This is a repost of something disturbing that we read today:

"There was a show at the LIQUID LOUNGE, even though the flyer said Lizard lounge, and it WASN'T free, for some of our Dallas derby girls. I met up with Amanda outside of Elm St. Tattoo, and there was a derby girl skating from the bar across the street to the tattoo parlor. No big deal. But a cop stopped her to give her a ticket. Well, she gave some attitude, but went with it. Kept her hands on the car while he wrote her a ticket. I crossed the street to the bar, and another skater went past me, nothing happened to her, even though her friend was getting a ticket for skating in the street.... very wierd. I turned back around to look at the girl and the cop, and I see him wrestling her to the ground. She's screaming, this tiny girl, is struggling, while about 50 people gather and start yelling. Turns out someone on the sidewalk yelled something to her, she turned to see the person, took her hands off of the car, and the cop got pissed. She gave attitude, I think he shoved her back on the car, so she stuggled back up, and he shoved her around. He was at least 200 pounds. She was about 100. Her face was bloody. I have a few pictures. I was questions, they got my info to call me. I hope they do. Honestly, this whole mess makes me fucking sick and sad. I want to be a cop, so it's not like I'm against them. About 6 more cop cars showed up. 18 cops. One ambulance. They're treating us, including us ones trying to be helpful and nice, like shit. And when we're explaining it to other people, they yelling at us, and threating us "we'll give you tickets for standing on the street, we don't care!" What.... what the hell? How ignorant. The girl got checked up, seemed fine, and then they took her off to jail. I only have a picture pictures. Some of them are insanely huge to show detail.Here she is waiting for her ticket. I think most passerbyers think she's getting it for prostitution or something, but you can see she's wearing skates.

Heres the link to the pictures:

PICS: Warning, these are sort of graphic. (sorry, you have to be a myspace member to access them.)

Lots to do, lots to do. We're going to be all over the place tonight: Doublewide, maybe the Cavern, and then some house parties. Thats the plans:

1. Strange Boys/Undoing of David Wright/Attractive and Popular (Double Wide)
Um, so the strange boys are great, and they play everywhere all the time. If you haven't seen them you probably should, as they put on a loud as fuck live show and their drummer will amaze you. Undoing of David Wright is a goddamn spectacle, and they've got some catchy, danceable songs worth seeing live even if your favorite band is Third Eye Blind. Attractive and Popular also sound good based on their myspace page, but we've never seen them live, unlike the other two. Show up early and see what they're all about. (PS- once we get our file hosting thing going, we'll post some strange boys mp3s, since their myspace page doesn't have any. Which is um, strange.)

2. Bosque Brown (The Cavern)
So theres some buzz about this show, according to the Observer, and maybe for good reason. This is probably the only artist in DFW we can think of that could be categorized as part of the neo folk movement that got so much attention in 04 and 05, and the singer sounds like Joanna Newsom with more of a country twang. Probably worth checking out. We also just wanted to post a picture of the unbelievably cute Joanna Newsom, so we did.

3. Dj Nitwit Psychic Drive In (Fallout)
Good selection of mindfuck videos mixed in with really funny ones, and some good music as well. A place to go for a chilled out Saturday eve.

More to come...

This is what we do when we're bored. We would also like to take this opportunity to tell you that in the EIGHT DAYS or so that we've been doing this blog, we've gone from no hits at all to about 100 unique hits a day (meaning 100 different IP addresses, or "people" come to our site every day) and about 160 hits a day overall (meaning that about 60 people come back more than once). This means we rule, of course.

We're also planning on expanding what it is we do here: we're in the process of getting a file hosting account so that we can post mp3s for your downloading pleasure, and we are also talking with people about taking pictures at shows for us, and trying to conduct some email interviews with local bands, etc. So you love us already, you whore, and you are going to start loving us even more in the coming weeks. And we promise we'll never hit you again.. we've changed baby you gotta believe us!

