THU: Vega CD Release (Lounge on Elm St.) FRI: Fergus and Geronimo/Schwa (Bunker Hill) FRI: Metal Rouge/Anvil Salute/Shortwave Death System/Aaron Gonzalez, Nevada Hill, Sarah Alexander (Firehouse Gallery, Ft. Worth) FRI: Fisherspooner (Granada) FRI: Johnny Moog/Hawatha/Ty City/Prince William/Yeahdef (Rubber Gloves) SAT: Sabre/Florene/TBA (Muscle Beach, 4PM) SAT: Bleach Boys/Uptown Bums/Koji Kondo/Teenage Cool Kids/Angry Businessmen (715 Panhandle) SAT: Record Hop/The Great Tyrant/Hawk Vs. Dove (Lola's Stockyards) SUN: Collick/Big Blow/Wiccans (818 Hickory St.) SUN: Chain and the Gang (Ian Svenonius)/Hive Dwellers (Calvin Johnson)/Shiny Around the Edges (Hailey's) SUN: TV On the Radio (House of Blues)
Late as usual. Today we are telling you about more gallery-oriented events than usual, since we felt it absolutely necessary. That and we finally decided that we are in love with you.
-WRITTEN BY DL AND SR, BUT MOSTLY DL, SCREW SR
FRIDAY
Gallery Closing: "Far From The Maddening Crowd" featuring Rebecca Carter, Celia Eberle, Thomas Feulmer, Margaret Meehan, Julian Opie, Stephen Park, Richard Patterson, Dan Perfect, George Quartz, Giles Ripley, Edward Setina, Kevin Todora, and Erik Tosten (Road Agent Gallery) This closing coincides with the openings at Public Trust, and Barry Whistler, which are both nearby. This informal Friday night closing event will include free alcoholic beverages, but the last official day you'll be able to view the show is Saturday, May 9th.
I should also mention that artist Margaret Meehan's catalog from her Road Agent solo show, "On Sugar Mountain, Up Shit Creek" will be available in one of our state's most respected art entities that's outside of Dallas, Domy Books in Houston and Austin. It will be available locally at Public Trust and at the Cadd Art Lab. The catalog's photography is by DFW favorite Alison V. Smith.
Handbrake | Jack with One Eye | Tang Lung (Rubber Gloves) I'm worried after seeing MBV recently, that one of these shoegaze disciples is going to attempt the violently loud climax that blew everyone away at the end of that show. My advice: please don't. It just won't ever be the same. However, I hope Jack With One Eye continues to write more tracks like "Sun In Glass." The song is so upbeat in the midst of all of the distortion that it's almost perverse. Top Secret Robot Alliance | Intake | Machine Gun Hand | Meta (Prophet Bar)
Secret Show (306 Texas St. Denton) Well the Bee's Fifth Collective is putting on a secret show this evening. They tell us that the concept for the show is for people to come see surprise bands with no preconceived bias about the acts. Hmmm. It's five bucks to get in and free keg beer is included in the price. And since they wouldn't tell us who was playing, this show could end up being really great or totally shitty, depending on the featured acts (although I'm guessing it will probably fall somewhere in between), so if you feel like rolling the dice on this one, go for it.
Louis CK's stand-up is great, particularly his views on the horse-beaten topic of raising children. But I especially admire the work he did on The Chris Rock Show back in the 90's, touching on topics in a way that made the oft-overlooked program very much ahead of its time.
And/Or Gallery Final Show Featuring Chad Hopper: I'm not going to try to hide the fact that I think it's a total tragedy and utter drag that this place is done. Let's not dress it up, Dallas: This sucks. I'm happy for Paul Slocum for going to where the action is, and I don't blame him in the slightest, but this is a pretty bad cultural casualty for the city. We are losing the fascinatingly anomalous combination of a gallery that often showcased work that is still shunned in many (and even more cosmopolitan) places, as well as our close proximity to the ever-evolving body of work of Slocum's Treewave, which was often a credit to a fairly desolate music scene in Dallas proper. It is with a mixture of disappointment and respect that we say goodbye to And/Or, which will be going out on the highest note by once again showcasing the work of North Texas ex-pat Chad Hopper, whose underground antics were an enormous influence on my involvement in music and art when he still lived here; playing in a quirky little project with Slocum while giving all of his vast visual and musical output away. Goodbye, Paul and And/Or, you will be greatly missed.
