1. Moving Units | The Standard (Gypsy Tea Room)
"Hey dude, you wanna go to the Moving Units show tonight?" "Nah man, dancepunk is so fucking 2003." "But have you ever seen these guys live?" "No, but I'm really more into like freak folk and ironic heavy metal and shit now. Haven't you ever read Vice Magazine?" "yeah, but they're an amazing live band, and you won't wanna miss them even if you didn't think their record was all that great because Pitchfork said so." Trust me on this one.

2. Clipd Beaks | Faux Fox | Sciflyer | Orson (The Cavern)
You'll hear dancey new wavey experimental stuff and some shoegaze at this pre-sxsw stop over show. And don't forget CeePee spinning the indie hits upstairs, playa.

Yeah, the Sopranos Season 6 debut was all I was interested in seeing last night. And yeah, it was good. I won't ruin it for any of you On Demand or Tivo people, but lets just say it was the most exciting season premier of the show's history. Hopefully Slate will start its weekly Sopranos blog back up again ( I'll link to it if they do). The new Polygamy family drama HBOish show "Big Love" was pretty good too, although we do like Bill Paxton's performance in Weird Science a bit better that what we have seen from him in the show so far.

Oh, and this week we'll have a band profile thing happening, and also an interview thing happening. And then starting Wednesday, we'll have a SXSW thing happening. We'll be filing reports each day, and we'll be taking some pictures and spilling some drinks and all of that good stuff, and then posting shit on here. Why are we doing this? Because no other blog in the world is actually going to be posting ANYTHING about SXSW, and we'll be your only source of information! And as an added bonus, we don't really have cool hook ups to any good parties or secret shows or anything special at all, so needless to say you'll be getting an "insiders" look into the festival. Fan fucking tastic! We'll try to make the posts funny or something.

Don't catch a case of the "Mondays" today! lol and stuff! :-)

1. Happy Bullets/Seventeen Evergreen/Pegasus Now (Rubber Gloves Denton)
You know the deal with Happy Bullets, and Seventeen Evergreen is a pretty solid band that has been playing around town all weekend, so you might have heard them already too. Pegasus Now are a pretty promising new Dallas band that reminds us of Sea and Cake at times, but a little more rockin'. Its five bucks.

2. Dj Wild In the Streets (Hailey's Denton): 60's garage, psyche and pop. You can go see it even if you don't like "mods." I mean come on, is there really such a thing anymore?

Another fun party/show at the Yellow House in Denton last night really reminded me of how far Dallas has to come before the local music scene gets interesting. And let me say from the outset that I do recognize the many built in advantages that Denton has over Dallas: Denton is a college town, and there is a reason why "indie" was once referred to as "college rock." College towns are the bread and butter of the kind of music we cover on this blog, and Denton is no exception. Denton has a lot of young people with a lot of time on their hands, a lot of student loans, a lot of alcohol, and the kind of youthful passion that people tend to start losing in their mid 20's (which might explain why Dallas crowds act like they are being forced to see live music while Denton crowds act like they live for it). Add cheap living expenses and the UNT music school into the mix, and you've got a place where a lot of people will naturally be interested in producing and listening to the kind of music we like to talk about on here. It really makes sense when you think about it.

But Dallas has certain advantages over a place like Denton that should at least put it in the same ballpark: more clubs and bars, a much larger and more diverse population (both of which would presumedly make it a more attractive draw for national touring acts), and an older, slightly more mature crowd that you might expect to have slightly more refined tastes. However, for whatever reason (and we're pretty sick of speculating about it) Dallas continues to be pretty dead on most nights when there isn't a big national act in town. We've more or less said all of this before, but right now it simply appears to be a fact of life. And anyone that tells you otherwise is simply kidding themselves.

As we pointed out in a post earlier this week, there are SOME signs of life here and there, but we've got a long way to go before this town is even as interesting as Denton, much less Portland, Austin, Toronto, or any other cities of a similar size. Really, can you think of any other city in the United States roughly the same size as Dallas that has LESS going on? We can't. But don't take this as a "lets all move to austin" rallying cry either, because for a combination of reasons we are all here together, and there must be a way to make this place and this time interesting before we're all too old to enjoy it. Hopefully someone will eventually figure it out.

We went up to Denton mostly to hear a DJ set (which apparently started way later than we were prepared to stick around), but what we saw instead was a band called Cartright, which we enjoyed quite a bit (poppy indiefolk). As usual in Denton however, it was the combination of the band and an enthusiastic crowd that made the show a worthwhile experience. Half the fun of being there was watching other people watch the band, and enjoying the friendly, relaxed atmosphere of the house. Nothing earth-shattering or life changing took place, and it wasn't even the best show we've ever seen at the Yellow House. But like many recent weekends, going up to Denton sounded much more appealing than anything (music related) happening in Dallas. And despite whatever combination of personal and other reasons that might have influenced our choice, the drive from Dallas to Denton and back is becoming a pretty regular weekend occurrence for a lot of Dallasites, and that in and of itself is worth noting.

Or actually didn't know until now....

party at the Yellow House in Denton tonight.

