(Contributions from SR and Wildcat, someone you'll hear more from soon)

Seems like a lot is going on this weekend as we enter into one of the best times of the year for music in the area. We'll have some SXSW stuff for you next week, but we really plan to focus on the day parties and free stuff more than any of the actual showcases since: 1) you can read about showcase stuff all over the place and 2) the free day shows and non-SXSW events taking place in Austin next week are usually ten times more fun than the actual showcases themselves. I've gone to SXSW for a number of years now, and each year I've been more and more inclined to forget the wrist band all together. This year, I'm doing it: no wristbands, just free stuff. And I bet I'm going to have as much or more fun that I've had in years previous. Anyway, here we go:

FRIDAY

Chief Death Rage | Nouns Group | Kaboom (Secret Headquarters)
A solid early show over at SHQ this evening featuring the sludgy CDR, one of our local favorites (who will also have the honor of opening for Dead Meadow next week), along with two other much talked about local groups whose performances will probably be more than worth the massive three dollar cover. I've never seen Nouns Group or Kaboom live, but I hear very good things. Certainly a must see up in Denton, especially considering that it starts early enough (first band at 830) to give you plenty of time to do something else after the show is over.

Baptist Generals | Shiny Around the Edges | Mom (Denton Arts Center)
Tonight, the Greater Denton Arts Council—GDAC—hosts a fundraising event that it has dubbed the Ultra Extra Arts Mix, which will include appearances by ShinyAround the Edges, Baptist Generals, and Mom. The GDAC uses its fundraising arm, The Arts Guild (link), to underwrite public arts programs and support area groups.It would appear that one product of such support is the GDAC operated Center for the Visual Arts at 207 S Bell Ave,which is where things will go down tonight from 7-11pm. Admission is $20 if you’re going solo, or $35 if you bring your date and/or mom. Between sets, you might enjoy perusing the hard and soft materials on display in the Materials: Hard and Soft exhibit in the Meadows gallery. Another reason to support GDAC? On tap for next week is an impressive partnership with University of NorthTexas College of Music to provide for the residency of Mario Davidovsky from 3/11 to 3/13. If you were a member of the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (http://www.seamusonline.org | ), you’d know that Mario Davidovsky is a true golden oldie pioneer composer of electronic music. I think these days Davidovsky typically combines the sounds of live musicians with tapes of recorded music/sounds. Maybe the tape components can be thought of as embedded pre-recordings, since they’re played with live musicians as pre-recordings, and themselves are sometimes composed from various pieces of pre-recordedmaterial. For example, Davidovsky has composed by cutting and variably splicing magnetic tape containing previous recordings to create new recordings for which I have offered “embedded pre-recordings” as an example. At any rate, if that sounds like your cup of tea, then maybe you’d like to compare an Electronic Study piece with a recent Synchronism composition on this guy's page. There will be a performance of Davidovsky’s works at 8pm on Monday at the UNT College of Music, and if you’re still not convinced that the Ultra Extra Arts Mix is the culturally responsible way to spend your hard earned monies tonight, then maybe you should consider that according to GDAC, this is the first event “specifically targeted at the 25-45 year old arts lover,” featuring an atmosphere that’s “like a cool, hip, modern nightclub.” Incidentally, if you’re thinking of starting up one such cool, hip, modern nightclub yourself, maybe since the Gypsy is soon to bedefunct and all, you’d do well to check out some tips this guy. (by Wildcat)

Purple Crush (Zubar)
This band, coming through with the support of The Party's Sober and Select, has had a couple of impressive dance singles that have received a decent amount of play in clubs in the US, UK and France, and they really remind me a hell of a lot of the excellent I Am The World Trade Center, particularly with their cover of "Two of Hearts." You need to go ahead and listen to the song "Fire Wire" on the group's Myspace page to see what I mean. If you had any doubts about this show, I'm willing to bet that this song will change your mind with an instantly catchy verse that is quite unique for upbeat tongue in cheek art school dance pop from Brooklyn. This is a sure bet if you're looking to let lose this evening, and I'm sure the always fashionable, attractive and seemingly built in audience The Party has acquired over the past few months will be out in full force for this.

Raised by Tigers | Current Leaves | Medicine Window (Rubber Gloves)
Should be quite a good show tonight at Rubber Gloves, if not the most rockinest thing you've ever seen. Raised by Tiger's pleasant songs remind me a bit of early Sea and Cake (just a bit, mind you) and the softer side of post-britpop English indie and straightforward shoegaze. You guys know Current Leaves already, and the majority of loud rock that you'll hear at this thing will be provided by Medicine Window, whose tense, jagged, rhythmic post-hardcore songs will be a perfect way to start the evening.

