Have to be more brief than usual, sorry. DL and SR wrote this, but mostly DL. See if you can guess who is who and see if we care. I doubt you do. You guys are the best.
-DL
Even more options for this weekend in our show calendar..... shows:
FRIDAY
Summer Spotlight Late Night with DJG (Dallas Museum of Art) Hopefully people will leave their 80's Night behavior back in Denton, as I don't think the DMA could afford to clean that up.
Fight Bite | Darktown Strutters | Akkolyte | The Great Tyrant | Eat Avery's Bones | Personal Victories (The Chat Room) This is a show not only for Ben Rogers' birthday but will also work as a benefit show for The Metrognome collective, a project he has been going full-force on since taking over a while back. As for the lineup, this includes mostly familiar acts save for the fairly new solo project, Personal Victories, fronted by Faux Fox's George Quartz, who we have recently posted some tracks by, including one earlier today from a separate project. Personal Victories also includes two more members of Faux Fox, two members of Mission Giant and an ex-member of Falcon Project, Thorazine Dreams, and Furniture Of The Gods. So this should be a good mix of some of the local underground's most interesting performers, spanning two decades.
Spector 45 | New Science Projects | Shiny Around the Edges | True Widow | Fergus and Geronimo | Bad Sports/RtB2 (The Cavern) Neil Hamburger performed last night and I was noticing how similar the New Science Projects falsely coughing and hacking into the mic gag is to Neil's bit. Young Dale Projects finds himself the lone Jimmy Vaughn-like blues-man on the bill here (EDIT: FORGOT RTB2 is playing, maybe they can jam "Family Style" since they played together), along with what is mostly punk bands of either the leather-jacket, greaser gang, Deep Ellum variety (Spector 45) and the no-frills Denton variety (Bad Sports), as well as a couple of slower, more plodding, atmospheric groups (YW and SATE).
This show is most notable for the fact that it features a rather rare performance by the already much-discussed Fergus and Geronimo, and here's hoping that the group gets a fair chance to be taken at face value, rather than having to live up to an improbably large amount of pressure that they didn't necessarily ask for. Remember everyone: bands don't always ask for every uninformed idiot on the planet to write about them, it snowballs as soon people think they "should" write about something so as not to appear "behind the curve" or some other such ego-driven nonsense. Sometimes it's really not the artist's fault, as occasionally some random artist is unwittingly knighted with this kind of praise. And of course, some people seek out praise the way a dog hangs around the dinner table for scraps. All I'm saying is, don't hate some group simply because of hype, but simply because they suck. All that being said, Fergus and Geronimo do not suck. Thanks.
I think Matthew And The Arrogant Sea have a knack for writing memorable songs, I really do, but man, their lyrics are devastatingly awful sometimes. I mean, unless your a 60's songwriting icon, you can't really get away with singing about Jesus and The Easter Bunny and shit like that, okay?
I don't want to call anyone out, but you will learn to appreciate how fast the bartender at Amsterdam is after waiting for an eternity in line the way I did in Denton this past week. Socializing in line is part of the fun, I know, but sometimes local bands either just don't have much to say, or even worse, maybe too much to say.
Neil Hamburger (The Cavern) Neil Hamburger has been killing me for years; I have no idea why I haven't seen him live. The Cavern is probably the perfect place since it's so small, and if you can't tell by now, I'm very into uncomfortable, or as I have mentioned previously, Funcomfortable performances. Anyways, expect Hamburger to delve into favorite topics such as incurable illness, pop stars, the internet, God etc. Of course these are well covered topics by many comedians, but you may have heard by now that Neil Hamburger's routine is that he's not funny, which is funny depending on your view of such anti-humor. He is responsible for my favorite prank call recording, "I'm In Your Band," where he answers an "alternative bass player wanted" ad and proceeds to try to convince the gentleman that placed the ad, that he is in fact already in his "fucking band" and that the guy can use all of his "fucking songs...lyrics too!," and "let's fucking jam." He also has a great way of dealing with hecklers, which should be a great show for this notoriously heckle-happy town.