Featuring:

Ben Cartright (indie folk)

Other bands (we don't know who)

Flashlight Party Djs (featuring Jordan Kline and Markus Diffee)

Where is this place? Right near the corner of Mulberry and Fry St. in Denton, next to UNT. And no that isn't a picture of it. This is probably the most fun you can have tonight.

1. Baptist Generals (art prostitute Denton) 10pm, 210 E. Hickory St. Apparently the last show at AP's Denton location. Good way to go out.

2. The Angelus | Killing Fields | Am Syndicate (hailey's Denton)

3. Metrognome Collective: Tame Tame and Quiet | Everything Looks Better Upside Down | The Bracelets

Lots to do tonight all around town. To kick things off, you can stop by Good Records to see a free instore with Sound Team and Record Hop (5pm). On to the main event(s)

1. Gorilla vs Bear Showcase- Tapes N' Tapes | Seventeen Evergreen | Birdmonster (the Cavern)
This is pretty much perfect timing for Chris from GVB, since he helped break Tapes N' Tapes, booked them to play his showcase, and then watched them get a "Best New Music" review from Pitchfork last week. Tapes are a really great band that will appeal to just about anyone that has ever liked "indie rock." Really, their first album is pretty great. Seventeen Evergreen also be good. Never heard Birdmonster. This show will probably sell out since Tapes N Tapes are a buzz band and the Cavern is small, so get there early. Here is the Pitchfork review.

2. Mates of State | Midlake | Sound Team (Gypsy Ball Room)
Not big Mates of State fans (sorry dudes), but Midlake will be playing shit off their new album, which already has more buzz around it than a naked picture of your mom on the internet. Sound Team is pretty good too.

3. 8th Continent: Strange Boys | Eat Avery's Bones | The Vietniks (Denton- 731 Texas St.)
This is a great DIY venue you need to check out if you haven't already. Some of our usual favorites are playing tonight for $5, along with the Vietniks... who have a New York late 70's thing going on. Should be a really fun time.

4. Metrognome: Bob White and the F electrics (1518 E. Lancaster Fort Worth)
You know the deal on this one.

Jayson Bales wrote an article over at Texasgigs about the Dallas music scene and what he sees as some of its highlights. The thesis of the article is that despite popular opinion, the scene is alive and well, and may even be ready to prosper due to various developments and local forces that are doing positive things. Normally I would react by saying that one of the signs of a failing music scene is people having to write articles in order to affirm its very existence. I would also take issue with some of the things that he described as "reasons to believe" in Dallas music: Radiant? Some jam band? House of Blues? But I really don't feel like arguing about this shit today, so I've decided to simply copy Jayson and write my own little (short) list of positive things that I have seen recently. Although I might disagree with Jayson's outlook for now (despite my full agreement with his $35,000 millionaire line), I do think that there are a few good things going on too, even if I'm pretty sure that we are nowhere near turning things around in the metroplex. Here goes, positive things about the Dallas music scene:

1. Denton: What? Doesn't Denton steal shows from Dallas? Isn't it really far away? Maybe, but I would say that a vast majority of the good things going on in local music right now are happening in Denton. Hailey's is the best play to see national touring acts in the region, Rubber Gloves always seems to have something interesting going on, and there is a quickly developing noise-rock scene up there that might produce some exciting things in the near future. Not to mention the fact that you can pretty much go up to Denton any night of the week and find a house party with live music (especially over at the Yellow house) and kids that are genuinely interested in the artistic and cultural aspects of a music scene. Just take a look at what Undoing is, um, doing over at the Eighth Continent, and you will see what good bands, knowledgeable fans and a DIY venue have the potential to do for a music community. Add the talent pool that is the UNT music school into the mix, and you have a small town that has way more going on than it ever should.

2. Daughter Entertainment: Pretty much any good national touring show that you've seen in recent memory was probably promoted by Daughter. It is nice to see that people with good taste also have enough influence to book great bands and be successful in a town where Pat Green is considered cool.

3. People finally recognizing that Deep Ellum sucks: Lets face it, Deep Ellum has sucked for a long time, and I think it is great that people are are starting to figure that out. Expensive parking, crime, crappy clubs, dumb people, abusive cops, and a general lack of ANYTHING worth going to see has killed Deep Ellum in the eyes of many. And that makes perfect sense. It has been time for that neighborhood to shape up or ship out for quite a while, and it looks like the club owners there are finally trying to figure out which they will do. Either way, it will be great to be rid of Deep Ellum as we know it now.

4. Meat Radio/Frequency Down: Two places that you can listen to good underground music without supporting Clear Channel or Scott Stapp's coke habit. These are two sources for music that might inspire people in Dallas to pick up an instrument and play something good, rather than copying the latest Interpol rip-off band and trying to out-cute one another.

5. Metrognome Collective: Again, this isn't in Dallas, but another great DIY spot for art, film, and experimental music cannot go unmentioned. This is a place where some really good things could happen.