Fishboy | Mermaid Police | Beauxregard (J&Js)
Give a listen to Belgium on Beauxregard's Myspace page. Pretty strange song, kinda good. I don't know if I really dig all the songs I've heard from them (one of them remind me of Elefant or however you spell it, who happen to be one of the worst bands ever), but this might be a good night to see what kind of band Beauxregard is since this is free and all.

The Happy Bullets are playing a free show at Good Records tonight at 7pm. I assume free beer is also on the bill.

SATURDAY

White Drugs | Warren Jackson Hearne | Liz McGowen (Secret Headquarters)
Shit, White Drugs really pack a fucking punch on record. Why they have yet to become wildly popular around town I don't quite understand, but I think its gonna happen sooner rather than later.

Baboon | Tame...Tame and Quiet | LaLaLand | Zoo video DJ (The Cavern)
Although I've never been the biggest Baboon fan of all time, people keep telling me that I need to check them out live, and this might be the time I try it, considering that the small Cavern setting might be the perfect place to see a loud rock show like this, especially since TTAQ will be opening. And if it gets too hectic downstairs, the always enjoyable Zoo will be happening upstairs.

And of course, that big ass North by Southwest thing will be going on over at the Bible Banger joint in Deep Ellum. Not really seeing anything on Saturday that does it for me, but you can catch the excellent Okkervil River on Sunday.

I'm often unsure of what I should say about bands like Primordial Undermind and Oveo. I mean really, what is there to talk about? Sure, you can partially describe the music Oveo creates by discussing the equipment they use: guitar, live drum, reel to reel tape manipulation, etc. And while this might provide a reader with some basic idea of how the different parts of their compositions sound, such a description doesn't get you very far if you're trying to convey the experience of hearing this music live. And of course, you could probably tell people about Primordial Undermind by comparing them to other guitar heavy psyche rock bands from past and present, but that really doesn't touch on what the band is actually trying to do, even if it does provide a loose set of parameters for imagining what their music might sound like. No, to get to the heart of what either of these bands do well, you probably just have to accept the fact that they are attempting to engage the audience on such a highly personal level that its hard to convey exactly what you find appealing about them, even if their missteps are a bit easier to point out.

Oveo's music is generally tense, repetitive and fragile, sounding simultaneously like a challenge to the audience, a cry for help, a statement of vulnerability and a celebration of all things unsettling. On Wednesday at J&Js, Oveo's set started like the others I've seen from them in the past couple of months: trickles of swirling electro noise and manipulated tape began to rise from their amps, sounding rather formless at first but eventually developing an impressively coherent and unique texture that eventually started to command attention to the details. As these sounds continued to repeat and slowly change, it became clear that with all the talk of Denton "noise" bands just getting up on stage and freaking out, Oveo's compositions are really quite deliberate (in purpose if not in detail), and rhythm is much more of a focal point than one might guess. At about the seven or eight minute mark, just as the audience was starting to settle into the overwhelming musical space the band had created, a rather sharp, alarming bass sound started to pump from one corner of the stage area, sending the set to an entirely new place where the band attempted to control and manipulate the rhythmic atmosphere that had already taken a life of its own. As one member began banging on a drum with a tribal intensity, the commanding bass part continued to pulsate and transform, and a weakness in the band's set was revealed: the live drums, though a great way to add something raw to a highly processed set, sometimes took away from the otherwise mesmerizing nature of the band's music, as the seemingly improvisational live rhythms occasionally undermined and threw off the rest of the composition a bit. However, this misstep was a very small one, and the band was able to end their set doing what they seem to be so good at: creating an atmosphere and allowing the minds of audience members to wander a bit while maintaining a noticeable level of control over the mood in the room.

Primordial Undermind did something similar, albeit in a very different manner. Instead of presenting fragments of sounds and allowing listeners to wrap their thoughts around them, the band took relatively straight forward, bluesy psychedelic rock and infused it with sprawling, hazy instrumental passages that made their song oriented moments all the more exciting. Whereas Oveo succeeded in slowly building certain moods throughout their entire set, Primordial Undermind utilized contrasts between fuzzy blues riffs and wandering, jazz influenced breakdowns to pull the audience back and forth between head nodding trad psyche and loose but compelling improv. At certain points, the band could probably be said to share qualities with bands like Comets on Fire and Dungen, but they also seemed to approach their music in a manner similar to Ariel Pink, providing enough of a basis in traditional rock and blues to make the stranger passages seem more purposeful, and the more traditional passages more, um, strange. And with an out of this world drummer holding everything together, there was hardly a time when the band was anything but completely in control of their sound and presentation, even if the control was rather laissez faire compared to that of most guitar based rock bands.

