Should I really be reviewing albums like Jubilee Dive? Is a band like the Drams even relevant to what we are doing on this blog? What is the point in trashing a record that most WSJR readers would never consider buying in the first place? These are the questions I started to ask myself after about five minutes of listening to this album for the first time, knowing all too well that there was no way I was going to get through its 14 tracks without a struggle. I needed a way out, an excuse to not listen to these songs ever again, a chance to escape from the feeling that I had to write about them. There were two major problems that I just couldn't seem to get around, and I thought that avoiding the whole thing would probably be best. The first problem was the fact that merely listening to these emotional mid tempo country rock snore fests was a pretty painful experience in and of itself, and the second was that it seemed almost impossible to come up with anything to say about an album that isn't quite terrible enough to be funny, but boring enough to be completely forgettable. Basically, there are only a few ways in which one can say "this sucks," and I think I've tried just about all of them on this blog.

But nevertheless, The Drams are relevant to a lot of people in this tiny little world known as local music, and since this is primarily a local music blog, I decided that a fair review based on a careful listen was warranted. After all, the band seems to be fairly well known on the local circuit, and the fact that all but one of its members have previously played in formerly popular local rock bands Slobberbone and Budapest One means that their record is noteworthy enough to write about, even if doing so might not be very fun. Basically, whether I like it or not, this is something of a big release in local music, and someone probably has to say something about it.

Of course, the difficult part isn't simply telling you that this record isn't very good, because it clearly isn't. The real challenge lies in explaining exactly why it isn't good, since nothing on it is truly offensive. Ok, here goes: take the worst songs on the Clerks soundtrack (especially that Golden Smog song), mix them up with the worst Wilco songs you can think of, throw in a bit of popular Nashville country along with a dash of Train, and you're probably getting pretty close to what Jubilee Dive sounds like. Most of the album consists of overly slick, extraordinarily dry adult contemporary southern rock songs about drinks, girls, politics, angels (not kidding), and just about anything else that you probably don't want to hear these guys talk about. This is "regular guy" music to a fault, and I can't stand regular guys (or at least their music).

And yes, for all you people who are into "good ol fashioned songwritin" or whatever Everyman bullshit you like to say, the melodies are good enough, the singing is decent, and the playing is tight and competent for the most part. The main problem is simply that there seems to be nothing behind these songs, as one flows into the next before you notice it has ended, staying uniformly stiff and lifeless throughout. The first four songs sound like they should be on the soundtrack to an early 90's roadtrip movie where Drew Barrymore is wearing flannel, showing just enough of The Drams' country influences to confirm that yes, these guys are probably from Texas, but never going much deeper than the kind of post-Alternative Nation guitar pop that record executives still think "the kids" listen to. Length is also a big issue on a lot of these tracks. For example, "Holy Moses" clocks in at 6 1/2 minutes with a cheesy chorus about angles coming down from heaven and a torturous helping of unnecessary solos and predictable chord changes that render it a VERY long 6 1/2 minutes that could probably be cut in half. Elsewhere, the ballad "When You're Tired" drags on for another wandering six minutes without really going anywhere, and closing track "Make A Book" ends up being little more than a five minute reminder of the luke warm power pop that dominates the beginning of the record, failing to make a case for going back and checking out those tracks again. Ironically, "You Won't Forget," which is clearly the album's highlight, is also its second longest song. But unlike most of the other tracks, the band maintains interest here with a strong melody, relatively minimal yet effective guitar work, and a horns breakdown/changeup in the middle that sounds unbelievably refreshing within its context. Unfortunately, the Drams fail to bust out with any other surprises, leaving the listener with the feeling that the track was probably a fluke.

The bottom line is that anyone who agrees with this review probably would have never given this album a chance in the first place, and anyone that I've pissed off here has probably made it a rule to never listen to anything they read on this blog anyway. To put it another way, I'm still not exactly sure why I reviewed Jubilee Dive, and I'm also unclear as to why the Drams recorded it.

