Niggahlaws
Money Waters (Noir Sound) CD Review(14.November.2006)
Miller Time
Bosque Brown's uncertain future is clarified in an exclusive interview.
(10.November.2006)
Apply Yourselves
Independent music's Spring Break is fast approaching. Which Dallas bands will best represent at the (metaphorical) kegger?
(6.November.2006)
Mercy
Burden Brothers (Kirtland) CD Review...as a one-act play(2.November.2006)
Come and
See
Colin
Meloy wants you to put the dictionary down and get busy sweeping his
chimney. By Pepper Martin
(25.October.2006)
For
New Starts
Dd
pulls recent CDs and worthwhile bands back through the cracks. This
week: South San Gabriel.
(19.October.2006)
Intelligent
Design
The
evolution of Baboon into Dallas' best and loudest rock band took only
16 years, two tastes of major label stardom and a few horse heads.
(13.October.2006)
Attitude Solution
After nearly two decades of
frustration, local MCs Pikahsso and Tahiti finally exhale on PPT's Tres Monos In Love.
(4.October.2006)
A Memorial To The Tunnel
The roadblocks in front of Deep Ellum's entrance probably look familiar to local musicians. (28.Sept.2006)
We don't get too much snow around the Dd offices, and we have no idea if this is the beginning of Dallas' first great snow influx of the past few decades or if this is another "you only get snow once a year, so enjoy it, buddy!" episodes. Thus, we're gonna unsafely bet on the latter and post a Christmassy song from the classic Electric Ornaments album to celebrate the day. And since this track's more about snow than it is Christmas, we're technically in the clear (and won't feel silly when, not if, we post more local Christmas songs as the holiday draws nearer). Enjoy Dallas snow with a Dallas rock take on snow! -SM
Wednesday's a mess of a day for good shows in North Texas, usually because the weekly paper promotes Wednesday shows one week in advance and people forget about 'em by the time the show hits. Luckily, we like to hump, so in case you forgot, The Pernice Brothers stop at Hailey's this evening. Should be good! -SM
Not even two weeks ago, we were thinking about announcing the Amsterdam Bar as a new contender in the area's top club venues. We love the Exposition Park location, we love the outdoor space and seating, we put up with the sound system (which, admittedly, is improving gig by gig) and the space's booking was a bang-up mix of oddball and rockin'.
John Freeman (photo stolen from evilrose.net)
You could blame the last bit on John Freeman (Dooms UK, The Dutch Treats, other local music insanity for roughly a decade), who brought a great mix of experimentation and volume to the otherwise jazz-only spot as its newest booking agent. But the "House of Freeman" is no longer, as explained in this mass bulletin from the Free Man himself:
Hi, Due to several circumstances beyond my control, I will no longer be booking at The Amsterdam. It was great while it lasted but now it looks like it has come to an end. I hope that I fulfilled my goal of making all the bands that played there feel like they were treated well and booked a few interesting bills that wouldn't have happened otherwise. I will still be involved in booking around town and I have something planned within the next few months that will bring more rock to this town than a thousand crack dealers. Any bands that are interested, please drop me a line.
Oh, John. You and your crack. It's been an interesting year for the Amsterdam, certainly; just months ago, the venue reclaimed its back patio from neighbors Bar of Soap, who had allegedly been using the outdoor space without actually owning it. Shortly after, Freeman rolled through and began working his unknown booking magic (his most notable gig was securing Pitchfork buzz act Beach House week before last). We'll venture a guess that either squabbling or money is the reason for this abrupt split, but we're more interested in this secret plan than any gossip. John, feel free to clue us in before you alert your freelance employers at the Observer. -SM
...but still interesting--and local--enough to catch our attention. We're comic hounds here at Dd, particularly Web comics, so it goes without saying that we enjoy the twisted look at nerdism and cubicle wastelands that PvP affords. The strip isn't just Web-only, of course, as anybody who visits Dallas' Zeus Comics knows, where copies of PvP's paper version (and frequent appearances from its North Dallas author Scott Kurtz) are easy to find. Kurtz took his home-grown creation one step further today by announcing an animated take on PvP set for release next year. Good news at first--particularly the "hand-drawn" bit, as we're sick of overdone Flash animations--though the one-minute sample clip isn't exactly...what's the word...funny? Of course, a one-minute teaser never compares to an episode that takes its time in building characters/stories/fart gags/etc., so here's to hoping that Kurtz's creation finally catches mainstream fire with the help of some animators. -SM
The Theater Fire performed this new song (and about three other new ones) at Lee Harvey's on Saturday, but even better than the debut was the news that these songs have recently been put to tape with the help of Red Hunter (better known as Peter & The Wolf). We saw TTF and P&TW perform together at the Double-Wide a few months back, and we mean that literally, as the groups shared a stage and instruments to put on one of the most memorable shows of '06. That gig bodes well for this forthcoming EP; details are still hazy, but this'll almost certainly see wide release as Hunter gains hype and exposure week by week. -SM
Rare Saturday update, yes, but these gigs tonight are worth a quick recommendation:
Lee Harvey's: The Theater Fire Might not even need a coat for this outdoor show, depending on how tonight's weather pans out, but even if so, The Theater Fire is usually at its best here, playing a longer set with more older material. Athens, GA's Hope For A Golden Summer opens, starting around 8:30 or 9 this evening.