While there were moments in both sets where the bands lost focus or failed to pull off everything they wanted to, both were quite good because they left the audience so much mental space to take what they wanted from the sets. While I enjoy house music and pop as much as the next guy, bands like Oveo and Primordial Undermind are so enjoyable to see live because they give you some space to breathe. Instead of playing "sad" songs or "happy" songs or "fun" songs, they just played, attempted to set moods, and gave the audience the freedom to move in and out of the spaces they created. In the first sentence of this review, I talked about how hard it is to describe what is appealing about these bands, which must now seem like an absurd proposition four paragraphs into a mostly positive review. But even if I can't tell you exactly why I enjoy this music with much precision, I figured I should at least try. After all, shows like these are just too much fun to ignore simply because they're a bit tough to write about.

Deerhoof | Experimental Dental School | Macromantics (Gypsy Tea Room)
Deerhoof is probably one of the most polarizing bands I can think of. Most people I know either think they are brilliant or simply can't stand them, and many in the latter camp cite lead singer Satomi Matsuzaki's vocals as their chief complaint. To be honest, I'm not crazy about the way she sings either, but after spending some time with the past three Deerhoof records, I have to say that her vocals, while not always a highlight, don't do much to detract from the overall Deerhoof experience. Although the Observer recently referred to guitarist John Dieterich's playing as "Sonic Youth inspired," I really don't see the comparison at all, and I certainly don't think Deerhoof sound even a bit like any period of Sonic Youth that I can recall. Instead, the band's child-like avant experiments seem to pull from countless sources all at once, with prog rock, free jazz, punk and 60's psych pop all standing as clear reference points. But no matter how you might describe the sound of the music or the vocals, the point seems to be that Deerhoof's songs, abstract and sometimes annoying upon first listen, grow and change as you engage in repeat listens, and it is through this process that you find the compelling balance between the experimental and the pop that make them completely worth devoting your time to. I've never seen them live before, and I've heard mixed things, but I'm looking forward to finding out for myself. Experimental Dental School's harsh, synth heavy circus dance punk seems like it will be a nice opener for Deerhoof, and Macromantics is surprisingly decent for a former Noise Addict member Australian girl hip hop group. What a mouthful.

The Howling Hex | Tame...Tame and Quiet (Rubber Gloves)
Neil Haggerty has a long and twisted career and I consider myself an admirer even if I actually find much of what he has done puzzling. I'm sure I'm not alone in that sentiment and I'm also sure that it bothers him not in the slightest to be perceived that way. Everything from his groundbreaking guitar playing in Pussy Galore, the anarchic classic rock revisionism of Royal Trux, through some impossible solo work, and even the borderline Tarantula-like gibberish of his first book, all paint a picture of a thoroughly complicated human being. His newest project, The Howling Hex, is at Rubber Gloves tonight and I think it's some of the most accessible work he's done since his terrific batch of songs on Historia de la Musica Rock or even Cats and Dogs. There's a confident swagger to the music that recalls the egomaniacal turns Eric Burdon took in his solo career and that's something I've always enjoyed in an artist's evolution. His style of guitar playing also proves that just because the Allman Brothers suck, people influenced by them don't necessarily have to. One more thing: Though incredibly spotty, Royal Trux's records have aged about a hundred times better than Jon Spencer's. Tame...Tame and Quiet is probably the best local band that plays almost exclusively at "proper" clubs and their spartan indie-prog will compliment the Hex's guitar heroics well.

80's Night With DJ G (Hailey's)

Lost Generation With DJ Wanz Dover (Fallout Lounge)
Wanz promises: new tracks from The Stooges, War Wizards, LCD Sound System, Battles, [A]pendics.Shuffle, Coil vs Venetian Snares, Simian Mobile Disco, Surkin, !!! and Klaxons.

