FtW Nuts || September 30, 2007

A Silence Productions points us in the direction of the video they shot at the Wall of Sound Festival. Enjoy this Explosions in the Sky footage:



(Click here for higher quality versions of this and other clips, including some Doug Burr action.) -SM

Show Reccomendation || September 27, 2007

Not to steal the thunder of Sam's post below, but tonight there is a road show in town that I have to make sure you go to.

O'Death/Rock Plaza Central/Peter & The Wolf - Cavern
O'Death and P&tW are both fantastic, but for me the real must see is the band playing between them, Rock Plaza Central. Think country influenced elephant6-ish NMH meets early Modest Mouse and you are almost there. These guys have been out on the road for quite a while supporting last year's superb Are We Not Horses, and reviews i have been getting from other tour stops lead me to believe that they are nothing short of on fire right now.

So thats all Ive got for now. Go to that show tonight.

-Jasun

Dd Nuts || September 27, 2007

Still haven't received the new Red Monroe record yet...c'mon, Chance! But I have gotten a few other discs and songs from quality DdFW acts as of late. I can't get to sleep, so here's the first in a series of posts that has been a long time coming.

Record Hop: RH guitarist Scott Porter was kind enough to send me three unmastered songs from the band's Steve Albini-recorded sophomore album. Holy expletives, man. First off, singer Ashlee Cromeens is a dynamo on all three songs, her singing vastly refined. Rather than the previous album's indistinct sing-screaming throughout, Cromeens elects to pick a side on every track, which means you'll hear a ridiculously sweet-sounding style in radio-ready "Maths," followed by her most unabashed attack yet--"WOULD YOU LIE?!" she howls in "Rocket Seance," only to moan out an evil-sounding whisper, "Take your time off to curse me," before getting back to her devilish side once more. All the while, the band's hard rock attack has only grown more confident, its immediate intensity dragged through muddy tunnels of intelligent composition for an eventual, sweet payoff of fist-pumping perfection.

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Sean Kirkpatrick: Not sure why Jesse Hughey sticks around with that bummer of a Dallas Observer music section--perhaps cuz it's easier to stand out in it now? Anyway, his review of Turn On The Interference, the debut solo record by pAper chAse pianist Kirkpatrick, is pretty on-point. Still, I tend to think that the full album is stronger than Hughey lets on, reminding me of the more jarring and compositionally aggressive pAper chAse material from their earlier records. At first listen, Interference comes across as a niche record--goth cabaret, maybe? But the album's minor key compositions, dependence on piano and lighter take on Nick Cave's speak-singing shouldn't scare off folks looking for a damn solid singer-songwriter album, one that strikes the tough balance between impassioned and serious.

Kirkpatrick proves himself a tremendous pianist on this album, not only in his play but also in his ability to write such towering songs. "Asking To Be Hijacked" is very representative in this respect, its poppy near-riffs paired with great choral hooks and a dizzying bridge of meandering piano notes that--dunno how--Kirkpatrick massages into the song's most memorable melody. If you've become jaded with this city's music and haven't bought a local record in a while, consider giving Kirkpatrick a chance to win you back over...for only $7 with postage included, no less, or he might have copies for sale at Secret Headquarters on Saturday, September 29 when he plays with Dd fave Chris Garver.

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If I don't post stuff about Mom's new EP, Silk Stocking's new album and Florene's impressive CD-R within the next few days, somebody hit me in the head, please. -SM

My Thoughts on Wall of Sound || September 25, 2007

I try to do my best to keep from editorializing on here (save for a snarky remark about Todd Lewis or over the top support of Eleven Hundred Springs), but I have been hearing way too much of a negative spin tossed about (albeit mainly by the local press - looking at your DMN).
I am also not going to bore the shit out of any of you with a 3000 word essay about how this festival is more important than most people are giving it credit for (though i really do feel this way).
Instead I am going to cover the subjects I thought were good about this year's Wall of Sound and, if I feel like it, I might touch on some bad as well.
(Warning, it might seem as though I am gushing, but i really thought the fest was a blast.)

The Good:
Record Hop turned in the first great set of the day. Their 30 minutes (or so) were on fire and they didn't lose a beat when Ashley broke her guitar string and was forced to transform into Patti Smith for their final song.
Doug Burr had to tackle the task of going against one of the day's more buzzed about bands (OM) and delivered the goods without hesitation. He played mostly tracks from his forthcoming, and fantastic, album and had one of the bigger crowds of the day at the 3rd stage.
Mom were one of the other 3rd stage bands that drew a solid crowd and converted some shade seeking passers by. You can really tell that these guys are something special and I really don't think it will be long before they are being talked about all over the next.
Explosions in the Sky stole the show with their 25(ish) minute set. The collective "Holy Shit" looks on the faces of the crowd said it all.
Paperchase, Pinback, Hogpig and Baptist Generals were major musical highlights for me as well.