Double Wide: The Crash That Took Me [DARYL] lead singer Dylan Silvers has been raving about this side project privately for months now, and tonight, he finally tries to convince us if it's any good. We have no idea how this'll turn out (no song samples online yet, no gigs before this one), but we hope Silvers lays off the booze before performing and knocks out a solid show.
Others: Saboteur opens at the Darkside Lounge; Matt Pond PA rolls through town at the smaller side of the Gypsy Tea Room (while GWAR rattles the bigger room); Oklahoma's Evangelicals headline at Hailey's; The Strange Boys hold court at the Cavern; The Tah-Dahs play their first gig in quite some time at the Amsterdam Bar. Each of those are good for very different reasons, and we'd list 'em, but we gotta run...the Thanksgiving weekend continues at DdHQ with a family member's baby shower. -SM
Good Records is selling everything at 15% off for the three hours it's open today. http://www.goodrecords.com ... and they have an in-store concert at 6 p.m. Now go spend time with your family, friends, dog or television set. -SM
Terrible news day. Will let this press release from Erv Karwelis speak for itself...sorry, Picnic. I'll try to come up with some ideas to help in the next few days. -SM
Hello D/FW Media friends,
I wanted to let you all know that Picnic aka Picnic Tyme who is a member and producer of Idol group PPT, lost his entire house and studio last night when a fire gutted his apartment building in Plano, the fire originated in a neighboring apartment and spread throughout the building. It was a total loss of everything including his studio and recording archives. As most of you know, Picnic has produced tracks for many local and national artists including the new PPT Cd Tres Monos In Love. Picnic is one of the most talented upcoming Hip Hop producers and beat makers in North Texas and this is a devastating loss for him and the local hip hop community.
We are in the process of organizing a benefit concert to help him get back on his feet. It will be on Sunday Dec. 3rd at Doublewide. More details will be coming soon.
We would appreciate your help getting the word out and I can be reached at 214-321-8890 or erv@idolrecords.com if anyone is interested in contributing.
From the Pre-Thanksgiving Sad Rumors dept:We just heard word from a friend who works at an office behind the Wreck Room in Fort Worth, and the word being handed down is that the Wreck (and neighboring establishments like the Torch) will be torn down next spring, possibly as early as March. In the e-mail:
"They are making an urban village...what does the [sic] mean?!"
Not entirely sure; we thought there was a shop called Urban Village, but perhaps we're misrembering the name of that shop at the corner of 75 and Henderson in Dallas. If not an upscale shop, then, we're not entirely sure what that means, either, but it sure doesn't sound like a music venue that's been sitting in Fort Worth for nearly a decade (it turns 10 in 2007...or maybe not). We'll follow this rumor with more concrete info when our girlfriends aren't dragging us to Whole Foods to restock the Dd office vegetable supply. -SM
Update: This looks like the Urban Village in question. Kinda fancy, certainly fits with the "more sensible than Dallas on all accounts" reputation and seems to make room for live music, too, so who knows, but it's never exactly good news for a venue owner.
One rumor that had flown in our comments section has now come closer to being a fact; as Cindy Chaffin reported at finelinelive.com this morning, the Trees reopening effort may have been served a roadblock thanks to its all-ages desires. The full bulletin posted by TreesLives' MySpace page yesterday is as follows:
From: TREES LIVES Date: Nov 21 2006 1:49 PM
We were in process of getting all of our permits. We were told that we need a "Special Use Permit". When we applied for the "Special Use Permit" we were told that we would not be approved. That the Deep Ellum Association does not want underagers in Deep Ellum anymore. As a matter of fact we were told to look elsewhere.
Currently The Door, Gypsy, and the other venues are grandfathered. However, if they ever want to make a change that requires a permit from the city, or to change ownership they will be denied, unless they stop the underage shows.
I think that this is a really stupid move by the Deep Ellum Association. But we have to make a decision, do we open or not. Please give us your feedback.
We were tipped off by another Dd operative about this, who had actually responded and gotten a response from the Trees reopening camp; the e-mail alleged that Barry Annino, President of the Deep Ellum Association, has the ultimate say in whether or not Dallas' City Council grants the club its Special Usage Permit (SUP) and has denied it himself.
"The final say is up to the city council," Annino counters. "Like anybody else in town, if you didn't want something coming in, the Association would represent the group that would have some influence, but it's not the final say. They could still pass."
Annino begins by passing the buck on the city: "The teen ordinance does not allow teen clubs. We wouldn't have a say in that." When asked about clubs that permit under-17 patrons (The Door consistently, Gypsy Tea Room occasionally), Annino answers: "They are not CO'ed as teen clubs. They just have dance hall permits. First of all, you couldn't promote yourself as a teen club, under 17. You can't say you're a teen club. That's an illegal use from the city of Dallas, that'd be like opening a topless club. If someone's over there, has a teen show, under 17, it's really not a legal use."
