Damn. I saw the horrible, terrible news yesterday, and I'm still somewhat stunned: Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse is dead, after shooting himself outside a friend's home.

I'm reeling, awash in sadness and anger at the same time; sad that Linkous thought things were so bad that he had to step off the stage permanently and angry that he'd leave his family, friends, and fans bereft like this. There're few things more selfish, to my mind, than suicide, and I'm having a hard time coming to grips with it.

I'm not going to claim to've known the guy personally, don't worry, but I do feel weirdly connected to him and his work, having listened to it and loved it for fifteen years. I happened upon a copy of the Sparklehorse "Hammering the Cramps"/"Spirit Ditch" 7-inch back in 1995 or 1996 (can't remember which, sorry), right out of college, and was immediately blown away by the eerie, dirty-sounding, yet hauntingly beautiful countrified psych-pop.

The debut album of Linkous' one-man band, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot, was a creaking, whispering, rambling mishmash of country, folk, pop, and little crufts of noise, and for me, at least, it was eye-opening. To me, Sparklehorse bridged the gap between Guided By Voices' rough-edged, catchy-as-hell pop and the Flaming Lips' swooning, primary-colored, high-voiced psychedelia -- it was strangely, gorgeously layered, something you could listen to over and over again and hear a new facet of the sound.

I only got to meet Linkous once, and that was by phone, back in 2006. I'm still not sure how I lucked into it, looking back. Some kind soul at his label at the time (Astralwerks) had sent his latest CD, Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain, so I'd emailed them just for the heck of it, to ask if there was any hope in hell of speaking with the guy.

Apparently not realizing how low-rent a publication they were talking to, the label folks set it up, and a few days later, I was calling Linkous at his home in the backwoods of western North Carolina. He was the nicest, most low-key guy, just sort of this apologetic country boy who made music and figured his career was going nowhere fast. He was surprised that people wanted to talk to him, to hear from him again, even though he'd fallen into a deep depression and had essentially walked away from music completely for several years. He was humble and grateful to be making music again.

It broke my heart, honestly. That this guy, who'd helped mold my love of music and showed me noisy, messy stuff could still be beautiful and sweet, would be so uncertain of himself that he figured nobody really wanted to hear it anymore... It was tragic, even then.

But things were on the upswing, it seemed like. He'd collaborated with the soon-to-be household name producer Danger Mouse on Mountain, and they already had plans to do more, which turned into Dark Night of the Soul -- it sounded amazing, but then got mired in legal bullshit and never saw a "real" release. Still, things were going pretty well, at least from my vantage point.

I guess they weren't going so well, though, from where Linkous stood.

Again, I can't claim to've been friends with the guy; all I know is that he and the music he made was pretty damn important to me, and now the music's all that's left. The funny thing is that although I've been listening to his albums over the past couple of days, they don't make me feel sad, not at all. Listening to songs like "Homecoming Queen" and "Gold Day", I can't help but smile.

So here's to you, man. I'm going to choose to celebrate what was and be happy for it. To that end, here're a few of my favorite Sparklehorse tracks:

Sparklehorse - "Hammering The Cramps"
Sparklehorse - "Someday I Will Treat You Good"
Sparklehorse - "Gold Day"
Sparklehorse - "Ghost In The Sky"

(I'm just posting 'em here by way of tribute, btw. If they need to be taken down, just let me know, and I'll remove 'em immediately.)

Labels: Free Stuff, Musical Crap, Random Rambling, Things To Download, Things To Hear

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Yet another cool show in a week crammed ridiculously full of cool shows (have you seen what all's going on this weekend? yeesh...), tonight -- Wed., February 23rd -- is a pretty damn special deal for local '60s-pop re-envisioner Chase Hamblin, who got tapped to open for none other than Texas-bred psych legend and real-live '60s icon Roky Erickson up at The Continental Club.

Now, while I can't claim to be a huge Erickson fan by any stretch of the imagination -- I'm generally fairly ignorant when it comes to most '60s-era psychedelic music, beyond the easy touchstones like Pink Floyd or Hendrix -- I can still recognize that this guy's a freaking giant, and it's amazing to see the man back to releasing new music. I'm especially intrigued by this spring's collaboration between Erickson and fellow Austinites/perennial musical loves of my life Okkervil River, True Love Cast Out All Evil, particularly after hearing/seeing this little taste:

Roky Erickson and Will Sheff of Okkervil River at Toy Joy, Austin TX from Roky Erickson w/ Okkervil River on Vimeo.

(You can snag an MP3 of "Goodbye Sweet Dreams," the song from the video, right on over here. It's quite a haunting little song...)