TV Dads/Back Stabbath | Hoop Dreamz | Big Blow/TBA (Bunker Hill) Man, don't go entering the wrong Hoop Dreamz URL into myspace. THIS SHOW WAS APPARENTLY FAKE. SORRY.
Rocket for Ethiopia | Geezus Krust (1250 Fuller St., Dallas) One thing I have grown to love over the years is the practice tape as Myspace page samples. Seriously, it rules.
ADD: Plexi 3 | Krunchies | Bad Sports (818 Hickory St.) Plexi 3 is a pretty solid Milwaukee group that takes influences from classic garage, 60's pop and classic punk, and pull together some pretty solid tunes in the process. They've received praise from Terminal Boredom and a number of other trustworthy publications, and with Bad Sports opening, you can be assured that this will be a solid show. Not sure what time this is running since there's a show at Bunker Hill tonight as well, but perhaps someone can let us know in the comments section, which, despite the fact that it says "Zero comments," does in fact have a comments.
The Paper Chase | Astronautalis | Valina (the Granada): This is the local release show for The Paper Chase's new album for Kill Rock Stars, "Someday This Could All Be Yours." I recently saw a review that called the album, "Kafkaesque."
SUNDAY
For Your Pleasure with DJG and The Smoke (Hailey's)
Don't know if it's true or not that Mount Righteous is supposed to debut a louder, more "rock" sound soon but I am extremely curious. That's the gossip I overheard in the Buff' Ex' dressing room anyway. I don't know what that would entail exactly. Distorted accordion and more tricky triangle flams, perhaps? And speaking of instruments that are hard to rock on, Parata is playing tonight as well, taking on the uphill battle of being taken seriously while brandishing a piano while spewing lyrical content that would benefit greatly from just a single reading of the summary on the inside cover of "The Purity Myth." Best of luck to all involved. Who knew rockin' was such tough business?
Richard Buckner | Doug Burr (Lola's Stockyards) An aging rock critic's wet dream of a double bill, as well as people who scour lyric sheets before they even press play.
Centromatic | The Crash That Took Me | Monahans (Granada) Of course there really isn't a whole lot to say about Centro-matic's music that hasn't been said over the past few years, and since there really doesn't seem to be any exciting news surrounding the band right now, I just thought I'd point out this article from the Houston Chronicle a few weeks ago that discusses Will Johnson's baseball themed paintings, some of which sound fairly interesting. Read it here.
FRIDAY Nick Z: And a Child Shall Lead Them (Public Trust) 6-9pm If you missed Holly Jefferson's interview with Nick Z last week, read it now!
The Beat Goes On: Southern California 1965 to Present (Barry Whistler)6-8pm Wow, some really big names at this exhibit: Ed Ruscha! Larry Bell, Wallace Berman, Chris Burden, Guy de Cointet, James Hayward, Skeet McAuley, Michael C. McMillen, Ed Moses, Ken Price, Henry Wellel, and Robert Wilhite
SATURDAY Show #23: Chad Hopper (And/Or) 6-9pm The very last show at And/Or! Dallas will miss you, Paul Slocum, and we wish you the best of luck in NY. House of Dang is also hosting Prom 2009 from 6-10pm next door. Check out this sweet flyer.
Armando Romero: XX Century Parade (The MAC) 5:30-7:30pm
There is next to nothing to write about, so I thought I'd do a rare "promo bro" write-up and tell you about a record I'm looking forward to. Strut is releasing a Ze Records compilation this summer and it has all sorts of essentials like as Material, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, James White, and Larry Levan. There are many similar compilations available, but seeing as Ze is one my all-time favorite labels, I'm somewhat of a completist when it comes to this era and the comp is supposed to include unpublished photos and interviews with founder Michael Esteban, as well as some of the artists. Looking forward to it. My only complaint is that I haven't been give an exact release on this thing, it just says "Summer 2009." Anyways, looking forward to it.
