Saturday night's Liars show at the Gypsy Tea Room is probably the most highly anticipated show so far this year around WSJR HQ, and due to that excitement (and the fact that the Obvserver does not appear to have done a feature on the band that has put out 2006's best record so far) we decided to ask, um, I don't know what to call him these days... I guess "lead singer" Angus Andrew some questions about the band via email. Sounds like they have some interesting plans for after their tour, and its the first I've heard of it. Anyway, here are the results:

There is a lot of talk around our town about how bad local music is, and how difficult it is for good artists and musicians to make it in the Dallas area due to a variety of things: lack of a talent pool, lack of good venues, media, etc. You have had the experience of living and working as musicians in two international art/music hotspots: Berlin and Brooklyn. How do you think those surroundings have affected your music, and how would you imagine your music might be affected by living in a place like Dallas?

We base many of our living decisions on financial and practical terms. Berlin is not only super cheap but nicely positioned geographically for touring in Europe. We are quite an insular band in that we dont really require much social support - so as long as the place is cheap then i think we could make anything happen there.. As for Dallas, It really is necessary to have some people in the community who enjoy putting on fun shows in strange places..Promoters can make a "scene" happen by becoming excited about local bands and shows.

It seems that you guys also had the experience of being lumped in, at least at the beginning of your career, with a certain sound or scene, namely the New York dancepunk scene. What kind of effect did that labeling have on your approach to music? What was your initial reaction to it?

Initially it was a little difficult to swallow, having your music pigeonholed so readily. But we began to learn that really we were very lucky to be wrapped up in the NY scene and it allowed us the opportunity to further develop our ideas with the audience. Its funny to look back at that time and imagine if we stayed there and continued with same type of music.

We hear that you like to focus on noise and improv during live shows. What will you be concentrating on for this tour? Songs that you have recorded, new songs, improv?

When we tour we like to play new material because it keeps the evening fun and challenging for us. In turn i think this makes its way to the audience who sometimes enjoy wathcing us make mistakes like normal human beings.

What are some noteworthy records that you've been listening to lately? Anything new?

Deerhunter, System of a Down, Oneida, T-rex, Rhiana, Pink, GoGoGoAirheart.

Have you spent much or any time in texas in your lives? Do you have any impressions of our state?

On our first tour i was caught reliving myself in a paddock by a policeman. He got very mad and called all his mates with dogs to search our van. He told me that in Australia they may pee anywhere they want but not in Texas! Anyway, i was really scared cause we did have some weed with us but the silly police dog hounds didnt sniff it out!!Generally i guess im a bit frightened onf the lone star state for reasons im sure we're all familiar with.

We see that visual art is a big part of what you're interested in, considering the bonus disk that was released with your new album. What visual artists do you take inspiration from? What excites you about combining images with your music?

The exciting part is picking up a brand new medium and trying to learn new tools to express with. Video is fun cheap and easy so we took up the challenge of further expanding our palettes. Wew get inspired a lot by modern day pop culture. Hot dogs, reality TV, bad movies, good books. For us the opportunity to combine our music with viuals we made as a band is much more enticing than paying someone heaps of money to make a clip with a hot girl in a clean room that doesnt relate to the band at all.

Do you have any plans for the band in the immediate future, after the tour?

Back to Work. We hope to make a narrative film that incorporates a bonus disc of music. Our plan is to shoot it in Argentina record it in Australia.

We're really looking forward to this show. The brilliance of Drums Not Dead becomes more and more apparent with every listen. Oh, and part of the reason that we really didn't ask them much about recording their new album is because it was already covered in a great Pitchfork interview that you can read here.

I'm sure that many of you will be out and about watching the Mavs game somewhere, getting drunk and watching our boys wipe the floor with Steve Nash. Hey, if Finley should get boos so should Nash, right? But after the game, you might want to check out:

1. The Party w/ DJ Nature (Rubber Gloves)
Nature is finally picking up some steam as far as crowds and attention around town. And its about damn time. Go listen to him spin the most creative yet simply fucking danceable set in DFWd.