But what if a venue runs some shows that are all ages and others that aren't? "I think it's grey."
From here, Annino dodges some of our questions and answers others less than fully. Rather than retype all of that, we're providing an MP3 of the rest of the interview HERE. If you'd rather skip the eight-minute MP3, though, know that by the end, Annino does make a declaration: "It's never been said that we don't want undera--we don't want 18-year-olds in Deep Ellum...It's not about the kids, it's not about anything else. We want [Trees] to be good curators, and whatever they give us [in a business plan], we want them to follow it...We want to encourage the live music."
Our thoughts? Annino is mighty careful with his words in our interview, and while we don't blame him, it doesn't ease our fears and worries about the ultimate situation at hand. We knew this SUP business was weird back when Laura Miller and her pals touted it as a tool to stop "rowdy" dance clubs in the district; we knew it could eventually be applied to rock clubs as well. At this point, though, that decision appears in the hands of the Dallas City Council more than anyone else, and anyone who doth protesteth might be wiser to direct their letters and phone calls that-a-ways.
We're in Deep Ellum two to four times a week, and from the busiest nights to the slowest, the most consistent variable is the teen presence wandering around the streets and checking out the stores. Music clubs in Deep Ellum are already teen-unfriendly enough; say what you want about Trees' chances or your opinion on its potential new booking, but as a stark advocate of increasing music options for teens--the kids who are willing to brave crappy clubs and rowdy crowds to see independent music--we have a huge problem with any roadblocks to reigniting that crowd in Dallas. But hey, how is Deep Ellum gonna build its eventual Gap, Banana Republic and Starbucks with new music clubs in the way? DART Tunnel + SUP = Laura Miller's Yuppie Dream. -SM
...It's a possibility. As many Dd haters might predict or quip, a catastrophic event has resulted in a major shift in the Dd office workload.
On top of that, we have lots of family in town for this Thanksgiving week--about 26 people (no, this isn't one of those sarcastic "we" jokes...that's really how many Machkovech kin are in Dallas for the next few days). But when we're not jogging with an uncle, ice-skating with a little cousin or embarrassing the girlfriend with a family farting contest, we'll still be busy loathing our family and trying to get away, so expect a few updates. After all, the gigs don't slow down for cranberry sauce. Happy hollandaise. -SM
Just one day after championing Cindy Chaffin's move to the Quick entertainment blog (blahblahblah.beloblog.com), I've been thrown off my rocker by a shocking Quick edit. Yesterday, Cindy reposted my Trees report and gave proper attribution, after which she told a personal Fat Daddy's story that involved her post-emo screamcore son. Fair enough--the new angle on the story and linking to my report seemed more than reasonable to me (and FrontBurner did the same thing).
This afternoon, the report was largely altered. My name and attribution were axed, replaced by quotes from Kenny Brattain's new MySpace page--quotes that didn't go online until a full day after my report was posted. Say what?
For a young site, I like to think I've done a good job keeping pace with other local music coverage outlets, and I've worked hard to provide exclusive content like interviews, reviews and investigations. For Quick to purposely remove its reference to my work ("Sam Machkovech's former employer must be kicking themselves in the shins" was a quote from the original post, for example) and think they could get away with it is irresponsible and downright cowardly--and I can't get Cindy Chaffin to answer damn phone, but I know full well that she didn't do this. We've known each other for years, and I'm fully confident that she'd have absolutely no personal or business reasons to go so far as to deliberately edit me out of a report. Until I receive clarification from the folks at Quick, I will lay the blame squarely on its editor-in-chief, Rob Clark (who I've CC'ed this post to).
Is Quick in the legal free-and-clear? Probably. Their revised report focuses on a publicly available MySpace post which puts the burden of factuality on Brattain's quote, etc. etc. But, again, I forced Brattain's hand by paying attention, reporting, investigating and interviewing. I'm not fond of blahblahblah lifting my effort for the sake of its for-profit blog (considering I don't make much money doing this as of yet).
Belo, Quick, blahblahblah--I would appreciate a correction, an explanation and an apology on your site. It's the decent thing to do. And to the rest of my readers, feel free to spread this story.
[UPDATE: Amazing how quickly word spreads. A semi-correction has now been posted at Quick's blog, as one dutiful Dd reader pointed out in the comments section. Thanks, Rob Clark.]
Forgot one show for Saturday, which I'd normally just insert in the weekender post, but I'm very interested in this one.
AllGood Cafe: Sarah Jaffe ($5) This 20-year-old Dallasite led the relatively forgettable Tomahawk Molly in recent years, but unleashed as a solo artist, Jaffe deserves to finally make waves in this town. With echoes of Fiona Apple and tiny traces of Gillian Welch, Jaffe's weary, full-bodied voice is a cavalcade of lovelorn Southern youth, and though her songwriting appears hit-or-miss at this point (great poetry in some songs countered with lame rhymes in others), the newer, more modest material is so much more appropriate for her delivery. She's on a fine bill of similar songwriters on Saturday, opening for Doug Burr and Crushed Stars (the latter of whom don't play nearly often enough around town). Arrive by 9 p.m. to hear Sarah. -SM
Splitting town next week for Thanksgiving? Stuck with Cousin Paul and the screaming nephews? Then you'd best fill up on quality gigs for the next three days...before you fill up on sweet, sweet tryptophan.