As far as the set up went, I thought it was a success as well.
The venue was perfect. Ample parking allowed for easy in and out.
Save for a few sight line problems from the stands, there was plenty of opportunity to stay out of the sun and still catch the bands you wanted to see early in the day.
There were never lines for beer or food.
I really felt that this was as close to a Fry Street Fair from the early to mid 90s than any other local festival has come in quite a while. (albeit with a higher price tag)

The only complaints I can really think of (save for majorly disappointing sets from Ghost Hustler and Ghostland Observatory) were the delays at the end of the day and the lack of attendance.

I have a feeling both will be addressed before next year and we can look forward to a fantastic WoS 08.
-Jasun

D Nuts || September 24, 2007

If you attended this weekend's Wall of Sound Festival, you might've noticed a few sound and time issues... GuideLive certainly did in their relatively scathing review. Apparently, the issues in question were bad enough to elicit an apology from Fest main man Lance Yocom:

"We can now very clearly say that the sound company hired will never receive business from Spune again and we are VERY sorry for any frustration and disappointment that may have come from their attitudes, actions and delivery of the event."

Aw, Lance, why not call the company out by name? He goes on to explain that headliner Explosions In The Sky were incorrectly told that they had a reduced set time thanks to a domino effect of delays, technical issues and miscommunication. Oh well. Seems like the fest was still a vast improvement over the two previous runs, with the major bummer being, according to that GuideLive review, general lack of interest.

Jasun has a review brewing (and he posted photos HERE), so I'll let him speak on this matter for the most part, but I can't help but be baffled by the music-hating climate in Dallas. In Seattle, events like the Capitol Hill Block Party are stocked largely full of local and small acts, yet the crowds keep coming and coming--to the point where I almost got trampled in a huge crowd at this year's BP. So what's the big difference? From my experience so far, I'm pretty certain that Dallas' issue is still the lack of major radio support. If any station came even close to KEXP around North Texas, Wall of Sound would've been the zoo that it should've been. Good radio, as I've always said, is the common denominator in building interest and hyping live music across a large metropolitan area.

Forget worrying about alt-weeklies, blogs and Deep Ellum; if people really wanted to make a difference, they'd pump their money into acquiring a lower-frequency radio signal that reaches the Dallas-area 'burbs. The rest of the pieces would fall into place from there. -SM

D Nets || September 20, 2007

Two "new" music blogs have arisen in Dallas in the past week. The first ain't all that new; Cindy Chaffin has announced that she's moved back to Dallas, meaning that FineLineLive will, at least for the time being, burst anew with posts and content. Chaffin hints to a Pleasant Grove bootleg she recorded in Austin a short while back, but it's not up yet. Here's to hoping she uploads that bad boy soon.

The other one is also less than new, as Observer music editor Robert Wilonsky has handed the music blog post duties to their new Web editor and started a new sub-blog, DC9 At Night. The thing is off to a horrid start, made up almost entirely of PR-style spam entries about awful Dallas acts. Jacknife, PlayRadioPlay, The Secret Handshake...this puff shit makes Widner's material seem saintly in comparison. At the very least, today sees the return of Observer hip-hop writer Quia Querisma, who contributes a relatively solid, if rough, Roots concert review, so who knows how the blog will ultimately turn out? -SM

D Nuts || September 20, 2007

The Wall of Sound Festival is certainly better designed for the local music newbie; like Jesse Hughey points out in his solid Observer write-up this week, the wide variety of local acts on the bill is generally easy to catch around town. But Spune Productions learned from their mistakes last year, padding the lineup with enough out-of-town talent to make sure that no fans, hardcore or otherwise, will feel like their cash is wasted at this fest.

But I'm having trouble coming up with a great "crib sheet" of picks, because this thing really is stacked to the brim. Whichever direction you turn on Saturday, you'll generally hear some mighty fine music. Really, the only act I feel might get lost in the shuffle is Bobby Bare Jr., the last great artist on Bloodshot Records' faltering roster. If you have no idea who he is, make it your highest priority to get a load of his songwriting chops and red-faced live show at 7:40 p.m. on Stage Two. Sadly, he's playing at the same time as my other huge pick of the show, Austin's White Denim, whose authentic garage-soul has been bowling over skeptics for nearly two years now. It's a tough choice, so don't feel bad if you have to flip a coin to pick one.