Roxy Cottontail | Big J (Suite) Suite continues to increasingly absorb shows that were once at places like Zubar, The Cavern, or even The Loft, and though the RSVP and dress code setup are often complained about, having Cool Out in the Suite Basement, as well as acts like Roxy Cottontail certainly help in the face of the club's notoriously exclusive reputation. Roxy of course, is most known as the woman who brought the B-more sound to New York (and by proxy, the rest of the world), and will most likely be remembered as one of this decade's most successful out-of-nowhere promoters. It is as a musician however that she eventually began increasingly focusing energy on, whether it be through recording collaborations with artists such as Armand Van Helden and Melo-X, or through her very own DJ sets, which she takes very seriously and gave us this gem of a quote, "...I have great music taste as well, so why shouldn’t I be DJing?” Indeed. To RSVP:
There really isn't a hell of a lot of information about this record that I have been able to find. It wasn't at all uncommon for artists to have small bios or articles printed on the back of their album covers in the 60s, but the write-up on this one consists of four paragraphs that are more about Topanga Canyon, California than St. John Green. I did, however, get a kick out of the line "These Canyon Groups (as they have come to be known) are not neo-hippies, but serious artists who have fled the music profession's hangers on- all the phonies on the rock scene with their dubious talents and destructive ambitions."
This record truly is one of those 'lost psychedelic gems' that you read about all the time, and it may have been lost forever had it not been produced by Kim Fowley. Fowley looks back rather fondly on the album, telling Mike Stax of Ugly Things magazine in 2001 “[‘St. John Green’ is] one of the great lost records...Somebody will reissue it someday and people will start crying and jacking off and smoking dope to it. It’s a great record. There’s only a handful of records that I’ve made that are great.” While there has not been an official cd release to my knowledge, Acid Symposium issued a bootleg cd of this album in 2001 which may or may not still be available.
I'm not sure if this record has made people cry or jack off, but it has provided (at least for me) one answer to the question: What would it sound like if Johnny Cash and the Louvin Brothers took acid with Arthur Brown and Robert Calvert and made an album?
Birth of Surf: The 1960s and 1970s Documentary Photography of LeRoy Grannis American Institute of Architecture 1909 Woodall Rogers Freeway, Suite 100, Dallas, Tx 75201 Reception: July 16, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
2009 Art Guide Launch Party CADD Art Lab 1608-C Main Street, Dallas, Tx 75201 Reception: July 16, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
FRIDAY
"FEMME/FOTO" Tatyana Bessmertnaya, Jennifer Hayward, Nikki Mann, Michelle Persons, Jenny Snyder and Ratchaneekorn Suttikarn at the the Arts Gallery of Collin County Community College 2800 East Spring Creek Parkway, Plano, Tx 75074 Reception: July 17, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Eyes Wide Shut Chi Gallery 807 Fletcher Street, Dallas, Tx 75223 Reception: July 17, 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Andrew Tolentino Gallery at The Magnolia Theater Reception: July 17, 7 - 10 PM
Recovery and Reinvention UNT Art Gallery UNT presents their 2009 graduate student exhibition featuring work by Julie Barnofski, Bernardo Cantu, Mariko Frost, Bethany Gouldin, Karen Hamilton, Tom Leininger, Murielle White, and Sarah Williams. Reception: Saturday, July 18, 4:30 - 6:00 pm
Sonic Youth | Awesome Color (House of Blues) Sonic Youth, who just released their first album for Matador Records (kinda weird, isn't it?) are back for the first time (EDIT: second time, forgot about a more recent HOB show. Apparently so did a lot of other people) since they played a pretty amazing show at the Gypsy Tea Room a few years ago (how great does THAT venue seem these days?). To be honest, it took me a long time, like until just a few years ago, to really start digging into Sonic Youth's catalogue. Sure, I had heard Confusion is Sex and "Bull in the Heather" and Goo and all that stuff in the 90's, but it wasn't until I saw the band live that I truly started to appreciate them on another level. Late bloomer I guess. Anyway, I was having trouble trying decide what my favorite Sonic Youth album was, and I wonder if anyone would like to discuss in the comments? Lately Bad Moon Rising has been getting a lot of spin around here, but I still think I might have to go back to Sister or Confusion is Sex if pressed to pick a favorite. Anyway, from the sound of some reviews I've read from this tour, SY are focusing about half their sets on newer material, which is a tad disappointing, but whatever-- I'm sure we'll all still get a lot of what we want tonight.