(rating is out of a possible five stars)

Record reviews will be posted later today. Here are some things that I'm giving you permission to do tonight:

1. Lost Generation w/ Wanz (Cavern upstairs)
Here is what Wanz has going tonight:

have special guest DJ select tonight sitting in with me. I am gonna have guest DJ's with me for the next few weeks. I am kicking this off with Select from the Party. Next week I have Gabriel from Grits n' Gravy and The Lollipop Shoppe. 2 weeks from now I am throwing another Lost Generation concert for solo and duo songwriters and composers downstairs and The Flashlight Party helping me upstairs. I am still compiling trax for the Texas nuggets night. I hope to be able to do this by the end of september. As far as stand out trax tonight go: New songs from Radiohead(live from last months Berkeley, CA show), Scratch Acid, New Digital Mysticz, New Burial(South London Burroughs ep), J Dilla, Pram, Seefeel, Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra, Luke Vibert, Mew, The Knife, Mark Stewart & The Mafia, Mingus, a couple of new remixes by me, and of course whatever else catches my fancy at the time. I am working on a mixtape. It may be ready for tonight. Definately by next week. It will feature a lot of remixes by yours truly.

2. Mix Tapes and Babyfights (Club Dada)
I've never seen Frank Hejl's variety show, but I've heard good things, and thought you might be down. Tonight's performance will feature the comedy of Cooperation Corporation (watch their theme video on the myspace page), and the music of Hardin Sweaty and the Ready to Go (who I'm not really sure about, other than the fact that they have the worst name ever.)

Buh bye.

Because it is hot as hell and there isn't really anything going on today that interests us, we're not going to write about anything. However, if you want to hear what happens when you take every "indie" cliche of the past seven years and wrap it up in a nice little cute as a button package for a 14 year old girl, you can check out the Myspace page for Simon Dawes, who will be playing at the Tea Room tonight. They sound like an American Apparel Gift Certificate.

1. Red Monroe - Red Monroe EP
2. Pegasus Now - Careless Loveseeds
3. Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
4. Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
5. Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
6. The Knife - Silent Shout
7. CSS - Cansei De Ser Sexy
8. Thom Yorke - The Eraser
9. Kashmere Stage Band - Texas Thunder Soul 1968-1974
10. Sorta - Strange and Sad But True
11. Vetiver - To Find Me Gone
12. Nobody & Mystic Chords of Memory - Tree Colored See
13. Daedelus - Denies the Days Demise
14. Caribou - Up In Flames [2CD]
15. Mew - And the Glass Handed Kites
16. The Shys - Astoria
17. Cut Chemist - The Audience's Listening
18. Peaches - Impeach My Bush
19. TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain
20. Long Winters - Putting the Days To Bed

Looks like they've been pushing some local releases this week, as the top three spots are all taken by local acts. And will people stop listening to Muse please? What could be worse than emo influenced Diet Radiohead britpop?

Dont' have time to do a post today. We'll be back tomorrow.

FRIDAY


To begin with, you probably already know that motherfucking Devo will be playing tonight with the Psychedelic Furs and the criminally underrated (just kidding) When In Rome at some band shell thing at Fair Park. I didn't bother looking up much more than that since I figured that if you weren't already going to the show, you probably weren't willing to shell out 45 bucks to see Devo outside when it will still be like 87 degrees. I have also heard some rumors about people claiming that members of Devo will be showing up at the Fallout Lounge tonight after the concert... and without trying to necessarily dis the Fallout Lounge, I just have to ask... do you really think Devo is going to hang out there? Maybe I'm totally off base here and Devo will show up at Fallout and perform their entire first album with special guests Pere Ubu for free, but I am going to go ahead and say that this scenario seems about as likely as the Rangers making the playoffs.... not winning the world series mind you, just making the playoffs. Either way, I'm not going to be able to go because I'll be hanging out with Brian Eno at Ships tonight anyway...

Of course, the great show at House of Tinnitus will be going on as well, featuring Cry Blood Apache, Night Game Cult, Tinnitus and an improv set featuring Sparrow/Hawk- Andrew Michael for free. And I totally understand why the anons hate this shit. I mean, what could be worse than a group of students getting together and playing a free show at one of their houses just for fun? Oh I know, a group of students interested in art getting together and playing a free show at one of their houses and also inviting a very good regional touring act to play with them and possibly providing beer to all the people that are going to get in for free. What a bunch of assholes! And despite how shitty these guys are for doing this, I bet the show will be really good. Cry Blood Apache is one of the best live acts in the state of Texas right now, and Night Game Cult is one of the truly strange musical projects in Denton. Mix in some improv and atmospheric experimental pieces from some people that actually do know what they are talking about, and I think you've got a really good night. Click on the house link above for address and directions.