Other tips: If you like The Books, get to their stage a bit early, as their local shows always seem to draw incredibly large crowds. If you plan on sleeping in, try to at least arrive for Hogpig's 12:45 p.m. set, as their rock will wake you the dickens up. the pAper chAse's local shows have been fewer and further between as of late, so don't miss this obvious opportunity to see them at their prime. Red Monroe and Record Hop are both quite fresh off their latest albums (RM's will be on sale at the fest, while RH is still mastering theirs), so expect both of their sets to impress. Same goes for Pleasant Grove, who are (supposedly) in the final stages of their record as well. And expect OM to destroy all.

Honestly, take a moment while you're bored at work to put some headphones on and try out the audio player at WallOfSoundFestival.com. It's a good indication of what you'll be getting yourself into come Saturday. -SM

Last One || September 13, 2007

In the past couple of weeks, Carter Albrecht's passing has seen many touching tributes come and go--many of which I didn't even get to attend. But I'm glad to get to share a particularly wonderful one with you guys, made by Centro-matic's Matt Pence (photos by Matt, music by Centro) and made public by Albrecht's bandmate, roommate and buddy Danny Balis. Enjoy. -SM

All I Want is You || September 12, 2007

Austin City Limits Festival is this weekend. Anyone else heading down?
Not much by the way of a DFW presence at this year's fest, but we do get Midlake and St.Vincent (who was added to the bill yesterday).
If you are in Austin, but do not plan to hit Zilker Park, you will still have a chance to catch a couple of locals at club shows through the weekend.

Ghosthustler are playing the Friday night Factory People/DFA after party at Red 7 with Clap! Clap! and DJ sets by LCD Soundsystem and Guns N Bombs.

The Hot Freaks crew has put together some great after shows with the likes of Grizzly Bear and Art Brut, but we all know you will be heading over to the Mohawk around midnight Saturday night to see St. Vincent.

Also, fans of St. Vincent really need to check out her version of the great Beatles tune "Dig a Pony" over at p4k today. Link here.
-jhl

D Nuts || September 11, 2007

Today, the Wall of Sound Festival schedule has been announced. Amazingly, the amount of painful cross-scheduling is as minimal as you'll find in a 40-band festival. I'm sure Jasun will pop on before too long to bitch about Eleven Hundred Springs and Hogpig sharing the same time, but otherwise, the momentum is sustained through the whole set with, well, no noticeable moments of downtime. Nice work, Spune. We'll have blather about the various bands in the schedule before too long, but do head to the site to try out their pretty expansive band playlist in the meantime. -SM

Free Tickets || September 10, 2007

Remember the Arctic Monkeys? We do, faintly, though in spite of what we said at the time, the iPod hasn't accessed that album in at least a year. Can't get 'em all right. This means we are not the target audience for the following contest...then again, we're ineligible for it.

Anyway, our good friends at the Palladium Ballroom have given us two pairs of tickets for the Arctic Monkeys concert there on Sunday the 16th with The Coral and Voxtrot. Want 'em? E-mail bigdlittled@gmail.com with the subject "I am an Arctic Monkey." Winners will be randomly selected from the submissions tomorrow at 2 p.m. (that's Dallas time, y'all), so get to e-mailin'. -SM

Catching Up || September 7, 2007

Boy howdy, am I behind. Blame my mother--she's in Seattle this week, and on top of showing her around town, I've had articles and video game reviews to work on (tough life, I know). But I have a few minutes open right now, so let's get to it.

The new Red Monroe album comes out tomorrow, and the band has been mighty protective of the tunes, so I can't tell you about anything other than the title track, which leaked on Quick earlier this week. You may have noticed RM's weird, indirect promotional efforts a month or so ago, when this MySpace account started sending friend requests to Dallasites around town. Though the bizarre, dancetastic page appeared to be anonymous, its accompanying Web site had Red Monroe's mailing address attached in its hidden registry "whois." Cover all of your 'net bases, guys. The title track isn't as synthy as these buzz-building sites might lead you to believe, but the band is definitely taking on broader sonic elements than their previous EP, and my interest is extremely high about this disc. Local record of the year? As soon as I can get my hands on it, I'll letcha know.

In the meantime, do try to catch one of their shows this weekend to find out for yourself. They hit Good Records at 6:30 p.m. tonight and the Granada tomorrow; the former is free and features Dd fave Sarah Jaffe, while the latter is local-star-studded, complete with Baboon, Saboteur and...Odis? Is Odis any good? I'm not hearing it.

Crud, I have to run, so here are some quickies. Theater Fire and The Drams at the Granada tonight. There are other shows, I'm sure, perhaps better ones, but that sounds like a fantastic show to me. And Dd is part of a DOMA loser show on Saturday at the Double Wide, as Jasun already pointed out. I assume he is attending, but no, I will not be there. I will be in Seattle playing Metroid Prime 3. For "work."