Snoop Dogg | The Hustle Boyz (House Of Blues) There was a time when seeing one of my older cousins with an oversized "Doggystyle" t-shirt down to his Dickies-covered knees (while most likely brandishing a butterfly knife) was the ultimate snapshot of lower middle class suburban rebellion, and one that I approached with the classic emotional tween cocktail of apprehension and admiration. This was long before Snoop Dogg appeared on "One Life To Live," but he's one of the few musical icons I can think of that I'm actually pleased to see in a cameo appearance on some lame show or on someone's lame track, since he somehow never seems like he's losing anything by being there. That's almost impossible to pull off. Haven't really heard much from The Hustle Boyz before today, but I was impressed by the extremely minimal beats on the first couple of sample tracks.
Wye Oak | Pomegranates | Shuttle (Lola's) Merge's Wye Oak is a group that I didn't think much of until I saw them live. Watching the group overcome the challenge of recreating the sound of their record with only two people, helped convey some of the song ideas much more successfully than some of the recordings do, for better or worse. The Pomegranates claim Brian Eno and Fela Kuti as influences, but I would hate for you to go to the show thinking that's remotely detectable, evident or true on any level.
Flight Of The Conchords (Nokia) Maybe it's because I try my best to hate everything that's marketed to "people like me," but there is something thoroughly UNfunny about Flight of the Conchords, an HBO show based on the semi autobiographical story of two New Zealand native comedic songwriters who have moved to New York City to make it big as musicians. The single biggest turn off with these guys is their mistaken belief that their attempts at singing "goofy" soul songs are funny or cute, or worse yet, funny BECAUSE they're cute. Look-- in 1993 it was slightly amusing to see someone like Beck spitting raps about "bozo nightmares" or whatever, but that was 16 years ago, and the prospect of 2 smart ass white guys singing "ironic" hip hop or soul lost it's novelty more than a decade ago (and was done much better by these guys anyway), and a lot of it still seems to contain just the slightest hint of benign socioeconomic stereotyping, like "It's so funny that these two are goofy enough to stoop to the level of singing such silly, disposable music because they are obviously way too sophisticated for that!" Add to the mix some cutesy ballads about hip, pretty girls doing stupid shit, as well as the occasional jingle about some aspect of mundate hipster consumerism masquerading as a high brow take on a low brow event, and you have all the makings of lifestyle comedy for people who think a sense of humor can be downloaded on a .rar file. They've never made me laugh once, and trust me, it isn't hard to do.-SR
ADD: Shiny Toy Guns | Vega (The Loft) This is the first show I meant to write about, but left it off on accident since I couldn't find any accurate/updated info on the lineup. Sorry-DL
After seeing the great no wave inspired sets of Eat Avery's Bones and Orange Coax last Sunday I was reminded of one of my personal favorites of the genre. Although Chicago's Scissor Girls were not part of the original no wave movement of the late 70s, they did a pretty damn good job of emulating the style of groups like Mars and Teenage Jesus and the Jerks and even managed to streamline their sound into something slightly more accessible than the groups that came before them.
We People Space with Phantoms was the second and final full length release by the group before their 1996 break-up. After the split, bassist/vocalist Azita Youssefi started the short lived project Bride of No No, which released two albums before breaking up in 2002. She has since released a few solo records on Drag City. Drummer Heather Melowic teamed up with the Flying Luttenbachers' Weasel Walter for the one-off project Lake of Dracula, whose self titled 1997 release is certainly worth checking out to any SG fan.
The photos from last night's event are up in our pictures section. I would like to thank all the acts, attendees, and restaurant staff that made it so enjoyable. Sincerely, thanks.
-DL
George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic (House Of Blues) The first thirteen minutes of Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain" are some of the best thirteen minutes of music I have ever heard. Just mind-meltingly great. The borderline ridiculous soloing on the gloomy title-track abruptly transforming into the upbeat gospel pop of the second track, "Can You Get To That" is something I consistently return to after being worn out by countless uninspired and unsolicited promo tracks. At age 68, George Clinton is still touring 200 days out of the year, and I don't know if he would actually play anything off of this record, but I would go just on the off-chance that he would. His website also credits his hair stylist, and I actually think that's awesome.