Of course, if gas prices are keeping your ass in Dallas tonight, you don't have to worry either: Dj Nature and Select will be putting their Party on for free tonight at Zubar. This could be your rare chance to see a smart, discerning dance crowd in Dallas actually having fun. Nature and Select are playing great stuff that no one else in the metroplex touches, and their sets are so fucking easy to like that even your dumb friend that you aren't sure you want to hang out with could go and have a good time. Basically, we're expecting a good eclectic crowd, like most of their events attract, and a DJ set that will more than convince you that these guys are worthy of the praise they get around town. And It beats the hell out of pretending to have fun at like a Titanmoon show or something, doesn't it?

Chris of Gorilla vs Bear will also be spinning records down the street at the Cavern (Upstairs.)

Switching back to Denton, the criminally underrated Evangelicals (not joking) will be playing at Hailey's tonight with Get Him Eat Him and John Ralston. And even if the other two performers aren't your thing (I'm pretty they aren't mine), I can't think of one reason why you shouldn't check out the Evangelicals' debut full length SoGone ,which came out this year... and then see them live tonight. To me, this record is a pretty perfect piece of strange summer pyschedelic pop, and manages to stay totally catchy while staying quite adventerous and never getting boring. Basically, its one of 2006's strongest releases.

Okkervil River, another one of Austin's best, will be at Sons of Herman Hall tonight as well... I bet there will be some ironic cowboys there (those guys really suck), and I know there will be some real old school cowboys downstairs at the bar who will be thinking about how easily they could have kicked some ironic cowboy ass 15 years ago before their hip went bad... so basically, rad show.

Finally, Houston's Inoculist will be at Metrognome tonight as well. By the way, they are a very good band: minimal, sleepy, reverb packed shoegaze atmospherics with some great melodies lurking around. Very good stuff at an always good venue.

So basically, there is a shitload going on tonight all over the place.

SATURDAY

To start with, Voot Cha Index and Red Monroe will be playing at Good Records for free at 2pm for Red Monroe's CD release party, and then

Kneepad | Daniel Folmer | Time Line Post | Dirty Water Disease will be playing over at Rubber Gloves in Denton. Kneepad will rock your ass off, Dirty Water Disease will scare your grandmother with their Sunn0))) meets Black Dice and Wolf Eyes metal noise, and Daniel Folmer will, um, do something weird to you? I don't know. I'm running out of steam and my email account isn't working right now, so if you've sent me info about a Saturday show I haven't posted, sorry about that.

Check back with us tomorrow for some adds to the list, because we might hear about parties, house shows, or regular shows that we've forgotten.

1. Undoing of David Wright | Silk Stocking | The Prids (Darkside Lounge)
Undoing of David Wright is heading off on a small tour here in a few days, and this will be their final show before they get out of town. They've also been working on their second record recently with John Congleton, and have got a pretty sweet demo version of a new song up on their Myspace page right now. I'm sure that they will put on a good show as they always do, and this should be a good chance for Dallasites to listen to some of their new material. I really haven't heard any, but with the kind of influences and knowledge that these guys have, I'm very excited to hear where they take their band next. I could see them heading off into a million different directions, most of which are quite good. The excellent Silk Stocking opens, and The Prids, if the Myspace link above is in fact the right Prids, sound like pretty straight forward nu wave... Urban Outfitter music I guess you could say, but a few steps above most.

2. And of course, DJ G will be at Hailey's.

We're getting shit together right now for out podcast, as well as several local album reviews and the singles review thing we discussed last week. They should be ready for posting soon.