Thursday
Gypsy Tea Room's Ballroom: My Morning Jacket ($25) To celebrate one helluva live album/DVD, MMJ brings the first of a few special two-night stands to Dallas tonight. (Suck on that, Austin.) Nearly four years ago, we got our first taste of the band at a SXSW day party. The band held court on the teensy Yard Dog stage, slaying the crowd, and the sound guy told the band that their time was just about up. The group, in true rockstar-asshole fashion, immediately began a new song after their "last song" ended, but considering the fact that the band went apeshit (the drummer stood for most of the last song, and Jim James fell into the crowd during his final solo), the sound guy had no choice but to let the incredible show screw over the other bands' schedules. Good call. Not a fan of the frat boy explosion that this band (and others like Lucero and Drive-By Truckers) has endured recently, but we're hedging our bets that Thursday will be the night of fewer fratties--"Dude, brah, chicks only go to shows on Friday. Let's go rape the team mascot instead." Combine that with a secret hope that the band whips up their cover of Erykah Badu's "Tyrone," and you've got one excited Dd crew.
Double Wide: Record Hop / Saboteur / 100 Damned Guns ($10) Short on cash or choosing to see MMJ on Friday? Then this cheaper set, a benefit concert thrown by Double Wide booking agent Chelsea Callahan in honor of her birthday, is the local gig for you. We've already spoken at length about the first two hard-rockin' locals listed there, while the latter, 100 Damned Guns, kinda underwhelmed when we saw 'em two weeks ago. Solid country songs that totally lacked stage presence or a truly unique quality, but 100's target audience will eat this up, no question.
The Cavern: Dallas' Japanese Auto Clinic opens here, and we're tempted to finally see them in concert...too bad about that MMJ thing, though. If anyone attends this, do tell us if their MySpace potential is realized on stage or not, cuz these songs are pretty solid for Wolfmother-leaning MC5-isms.
Friday
EARLY HEADS-UP: Take lunch off from work and go to Good Records at 2 p.m. to see Montreal's Islands (ex-Unicorns) for free. Of course, you could also head to Hailey's later to see the group along with quality indie-hop MC Blueprint opening (and if you're in Denton, you really should), but Dallasites with afternoon time to spare would be foolish to miss this.
AAC: The Pretenders ($too much) Yes, The Who's headlining, and every '70s teenager with money to blow has tickets in hand already (Keith Moon-related whining aside). But we wish we could lower the ticket price, see The Pretenders and split. Granted, that's thanks to a similar sort of nostalgia-fueled zeal (if not more, since they aren't the ones promoting a comeback record), but we're bigger fans of Chrissie Hynde than Roger Daltrey. Sue us.
Double Wide: The Angelus / Dust Congress Austin opener Amanda Leggett, we're still not sold on, but you can read our massive kudos for the Angelus in the Apply Yourselves feature in the left sidebar.
The Cavern: Gil Mantera's Party Dream / Faux Fox ($6) Do you often say things like, "I liked The Faint's old records?" Then put on your most fluorescent shirt and head to a dance-rock party worth dancing like an idiot. Locals Faux Fox have been getting better in concert lately, while Gil Mantera reminds me of a more pissy Junior Senior, which is both good and bad for the exact same reasons.
Gypsy Tea Room: MMJ again. Who knows? We might just double-dip.
Saturday
The Amsterdam Bar: Beach House / Over The Atlantic ($5, cheep!) We Shot J.R. is all over this gig with a great interview. Go work for Pitchfork, dude. Your interviewing skills are really improving lately.
Granada Theater: Radiant ($10) The rest of this gig's lineup is kinda spare, but Radiant's long-delayed We Hope You Win finally sees release at the show, and it's certainly an album worth some excitement. Too bad local papers have completely, totally skipped out on covering it. We're trying to get a review ready in time for the gig, so keep yer eyes tuned this-a-ways. (You can also grab the album at the band's free in-store concert earlier on Saturday at Good Records, of course.)
Club Dada: Beach Boys Hoot Night ($5) The concept: Five local acts cover one classic band exclusively for an entire evening. Great in concept, of course, but the Beach Boys sure are a demanding one, and I doubt these groups are up to the challenge of such harmonies. Hell, even Brian Wilson's backup singers on the final version of SMiLE sound disappointing; how much is the atonal delivery of Voot Cha Index gonna butcher the BB catalog? (EDIT: Apparently not; Voot Cha is in fact not in the lineup anymore. Perhaps those break-up rumors we heard are coming to fruition...?) Anyway, we're not trying to be pissy here, and Teenage Symphony (a band named for this sorta gig, of course) may be reason enough to attend, but a warning's a warning.
Wreck Room: Baboon / Dove Hunter Baboon CD release show = Best Fort Worth gig of the night. Simple as that.