2. Court & Spark | Brothers and Sisters | Pink Nasty (The Cavern)
C&S and Brothers and Sisters might not be blowing anyones minds with how fucking "out there" they are, but I'd be lying if I told you that both bands weren't really good at what they do: namely, 60's folk influenced country indie pop. San Francisco's Court & Spark play a fairly quiet, sleepy folk pop that seems to rock at just the right moments and wander off on gentle instrumental sunshine haze trips at others. Austin's Brothers and Sisters remind me of a poppier Son Volt, and really seem to have command over the trad country songwriting palette with just enough "indie" to appeal O.C. kids and a few indie snobs too. And I'm not quite sure that I get all the local/regional buzz surrounding Pink Nasty. Her music isn't bad I suppose: pretty run of the mill indie twang pop, which is fine and sometimes great if done right. And sometimes she does it right, and its great. But for the most part, I hate "jokey" lyrics, and she's full of them. I know I won't fret if the Mavs game causes me to miss her set, but maybe she's better live. Overall, I bet this will be a pretty good show.

I've been a huge fan of the anonymous multimedia art collective/rock band Lansing-Dreiden for quite a while now, and have spent a little bit of time in my life wondering why so many people (including Pitchfork until this week) think they suck. I'm hoping that the positive Pitchfork review finally makes it o.k. for some people to give this band a listen. To me, they've created a perfectly dreamy haze that combines the best elements of 60's psychedelic pop, 80's synth pop and streamlined Silver Apples meets Kraftwerk electro to produce a sound that is certainly derivative but wholly original at the same time. Their new album The Dividing Island is fantastic, and although I don't think any of it quite reaches the level of their previous EP A Sectioned Beam, it is probably the most compelling synth stuff you'll hear this year. I've posted one track from the new album, along with my personal favorite from the aforementioned EP. You should listen to both to get a good feel for the band, because the two tracks sound fairly different. Check out their website too to see some of the visual art that the band produces collectively.

"Our Next Breath" (from the new album) MP3

"Locks in Shadows" (from A Sectioned Beam) MP3

It seems that people are finally starting to catch on to the coolness of Wanz's Lost Generation upstairs at the Cavern, and tonight should be an especially fun party. The details, from the mouth of the beast:

"Who wants to Dance? I'm gonna do the overview of Dance punk before it's out of vogue. James Chance, The Rapture, P.I.L., Moving Units, Gang of Four, Bush Tetras, Hot Chip, Liquid Liquid, DFA, The Pop Group, The Fall, Dance Disater Movement, Mathematiques Moderne, Undoing of David Wright, Out Hud, Radio 4, Atari Teenage Riot, Suicide, The Liars, Bloc Party, Maximum Joy and so on and so forth. It's good to be home. Come out and say Hi......."

As long as he cuts Radio 4 off of that list, sounds like it will be a good ass time.

Oh yeah, I think Ice Cube is playing somewhere tonight too. Guess mama cooked the breakfast with no hog.

The recent news of the downfall of Frequency Down on KNTU (one of the last good radio shows in town), combined with the continuing limpness and utter irrelevance of the Adventure Club, the Edge in general, and the rest of the radio dial in DFW that isn't called NPR, Legends 77 or The Beat has prompted many recent conversations around here concerning the piss poor state of Dallas radio and the local music media in general. The popular consensus on the subject seems to be that the local Dallas music scene suffers due to a lack of decent radio programming in the area.