Don't have a lot of time to make this shit all fancy and stuff today, but there are two things going this evening that might be worth your time:

First, our readers in Denton are probably all going to the Party with DJ Nature at Rubber Gloves tonight anyway, so we'll pretend that I didn't feel the need to tell you about it. And Dallasites that can't make the drive to Denton tonight need not worry, because Nature and Select will be bringing the much hyped Party to Zubar on Friday. Friday night will be your rare chance to see some Djs on lower Greenville that don't exclusively focus on bullshit in their sets.

Also, Final Fantasy | Bob Wiseman | The Curtains will be at Hailey's tonight. I do think I dig Bob Wiseman's ghostly cut and paste collage of vaudville electronoise quite a bit. Probably worth the price of admission alone. Never heard the Curtains before and I can't seem to find any of their music, much like I can't seem to locate a proper Final Fantasy website or myspace page amidst all the video game geek crap and anime dork music sites that you get when you type "final fantasy" into just about any search engine... but Owen Pallett is probably one of the more innovative musicians touring the "indie" circuit right now, so I would highly recommend getting your shit together and checking out this show.

It has become a cliche in popular culture (if not necessarily amongst historians) that history is written by the victors. And although this assertion might be useful as an easy way to explain general bias and deficiencies in historical analysis, it is not entirely accurate on its face. Sure, the victors in war, empire building, and struggles for economic superiority always develop their own self serving versions of history, but the important point is not simply what they have written, or the fact that they have chosen to write at all. Instead, what really matters is that such persons and entities are able to communicate their version of events to the largest number of people, since it is the process of organization and communication that turns one subjective perspective into "objective" fact. It isn't as if the dominant actors in history are the only ones that have ever picked up pens, its just that they have largely been able to render their perspectives the only ones that really matter to most people. But if this line of reasoning can be applied (even loosely) to the recording and documenting of local music and the community surrounding it, it can be said that a group of experimental musicians in Denton, and many others like them, have decided to ignore it.

It probably seems kind of silly to talk about historical analysis and Denton noise rock in the same piece, because lets face it- experimental noise/improv groups from Denton aren't going to change the world, and there is a very strong possibility that they aren't even going to change the local music community. No matter how many new and exciting ideas these bands and their associates might develop in the arenas of music, visual art, performance or distribution, the "big" events in local music will probably always involve something along the lines of a fire marshall shutting down a really boring show by a really boring band somewhere in Dallas, while most of the local musicians that have any true potential to innovate and create something new will continue to be marginalized and largely ignored before they finally decide to move or give up all together. Many will argue that this state of affairs is warranted- after all, who the hell actually sits down and listens to noise rock, right? But rather than responding to such simplistic notions, the members of You are the Universe, iDi* Amin, Notes from Underground and some of their friends and collaborators have elected to start an entirely new discussion by playing their own shows at their own space, and using their own methods to document their ventures on their own terms.

This collective effort centers around a house, two blogs and a record label, all of which focus on a group of bands that probably won't ever win any popularity contests amongst the Greenville barhopping general public. The house, located at 628 Lakey St. in Denton, has been dubbed the House of Tinnitus, and it is there that Jason Moore, Andrew Michael Hilburn, and house residents Rob Buttrum and Amelia Jaycen have begun holding free, open admission shows twice a month, featuring a diverse range of acts that might not pull large crowds often enough to be invited back to clubs on a regular basis, but put on shows that should attract anyone with an interest in rock and avant garde music that goes beyond a passing fancy. Their first show last month featured Warmer Milks, and their upcoming show this Friday, August 18th will feature Cry Blood Apache, Night Game Cult, Sparrow/Hawk with Andrew Michael, and Tinnitus, an improv/noise project featuring Buttrum and Jaycen. So far, the group plans to keep the shows free (although they will seek donations), and are planning performances by their own bands, other interesting local bands, and up and coming touring bands. The purpose behind the house, as URTU member Jason Moore explains, is to create a "sort of home base for the growing Denton 'noise' scene," a phrase he uses for lack of a better term. The house is quite large, and its residents are said to be very welcoming to anyone that is interested in attending the shows, giving it the potential to be a true center of activity as Denton comes back to life in the coming weeks with the start of a new semester.