..as if the weekend wasn't busy enough, don't forget about Money Waters and Thesis bringing great neo-soul and hip-hop to Tom Cats on Sunday night. Wow, a good reason to go to Tom Cats? We're surprised, too. -SM
Only one day after Fat Daddy's owner Kenny Brattain confirmed and clarified the Trees reopening, opinions are beginning to fly via e-mail, blog comments, and phone calls. Few of 'em are kind.
While it's hard to make a judgment call before the doors open and bands line up to play, enough facts are out there to start the assumption train. Fat Daddy's Sound Shack is a pop-punk leaning venue, certainly, and there's little reason to believe that the new Trees booking agents won't continue milking their longest-lasting relationships with bands and promoters. And the local roster that has frequented FD's is nowhere near my list of faves (and has a butt-rock scent to it). Having said all that, the new Trees lineups aren't set in stone; will the booking agents get their hands on bigger national acts and a more diverse local lineup (hip-hop, folk, electro) with the bigger size and better location?
Trees' potential biggest enemy?
That's up to both the bookers and the venue staff, but the former's payouts and the latter's kindness are only part of the issue. The Gypsy Tea Room may very well have a lock on Deep Ellum's biggest national touring acts, thanks to its alliance with booking giants Charles Attal Presents (the Austin-based agency that has assembled recent Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits lineups, among others). Obviously, other venues around town (Ridglea Theater, Will Rogers Auditorium, Hailey's) put on big shows without CAP's help, but they aren't blocks away from the agency's favorite Deep Ellum spot. Trees is a bit more spacious than the Tea Room's larger "ballroom," but those few hundred tickets might not be enough to break CAP agreements. Hell, that's the agency that snuck Beck into the GTR with barely 24 hours' notice last month. Don't count on Fat Daddy's getting shots like that so soon.
But will the deliberate push for an all-ages friendly spot help the new Trees stand out? If plans go forth as announced, alcohol will be banned in 2/3 of a venue that was known in its latter days for utter meatheadism. My personal bias isn't affected by this, since I don't care to drink at shows, but what's the total effect of this change for the huge percentage of showgoers who do? Typically, an all-ages focus relegates Dallas-area clubs into second-tier status (see The Door, less than a mile away in the outskirts of Deep Ellum), locking down fewer national acts and fewer diverse local bills; Brattain might be able to offset that with good bills, but if Dallas tradition continues, he's doomed from the start.
And if such a move bites into Trees' overall bar sales, then how's a room that big gonna make money? Certainly not by raising ticket prices--that's still a fraction of the cash that a fully stocked bar will bring in. Then again, Fat Daddy's has made money with an all-ages crowd in Lewisville, so they're not new to a lack of bar sales, and if the lineups are good enough, people will deal with a few extra steps up to the bar between sets.
The new Trees has its work cut out for itself. But if the club repairs the old Trees' reputation for underpaying local bands, puts more locals on the opening stage for national acts and forms bonds with local radio stations, who knows? The suburban kids who've avoided Dallas and/or Deep Ellum for the past five years, hiding at clubs just like Fat Daddy's, might come back. -SM
*** Exclusive report, must credit Sam Machkovech and http://www.bigdlittled.com ***
Kenny Brattain, owner of Fat Daddy's Sound Shack in Lewisville, has confirmed to bigdlittled.com that he is in the process of reopening the former Trees building at 2709 Elm St. in Deep Ellum.
I was tipped off to a strange MySpace site this afternoon (thanks, Pimplomat) with the username "TreesLives." The account, open only since November 7, touts the eventual reopening of the historic Deep Ellum music venue, but damn, does it seem sketchy at first. Donations are being requested in amounts of $5/$10 a pop to "adopt a brick"--a pretty meager way to handle thousands upon thousands of bucks in monthly rent--and the site declares, "we hope to hire as many of the old staff member [sic] as we can," even though most ex-Trees staffers are employed at the Gypsy Tea Room these days. Could these "donate now" PayPal links just be a big scam?
But the site's photos, purportedly taken just last week, appear legit. I was one of the last to tour the building on the January 2, 2006 afternoon that it was chained up by its landlord, and in these new photos, the message on the whiteboard--"Goodnight, Sweet Moon, Goodnight Forever"--is exactly the same as that January day. Couldn't tell you if the Trees staff left all of those posters up in the upstairs lounge, though, as that stairway was blocked off when I last visited, but the way the old staff was rushed out of the building, I wouldn't be surprised (they had much more expensive equipment to detach and rush out, certainly).
Of course, the photos were also interesting as they had a domain name attached--interactivesoup.com. As the account has been posting vague, "guess who we are" bulletins on MySpace for roughly a week, they couldn't be foolish enough to hide the true answer in a domain name...could they?
By golly, they could.
According to a quick Internet registry lookup, interactivesoup.com is registered to one Kenny Brattain of Lewisville, TX. Why, he's the guy who owns Fat Daddy's Sound Shack, an all-ages rock club in his hometown.
I called Brattain and asked him if he was reopening Trees. He quickly denied it--"Who told you that?" I then laid out the search I'd done and asked if he could confirm or clarify the information. After a long pause, he asked when I'd post my findings ("well, it's a blog, you know...") and then reluctantly confirmed.