And although we would agree that local radio is terrible 99.9% of the time (with that one one hundredth of a percent reserved for Meat Radio, which seems to be getting better and better every weekend), we sort of have to ask why anyone really cares. Not that sarcastic apathy is something that should be worn as a badge of honor, but when has the radio ever been good in Dallas? And in what way does its suckness take away from local music? Again, it seems that this is yet another excuse that scenesters, band members and everyone else likes to make instead of dealing with the whole "lack of talent in the area" issue head on. This might also be why people make empty calls for local radio to focus more on local music, with the idea being that the local scene would improve if more local bands got more radio play. This is one issue that finds us in agreement with Adventure Club Josh: local music, at this point, doesn't deserve much radio play, and if anything, hearing the bands that seem to be popular in Dallas at the moment ( Black Tie, Belafonte, The Valentines, etc.) would probably do more to convince people to stay home than anything else.

While its true that more solid radio programming would probably help local bands, and actually hearing good music on the radio from outside of Dallas might inspire some kid here or there to pick up an instrument and start a band that we might actually enjoy in a few years, podcasts, audio streams, internet radio, Myspace, satellite radio and many other innovations have left that argument with a hell of a lot of holes in it. People don't need broadcast radio to hear interesting music anymore, and while better programming would certainly improve car trips and serve as a nice change of pace, we're not sure what kind of impact it would have aside from that.

So whats the point of all this? Well, the first is that local radio sucks, and requires us to only listen to Meat Radio, talk radio and hip hop (not that theres anything wrong with that necessarily.) The second is that local music gets little attention from local stations for many reasons (corporate controlled playlists, legalized payola, etc.), but one of the main reasons is that local music doesn't happen to be very good right now. And finally, with all the options that people have for hearing music these days, the state of local radio might not be all that relevant when discussing the health of the local music scene. I'd be willing to bet that commercial broadcast radio could disappear all together aside from NPR, Mavs games and The Ticket, and most readers of this blog would hardly even notice. And with Clear Channel running the vast majority of the show in this town, that is probably a good thing. Its a good thing that many of us choose to ignore what they're selling us, because it shows that we can possibly turn our indifference towards boring products into a market force that asks a bit more of our media.

So in that spirit, we're announcing the We Shot J.R. summer podcast. No, this isn't our attempt to "change" anything or to become something other than a blog with a little podcast. Its just our attempt to join in what everyone else seems to be doing: ignoring the overly commercial avenues of communication that have traditionally been available while seeking out better media outlets to hear and share good music. What we're planning isn't a regular podcast, but a 2006 midterm report showcasing the few highlights that have come from the area so far this year. What we plan to do is play the 12 best songs to have been released by DFWd bands so far in 2006, and we'd like to get some suggestions from our readers. We've already got a lot of the songs picked out, and we're not taking a vote. We'd just like to see people share some of the local tracks that they have been digging this year in case we've missed something. So share away in this comment thread if you're interested, or tell us that there couldn't possibly be twelve good local songs to put on a podcast this year, or that the idea is dumb all together. We plan to have this thing widely available in the area within the next four to six weeks, and we might even include some other features in the podcast as well. It seems that a lot of people are already in this business, and we figured we'd give it a try. We'll give you more details when we figure it all out.

Dirk just played the biggest game of his career, and the Mavericks just won the biggest game in franchise history. Jason Terry came out fighting like nobody's fuckin' business, Josh Howard played tough, and even Stackhouse made some big shots. And as no one could have predicted, Diop was the overtime hero, shuttin' Tim Duncan down like he was somebody's biznitch. And as a funny side note, I heard that a few bands at a few shows around town tonight, including Sound Team at Gypsy, actually waited to start their sets until the game was over. Um, that rules. Seriously, nothing feels better than sending those crybaby Spurs packin'. Bring on Phoenix. And oh yeah, sorry to the people that hate sports talk on this blog. Cuz theres more comin'.