Pretty cool video for one of my favorite songs of the past few months:

Heartrapers | Fashion Police | How Hard | Fizzy Dino Pop (Rubber Gloves)
Heartrapers are a good live act even if their music can sometimes dip into the forced sonic eclecticism of Mike Patton influenced post-hardcore. Fashion Police is a drum and guitar duo featuring Alex Atchley of the modestly titled Alex Atchley Experience. Atchley is known for his electronic freak-outs but I've heard this is more straight up rock and roll. We'll see. How Hard are reminiscent of Guy Picciotto's song-writing, but that can be really hit and miss in the hands of less sophisticated bands than his. And Fizzy Dino Pop is yet another boy-and-his-synth act with confessional lyrics that can be really poppy or agonizingly screechy, with the latter being more enjoyable. It also sounds a little like Crystal Castles who seem to be everywhere these days.

Primordial Undermind | Ethereal Planes Indian | Oveo (J & J's Pizza)
Primordial Undermind takes the long way around each piece of music in the tradition of all great Psych bands. The guitar work can start off as muffled scratching before launching into crunchier riff-saturated passages. They also have some Eastern influenced Sandy Bull-like meditations. I've caught Oveo several times now and I appreciate the slowly twisting bend and snap of their sets that feature tape manipulation, low throbbing drum pounding, and oceans of distorted guitar wash. Differently intelligent and intelligently different each time. Ethereal Planes Indian is Austin's Brian C. Smith who has toured the US with his sparse textural drone work and played Tinnitus at the excellent Dead Echoes fest last fall.

If you're in Fort Worth you can drink free beer and a catch a movie @ Rahr & Sons Brewery , located at 701 Galveston Ave. (Pennsylvania Ave / Main St) @ 9PM. They're showing the 1979 classic, The Warriors which will start at 9:30PM. I thought this kind of shit only happened in Austin.

Norway's critically acclaimed Noxagt will be playing a show at House of Tinnitus on Sunday, March 18th starting at 9pm. The rest of the line up will be announced later this week, but does it matter? This is probably the biggest name to come through HOT so far, and I would suggest getting there early. Will be a great show.

Astro Jazz will be happening this evening at Pearl (corner of Pearl and Commerce downtown) from 8-11pm, meaning its early enough to swing by even if you're one of those lame people with a day job and shit. For those who don't know, Astro Jazz features members of Ghostcar and other local players performing experimental takes on standards and just about anything else they decide to put together. And oh yeah, if you haven't been to Pearl before, it is a lot cooler than its website would lead you to believe.

Neva Dug Disco will be happening at Minc Lounge tonight, where hip hop of all makes and models will be played.

Also, I recently got a chance to hear some of Robert Gomez' material for the first time, and I have to say I thought a lot of it was pretty solid. Nothing earth shattering or especially unique (influences such as early Blur, Doves and Elliot Smith come to mind upon first listen), but of all the potential hitmakers lurking around DFWd these days, I'm going to go ahead and suggest that this guy should be the one you get behind, if any. The songwriting is strong, the production is interesting enough, and it feels like Gomez is actually trying to do something worthwhile with his and everyone else's time, which is more than you can say for a lot of the other local acts that are supposed to "make it" some time soon. Anyway, he's playing at Dan's Silverleaf this evening, and I'd be interested to see what the live show is like.

Caught the Dr. Dog show at Gypsy last night, and although it didn't completely blow me away, I've gotta say that they are certainly a strong live band who are quite worth the cover charge. Some of the new stuff didn't quite get me right away like a lot of their older EP material, but maybe it will just take some time to grow on me. Of course, I might have been in a worse mood than usual after being forced to sit through What Made Milwaukee Famous, who could very well be the biggest hunk of shit I've seen in quite a while. During their set, my friend turned to me and asked "do you think these guys listen to a lot of Save Ferris?" That pretty much summed it up for me.

As for this evening...

There is always the Bad Ass Jazz Night at the Amsterdam, and for all you "indie" rockers out there:

The Shins | Viva Voce (Palladium Ballroom)
People love to hate on the Shins, and frankly I can see why, even if it probably isn't all their fault. You see, after that Garden State movie, the whole idea of the Shins changing anyone's life seemed a little silly, didn't it? All things considered, they are just about as safe and yuppie and, well, "indie" as you can get, and although it doesn't make them evil, they probably aren't going to change the life of anyone that actually gives a shit any time soon. That being said, they've made some enjoyable music throughout their career (and a few songs that are actually great), and although I took a listen to the new album and probably won't pick it up again, like, ever, I still don't think their show would be a bad time, even though I have heard that their live act leaves a bit to be desired. And I haven't been to that Palladium Ballroom place yet, but it kind of scares me a little bit.