"I just wanted Gypsy and the Door not to know who it was, basically," Brattain says, claiming that the MySpace page was meant to gauge public interest in a potential reopening before following through, to see if fans and booking agents still had interest in the venue (and he says they do). "I figured the only person who would [search like that] would be a reporter." Darn tootin', Kenny!
Facts:
* The treeslives page says that "we are going to move our current business into the Trees building," but Brittain says that they'll attempt to run both clubs simultaneously to start out with.
* "We don't know if we can get the CO yet from the city; I don't think it's a condemnable building. That's our only thing, that's why we haven't announced anything."
* In terms of potential cost worries, as the last Trees effort ended in bankruptcy: "I'm not sure what they're used to paying, but this is $1 a square foot, and we negotiated [the landlord] down to 92 cents per square foot."
* The venue could open as early as--Jesus Christ--this New Year's Eve. "We'll obviously not have a liquor license yet."
* Brattain began "aggressively going after" the Trees building "a few weeks ago...we were trying to build up the Lewisville area, but we've spoken to a lot of national booking agents. We have a good reputation up here, we get some big bands, but we'll get basically, as we've been told, anybody riding through Dallas, we can get them [there]."
* Continuing the all-ages credo of Fat Daddy's? "We're gonna stay all ages. Here's how it's all gonna work. You know the stairs? We're gonna check ID on the way up there. We'll check ID at the door, and then when you go up the stairs, your ID's gonna be checked again. You can go upstairs, drink all day long, but when you go back downstairs, you can't bring a drink with you. All ages, meaning even the older people. That way it'll be safe for the kids, and you can still drink."
Keep bigdlittled.com bookmarked for all news updates on the potential reopening of Trees. Of course, the official reopening MySpace page'll probably be a good source as well, but we'll try to find a few more scoops as time goes along. -SM
"Um, yeah, just ran into her at Good Records like a week...no, two weeks ago. Yeah, she hasn't posted much lately, has she?"
This is an exchange I had with a not-too-frequent contributor to local music blog FineLineLive.com just yesterday; I figured that Chaffin, the founder of TexasGigs and lady in charge of the Line, was just busy, so I didn't think much of it, but maybe I should've.
The "original" local blogger posted a Michael Jordan-style retirement notice shortly before noon today, saying that the past year "just ain't been fun for awhile." From the look of the long post, a mix of family obligations and lack of financial incentive led to recent silence and this post. The Jordan aspect, of course, is that Chaffin's not really closing the site or shutting up. You'll see her online at Quick's local music blog, and the site will stay open as Chaffin posts things every now and then (particularly SXSW coverage in March that will surely feature her bizarre "Flat Cindy" doll alter-ego).
News? Not so much. Rather, it's a confirmation of what readers have assumed for over a month now. The site's focus had already been hijacked by site partner Amanda Newman, who had converted the site into her own soundboard for the shows she either books or promotes for Club Dada. Newspapers would call that a "conflict of interest"...but, hey, it's the Internet, right? Looks like Newman has already moved her data to a personal site and will probably camp out there for the time being, so fans of Rahim Quazi and Chris Holt know where to go for their daily local singer/songwriter fix.
Ultimately, it's an underwhelming announcement, much like every other Internet announcement around town. Blogs make it easier to set up shop--and easier to shut down with nary a boom. But as I wrote months ago, Cindy was, is and always will be an important figure in local music, leading the charge where local newspapers and radio stations were slacking, so I'll continue to keep an eye on her Quickery. -SM
[NOTE: Site's been screwy on Wednesday, the 15th. Scroll down for the Cindy Chaffin / FineLineLive.com report.]
To top off today's hip-hop update (check the top-left for the new Money Waters CD review and the plug for his concert this Sunday), we had to repost this gem that we found at the dfwhiphop.com forums:
It's a continuation of the fake PPT vs. Lazer rap battle that we mentioned a few weeks ago, and after bashing Lazer in that last post, we think it's only fair to give 'em props for a pretty solid number here (not to mention one of the funnier product plugs we've heard in a while). Hats off, guys. Perhaps it's time to reimagine Lazer as a hip-hop group instead of a gimmicky German synth knock-off. -SM
We caught three great local sets this weekend; one of those, The Strange Boys' Friday night set at the Double Wide, we'll choose not to elaborate on since our pal Jesse Hughey admitted that he was writing the show up for some other rag. Not gonna cockblock ya, pal, but we will quickly note a coupl'a things: Chief Death Rage, your drummer might be the worst since Meg White (and lacking in the boobs and spontaneity that make her diminished prowess worthwhile). The Denton trio's sludge metal seems far beyond "competent" in terms of bass and guitar...but it would benefit from a drummer who actually uses a bass drum. Just throwin' that out there. Luckily, The Strange Boys are getting better by the week--time in the studio must've rubbed 'em the right way, as lead singer Ryan Sambol has begun to...no way, really?...sing.