Mavericks 119, Spurs 111 Link

Yes I know this is a music blog and everything, but I'd be cheating if I didn't say that my focus is not on music today. Its on what the Mavs have to do to win tonight. WSJR is not particularly optimistic about tonight, but we don't want to be all doom and gloom either. So, we'll look at tonight as a night for the Mavs to prove themselves. A night, first and foremost, for Jason Terry to come back and make everything alright with a tough performance. Any way you want to slice it, Terry did throw a punch, and he shouldn't have. Not because its "wrong," or because its mean to punch someone like Michael Finley who is already prone to crying, but because he knew that he could get suspended, and that it might have cost his team a playoff game... or worse. JT needs to put on a show tonight to avoid being the official Mavs Playoff Jackass two years in a row (remember last year's non foul?) Dirk also has to show up big tonight, and prove to the league, not to mention is teammates, that he is a certifiable superstar. If he can't make his shots, he's gotta go to the hole, and if he can't score down there, he's gotta get to the line and get rebounds. But if Bruce Bowen is the difference maker guarding Dirk tonight, it will be a sad Tuesday morning for every one. Oh yeah, Josh Howard and D Harris coming back from their game 6 disappearance would help too.

Oh, music? Not much doing tonight. Heavy instrumentalists Pelican are playing at Hailey's with noisy post rockers Mono. Neither one really excites me that much, despite the fact that I get stoned on a regular basis. I do imagine that these are two pretty good live acts, so you might not want to miss it if you're into that sort of thing. Pelican especially seems like they would be great to see live, as their brand of building instrumental rock appears to be the kind that increases in quality with every upward click of the volume. And Mono is certainly the best of the second generation post rock bands, and are noisy enough to possibly spawn some good chaotic live moments.

Yes its true, Frank Hejl was fired from KNTU, and his show was cancelled. Apparently this is all the result of him playing a song with the word "fuck" in it. Goddamn Communist. Anyway, its really too bad, as Frank's shows was one of the better (and lets face it, one of the only) places to hear to decent music on the radio in north Texas. But Frank sure seems like a showman, so we're sure we'll see him out and about in some other capacity very soon. Here is his Myspace post on the subject:

Unfortunately, it's true...as of today Frequency Down has been cancelled by KNTU and I have been fired.Their reason was that I aired a song that said "fuck" in it and I signed a station policy paper against "indecency".I can't say I didn't see this coming. It always seemed like I had to look over my back in fear that we would get cancelled, only this time it actually happened.I did cause quite a fuss at first but realized that I should leave on good terms with the station so I calmed down and made sure to leave without burning any bridges.I REALLY want to thank EVERY SINGLE PERSON who supported the show.It's been a great (almost) 3 years.I'll keep you posted on any upcoming projects (like the live shows I'm working on with Rubber Gloves).Thanks for all the love and memoriesI enjoyed EVERY SECOND of it.Thanks

-Frank Hejl-



And on a brighter note, UTD's online radio station is back up and running as of today, so you can tune in to that by going to radio.utdallas.edu between 2-10pm Monday thru Friday. And they don't just play "college rock" and Modest Mouse and shit on there either. I promise that even the all knowing comment posters on this site can tune in to Radio UTD and hear some shit they haven't heard before.

And we've got some REALLY cool shit coming up on the blog this week too, so stay tuned peeps.

1. The Theater Fire - Everybody Has a Dark Side
2. Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
3. Grandaddy - Just Like the Fambly Cat
4. Danielson - Ships
5. Nobody & Mystic Chords of Memory - Tree Colored See
6. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
7. Boris - Pink
8. The Black Angels - Passover
9. Riverboat Gamblers - To the Confusion of Our Enemies
10. Starlight Mints - Drowaton
11. Built to Spill - You in Reverse
12. Voxtrot - Mothers, Sisters, Daughters and Wives
13. Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
14. Pretty Girls Make Graves - Elan Vital
15. Tool - 10,000 Days
16. Gustafer Yellowgold - Wide Wild World (DVD)
17. Scott Walker - The Drift
18. Secret Machines - Ten Silver Drops
19. Twin Atlas - Sun Township
20. Tunng - Mother's Daughter & Other Songs

Looks like Theater Fire shot up the charts this week. I wonder how often local bands take the top spot at Good Records on any given week?

And that Danielson record... maybe I'm stupid, but I'm just not feelin' it. At all. Do dig the Boris though.