Justin Timberlake | Pink (American Airlines Center)
This show is probably sold out or $100 a ticket or something, but I've gotta say that aside from the crappy venue and annoying opening act, I'd rather see a Justin Timberlake and Timbaland show than a Shins show any day of the week. After reading this review and several others discussing the performances that this guy puts on, I'd be willing to give it a try considering I've liked every solo single he's put out so far (although I might not have liked the Britney love song thing), and most of the things Timbaland does are at least interesting if nothing else. Think about how strange some of Timbaland's biggest hits have been over the past decade... rock n' roll hasn't charted with music that strange in decades.

OTHER MUSIC

1. Explosions in the Sky All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone Temporary Residence
2. Peter Bjorn & John Writer's Block Almost Gold
3. Deerhoof Friend Opportunity Kill Rock Stars
4. Dr. Dog We All Belong Park the Van
5. Deerhunter Cryptograms Kranky
6. Dean & Britta Back Numbers Rounder/UMGD
7. Menomena Friend and Foe Barsuk
8. Beirut Lon Gisland Ba Da Bing/Chouette
9. The Shins Wincing the Night Away Sub Pop
10. Phil Cohran Malcolm X Memorial Katalyst
11. Of Montreal Hissing Fauna Are You the Destroyer Polyvinyl
12. Cornelius Sensuous Warner Japan
13. The Good, the Bad & the Queen s/t Parlophone
14. Elvis Perkins Ash Wednesday XL
15. Jesu Conqueror Hydrahead
16. Fujiya & Miyagi Transparent Things Deaf, Dumb & Blind
17. Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse Jagjaguwar
18. Soft Circle Full Bloom Eastern Developments
19. Annuals Be He Me Ace Fu
20. Marnie Stern In Advance of the Broken Arm Kill Rock Stars

That Soft Circle record is excellent if you haven't already heard it...

GOOD RECORDS

1. Dr. Dog - We All Belong
2. Beirut - Lon Gisland
3. Peter Bjorn & John - Writer's Block
4. Explosions In the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone (2XCD)
5. Do Make Say Think - You, You're a History in Rust
6. Papercuts - Can't Go Back
7. Dean & Britta - Back Numbers
8. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
9. Grizzly Bear - Yellow House
10. Field Music - Tones Of Town
11. Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City
12. Menomena - Friend and Foe
13. Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
14. Apples in Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
15. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder
16. St. Vincent - Paris is Burning
17. Black Lips - Los Valientes Del Mundo Nuevo
18. Jesu - The Conqueror
19. Elvis Perkins - Ash Wednesday
20. Sondre Lerche - Phantom Punch

FRIDAY

Bobby Conn | Faux Fox | Laura Palmer (J & J's Pizza)
Somewhat big name for a fairly small venue, Bobby Conn might be a glam overload for the dingy confines of J & J's basement. Faux Fox is a perfect fit since both artists seem to inspire strong reactions from their fans and detractors alike. Though mostly well written and meticulously arranged, something about the kitsch of Bobby Conn's music can veer dangerously into Rocky Horror or Bat Out Of Hell territory so proceed with caution. Laura Palmer relies mostly on inside jokes reminiscent of Moldy Peaches projected through a monotone filter that implies she might not even find her own jokes funny. I certainly don't.

Sarah Reddington | George Neal | Daniel Folmer | Chris Garver | The New Science Projects (Rubber Gloves)
This Sarah Reddington CD release show is a "who's who" of local singer-songwriters. George Neal is the veteran in this lineup who earned his stripes in Little Grizzly and continues to draw praise for his current solo work. WSJR fave Chris Garver has continued to impress with his live backing band adding a charmingly unbalanced and rough-edged quality not found in his solo acoustic recordings. New Science Projects have employed hand shakers, trumpets and even audience participation to lend a certain uneasiness to the dark, Tom Waits-like growl of the material. Daniel Folmer is probably the most traditional sounding out of this bunch and of course Sarah Reddington will cap things off with or without animal face paint, but certainly with their light and lazy country rock.

Matthew Dear (Minc Lounge)
Micro House pioneer (though considerably less "micro" with his alter-ego, Audion) who also co-owns the Ghostly International label. Depending on which moniker he chooses to go by, this set could prove to be either withdrawn and minimal or dark and direct. Perhaps all of the above.