And even if I were in North Texas on Saturday night, I would almost certainly skip Dd's affiliated show. Why? Two words: Tre Orsi. It's rare to see a hard rock trio that gets everything so right--aggression, restraint, complication, simplicity, influences, uniqueness. That's very vague, and I'm okay with that, but at the very least, trust that the material on their MySpace page is only a vague hint of what an ass-kicking their set at Rubber Gloves will be when they open for lords-above-men Centro-matic. We Shot JR's house party at the Fra House should be fun as well, but expect it to be far too crowded to enjoy in any sober condition. And if none of the aforementioned shows get your goat, think about going to Sean Kirkpatrick's CD release show at Club Dada. The record is good. Local record of the year? Well...lemme listen to Red Monroe's first. -SM

Losers... || September 6, 2007

As if Saturday is not busy enough, we are proud to be part of that evening's festivities at the Double Wide. This will be the second annual Dallas Observer Loser Awards and not only will the losers from Dd and TXMF Records be hanging around the bar, the will be bands too! Rose County Fair, Paul Slavens, Wanz Dover, Steve Austin, and Johnny Lloyd Rollins will all be playing and DJ Wild in the Streets will be spinning.
The show is free if you were nominated for an award and lost, and cheap if you weren't nominated at all.
Will we see a Slavens/Austin collaboration?

There is only one way to find out.

An Account || September 4, 2007

A long missive was posted by Sorta bassist (and Albrecht's roommate) Danny Balis this morning. It's a sad, kind homage from one best friend to another, and I assume it won't be hard to find on MySpace and the like. But most importantly for Albrecht's public image, which has taken a blow with details of domestic abuse in the latest police reports, comes this surprising, sad story:

this was not the carter albrecht i knew. the police report failed to mention that for the previous week, he and his girlfriend were trying quit smoking with the prescription drug, "chantix". they had both started the program at the same time, and had been on it for a week. monday was supposed to be their quit day. carter had not slept much the night before, and had consumed approximately five cocktails in a two hour period on sunday eve. this was not unusual, as carter had a very good tolerance for the drink. chantix does clearly state on the box that it's drowsy effects could be intensified by alcohol. the two also complained of having crazy, insane, almost horrific dreams that week. they jokingly referred to them as "chantix dreams" when comparing them. i later learned through a close friend that he had firsthand knowledge of two separate couples who had tried to quit smoking using chantix, and in each case, one spouse had tried to kill the other with no previous domestic conflct. one was successful, and many refer to this drug as a psychotic.

was it a combination of sleep deprivation, booze, and the stop-smoking pills that sent him off? it's the only explanation i can even think of. what was described to me sounded like a walking black out. in my years of knowing him, and all the girls he dated, i have never once heard of him getting abusive or physical with them. it was not his character. especially with the woman that i know for a fact he loved dearly. unfortunately, the morning news story paints him as a batterer to the casual reader that did not know him. this, he was undeniably not.

Carter Albrecht, RIP || September 3, 2007

(photo by Kate Mackley)

Unbelievably sad news today, as Sorta member, New Bohemians member and Sparrows founder Carter Albrecht passed away; if the story that is making the rounds is true (told to me by a highly trusted source and confirmed by at least one other), Albrecht was shot and killed last night through a neighbor's door after knocking on it late in the evening.

Motherfucking Dallas.

Obviously, other sites and outlets will have the manpower to dig for more information--and find out how the shooter will be prosecuted, since I'm tempted to believe that the other side of a front door is not a trespassable location. Will link to any updated reports ASAP.

Update: The Dallas Morning News' report uses the "authorities say" bit about the possibility that Albrecht was the aggressor here, going so far as kicking the door. Since this case is probably coming down to "he said, they said," I'm afraid to think that this bullshit will actually prevail with the dopes at DPD, but hopefully someone will brighten up enough to realize that "gunshot through the door" wins in the aggressor column.

Update #2: Kudos to Robert Wilonsky for his deep report into the matter and the story behind it. Sadly, the full story and pathetic excuse tucked into it only make me sadder, angrier and more bewildered.

I had the nerve a few weeks ago to knock Sorta in my We Shot JR awards picks, which I only thought was fair to do when comparing them to my diehard favorite Dallas act Pleasant Grove. Thing is, Sorta is a band full of incredibly open and friendly guys who really do epitomize what Dallas' music scene could be in terms of niceness and offering a helping hand (benefits for charity, reaching out to bands in different genres for shows, etc. etc.). Albrecht stood out in that category, a bleeding-heart kind of guy who never turned his nose up at anybody after a show or at the bar. When I was barely part of the Dallas Observer staff, Albrecht approached me and talked at length about music, women and general guy-to-guy stuff, and at the time, I thought he was warming me up because of my writing gig.

Turns out he just did that with everybody. You will be missed, Carter. -SM