reminder for our sxsw day show on friday (now with flier)
A big thank you to our pal George Quartz, of La Maladie Tropicale, for creating this great flier on very little notice.
I would like to point out that you can catch George Quartz himself twice (along with his group, Afterhours) during the festival, since he'll be performing at two different events, both of which feature great lineups. Click here and here to see when and where.
Beulah was the always the least quirky of the Elephant 6 collective which I believed would lead to a long lasting career for the popsters. Unfortunately the lack of commercial success drew weary on the band and after their final and cryptically titled album Yoko the band called it quits. Miles Kurosky was the lead singer and and songwriter for said band and who's new album Desert of Shallow Effects picks up right where Beulah left off. Other than lyrical content which is much more focused and story like here, the music has the same sound and feel as before. This could be because the album features 20 various musicians closely aligned with the E6 family including showings from ex-Beulah members. Beluah was always known for their live shows and audience interaction. Although Miles always seemed like the cantankerous one, listening to his solo stuff leads me to believe that same spirit will be there tonight. I'm sure you diehard Beulah heads are wondering if you will be hearing anything off The Coast is Never Cleat tonight, well here is what Miles had to say on the subject via his Facebook
Well, I keep getting tons of emails about the tour, especially from kids who were too young to see Beulah live. They all ask the same question..."are you gonna play any Beulah songs?" Well, I honestly hadn't thought too much about it, but maybe I should. After all, it's your show too. I mean, I guess I was pretty bummed when Bob Mould didn't play any Husker Du songs on his first solo tour. That said, I need to know what you want to hear. Lord knows I can't be practicing 50 songs. So, let's get this party started...what Beulah songs do you wanna hear? I know it's hard, but try to pick a good one. Respond below.
I don't know a whole lot about "chip tune" music outside of what is done here locally, so I thought I would ask kashioboy local chip tune enthusiast and featured performer at tonight's Flash Faces: Bands Stored in Random Access Memory what's going on.
FP: Who are the people from overseas?
KB: Gameboy music artists Henry Homesweet and Sabrepulse.
Are they currently on tour or this a one off?
They are currently on a US tour (8-bit alliance tour) with Anamanaguchi, and Starscream from New York.
What aspect of the genre do the acts represent?
I would say the acts best represent the hardware aspect of the genre. Using actual Gameboys, Nintendo NES and etc rather than emulating the sounds they make externally.
How is your set coming along? Anything planned for tonight?
Thus far i'm planning a mix of actual chip hardware and non chip hardware. Stuff on NES and Commodore 64 chips with a bit of Gameboy etc. Also use of laptop, vocals and other various toys.
Having caught the majority of these locals acts in various combination and venues across the past weekend I can't recommend this bill highly enough if you are wanting to do some good old fashion rocking out in a basement. Kudos to the Dwelling of Doom folks for not only putting together three straight days of shows in a house venue but also making the nights so diverse. Good work everybody.
Speedwolf seem like your run of the mill Motorhead enthusiast complete with pentagram-ed goats heads and train speed guitar noodling. Mondo Drag are more interesting, not only because they look like a bunch of hippies but also their drugged psychedelic blues rock is pretty damn infectious. Does it sound alot like Black Sabbath? yes. But it also sounds alot like Royal Trux you know what I mean?
Let's be honest this is either at the top of your list this evening or at the very bottom. Mount Righetous by far make me more uncomfortable live than any other band in the Metroplex. It's not that I don't like to feel uncomfortable, but all those fresh faces and the never ending percussion assault make me feel like I am about to be led to my execution for drinking out of the chocolate river in the Wonka Factory. I have caught Spooky Folk in a couple opening slots and have enjoyed their brand of eerie folk rock. Well put together and moody enough without being annoyingly manic. Along with a band member they also share some musical similarities with ex-Denton band Sarah Reddington so if you like that you will probably like this.
If you ain't down for the Mary Jane haze psychedelic garage happening of Mondo Drag and prefer your riffs amphetamined up Lullay Arkestra should be for you. With song titles like "We Fuck the Night" and "art liar yr a fuckin" how can you go wrong? Uptown Bums rule too.