The house will serve as a forum for many of the collective's future endeavors, and the record label/ blog Frenetic Love, as well as the New Century Art blog, will be used to document these and other events that will be important to the growing number of experimental musicians and adventurous music fans in Denton. "The (frenetic love) blog is really just a venue for writing about music as a sensory experience" Moore says, juxtaposing it to most other music blogs, which he claims "are written as a way to simplify music." Frenetic Love and New Century Art already contain reviews, interviews, and short think pieces about noise, local experimental music, and how such music interacts with popular culture and media. Their writing is intelligent and thoughtful, and they appear to be interested in the physical experiences of listening to music, in addition to the theoretical elements of improv/noise that often make such music as fascinating to talk about as it is to listen to. The groups plan to continue using both blogs as a channel for "documenting what (their bands) are creating as a unit," and as a primary source for information on the community that they are developing.

The Frenetic Love record label will serve a similar purpose, albeit through a different medium, documenting live performances and proper, studio recorded releases by some of the better Denton bands. The label will be modeled loosely after some of the indie tape trading labels of the past, recording and distributing live performances and experiments by Denton bands in order to document the creative process as it is occurring. One such recording, an improv document featuring Sparrow/Hawk and Andrew Michael, will be distributed for free at the upcoming show on Friday, and Hilburn plans on creating numerous other live recordings and archiving them as a loose document of what is happening in Denton experimental music as of right now. The label also plans to release proper full length tapes by Chief Death Rage, You are the Universe, and others, with the intent to mass distribute them commercially.

Although those involved with the projects would certainly like to experience some commercial success, Moore does not see it as a realistic possibility, and seems to be equally, if not more interested in simply documenting what the Denton experimental community is doing, and helping to strengthen a small music community that probably can't rely on much attention from the established mainstream local media.

The aspect of the Frenetic Love/House of Tinnitus/ New Century Art project that is perhaps most exciting is not the novelty of the idea, but rather the relative simplicity in executing it. Sure, zines and D.I.Y. record labels, venues and house shows have been around as long as rock n roll has, but today, all of this can be done much quicker and with relatively fewer hassles than ever before. The multimedia approach that musicians can use to document their work and their lives, mixing visual art, writing, music, and happenings, is obviously far more complex and comprehensive than anything that technology has permitted musicians to do before, opening up a wide range of expressive possibilities to people that would have never had access to such media even seven years ago.

Due to a myriad of factors that are far more complex than "Sam sucks" or "corporations," Denton noise rock will probably never be covered in much detail by the Dallas Morning News, the Observer, or any other mainstream local publication. There just isn't the market for it. But today, this fact is becoming less and less relevant to the level of impact that this kind of music can have, since blogs are just as easy to read (if not easier) than newspapers, and burning a bunch of CDs of a live performance that just took place (which I have seen URTU do in the past) is easier and cheaper than shopping for a record label. Put simply, anyone can create media that will shape, market, and document their own perceptions and experiences, which could in turn help shape our collective memories of such events in the future. Did you see George W. Bush dancing with Ricky Martin at his 2000 election victory party? Yeah, thats why shit like this is important. Theres no telling what might come of it, but the fact that this group of bands is able to shape the present and possibly the future through multimedia has to be a good thing, because those who will likely be considered "victors" by future historians seem to have really shitty taste in music.

Check back with us later today for some new writing, etc. As for goings on this evening, look into:

1. The Lost Generation w/ Wanz (Upstairs @ The Cavern)
Here is what Wanz has for tonight:

"I am gonna be heavy on the funk and soul tonight. There will still be plenty of other stuff too. With 4 hours to kill it's pretty easy to cover a lot of ground. I will be hitting my massive Soul Jazz Collection pretty hard tonight. I have a few new remixes that I made over the weekend including a very nice drill n bass version of 7 steps to heaven that would make squarepusher quite happy. If there is a crowd for it of course I will detour into some of the new dubstep, grime and techno stuff I have been hording lately. If not then I will just go with the flow. Hope to see you out. Cheers!!!!"


There are a few other shows going on here and there tonight, but none that really interested us all that much. Just remember, Dallas is usually pretty lame, dudes.... don't shoot the messenger.

Of course, you can give open mic night @ the Fallout Lounge a shot... although I don't know if I can recommend it considering I've never been before. But it is hosted by Tim and Rhett from The Happy Bullets, and various members of various local bands reportedly collaborate with one another regularly at this thing, so if that sounds good to you, it probably will be.