3/27 Ft. Worth, TX @ The Door 3/28 Denison, TX @ The Club 3/29 McAlester, OK @ The Dawghouse 3/30 Henryetta, OK @ The Mosh Hall 3/31 Oklahoma City, OK @ TBA 4/1 Jonesboro, AR @ Commonwealth 4/2 Chattanooga, TN @ Club Fathom 4/3 Nashville, TN @ The Muse 4/4 Louden, TN @ The Boneyard 4/5 Havelock, NC @ The Office 4/6 Athens, GA @ Tasty World 4/7 Birmingham, AL @ Cave 9 4/8 Jackson, MI @ TBA 4/9 Baton Rouge, LA @ Insomkneeacks 4/10 Shreveport, LA @ 516 Soundstage 4/11 Dallas, TX @ Reno’s Chop Shop 4/12 San Antonio, TX @ The White Rabbit 4/13 McAllen, TX @ The Incubator 4/14 Corpus Christi, TX @ The Compound 4/15 College Station, TX @ Schotzi’s
That has to be the manliest tour I've ever heard of. I'm being dead serious. That looks brutal.
MON: George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic (House of Blues) TUE: Snoop Dogg/Hustly Boys (House of Blues) THU: Centromatic/The Crash that Tooke Me/Monahans (Granada) FRI: Rocket for Ethiopia/Sleep As the Enemy/Warcola/Just Another Consumer/Embolization (Reno's) SAT: Louis CK (Lakewood Theater) SAT: Zanzibar Snails CD release with h...n/Smile Full of Ale (Good Records)
Wanted to let everyone know that we left something off the Weekender that's pretty worthwhile and happening tonight at the Cavern, as in happening like right now. Actually they probably already started, but you have plenty of time to get down there if you want to go. We'd have posted this earlier, but someone spilled water on a goddamn laptop:
Forgive the typos etc. We start writing this at 6 PM, okay?
Cadillac Fraf Memorial Show with Garuda | Suiciety | The Great Tyrant (Lola's Saloon) A special show with three Fort Worth legends of yesterday, the day before yesterday, and well, today. Chad "Cadillac Fraf" Percy was a musician and FW icon, whose life was cut tragically short after a scooter accident left him comatose in September of 2008, finally succumbing to his injuries earlier this year. He performed solo under the Cadillac Fraf moniker, in addition to releasing a 7" and performing with Mockingbird Cartel.
So to pay tribute, some of Fraf's friends who happen to have played in some of Fort Worth's most highly regarded groups, are putting on a couple of shows, despite the fact that two of these bands have been defunct for years. Starting in 1988 and ending in 1993, Suiciety is considered one of the first Tarrant County acts that played in the "doomy/stoner rock genre." Influenced by such greats as Neurosis and Cryptic Slaughter, the group featured two future members of beloved dub act, Sub Oslo.
Garuda was a notorious thrashy hardcore act with fearsome, scream/growl dynamic vocals, and acrobatic drumming and backing tracks. They haven't played since 2004, and are missed along with the oft-mentioned groups, Bread And Water, and Of Death, from the same era. Both of the reunited acts will also play at Lovejoy's in Austin tomorrow night, a club which Fraf was known to frequent. More info on Fraf here.
The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (Texas Theater located at 231 W. Jefferson Blvd. Dallas, TX 75208) This is a showing of Lon Chaney's 1923 version of Hunchback, with Paul Slavens providing live accompaniment. This is one of those events that sounds like it will be pretty fun to attend, except I almost always wind up not going. Last time I went to a similarly high concept performance like this, it was in this little building on White Rock Lake almost a decade ago, and there was a live classical quartet playing dissonant, horror-themed, drone music. This leather jacketed punk rocker went along and he was talking about how much he liked it while trying to blow my mind with the fact that he listened to King Crimson. He also refused to shake hands with anyone (like "The Man" does), even though he worked in an office. Years later, I confronted him and forced him to shake my hand and totally ruined this Christmas party with unbridled awkwardness. We in "The Biz" call this "funcomfortable." Anyways, the event itself was a really great experience, and I bet this will be too. More info here.