Mondo Drag | The Daze | Lazy Native | Billy Ratcliff & The Economy | Strangers Family Band (Dwelling of Doom) The kick off show for this year's mostly excellent Fest X Fest Fest is, um, a mixed bag, but I should say that I had a weird experience listening to Denton's Lazy Native today-- the first track I heard on their Myspace page, "Naive," is actually quite good, reminiscent of some kind of mix between Pavement and early R.E.M. (I know, Pavement was obviously influenced by R.E.M.), with touches of Gram Nash, groups like Tindersticks and other bits and pieces of jangly alt-country that made it quite a nice track. However, there are a bunch of other songs on the page in which they "rock out," and those sounded like late 90's Pearl Jam or something-- pretty bad. These guys should rock out way LESS. Billy Ratcliff should probably just stop all together, unless you think a folk rock version of Cherry Poppin Daddies sounds cool. I'm looking forward to the stronger line ups over the next couple days.
L'Orchidee d'hawai | The Pharamacy | Marriage Material | Collick (1919 Hemphill) I hate when I leave off good shows at great venues just because I forgot about it. Rick from 1919 just reminded me about this, which is certainly the most solid show you'll see this evening.
Surfer Blood | Turbo Fruits (Granada) Wait, so Weezer's Blue Album is kinda retro cool now? That's the first impression I had upon hearing Surfer Blood's debut record for the first time, and I found it a little confusing. Well, I guess you can count groups like Built to Spill and the Pixies and the Shins and maybe even Cheap Trick in there too, as well as some of the surf rock and faint afrobeat influences that have been popularized by groups like Vampire Weekend, Wavves and Abe Vigoda in recent years. Based on this description, you might be inclined to assume that Surfer Blood's music is a calculated attempt at hip accessibility, a RAWK record with all the right influences but poppy enough to appeal to teenagers-- and you'd be pretty much on the money. This is Indie Rock, capital I, and there's something about such a concept that seems really annoying, mostly because this music is, for most intents and purposes, regressive, unimaginative and boring. "Hey bro, ever thought about what Built to Spill would sound like if they jammed on Vamp Week tunes?" No, and I don't really give a shit because if I wanted to hear any of those bands, I'd go listen to them. For free. Right now. And I've heard all of them 8 million times anyway. I thought we'd moved on from Built to Spill. Still, Surfer Blood's debut has a handful of really enjoyable songs, and the record is a good deal better than I've made it sound here, even though my descriptions are certainly accurate. Surfer Blood is a better band than they should be, but it doesn't feel particularly good to say so. In fact, it makes me wonder how boring my tastes can be sometimes, and how much longer we have to wait until this sector of popular culture actually produces something new and exciting. Cheap Trick still rules though.
I apologize for the half ass list but it has been a busy one and I am actually trying to make it out to NX35 so that I can offer a fair and balanced assesment at a later time. Oh yeah and check out some great bands too. We will be updating this post through out the weekend with pictures, videos and commentary so check back often. And as always we encourage you to share your experiences in our comment section. See ya.
Friday
Drug Mountain | Record Hop | Florene | .e | Rare Grooves | Delmore Pilcrow (503 Sycamore)
An off the hook avant garde festival in what we are being led to believe is a very dangerous part or Dallas. Seems like a perfect fit. Check the flier for more info.
Summer Of Glaciers | Emil Rapstine | Dim Locator | Chris Welch | Hotel Hotel | Tre Orsi | Burnt Sienna(503 Sycamore, day show starts at 2pm)
I Heart Lung | Rare Grooves Orchestra | Shiny Around the Edges | Dust Congress | .E | Mariachi Quetzal (Texas 8 Ball)
Seth Sherman | Dust Congress | Shiny Around The Edges | Kampfgrounds | Piccline | Kaboom | douche (last men)| Drink to Victory | Geistheistler | Marriage Material | Red Faced Laughter (520 S. Elm St. 3pm-9pm)
Thanks to DJ Nodad for sending us these links from some shows yesterday. If anyone has anything else they would like to share with us please let us know. This post will be updated through out the weekend, or so we hope.
SUNDAY MORNING EDIT - Will have a better way of organizing these videos later but here is some more schwag I had waiting in my inbox this morning.
Looks like this is a collection of quilts, but you might check out the impressive photography at her web site. Huckaby's "extended family [...] for the most part, lived on or off of Louisiana state highway nineteen, hence the title of this show. LA 19 (Daughters of God)honors Huckaby's female family members who helped to create a new aesthetic of quilts, the jazzy patchwork quilts, out of sheer craftiness and necessity." Huckaby is also responsible for the stained glass window at the Shamblee branch of the Fort Worth library.
18 Photographs Kettle Art Gallery 2714 Elm Street, Dallas, TX 75226 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Just a reminder that if you are wanting to see any of the shows in Denton tonight there is some festival going on so it will cost $20 to get in without a wristband blah blah blah... Why hasn't anyone emailed me a wristband yet?