We weren't able to make it out personally but heard that EAB put on a good show to a small crowd using practice amps. Heard that Cry Blood Apache was decent but hard to hear since their amps didn't really do the trick. Too bad. Both of these bands are interesting (at least according to the small amount of material we have heard), and will probably be pretty damn good in the near future. Keep on the lookout for them. And, um, how can you argue with this picture to the left of Eat Avery's Bones? The answer is that you cannot. More to come today, including another album on the Bestest list, and of course tonight's "It" list....

We heard that some people got bent out of shape about our review of the new Belafonte CD... hey we weren't as mean as that Observer guy, were we? Anyway, we decided to get all political on your ass and write about a better Belafonte. Maybe we'll stick to writing about THIS Belafonte in the future. Day light come and me wan go home:

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/01/08/international/i175901S16.DTL

We got the wrong info about Eat Avery's Bones (we feel like boners), although we know that they ARE still playing tonight at midnight at Ave Arts, and they still sound good. We have edited the It list accordingly. CYA

Its Friday the 13th, and while we don't believe in black magic and that kind of thing, we think that lightning might strike at the Pimpadelic show in Fort Worth (please Lord Jesus, can it?) maybe Jesus doesn't have anything to do with Friday the 13th, but can we call the Vatican and make it a sin to listen to local rap metal already? Who the fuck is going to these shows aside from the bands' parents and convicted felons... and strippers? We don't even think assholes like this shit anymore.

1. Cry Blood Apache/ Eat Avery's Bones (Avenue Arts, 825 Exposition Ave)
EDIT: We've been told that EAB is from DENTON not Austin, sorry about that. We've also been told that they are a relatively new band, and that they don't use drum machines. Is my face red? Anyway, they still seem loud and fun, and so does Cry Blood Apache's strangeness. The show starts at midnight, its BYOB, all ages, and the last we heard, its free. No reason not to at least stop by before hitting the after hours circuit. (There is a rumor that strange boys are playing this show too, but no one knows for sure.... we'll give you the details if we hear anything.)

2. Jack with One Eye (8pm Darkside Lounge)
Someone sent us some info about this band and we kinda like em. They remind us of Elastica and have a pretty good lead singer, and thats a good thing last time we checked. The other bands on the bill we've never really heard with the exception of Golden Falcon, so we can't really recommend them. But Jack with One Eye opens at 8... a good place to start the night perhaps. If you know anything about unconscious Collective, Mazinga Phaser II, Dreamtigers, etc, send us an email and let us know... maybe we can recommend them too.

(ANOTHER UPDATE: Someone sent us a link to Mazinga's Myspace page, and they sound pretty good. Probably worth checking out. If anyone goes to these shows and has pictures or something to say about them, send us an email and let us know.)

JR: weshotjr@yahoo.com

The songs on this record all sound like they could just slip through your fingers at any moment, with a loose and fleeting feel that will make you question their permanence. Keyboards are distorted until they almost become impossible to manage, and sparse Detroit electro beats serve as a backdrop to a female vocalist with enough charisma and character in her voice and blurry imagery in her lyrics to make you wonder why people think Karen O is cool. Of course Stereolab immediately comes to mind, but the differences between that group and Broadcast abound not only in style (darker and more dreary) but in attitude as well (simultaneously more avant garde and twee). A better point of reference would probably be Magnetic Fields' Holiday, which has probably become THE genre defining album for bedroom electropop, which after a few listens you will recognize this record to be a part of at least in part.

While the music is fantastically minimalist, frontwoman Trish Keenan really steals the show, and it is her voice and pacing that you will remember after you hear this record. These are the kinds of songs that will get stuck in your head without actually retaining their form: you will say, hm, I keep singing Broadcast to myself, but I don't know which song it is. Truthfully it probably isn't any one song, but a haunting sound that this band has made its signature. You won't appreciate the full effect until you see this band live, which is incredible by any measure, but you should let this album remind you of why you listen to new music at all.

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