuff for you this afternoon...

1. Mile End with DJ Laureen (Fallout Lounge)
Um, they play good music at this thing. Better than you'll hear on just about any night at any bar in Dallas, much less at some karaoke night (is that how you spell it?). So why the hell does no one show up? Not sure what the answer is, but try it once and figure it out for yourself. I heard Stereolab AND Stereo MCs at this thing one night. Where else in Dallas are you going to hear that? I believe this starts at 11, and I know it ends at 2.

We hear that there will be some more bands added to the list, but we're not so sure about that... this list looks pretty complete. We're going to see Animal Collective, we know that much.

http://www.austin360.com/music/content/music/stories/2006/01/12sxswbands.html

This is one of two albums that is on this list primarily for reasons other than the actual recording of the music that you get when you buy the CD. Of course the music is fantastic, and songs like "Tribulations," "Yeah," and "Give It Up" prove that indie kid record geeks actually CAN make music that you actually CAN dance to. Not to mention that James Murphy crafted these utterly danceable songs without falling into the traps of much of the painstakingly dull house music that we hear at places like Purgatory, or the genre Nazi complacency of those stupid postpunkdancerockwhatever groups that all the Whitebelts seem to love so much (we're looking at you, Arctic Monkeys). The music on this album takes from many sources: early 80's post punk, Eno glam, Krautrock, acid house, and to some extent the cannon of classic rock (when is the last time you heard such a good George Harrison song?). The result is an album we heard all year long: at parties, bars, clubs, home, and on the stage the last time they came to Dallas. And its something that we will remember having fun listening to, and dancing to, without feeling stupid for doing so. There is already a backlash against LCD soundsystem and the whole indie dance thing, but we think this will be short lived because dance music that is acceptable for indie kids to listen to is here to stay. Its not a flash in the pan, but the start of something permanent. American music fans are starting to act like their European counterparts have for years: there is guitar rock and electro dance, and there is an appropriate time and place for both. Thats what the formerly rockist American indie scene is realizing these days, and that is what we will remember about 2003-2005. This is the flagship album of this paradigm shift, and with any luck, a preview of things to come.

So, two articles of interest appear in this week's Dallas Observer, both by Sam Machkovech. The first is his review of the new Belafonte record Any Place is Better Than Here. And while we sometimes agree with the Belafonte boys' album title, we have to agree with Machkovech on their music. Nothing worthy of throwing into the Shitlist, but just plain old bland, Coldplay style Britemo pop. This is one of the reasons this blog was started in the first place... Because we are tired of bands like Belafonte in Dallas. Not that they play anything TERRIBLE per se, or that they are assholes or anything (none of us know any of them), but just that there has to be something better out there in a city so big.... And there have to be avenues of inspiration other than marketing. And that is what this band feels like... Marketing. A calculated sound designed to get chicks and sell records. Nothing wrong with that, seeing as how we aren't opposed to money or chicks per se. Its just that you can't have your cake and eat it too. If you want to make a little money, get some girls, and possibly have a chance to sign a major label deal (if you're good looking enough), then by all means start a band like Belafonte. Just don't expect people that take music seriously to shower you with critical acclaim if you do. If you want to try something a little more interesting, you might not make as much money or get as many girls, but you will be creating art mostly for art's sake, and in the process you might also make some money and get laid, although joining a Coldplay/Radiohead radiofreindly band would probably be easier if that is your goal. For now, Belafonte has chosen their path, and listeners will choose theirs. A bad review in a local newspaper usually does nothing to stop the momentum of bands like Belafonte, since most of their listeners don't give a shit what critics say (often with good reason I might add). However, they have not produced something of much artistic value, and should not be given a break just because they are a local band. There is obviously some musical talent in this group, and it is their first record, so maybe there is hope for Belafonte. But for now, they haven't given us much to get excited about.

The second is Machkovech's article about the demise of Deep Ellum. In it he states something to the effect that the bands playing in Dallas right now are the best we've ever seen in the city... Ever. We won't argue that there are some pretty good bands in Dallas, and that there are certainly many worthwhile places to go in this town, but the greatest time for music in ages? Are you kidding? And who are the great bands in Dallas these days? You've seen our band "It" list, which contains a couple bands that we love and a couple bands that we like. But thats it. We will agree that the state of Deep Ellum hasn't CAUSED the Dallas music scene to be, how should we put it, subpar. We think it is merely an effect, caused by the vast majority of Dallas bands with no talent and no imagination and the crowds that have been rightfully uninspired by them. Deep Ellum does suck, and if bands quit playing there permanently, no tears will be shed at this blogspot. I just wonder how the Dallas Observer can talk about the "great" local music scene with a straight face. Of course, they need something to write about and people to read it. That is why local papers often overhype local music: they want people to be excited about their articles, and they want their friends in local bands to succeed. Thats nice. But music fans in Dallas certainly can't be expected to rush down to Double Wide every time The Valentines or Golden Falcons play. If you look at places like Manchester in the late 70's and mid 80's, Minneapolis in the early 80's, Seattle in the late 80's, or Toronto and Montreal in the early 00's, you will find places that were more or less crap to live in as a band: no clubs, local press that didn't pay attention to local bands, and a general lack of interest from the public. What changed was NOT the addition of fancy new clubs (as Machkovech rightly points out), or that the public finally decided to stop being jerks and support their local scene, bro. What happened is that interesting people started making interesting music, and creating an atmosphere that people wanted to surround themselves with. Despite all the myth and exaggerations that surround the descriptions of these scenes that we get today, we can surely agree that something rose out of nothing in these places, and that it was because of the music and the people that made it... This means good bands, good marketing and good times. So we can agree that the closing of Trees does not mean the end of Dallas music, its just indicative of the low point that we have reached overall. Maybe something is starting to churn under the surface, but calling this the best era of music in Dallas is a little much. And if this is in fact the best time for Dallas music, we're going to move, but not after we go to Bill's Records and get our money back for that damn Hagfish CD we bought in 1994. They told us that THAT was the golden age of Dallas indierock!

1. Dj G 80's Night (The Cavern)
80's nights can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on who the DJ is and what they are playing (duh). Say yes to Suicide, Tears for Fears, Love and Rockets, Adam Ant, New Order, Echo. Say no to Flock of Seagulls and Berlin. Don't know which you will hear tonight, but I might go find out for myself.

2. My Heart Is a Machine (Rubber Gloves)
Going to Rubber Gloves is, um, fun or something, but it might be worth it to check out this band's first show. Since we've only heard one song, we don't really want to recomment it per se, but it certainly might be interesting. Some of us might try to make it up there, while others will play Duck Hunt. If you want more info on this band, scroll your lazy ass down a bit and read what we wrote about them today.

(NOTE: I hear they go on first, so get there early if you want to see them.)

The beginning of the Best of 2005 list will come later today.

weshotjr@yahoo.com

One of the associates here at JR was found out. So, this nameless person has resigned as our "PR" agent, meaning that we need someone else to send our emails and score us pot. Covert Ops are a bitch. We might be looking for someone else to help us out, so drop us a line if you have any ideas....

weshotjr@yahoo.com