I shouldn't give short shrift to Chase Hamblin, btw, because he's a hell of a talented guy in his own right. 2009's A Fine Time is a damn good, warm-and-bright (yet actually sneakily bleak, lyrics-wise) EP, well worth checking out. Plus, Chase tells us his next effort's now underway, and promises it'll be less paisley and more roots-rock, now that he's pretty much fully integrated the live band into the recording thing. Keep your eyes out for it, folks.

Last I heard, tickets for tonight are/were still available, so grab 'em now while you can (see the Continental's site for how to do that) -- show starts at 8PM.

Labels: Flyeration, H-Town News, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To Download, Things To Hear, Things To See

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Henry Rollins always seems to me to be pretty much a love-or-hate thing, and I'll freely admit that I fall pretty much on the "love" side of the line. The guy drives my wife nuts -- she's thinks he's a self-important idiot, and yeah, I can get how she thinks that -- but dammit, I find him ridiculously entertaining.

Not the music, so much, I'm afraid; the Rollins Band's always fe lt like warmed-over, not-heavy-enough metal with hardcore vocals, and it was pretty much just "meh" to me. The spoken-word stuff, however, was a major component of my post-collegiate years. Rollins freaking defined my life, at one point, to the extent that I'd quote him annoyingly to anybody & everybody. He was the first Beat Poet (of sorts) I ever truly got into, combining the humorous anecdotes of a smartass comic with the streetwise punk ethic you'd expect from the ex-frontman for Black Flag.

And live, trust me, he is pretty mesmerizing. I saw him perform a decade or so ago at Numbers, and it was funny, endearing, weird, and sarcastically smart, all at the same time. Granted, it's been a while, but I'm guess he hasn't changed his shtick that much...

At any rate, he's playing tonight, Tuesday, February 23rd, up at the House of Blues in downtown -- it's bound to be a bit less intimate than the Numbers show I saw, but I'm betting it'll still be good.

In the meantime, here's some of his stuff; the MP3s are somewhat older, and yeah, they're a little dated, but they still crack me up. I just wish I could find his Ronnie James Dio "Devil Woman" routine somewhere... Here goes:

Henry Rollins - "Airplanes" (The Boxed Life)
Henry Rollins - "Brazil" (Think Tank)

And here're a few videos, for good measure:

Labels: Flyeration, Free Stuff, H-Town News, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To Download, Things To Hear

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Another cool-sounding thing happening tonight (Thurs., Nov. 5th, again), this time for all your musicians & band members & whatnot out there. Seems Martin Atkins (ex-Killing Joke/PiL/Ministry/Pigface) will be holding a "band seminar" tonight from 7-9PM at the AvantGarden, where he'll be talking about, well, the perils of touring.

He's apparently got a book out called Tour:Smart and Break the Band, and from the Website, tonight's deal sounds like it'll be somewhat like the not-too-long-ago BandCamp stuff on the same subject, only with Atkins providing his perspective from years of being on the road with various bands. He promises that if you show up, you'll learn "How to make more money on the road" and "How to get more people to come to your show," both of which are fairly critical things if you play in a band with any aspirations beyond playing to your spouse and her friends twice and year.

It'll be a 90-minute seminar -- which is free, happily -- followed by a 60-minute DJ set -- which costs $5, according to Atkins' site. If you want to check it out, you have to RSVP right here. If you're interested (and hey, band advice for free is never a bad thing, in my book), do it quick, because they'll apparently stop the RSVPing pretty soon...

(Big thanks to Marc over at Houstonist for the tip, btw; I'd have missed this one completely if not for him...)

Labels: Flyeration, Free Stuff, H-Town News, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To Hear

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Got some MP3s I've run across lately that I wanted to mention, esp. since some of 'em are fairly timely for shows tonight & in the near-beyond. I've got a bunch more to post, too, but am on half-time Baby Duty, so this'll have to do for now. Enjoy...

The Jealous Sound - "Priceless (Alternate Version)"
The Jealous Sound - "The Fold Out"
The Jealous Sound - "For Once In Your Life"
Yeah, yeah, I know Sunny Day Real Estate have reformed and are playing tonight (Tues., October 6) up at Warehouse Live, but honestly, the band's never elicited more than a shrug from me -- I love frontman Jeremy Enigk's more baroque, Lewis Carroll-meets-Jeff Mangum solo stuff, but the actual SDRE releases never struck me as living up to the hype.

What I'm more excited about, instead, is the fact that woefully underrated emo heroes The Jealous Sound are opening for 'em. I hadn't even thought the band was still around, so seeing 'em on the bill was pleasant surprise in itself... The band's always represented a lot of the best parts of the whole emo phenomenon, without getting overly weepy and saccharine; they seemed (and still seem) to meld the melodic shy-boy rock of bands like Jimmy Eat World with older, more shoegaze-y stuff like The Jesus & Mary Chain or Slowdive (or maybe the more shiny sci-fi-ish stuff done by labelmates No Knife), and the result's pretty damn majestic.