Queer Summer Camp with Pocket Change | Orange Coax | Dozal Brothers | Rival Gang (Mable Peabody's) I was going to make this about how much I respected the openly hostile atmosphere of Houston's music scene, but it turns out that Tense had to cancel. I hear he may be coming through in August, so at least there's that to look forward to.
As for now, this "Queer Summer Camp" costume party/show still boasts a great lineup, one that is still heavy with weirdo punk influences and performance art awkwardness, as well as a "make out tent (is that legal?)," and costume contest.
El Paso's Dozal Brothers have been described as an "electro freakout duo," with a sound consisting of often colorfully melodic synth parts, drum machine beats, and loopy, sometimes screaming vocals. Their cassette release on Seattle's UF Records came with a pair of 3-D glasses. This group has been recommended by the few people on earth whose taste in music I respect, so this should be, at the very least, entertaining.
A lot has been said here about the other groups, save for Pocket Change, who we haven't mentioned very much, but they are certainly what I would say is a band that should be seen. Or more specifically, seen to be believed. I won't try to go too far into explaining their sound other than so say that there is dancing, trip hop beats, very interesting rhymes, and a lot of seemingly confrontational repetition, not to mention confrontational sexuality. As forward and pushy as it seems, there is an underlying kind of innocence to it all; the duo seems genuinely inspired and enthusiastic about an act that would make most local crowds rather uncomfortable. I recently described Pocket Change's live act as making a Farah show seem like Miley Cyrus by comparison, no knock against The Big Eff of course. It's just that strange. I was really glad to hear some insight into their act, and there's a great interview on the Denton Deluxe website, which is the first in a series of interviews that the site will feature. I for one am glad that there is another local site that will feature interviews conducted by people with even remotely less obvious taste in music, or at the very least, people who don't need a group to be hyped on a million blogs or to be "Pitchfork approved" before they give something a chance. It's felt awful lonely out here lately. (DL)
Yes/Asia (Bass Performance Hall) I don't care what any of you shitbags say, The Yes Album and Fragile rule, and Close to the Edge is pretty good. I'd still NEVER go to this though. The proximity to Spinal Tap is simply too much, and its hard to support a band that hasn't released anything that hasn't been completely unlistenable in, oh, the past 25 years.
The Life and Times | Adam Franklin (Lola's Sixth) Adam Franklin was the guitarist for the British group Swervedriver, who were Creation Records labelmates with the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream and a variety of other excellent bands (although, obviously, not all at the same time).
90's Night With Yeah Def (Hailey's) Yeah Def has a "90's Relic Item Giveaway" theme tonight. He'll be giving away the "Talkboy" Cassette Player, famously featured in "Home Alone 2: Lost In New York," to one very lucky attendee. Be there.
Baroness | Clutch (House Of Blues) I remember Clutch being the "smart band" that rap-rockers listened to when they'd try to relate to me in high school. As in, 'Yeah, bro, I like diverse shit too...um, like Clutch! Yeah, they're like..."weird."' Wherever you are Clutch dude, I still think you're pretty lame. The far superior Relapse group, Baroness will also perform.
Other than Cool Out at the Cavern and Bad Ass Jazz, we've got nothing for you for now. However, check out news regarding Vega, Fergus and Geronimo and Rangers if you haven't already, and we'll have more on the main page soon.
WED: Sonic Youth/Awesome Color (House of Blues) WED: Queer Summer Camp with Pocket Change/Orange Coax/Dozal Brothers/Rival Gang (Mable Peabody's) WED: Yes/Asia (Bass Performance Hall) THU: Neil Hamburger (the Cavern) FRI: Summer Spotlight Late Night with DJG (Dallas Museum of Art) SAT: Fight Bite/Darktown Strutters/Akkolyte/The Great Tyrant/Eat Avery's Bones/Personal Victories (The Chat Room) SAT: Spector 45/New Science Projects/Shiny Around the Edges/True Widow/Fergus and Geronimo/Bad Sports (The Cavern) SAT: Yells at Eels/Zanzibar Snails/Akkolyte/Blood of the Sun/Giggle Party/Snarky Puppy (Service Bar)