Richard Lloyd | The Felons | The Mumbles (Club Dada) Freakishly good guitar player who I would still pay to see, even if he actually does release a whole album of Hendrix covers.
SATURDAY Sleepytime Gorilla Museum | Invincible Czars (Longhorn Saloon) I'm sure you've heard me complain about the session musician geekiness that ruins bands like this for me so I'll spare you. What really sucks is that since these bands actually do "listen to everything," they obviously have some very good influences, and will occasionally have a really great little passage or mind-numbingly difficult and cool riff, only to have it ruined by what sounds like Bjork singing over Dream Theater, with a side of world music usually heard at shopping malls.
Loop 12 | The Watchers | Convextion | DJ Per | The Great Tyrant | Projections by Tommy Boy (Sons of Hermann Hall) Very solid line up, if a tad unusual for Sons of Hermann. It's a shame that Loop 12 doesn't play out around town more often, as their multi media sensory overload performances are some of the most unique musical experiences created by any band in the area, with a mixture of video art and overwhelming electronic compositions that walk a fine line between dance oriented electronica and difficult, collage oriented avant garde. The Great Tyrant should be a nice compliment to this performance as their set will overwhelm in an entirely different way-- raw power, fronted by Tommy Atkins' extraordinary bass playing and Darren Beck's booming, theatric vocals. To top all off, this show also features The Watchers, a project featuring members of Zanzibar Snails, Mike Maxwell of Sonic Deathwave System, and even though he will probably resent this, the first employee at an unnamed local record store whose taste in music doesn't completely drive me up the fucking wall, and is always playing something great whenever I shop there.
Spinal Tap (Nokia Theater) Here's an HSO for you-- Spinal Tap is one of the least funny Christopher Guest mockumentaries. It's better than Mighty Wind or whatever, but doesn't touch "Best in Show" or "Waiting for Guffman," even though its a pretty great movie in its own right. Seeing a full blown Spinal Tap show live would probably be pretty entertaining, but unfortunately, Guest and company will be ditching their Spinal Tap props and costumes and will be playing Spinal Tap songs, get this, acoustic. Wait, What? They'll also tackle some material from "A Mighty Wind," which I never found particularly funny or entertaining. Look, the economy sucks, and you'd probably be better off staying home and watching one of these films on DVD or something.
Fate Lions (Opening Bell Mosaic on 300 Akard Street Dallas, TX 75202): Fate Lions, talk about something I expected to dislike. They kind of surprised me, though. Sort of reminds me of the one or two songs I like by Ivy or Freedy Johsnton, or some random track by a major label obscurity that would be featured on the free cd that comes with one of those annoying over-sized British music mags. I don't think they would take that as an insult. In any case, they shouldn't. Much better than a lot of straight-forward Dallas pop rock.
ADD: SAS AKA Select and Schwa (Zubar) Featuring Unit One in the backroom as well.
SUNDAY Daniel Francis Doyle | Yells at Eels | Orange Coax | Eat Avery's Bones (Aboca's, 100 S. Central Exp. #63, Richardson) Obviously, we're big fans of everyone here, and I have to say, it will be an honor to see these bands perform at this "venue." One thing I should mention is ex (?) C!TR member Sashenka Lopez's vocal contributions to Orange Coax give the group a force field of confidence that is as charming as it is overwhelming. Quite often, Lopez, seems to be the one necessary ingredient in whatever group she is in that just barely keeps things from going completely off-balance; shouting, dancing, and playing along with absolute certainty. It's nice to know with 100 percent confidence that this will be a great show, thanks in no part to us, but to the quality of the acts and people involved. Note: Five Dollar entry fee gets 21 and up a cup with which to consume alcohol. Pizza by the slice and soft drinks also available.
ADD: Chest Pain/Dark Forces/Coin Return (Bike House located at 5640 Vickery) Why does this have to be the same night and time as our show? I've been dying to see Chest Pain.
