Hey everyone. We will be announcing the winners of the 2008 Awards on Monday, so hold on to your seats... and here are shows for today:
Jonathan Richman (Rubber Gloves) So, do I really have to say anything about Jonathan Richman? It isn't like you guys are Observer readers, right? I mean, I'll never forgive the guy for being in Something About Mary, one of the most un-funny movies I've ever seen, but, uh, Modern Lovers makes up for it, ok? Great Myspace URL too.
Climax Denial | Peter J Woods | Stillbirth | Ashes | Mistress (House of Tinnitus) Milwaukee's Climax Denial utilizes harsh industrial noise as well as booming, pulsating bass attacks and dark ambient to pull together a set of compositions that will sound rather varied to anyone who regularly listens to this kind of abstract violence, although nothing too drastic takes place here, at least relatively speaking. Peter J Moore, who is involved in the controversial noise slude group Raperies, has received positive reviews from Thurston Moore, who actually praised his work for its willingness to be harsh without "having to show off arcane references." I guess that's sort of like getting praised by Sarah Palin for going to an Ivy League school, but hey, take what you can get, right?
Mom | Florene | Voice and Organs (Dan's Silverleaf) Although we've listed this show the way it seems to appear everywhere else, I'm guessing it is possible that Swedish dream pop/folk group Voices and Organs will be headlining. Fans of stuff like Bibio, The Boats, 70's Scandanavian psychedelic folk and High Places will surely dig this stuff, and with good reason-- much of it contains the kind of interesting atmospherics that music like this usually lacks. Some of the tracks also remind me quite a bit of some of the sunnier moments on Nick Drake's Bryter Layter, which is certainly a good thing. Highly recommended.
ADD: House of Dang's Smack Down Movie Night will feature Dead Alive, starting at 830pm. BYOB and a nice excuse to sit outside.
I've always been an advocate of Fort Worth's subtle charms-- really, it's possible to have a really great time all day long in that town if you plan accordingly: brunch at The Modern, an afternoon at the best local museums, arboretum and zoo, dinner at Spiral Diner, early show at 1919 Hemphill, late show at Chat Room Pub, and old-fashioned ho-cakes at Ol' South. Pretty unbeatable. And then, the Fort Worth Weekly goes and chooses We Shot JR as "Best Blog" under "People and Politics" in last week's Best Of 2008 issue. And were you aware that Fort Worth Weekly is one of the rare alternative weeklies that's independently owned? Well, to receive such praise from such a maverick journalistic entity, needless to say, we're honored. Here's what they said:
When it comes to running a successful blog, consistency is the key. We Shot Jr wraps up the weekly music and art scene in the Metroplex in one big vitriolic package. Sure, the site can be pretty harsh, but damned if it isn't up on what's going on around these parts. From tiny house shows in Denton to hip gigs at Lola's, week in and week out, Stonedranger and his team keep self-aware hipsters clued in. Plus, they've branched out to providing news and photos from shows and events, along with interviews and features with local artists and musicians. They've also gotten a number of national acts to play along. Don't be offended by their holier-than-thou commentary - it kind of comes with the territory.
I wasn't clear who wrote this exactly, but thanks...
Sorry kids, gotta pull a DL today with a brief and fairly uninformative post. He really lowered the bar for us around WSJR HQ.
THURSDAY
Laray Polk Open Forum Discussion (Centraltrak) 7pm
14th Annual Artist Against AIDS Exhibit (Fort Worth Community Arts Center) This isn't really a formal opening, just a show opening this week. Among the artists featured are Ed Blackburn and Jennifer Stufflebeam.
House of Dang vs. And/Or Gallery Summer Smackdown: Dead Alive (4219 Bryan St.) 8:30pm
SATURDAY monochrome, Petite, and Glenn Downing (500X) 6-10pm
Dannis Blagg: Back to the Bend (Artspace III ) 5-8pm
Nervous Curtains | Schwa | Jordan Fraker (The Cavern) Nervous Curtains is Sean Kirkpatrick plus backing band, and I'm told that it makes his set sound significantly more "prog rock," though that might not be intentional. I'll have to see for myself. Schwa will DJ and photographer Jordan Fraker will be showing his work.
We should be hearing from Dear Leader AKA Stoned Ranger soon, thank effing goodness. And before you start with your comments, I want you to remember something kids: you could never be as sick of DL as I am.