First track "Priceless" is actually an alternative version of the song found on the band's self-titled debut EP, found only on the excellent (and out-of-print) Heal the Bay comp from a half-decade or so ago. "The Fold Out" is from the Sound's 2003 full-length, Kill Them With Kindness, recently re-released on vinyl by Vinyl Collective, and it's a darn good track, but I couldn't resist including my all-time favorite Jealous Sound track ever-ever-ever, the burst-and-flame echoey roar of "For Once In Your Life," which is one of those songs that makes me sit back and say, "yeah, that's why I liked that whole emo thing, right there."

The Black Crowes - "I Ain't Hiding"
Okay, now this is not what I figured anything from The Black Crowes would ever-ever-ever sound like. (Ever.) I'm not the biggest Crowes fan, I'm afraid -- I respect what they do, but they've never really been my thing, y'know? With "I Ain't Hiding," off new pseudo-double album Before the Frost...Until the Freeze, though, I find myself surprised and impressed. Because this track veers far, far off the country-leaning, bluesy, retro-rock track the band's ridden since its inception, instead coming off as, um, full-in disco.

Yep, you read that right. The track's anchored by a funky, bumping beat that's straight off a Gap Band album, all the while incorporating dirty, raw-sounding guitars that kick the band's old stuff in the ass and send it home early from the party. Imagine The Black Keys playing a disco cover after snorting a hell of a lot of coke. Quite frankly, it's badass, and I don't think I've ever said that about anything I've heard from the band. (Oh, and the band's playing here in town next Wednesday, October 14th, over at the House of Blues.)

Former Ghosts - "Hold On"
Another one for this evening -- weather permitting, Former Ghosts will be playing tonight at The Orange Show ($10). I've never heard much from 'em 'til now, but I know a bit of the band's lineage: it's a pseudo-supergroup that includes both Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu, Freddy Ruppert of This Song Is A Mess But So Am I, & Nika Roza of Zola Jesus (whom, okay, I've never-ever heard of before).

That pedigree would be pretty meaningless, obviously, if the music didn't measure up, and "Hold On," off the band's upcoming full-length Fleurs on Upset The Rhythm. It's rhythmic and dark and hypnotic in a weirdly Suicide-ish way, all distant synths and rumbling, plodding beats, with a keening almost-melody floating alongside Stewart's flat, disaffected vocals. If this one track's any indication, tonight's show should be intriguing, at least...

Labels: Free Stuff, Musical Crap, Things To Do, Things To Download, Things To Hear

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Glad to get some good news from that crew of seemingly ever-dwindling Northside(?) emo/post-emo bands -- female-fronted, light-handed yet majestic emo-rockers While You Were Gone have finally come back out of seclusion. About damn time, y'all.

To be fair, in the intervening time since they released their excellent debut EP, Heavy Lies the Crown -- check the review by yours truly right here -- back in January of last year, vocalist Misty Moore (formerly Gray) and guitarist Anthony Moore got married (aww...congrats, you crazy kids), and they recruited new drummer David Lopez and second guitarist/keyboardist Brad Smith. Guess that requires a bit of retooling, admittedly, and hey, going by what I've heard off new EP Winter/Summer, the wait's worth it.

It's funny, but the band's entire outlook seems to have done a one-eighty since last I heard 'em. The songs on Crown were beautiful but bleak, with tracks like "Thief" and "Sinner" painting a melancholy, downtrodden picture; it was (and is) great stuff, but more suited to sitting in dark rooms pining away and writing poetry.

This time 'round, though, the music's the sound of two people madly, crazily in love, and...um, wow. You can hear the sheer joy rolling out of the speakers on tracks like the story-song "We Were So Young" (wait for the break, folks, because it hits the afterburners in a really incredible way), the delicate, smiling "Winter/Summer", and the roaring, defiant, skyward-aiming "Your Heart Can Hold the Weight of Two."

Musically, the band comes off closer to 1997 territory than they do Pohgoh, or maybe like a less-heavy Veruca Salt -- Misty's voice reminds me of Nina Gordon in a big way -- or less-baroque Eisley. And while I'll have to reserve judgment for when I hear the full EP, I have to say that it sure sounds like the band's fulfilling that promise I talked about last time.

Why'm I talking about this right now, btw? Well, because the band's playing its EP release tomorrow night, Friday, August 28th, out in their hometown 'hood of Humble at Fuel Cyber Cafe.

They're playing with similarly-cool guys Hollywood Black and The Ride Home (who I need to hear more of, by the by; their song "If I'm Robocop, then You...Turn Me Off", from the first Mia Kat Empire comp, bowls me over every time it cycles past on my iPod). Anthem & Why He Hates Becca I dunno, but they're playing too, so check 'em out.