And San Diego's Red Pony Clock will be playing a free show at J&Js tonight in Denton, starting at 8pm. If you ask me, most of this lovey cute boy indie pop crap has gotta go (although I'm afraid that like Rock n Roll, it might be here to stay), but Red Pony Clock probably comes as close as you possibly can to getting it right in that K Records, old school Sebadoh sort of way. Their lo-fi production and neutral, milky hotel horn section set them apart from most of the other bands that populate this genre, and they seem a bit more intelligent and musically competent than their peers. The band put out a couple of pretty decent internet only singles towards the end of 2005, and they seem like they might be able to build something from the promise that those songs provided. They'll be joined by Fishboy, Tha Bracelets, and Hardin Sweaty and the Ready to Go, some of whom might be too cute for their own good. We'll let you figure out which ones!

1. Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
2. Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche
3. CSS - Cansei De Ser Sexy
4. Nobody & Mystic Chords of Memory - Tree Colored See
5. Vetiver - To Find Me Gone
6. Silverspun Pickups - Carnavas
7. The Drams - Jubilee Dive
8. The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
9. The Long Winters - Putting the Days To Bed
10. The Theater Fire - Everybody Has a Dark Side
11. Sebadoh - III [reissue]
12. Midlake - Bamnan and Slivercork
13. Sleepy Jackson - Personality
14. Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
15. Wolfmother - Wolfmother
16. Thom Yorke - The Eraser
17. TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain [import]
18. Danielson - Ships
19. Centro-Matic - Fort Recovery
20. Kashmere Stage Band - Texas Thunder Soul 1968-1974

Looks like Midlake and Theater Fire are still doing quite well. And that Drams record. Ouch.

I searched high and low and this was all I could find today. Sorry.

1. DJ Wild in the Streets (Hailey's)

DJ Wild in the Streets continues her residency at Hailey's with her usual well informed smorgasbord of all things cool from much more innocent times. Her selections usually include international pop hits and lots of garage and psychedelia mixed in to rough up the edges. There are apparently some bands playing funk and soul to round out the night but I don't know much about it. Anyways, I believe this is always free if you're unlucky enough to be of drinking age.

FRIDAY

1. Laptop Deathmatch @ the Dallas Video Festival (Kalita Humphreys Theater, Dallas Theater Center- corner of Lemmon and Turtle Creek, Starts at 9pm)
Click here to get more general info about the Dallas Video festival. It looks like there will be a ton of interesting shit going on, so you might want to check out some of the other things that will be happening there this weekend. Tonight at 9pm, 8 performers from the Laptop Deathmatch will be performing their music backed by some free form experimental videos. I'm not sure exactly what to expect from this performance, but I know its going to be the best thing going in Dallas tonight, so you might want to give it a shot. The event will be hosted by John Freeman, and will feature video work from Mazinga Phaser, Paul Baker and Video Jockey for Sub Oslo. Check this shit out from Paul Baker. Looks pretty cool to me. And after the Deatmatch:

you can get into the afterparty at Club One free with your ticket stub. The after party will feature performances from Laptop Deathmatch artists, as well as DJ Stephen R playing classic industrial (do people actually attempt to dance to Throbbing Gristle?), goth, new wave, and more. Club One is located at 3025 Main St. in Deep Ellum (bring a gun).

2. Mathstorm | Voot Cha Index | Sarah Reddington (Rubber Gloves-Denton)
This will apparently be Mathstorm's last show, and fans of indie pop should be sad, because they sound as if they could have developed into one of the better local bands in that genre, which says something when you consider that there are 8 million indie pop bands in these parts. We're not particularly crazy about them, but they're good at what they do. Voot Cha and the excellent Sarah Reddington are both worth checking out, and we hear SR is a forcefull live band as well. We believe that Voot Cha goes on before Sarah Reddington.