Obviously the big show tonight is Cut///Copy and The Presets at The Granada. You'd almost feel bad for Cut Copy, after reading several articles that seem to focus more on the fact that Tim Goldsworthy produced their most recent album, rather than any of the band's actual merits. But then you find out that they have comfortably straddled the number one spot on the charts in their home country of Australia, as well as made the Billboard Top 200 in The States. Looks like the so called flash-in-the-pan 80's electropopped New Wave revival has translated into real cash money for some bands. How long does a flash-in-the-pan last? Because it seems like this one has gone on for some time. Goldsworthy most likely prevented this band from suffering the sometimes overblown and mythologized fate of the dreaded second album, and Cut Copy will expectedly outdo their touring mates tonight. One wonders if all the gloomy economic implosion forecasts will have any bearing on this decade's rise in popularity of dance music as it draws to an unspectacular close.
Check back with us, we will have a brand new feature tonight, as well as voting results later this week.
PS-I have really enjoyed the recent "Great Scenester Defintion Debate Of 2008." For very interesting reading on this subject, I recommend the most recent issue of Adbusters, featuring the cover story "Hipster: The Dead End Of Western Civilization." Though it's a good read, I'd like to point out the following:
1. Adbusters is required coffee table material for all the hipsters and scenesters I've encountered from Tacoma to London. 2. This article reads somewhat like a youth oriented George F. Will, though I have a newfound respect for him after his piece last week. 3. If you are over the age of 25 and you're arguing about the meaning of either of these words, not only are you both, but you might have a different issue altogether. I should know.
Sunset Rubdown | Fight Bite | Hospital Ships (Granada) So what's going on here? Welcome to the end of band names. Harmless random words haphazardly thrown together. I got it, I got it: Thimble Spectrum. How's that? I know what a Hospital Ship is, but what's a Sunset Rubdown? I hope it's subversive and offensive whatever it is. Anyways, this guy is in Wolf Parade, you probably know that, and this is his side project that doesn't really hide the music degree, which leads to an often interesting listen, until you realize that sometimes the vocals sound like The Killers or some highly affected, tortured, radio-pop singer. Why doesn't anyone ever get upset about shit like that anymore? Hospital Ships is a lot easier to swallow, less melodrama, and charming enough. What happened to Jagjaguwar ? I thought they were the alt-country label for people with PhD's or something. Fight Bite will be readying themselves on the big stage tonight for their three shows at CMJ next month, which is like a more disorganized and even more sprawling South By Southwest, but who cares? It's in New York.
Iron And Wine | The Swell Season (Palladium) I was wondering why this Swell Season band was receiving top billing over Iron And Wine on all of the advertisements for this show, and then I realized it was that duo that includes a member of The Frames, the same duo that won a fucking Oscar. Yeah, just like Three Six Mafia. Elliott Smith paved the way for indie folk at The Academy Awards, though these two actually starred in the movie they scored. It's easy to understand why this music goes over well with the understated foreign film loving set, and though it's not really something I'd listen to, it's loads better than Iron And Wine, an act that almost resulted in a fistfight between SR and myself. Oh, and you'll pay handsomely to see these A-listers, about thirty five bucks.
MON: Sunset Rubdown/Hospital Ships/Fight Bite (The Granada) MON: Iron And Wine/The Swell Season (The Palladium) TUE: Cut Copy/The Presets (Granada) WED: Nervous Curtains/Schwa/Jordan Fraker (Cavern) THU: Mom/Florene/Voices And Organs (Dan's Silverleaf) THU: Jonathan Richman (Rubber Gloves) FRI: The Make Believers/The Come Latelys/Deadman (Hailey's) SAT: Dub Assembly (Green Elephant) SAT: Lollipop Shoppe (Allgood Cafe) SAT: Henry Rollins (Lakewood Theater) SAT: Daniel Francis Doyle/Yellow Fever/TBA (Rubber Gloves) SAT: Vorvadoss/Zanzibar Snails/Swirve (Good Records) SAT: Roky Erickson/The Black Angels/Dove Hunter (Granada) SAT: Dub Assembly W/Jam-2 (The Green Elephant)
We'll be spending our weekend rounding up the votes for our 2008 WSJR Awards, and we'll announce the winners some time in the middle of next week. And by the way, you can tune in to CNN tonight at 8pm and watch the presidential debates, which thanks to the courage of John McCain (did you know that he was one a POW?), is still on for this evening. Now for shows (sorry we're late today)
FRIDAY
Fleet Foxes | Frank Fairfield (Lola's) Didn't Fleet Foxes play in Dallas recently? I don't know, I can't keep up with all these indie rock bands anymore. Actually, Fleet Foxes aren't all that bad-- 60's folk and 70's singer/songwriter influences dominate their sound, along with a touch of classic country and a bit of Crosby, Stills and Nash,, and most of their work is quite pleasant and even memorable at times, even if it does absolutely nothing new with the source material from which they arise. After I listened to the second song on their myspace page, I thought "man, I bet these guys are on Sub Pop." Ding ding ding. Spune Productions has been telling people that this show is close to selling out for weeks now, so I'd suggest getting there quite early or buying your tickets in advance, just in case they aren't lying.