Saturday's Sons of Hermann Hall show was, as expected, the week's highlight. It's the perfect room in Dallas for country-minded performers...something about the wooden walls and layout make the sound shine, and Bosque Brown took advantage with one of its most solid sets in recent memory. No sound trouble, no weakness in Mara Lee Miller's singular voice and perfect band harmonies make for a very happy Dd crew. Houston native Jolie Holland put on one helluva headlining set afterward, charming the crowd with a voice as sultry as it is boastful and creating a rhythmic bond with her jazz-minded drummer the likes of which I've honestly never heard before. Their sense of undulating tempo made her lengthy compositions that much more intriguing, and sadly, she's not touring for a while, so the many Dallasites who missed out on this gig will have to wait a while for her next stop through town.
The local gig trifecta was rounded out by Red Monroe at the Gypsy Tea Room on Sunday night. Their set's two new songs were as cursed with classic rock cheese as they were blessed with surprising builds to all-out rock moments rooted in the band's Pink Floyd love affair, and as those were bundled with the group's crowd-killing output on their self-titled EP, the set was certainly killer. Most of us split after RM's set, and good thing--headliners Be Your Own Pet stopped after barely 30 minutes when lead singer Jemina Pearl flipped out, threw her microphone and dashed backstage. The rest of the band, after realizing she wasn't coming back, said something along the lines of "Denton's better, anyways" and called the show off. (The one Dd staffer who remained tried to get his nipple signed by Jemina after the set...bad move, dude. His insurance plan doesn't cover ripped nips.)
Oh, you wanted multimedia, did you? Greedy. Below is "Israel" by Bosque Brown from the band's Saturday gig. -SM
Before crawling into bed, I wanted to give Dd's early morning readers a treat in light of a surprise concert announced for this evening. Turns out that Budapest One will play its first gig in a lonnnng time tonight (Thursday) at Dallas' Barley House...sort of. Only songwriters Keith Killoren and Chad Stockslager (now full-time members of The Drams) will be on hand with guitar and piano, but considering that the guys play Budapest One songs once in a blue moon these days, you should takes what you can gets.
Chad Stockslager and Keith Killoren in front of their East Dallas house
This morning, we've got a lot for you to takes: Howzabout two free Budapest albums and two never-before-released Chad songs? The former albums have been sitting idly at the B1 Web site for a few months now, while the latter two songs have collected dust in my stack of rare local relics for far too long, so, hey, at least some of it's exclusive, and all of it is worth your attention.
These two guys are among the best songwriters in town--Lord help us if they ever release B1's long-awaited fourth album, full of their darkest takes on a lovelorn fusion of Springsteen, McCartney and Bertolt Brecht--yet they've lapsed in obscurity for far too long (though their spots in The Drams are certainly welcome and deserving). Tonight has a few shows up for grabs, but this one definitely deserves consideration, so listen up and maybe I'll see you tonight. -SM
* Budapest One albums, complete and uncut, at the band's official site * "Until You Say Goodbye" and "Crash Into Sadness", both from Chad Stockslager's unreleased four-track compilation (hope you don't kill me for posting it, Chad)
Slow news day? Yes. Another bit about a local musician in a TV commercial? Yup. Deal with it.
This time, local hip-hop nabs some national attention with a DJ Rob Viktum cameo in a Zune commercial. Wuzza Zune? Microsoft's take on the iPod Video; the differences are a bigger color screen, FM radio and the ability to send songs from Zune to Zune with wifi...though this, of course, requires having friends who have a Zune, as said wifi doesn't work on the Internet if you're a loner, so we greet the new gizmo with a collective yawn.
DJ Rob Viktum
Still, MS is aggressively marketing the hipness out of this thing, meaning that stations like BET are currently bombarded with Zune ads. One BET spot (which we still haven't found on YouTube) prominently features Viktum hanging out at this year's Scribble Jam in Cincinnati with one of its headliners, Cincy hometowner Mr. Dibbs. Cool on that, not only because it gets the local producer and DJ's face out there, but also because it reaffirms the connection with Dibbs. As Rob confirms via phone call, the duo is working together on Dibbs' forthcoming album, set for release next year on Self Core Records, and with connections to the booming Rhymesayers collective of alt-minded hip-hop heads, this could really put Viktum on the national up-and-up.
Hear what we're talking about at Viktum's Wednesday night residency (hey, that includes tonight, don't it) at the Monkey Bar near Exposition Park. A particularly undernoticed spot, the Monkey Bar has been quietly building a reputation for the best in old- and new-school hip-hop DJ action this side of the Slip Inn. -SM
Dd interns and ninjas--are they one and the same? You'd think so, the way our dedicated, unpaid staff scours North Texas music clubs and record stores to gather information and discretely return it to DdHQ...in scroll form, at that. Yesterday, our noise-rock ninjas were particularly excited when they got wind of some gossip with the words "Record Hop" and "Steve Albini" in it. Match made in heaven if it's true; the Denton band has been prepping for its long-awaited new album for over a year now, and Albini's producing chops--even if spread over roughly 2,000 albums a year--are still legendary. Of course, out of all of the bands he's done recently, none seem more perfect than the refined abrasion of the Hop.