SATURDAY

1. The Clientele | Great Lakes | Theater Fire (Hailey's)
If there is a "must see" this weekend, I'm going to have to say that this is the one. The Clientele is a band that continues to blow me away almost every time I hear them. The trick is, they don't do anything particularly new or original as far as style or influences, but they write these incredibly infectious (and extremely English) pop songs that seem to tap into certain internal visions and feelings that you can't really describe, but know that everyone shares. Its truly great music that sounds like nothing else, and will hit you with its beauty almost right away. Theater Fire opens, which provides even more of a reason to make the Denton trip. Brooklyn's Great Lakes play somewhat slick and complex indie pop... which is a lot better than that description makes it sound. I bet they'll be pretty good too.

2. Flashlight Party will be spinning at Rubber Gloves with The Pebble that Saved the World and Prom Nite.

3. Pleasant Grove will be playing at Lee Harvey's at 830. Go see one of the few Dallas bands that has both 1) been around for a long time and 2) is still really good.

4. Dub Assembly 2 will be going down at Wax, 2653 Commerce starting at 10 pm. Select has been spreading the word about this show all week, which means that there will probably be a good crowd out there, dancing to newest Dubstep. This is something you normally wouldn't hear in DFW, and most of what Select is involved with ends up being a good time, so give it a try.

Sorry we were a bit short today... check back this weekend for updates on other shows, parties, and events that we might have missed.

I can't decide if The Clientele's Alasdair Maclean thinks I ask jackass questions, or if he supplied us with short answers because he is busy on a tour and sick of answering questions, or if I'm just being overly sensitive about the whole thing because The Clientele is one of my favorite current bands. Either way, I was very happy to get the chance to ask him some questions via email, and his answers are below. The Clientele plays Saturday night at Hailey's with Theater Fire, and it should be fantastic. If you haven't heard The Clientele before, you should pull your head out of your ass and do so as soon as possible.

To start with, for all the people that were at your last Denton show at Hailey's: What was up with the sound? It sounded like the reverb wasn't working at all, and there seemed to be several other problems as well. Do you remember what caused this?

The sound on stage was a little strange but it didn't stop it being a great show. We heard a recording of that night and it sounds pretty funny.

One of the positive things that came from the problematic sound at the last Hailey's show was, in my opinion, the revelation that your voice sounds just as strong without any effects at all. It seems that Strange Geometry also hammered this point home, since there is a noticeable lack of the strong, hazy reverb that was present on Suburban Light. Why did the band chose to move towards a cleaner sound on Strange Geometry?

We left a lot of the decision making in terms of recording to Brian O'Shaughnessy, the producer. Whenever we asked for more reverb he'd give a lingering hard stare over the top of his glasses, then ignore us.

It seems that the way in which your early material (the stuff that appears on Suburban Light) was recorded had such a huge impact on the way those songs felt, producing a quite dreamy experience for the listener, mixed with the warmth and familiarity that lo fi recordings bring. How important was this aspect of the recording process to the band?

The early recordings were done on the only equipment we had which was pretty basic so the sound we got all came through guitar amps - we stuck the vocals through the reverb on our guitar amps which gave us the hazy sound you describe. It wasn't important, it was the only way we could make records that didn't sound totally amateurish.

To me, as an American living in Texas, your music sounds foreign and distant in some ways. More than just about any band, your music inspires visual scenes in my mind... visions of things and places that I've never experienced, mostly revolving around England and rain and a sort of modern mysticism. Do you intend to inspire visualization in the audience with your songwriting? Or is this just me?

We just write songs about what we see - canals, buses, semi-detatched houses, football fields. If this seems exotic or mystical to a Texan then that's great.

I read that you have a fondness for Arthur Lee, and he seems to be something of an inspiration to the band. How has his death affected you? What do you think Love's significance is in rock today?

Love is my favorite band. We played Signed DC in Chapel Hill the night he died.

Who are some of your favorite musicians of all time? Are any current records getting a lot of play right now amongst you guys on tour? If so, which ones?

My favorite musician is Arthur Lee. Others include Boards of Canada, Neil Diamond. We've all brought our ipods with us so we're all listening a loads of different stuff at the moment.

Are you guys currently planning on going back to the studio any time soon? Can we expect any new Clientele material or other projects from you guys in the near future?

Yes, we're heading straight to Nashville after the end of this tour and making the next record there with Marky Nevers. It should be a lot of fun!