The Party (Zubar) Tonight's Party will be a celebration of the one year anniversary of Collective, a skate shop with personal ties to the Central Booking crew. Free giveaways from the likes of Vans and Red Stripe will apparently be going on all night, and DJ A-1 will be spinning in the back room.
Stay Cool Swag School with Heartstring Stranglers | Young Doc Gooden | Five Easy Pieces (Rubber Gloves) I heard that the last one of these was pretty much the craziest party that Rubber Gloves has had in a while. And Check out some of Austin Brown's chopped and screwed material on his Myspace.
Laptop Deathmatch (Club Dada) Three year anniversary featuring a performance from the acclaimed Cygnus, among many others. It appears that they have shortened the format a bit and made it less like a game show, which I think will be a very good thing for this event. You'll hear some very talented local electro producers this evening (they often seem to lean in the direction of IDM) if you decide to venture out.
Culture Prophet | Top Secret Robot Alliance | Keith P | Prince William (The Lounge) Electro dance group Culture Prophet covers most of the predictably hip dance influences in their music, from dance punk to 90's rave to 80s pop. It is well done, but trust me, you've heard it all before. And sorry, but the jokey German electro pop shtick of Top Secret Robot Alliance is just a bit too goofy for its own good.
Thomas Function | Teenage Cool Kids | Wax Museums | Uptown Bums(715 Panhandle) Don't have a lot of time to talk at this point, but Thomas Function sounds pretty fantastic actually... nice 60's pop stuff. Listen for yourself. I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up being, like, a "buzz" band or something next year, and I don't mean that as an insult at all. I'm actually shocked that every other local media source in town missed these guys. Wait, no I'm not. Highly recommended.
Dead C Documentary (Rubber Gloves) Will Kapinos' final project at UNT's film school deals with legendary New Zealand band the Dead C, and here is a little description of the film. Should be very good:
The Dead C. made a rare U.S. appearance at the Sonic Youth-curated All Tomorrows Parties festival in Los Angeles, CA on 17 March 2002. The festival was the first show of a three-day mini-tour through LA and San Francisco to promote their album New Electric Music, the second release on their own Language Recordings imprint. This documentary features two complete performances, the first from the ATP festival and a set from the following night at The Smell, a small downtown experimental music venue. Both performances are as different from each other as the Dead C. are different from anyone else in the history of punk rock/avant-garde/free noise music. This concert film provides a rare up-close look at one of the most unique and mysterious bands to ever emerge from New Zealand.
Rival Gang | The Heartstring Stranglers | Febrifuge (Swiss House) A solid and fairly mellow show will be taking place at Swiss House until Rival Gang gets up there and does, uh, what they do. It involves a flying V I think. Get there early to check out the chronically undernoticed Febrifuge. Is that even a word? Not according to blogger it isn't.
Cola Freaks | Black Time | Wax Museums | Secret Bangs | Bad Sports (Muscle Beach, 907 Denton St.) Very solid garage punk show this evening starring Denmark's (oops) Cola Freaks, a band that seems to take a good deal of influence from fellow Australians The Saints while injecting a dose of classic garage rock into the mix. And oh yeah, be sure to check out some tracks from Denton's excellent Secret Bangs, particularly "Violent Love" on their Myspace page-- nice keyboard attack in there with some "wait, is this really a local band" vocals. Sounds promising.
Lazy Magnet | Pro Bro Gold | Animal Forces | Aunt's Analog (House of Tinnitus) Check out the drugged and deranged abstract 90's rave inspired dance stuff from Pro Bro Gold... sort of a change of pace for Tinnitus and very interesting. Too bad I have to miss this one. :-(