"We fully expect that we're going to make a kick-ass record," Record Hop's Scott Porter (right) says. Hey, kick-ass wallpaper is a start. photo: Jason Janik
"It's pencilled in, not penned in," guitarist Scott Porter says over the phone. "JC's our connection with the Albini world," referring to Justin Collins, lead singer and songwriter for fellow Dentonites Burntsienna Trio who have now rattled off two discs with the Albini (the second of which, Gregor-Jotace Mission Cathedral, is a songwriting delight and one of the records we regret not hyping more at our previous job).
Recording is tentatively set for this March at Albini's Chicago studio: "We're gonna spend pretty much 48 hours straight recording off and on, hit it really hard," Porter says. What we don't finish there, we'll spend about a month at the Echo Lab putting the icing on the rock cake." It's been a while since their debut Pareidolia saw release, but the band's happy about the wait, allowing new drummer Josh Prisk to get settled in and make sense of the band's erratic time changes and demanding style. "We're coming off of a good run of shows where Josh has really gelled with the band...This record will be more representative of what we're really about. [On Pareidolia], we were flying blind, but this time, we're more of a professional entity. We fully expect that we're gonna make a kick-ass record."
Porter says the album's release through TXMF Records will happen "probably in May," and he's also chatty about how well the DIY concert space/shop he co-runs, Secret HQ, is doing, plugging this week's schedule of movie nights (including a Bill Hicks post-election comedy screening tonight...nice), a book release and Saturday's Sean Kirkpatrick gig.
So what of his other band, the not-gigging-often, swamp-country masters Spitfire Tumbleweeds? "No comment," Porter says with a laugh. Yeah, laugh it up, fuzzball...our ninjas are on high alert. -SM
Though we're not about to bleed over into sports coverage, our unpaid sports bureau snapped a short video at last night's Dallas Mavericks loss to the Golden State Warriors. They took a camera because the game was supposed to start with a bang--the unveiling of the Mavs' Western Conference Championship banner--but its reveal wound up serving as a bad omen of things to come that evening (and perhaps the rest of the season? erm...).
While fact-checking and proofing today's feature, we got a telegram from the fine folks at Baboon. This week, the Dallas quintet made an impact in Austin and was added to 101X's Next Big Thing roster, which I suppose is comparable to 102.1 The Edge's The Adventure Club in Dallas...if The Adventure Club played more Dallas acts. Look at that playlist: The Polyphonic Spree, Ben Kweller, Baboon, Red Monroe, The Secret Machines...and the rest of the playlist is actually pretty damn good, too! And here we thought 101X was crappy when we attended UT Austin; nothing like our lovely hometown's state of mainstream radio to cast perspective.
At any rate, it's good to see Baboon get some Austin love; maybe that'll up their SXSW'07 hopes? -SM
We took a sick day today, in case you didn't notice. Weshotjr.com has weekend concert recs posted; ours is the Baboon / Record Hop / Saboteur lineup at Hailey's tonight, though we'll probably skip that and attend a movie instead. Oh, and we may pop into Dada on Saturday to catch Hardin Sweaty and the Ready to Go, an energetic pop-rock four-piece, recalling the sweaty, reckless abandon of old Dd favorites Chomsky, that has both the most promise and the worst name in town. Read the Burden Brothers review to the left and have a good weekend. -SM
Had never heard of Houston Party Records until this morning, when we randomly got an urge to download Centro-matic MP3s (it was too early to dig through our stacks of CDs) and found one helluva gem hiding in our favorite download site (er, our second favorite...).
If you haven't guessed, Houston Party is probably the complete opposite of a syrup-sippin', low-ridin' party in front of a downtown H-Town Sonic Drive-Thru. This record label in Spain specializes in re-releasing Americana cult smashes and indie-rock hits in Europe, from Constantines and Broken Social Scene to Texans like Micah P. Hinson, Daniel Johnston and Centro-matic (and Paul Wal--ha, oh, we kill us). The label's latest various artists compilation features all three of those Texan acts, along with The Wedding Present, Will Oldham and others, covering every song on The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds (in time for the album's 25th anniversary, of course).
Do It Again: A Tribute To Pet Sounds is available for mail order at the Houston Party site (hard to find...go to "catalogue" and search for "vvaa"), or you can go to Good Records after hearing this heartbreaking Centro-matic contribution and beg CJ to import a copy for ya. Really, the band picked the perfect song for Will Johnson's cracking, forlorn voice and Matt Pence's thudding drums, though I kinda wish they'd killed the acoustic picking and just left the spare, haunting piano part alone. Oh well. Still amazing. Heard it here first, folks. -SM
"Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)" by Centro-matic (This download site kinda sucks; it forces you to enter a confirmation code and then wait 45 seconds to download. But it was either this or offer a much smaller, crappier-sounding MP3, so we hope you'll forgive the inconvenience.)
[Ed's note: While it's on my mind, can compilation hounds please stop inviting Daniel Johnston to these things? I'm a pretty huge fan of his and heartily recommend his new documentary DVD, but just because he's a songwriting genius doesn't give his old ass the right to ruin "God Only Knows."]
, but just because he's a songwriting genius doesn't give his old ass the right to ruin "God Only Knows."]