6. Some good bands: Midlake, Undoing of David Wright, Happy Bullets, Pilotdrift, Strange Boys, Fra Pandolf, Eat Avery's Bones, Voot Cha Index, Mazinga Phaser, Tah Dahs, Shiny Around the Edges, You are the Universe, Bosque Brown. I might have left out a few, and there are probably a couple more out there that i haven't heard... yet.

So there. Come on get happy.

So we've seen about 8 million Myspace posts concerning this itunes shuffle game, so we decided to give it a try live, right here and now. Basically you just ask one of these questions, and then hit shuffle on the old itunes and see what song you get. Let us see what happens:

1. How does the World See Me?

"Frontin'"- Pharrel and Jay Z (shit!)

2. Will I have a happy life?

"energy of death"- Apostle of Hustle (Great. Just great.)

3. What do my friends really think of me?

"Scoff" - Nirvana

4. Do People Secretly Lust after me?

"I feel like a child" - Devendra Banhart

5. How can I make myself happy?

"chicago seemed tired last night" - The Hold Steady

6. What Should I do with my life?

"Big Sky" - The Kinks

7. Will I ever have children?

"Run for your life" - The Beatles (Ha! Kids are such little jerks.)

8. What is some good advice for me?

"Turn into Something" - Animal Collective

9. How Will I be remembered?

"Dialog Box" - David Byrne

10. What is my signature dancing song?

"Aero Zeppelin" Nirvana

11. What do I think my current theme song is?

" We Built Another World" - Wolf Parade

12. What does everyone else think my current theme song is?

" According to plan" - I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness

13. What song will play at my funeral?

"Even Better Than The Real Thing" - U2

14. What Type of Men/Women do you like?

"Swab the Temples" - Roller Skate Skinny

15. What is my day going to be like?

"Only Someone Running" - Matt Sweeny and Bonnie Prince Billy

16. Will I ever have love again?

"Bring on the Terror" - Robbers on High Street

Just to let you know, what we have heard most recently is that SXSW is still deciding whether or not to sell anymore wristbands, but if they decide to do so they will go on sale next Wednesday, the first day of the music festival. That is all the information we have right now. Someone suggested in a previous comment thread that they will only be sending text messages to people with 512 area codes, so if anyone finds out more in that regard please post about it in the comments, because we're not entirely sure when and how the announcement will be made. We got a couple emails from people looking for wristbands, so we're just trying to help out. We're soooo nice.

First, we found out from our best friends at Texasgigs that the last batch of SXSW wristbands will be going on sale some time next week. What time next week and where? We don't know yet, although we would guess it will be at Waterloo... have they ever been sold anywhere else? Anyway they will cost $175 and there will probably only be a couple thousand available at most, so we'll give you more info when we get it. Oh yeah, you apparently HAVE to sign up for SXSW text messages in order to get the information next week, so you can do that here.

In other news, Dallas kids should get over to Good Records in a couple hours (by 6pm to be exact) to see a free instore set from Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and The Donkeys. Both are good and its free, even though you will probably end up buying a CD or something.

Denton kids don't have to worry because they can see Casiotone for the Painfully Alone along with the Donkeys tonight at Rubber Gloves for five bucks. If you don't know, Casiotone sounds exactly like the name might suggest... bedroom synthpop. Very good stuff. Donkeys remind me of sad Velvet Underground songs... and a few of the happy ones too. We'd never heard them until today, but we likes it.

And as usual, tonight will be Mile End at Fallout, where electronica, indie, britpop, etc. will be heard. Word on the streets is that the crowd is starting to pick up over there a bit, so maybe you should jump on that bandwagonesque.

People clearly want to be like us. Can you blame them? We only have like the most indietastic blog in town, not to mention how cool our name is. I mean, do you think anyone else could have ever come up with a name involving a character from "Dallas" the t.v. show for a blog about Dallas music? Well, you might be shocked to learn that the city of Dallas is trying to get some crappy movie studio to film some crappy movie based on the aforementioned crappy t.v. show here in town, and they have decided that their campaign slogan will be "Shoot J.R. in Dallas." Don't they know that "we" already shot him? If this movie does come to town, I might have to change the name of this blog to Falcon Crest or something.

Here is a link to the story.

1. The Party w/ Dj Nature (Rubber Gloves-Denton)
Tonight is nature's birthday, so he thinks the party will be pretty crazy tonight. This will be a good opportunity to check it out for the first time if you haven't already.

2. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (Granada)
I didn't really like their new album, Howl, when I heard it the first time. I thought the lyrics sucked and I wondered why they would abandon the shoegaze sound that seemed to work so well for them. Anyway, Howl has grown on me a bit, and they'll probably play enough old stuff tonight to keep you happy no matter what you think of the new one. Oh, and the word on the street is that Elefant bailed for some reason. Thank god.

jog on over to Weedemon if you want to see the new Streets video. It rules.

Someone really needs to beat this jackass in November, don't they? I really could care less if it is Kinky, Bell, or hell even Strayhorn at this point because I don't know enough about any of them to make a choice just yet (although I'm pretty sure that I won't be picking Strayhorn). All I know is how much I don't like Mr. Cool over there, and how just about anyone would be better.

Here is a good piece from the Dallas Morning News about the strategies of the various candidates.