Lots to do tonight, although some of the crew at WSJR HQ don't know how much juice they have in them, considering the ridiculous late night party that DJ Nature was throwin down at Ave Arts last night. Apparently the place got packed right around 1:30 with all kinds of cool (and strange) kids doing all kinds of sick dancing and engaging in many kinds of substance abuse, with a strong set of Bmore booty shit and funk by Nature tying it all together. One of the better crowds that Ave Arts has had for anything in a very long time, says the wise. Maybe they should consider inviting Nature, Steven and company back again. For tonight:

1. Dj G | Flashlight Party (Elm Street Bar)
One great DJ and another great DJ crew/D.I.Y. party starting gang bringing their shit down to Dallas to show everyone how the little d kids do it. People that don't have to work Monday morning have no excuse not be there.

2. By the End of Tonight | Fra Pandolf | El Paso Hot Button (Fra House- Denton)
Going down at the Fra House tonight, located at 2127 W. Oak St. in Denton, this is a house show that is BYOB and cheap if not free (we're not sure). You guys already know what Fra sounds like, and we don't know how to describe what By the End of Tonight sounds like, except to say that its instrumental from what we've heard, and sounds interesting and fun in a live setting. El Paso Hot Button pretty much fuckin' rocks in that garage sort of way, so you might want to get there early and catch them. Should be a good show.

short today, gotta run. Will be better next week, mkay?

1. iDi Amin/Hotel Hotel/ Diry Water Disease (Metrognome Ft. Worth)

2. High Society Presents Ball Room w/ Justin V Steven Void/ DJ Nature (Avenue Arts- 825 Exposition Dallas) 6 bucks and byob. Should be the best place to hear good dance music in town tonight.

3. Theater Fire is at J&J's in Denton.

Sorry, we're running a bit late today. We figure that many of you will be watching the Mavs game anyway. We're gonna take em down tonight, I can feel it:

1. Undoing of David Wright | Zom Zoms | Cry Blood Apache (8th Continent)
We gave you the deal on this yesterday. Should be a really good show.

2. Theater Fire (Good Records in store, 7pm)
Yeah, we know they're playing at The Cavern later as well, but I would suggest seeing them for free with free beer. Just a thought.

3. Ghostland Observatory | Black Angels | Prayer for Animals (Rubber Gloves)

4. Oh, and the motherfuckin' Violent Femmes are playing at Gilley's. We love the Femmes, but be on the lookout for Gen X soccer moms.

1. Black Angels | Transient Theory | Bo Jones (Darkside Lounge)
Black Angels are of course a WSJR favorite. However, some people complain that a lot of their songs sound alike. We sort of agree in a sense, even though we really like the songs, or the song so to speak. Anyway, a lot of the newer material we have heard from them sounds a lot different than the stuff on their self titled EP, and it seems that they are branching out with strange, interesting rhythms and moves towards more traditional pyschedelic on some tracks, while moving away from it all together on others. Go see what you think of the new stuff if you have doubts. Transient Theory. Never heard them before today. They are positively awful. Go to their Myspace page if you enjoy pretending to be on the set of a commercial for teenage girl deodorant. Houston's Bo Jones is a little better, but not much. Go late.

2. Z00 (Upstairs at the Cavern)
Thank god there is something to do in Dallas on Thursday nights again. Zoo has been attracting larger crowds almost every week with its nice mix of dance videos, rock videos and strange videos. Really, you hear great music, see strange images, and might just run into someone as cool as you. Imagine that. Anyway, check it out this week and see what everyone is talking about. As a side note, the Zoo folks plan on showing some local band footage every week (starting some time in the near future), spotlighting one local group each week. We'll give you more details when we get them, but our understanding is that they will take music videos, live footage, and just about anything else to showcase good music going on in the area (even though pickins be slim these days.) We'll give you the contact info as soon as we have it.

3. Of course, DJ G will keep the party goin' at Hailey's with the best 80's dance you never heard.