SATURDAY

Frenetic Love presents Electro-Acoustic Forum with Berckplage (Terry Horn) | Oveo | Wanz Dover | Sarah Ruth | Echo Toll | Nicholi Bobereus (House of Tinnitus)
This show is centered around a broad and loosely defined genre with a diverse cast of performers of various musical disciplines and approaches, from some who spend their time mostly in rock bands to music school intellectual heavyweights. It has been predicted that this will probably be a more laid-back affair than the usual intense volume workouts you might experience at Tinnitus. Electro-Acoustic music can basically mean anything but often includes found sounds, field recordings, electronic sound-scapes and many other ideas outside of the bass/drums/guitar realm. Since the sound samples on these artist pages are everything from lone voice manipulation to what sounds like a gamelan orchestra falling down a flight of metal stairs, the possibilities are endless. Highly recommended.

Maria Taylor | The Dust Congress | The Lemurs (Hailey's)
(Hailey's)
Maria Taylor is famous for being one half of Azure Ray. Her solo work naturally tends to sound more inward with less emphasis on the electronic flourishes that characterized that duo's output. It will certainly still appeal to sad photo majors in universities everywhere. The Dust Congress is also a solo artist working in a one-man band setup and utilizing accordion, banjo, guitar and kick drum to play his songs. Occasional marimba and musical saw work as bright spots to counter the epic sorrow of the music. The Lemurs, with their slightly distorted singing, standard pop rock and excellent taste in blazers and jeans would have been really good at selling Jettas circa 2002.

Totally Michael | I Want To Kill Every Human | Sydney Confirm | Galuc Dadu (1919 Hemphill)
Totally Michael's unbelievably happy electronic pop is so over the top he makes Best Fwends look like Simon and Garfunkel. Galuc Dadu has been compared to Japanther but their complex guitar work negates the comparison. I've not been able to completely figure out what they're going for and their songs are memorable so I'm pretty interested to see them. The song "Down The Hall" in particular is not like most of the pop music you hear locally. It's never bad to be unlike what you hear locally. Keyboard retro duo Sydney Confirm also play.

SUNDAY

Dr. Dog | What Made Milwaukee Famous (Gypsy Tea Room)
Dr. Dog continues to put out strong work with the release of their newest record, We All Belong, which they are touring extensively to promote. It seems like they were just here. The album pretty much continues where last year's Takers and Leavers EP left off. Though it's a little less immediate than some of their past music, it would be hard for any band to capture the magic of their first two full-lengths. Maybe I have to give it a few more listens. Dr. Dog's live show is a guaranteed joy since the band plays with a conviction missing from much of the cookie cutter performances of their peers. Note: Dr. Dog also perform an instore at Good Records Sunday at 3 PM. Free beer and barbecue, though I hope it's not from Spring Creek.

Documentary: Afropunk + performance by Roman Beats (1919 Hemphill@7PM-Free)
This award-winning documentary deals with the rarely explored issues surrounding identity and race relations in what tends to be a mostly white genre. Includes interviews with members of Bad Brains and The Dead Kennedys. Roman Beats is a local beatboxer that will be playing Hailey's, 1919 Hemphill, and Minc lounge all within a month's time. I mention this since I was amused at how these three establishments couldn't possibly be any more different from each other.

Hadn't actually seen this one before. Like it. Anyway, Weekender is coming up later, and for those who have asked, I'll be back in full force next week. And by full force, I mean being better than you.

Select (Spike in Mockingbird Station)
Not really the best place to hear Select but it's definitely a credit to the establishment if not vice versa. Select boasts one of the smartest sets in town anyways, but beyond that he's also infinitely superior to the standup comedy I had to sit through at this bar once upon a time. I couldn't even choke down my overpriced Chilean Sea Bass.

Roky Erickson Hoot Night with Nate Fowler's Elixir | American Werewolf Academy | Brent Best /Matt Barnhart and more...(Double Wide)
The "Hoot Night" is the live equivalent of a tribute album, therefore making it quite a risky affair since tribute albums at their absolute best still might be about one and a half to two stars as a listening experience. Anytime you have a handful of lesser talents tackle the unquestionable legacy of people like Mr. Erickson, the stakes are even higher. Even pathetic Nashville country singers cover the Rolling Stones but it takes a certain kind of music savvy to even want to be in on this. Should be interesting at least. Here's hoping that the most noteworthy thing about this show isn't the fact that part of the Dallas media elite actually came to the improbable conclusion that Roky Erikson would play the Double Wide on a Thursday night. Duh.

Lost Generation With DJ Wanz Dover (Fallout Lounge)

80's Night With DJ G (Hailey's)