The show starts around 7PM, and it'll cost you $8 -- Northsiders, WYWG fans, and lovers of sweet, earnest, emo-influenced stuff, this is where you should be.

Labels: Flyeration, H-Town News, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To Hear

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I know I've mentioned this before, but hell, I happen to think it's very cool, so I think it's worth re-mentioning. Local musician and all-round cool guy Jason Smith, who plays bass/keys in sweet, flat-out rock band Alkari, also happens to be an architecture nerd, focusing on a particular local H-town architect named William R. Jenkins who built a bunch of (some-still-extant) houses down in the Westbury area.

Jason just finished an actual book on the guy, to boot, entitled High Style in the Suburbs: The Early Modern Houses of William R. Jenkins, published by the Houston Mod group, and tonight marks the official (I think?) launch of the book with a presentation and discussion tonight (Thurs., August 20th) at 6PM at the Downtown Houston Public Library (500 McKinney). The library presentation will be followed by a book signing/reception thing at Architecture Center Houston (315 Capitol), around 7PM. Both "parts" of the evening are free, as far as I know.

I've gotten to take a look at the book, btw, and while I'm not the architecture guru Jason is, I was/am mightily impressed. It's been a bona-fide labor of love for him, and that shows. Makes me want to drive around and check out all of the remaining houses profiled in the book, seriously. If this sounds like your thing, get on over to downtown, eh?

Labels: Arty Shit, H-Town News, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To Hear, Things To Read

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So...who here remembers the Pain Teens? Ridiculously influential, crazy-ass psychedelic, punkish noise band, signed to Trance Syndicate, then broke up a decade later, after like a half-dozen albums and a weird, not-really-into-it dance with the edges of fame? Yeah, them.

Well, ex-Pain Teens/Culturcide/Truth Decay member Ralf, now of Future Blondes, and FB bandmate Kirston have got a new project, After Party, and on a recent tour up to NYC, they happened to convince former Pain Teens frontwoman Bliss Blood to get up on stage with 'em and do some Teens songs. According to Kirston, the NY crowd didn't know what to make of it, but apparently it was pretty badass.

Now After Party are back home, and things are getting even weirder. After the impromptu Pain Teens deal, now it looks like there might be the possibility of a Culturcide reunion, with Dan Workman on board for a show with After Party sometime next month. Keep yr fingers crossed, y'all.

A little closer to now, attendees at tonight's Mango's show with Future Blondes, //TENSE//, and A Thousand Cranes might also luck into an After Party performance. They're not on the official bill, but I've gotten word that it could happen -- sorry for the late-late notice, but show up around 10PM, and you might well win, eh?

Now, as an added bonus, Kirston's gotten SCR some extra-special videos from the After Party/Pain Teens performance in the Big Apple with Ms. Blood. The sound quality's actually pretty good for it being a live-in-the-bar video. For your viewing pleasure...

"My Desire" (Pain Teens)

"Sacrificial Shack" (Pain Teens)

"Goofy's Concern" (Butthole Surfers)

Big, big, big thanks to Kirston for the videos...

Labels: Cool Web Junk, H-Town News, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Things To Hear, Things To See

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Friend Conor has been singing the praises of SF-dwellers Cryptacize for a while now, but I've been slow to come around, I'm afraid.

It's mostly a matter of expectations, I think -- I went into it knowing guitarist Chris Cohen from his work with Deerhoof & The Curtains and singer/guitarist Nedelle Torrisi from her solo, folkier stuff, so I felt a bit blindsided when confronted with Cryptacize's brightly-colored, sunshiny, yet still cracked & quirkily minimalist take on pop. The band makes me think weirdly of Raymond Scott's oddball cartoon soundtracks, but paired with heavily indie-sounding funky bits, weirdly tropical vocals, and Wolfie-esque cheer.

Which is no bad thing, once you can wrap your head around it. These folks now come off to me somewhat like children's music as made by people who don't actually have kids of their own but whom still somewhat live in a childlike world themselves. Check it out:

Cryptacize - "Tail & Mane" (Mythomania)
Cryptacize - "Cosmic Sing Along" (Dig That Treasure)

The band's playing tomorrow, Sunday, June 28th, up at Walter's, alongside local openers Wols & Ghormeh Sabzi -- not real familiar w/either one, sadly, but I've heard excellent, excellent things about both from various folks. Show starts at 9PM, tickets are $8.

(And no, despite the fact that the Cryptacize site says they're playing with Casiotone For The Painfully Alone, per CFTPA's Myspace, that's not the case; sorry...)

Labels: Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To Download, Things To Hear

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We're veering rapidly towards the end of the week and all the work-dodging that entails (not that I'm doing it myself, but y'know), so it seemed appropriate to post some YouTube clips I've seen recently of and/or by local H-town folks...

First is a bit of an afternoon show last weekend at Cactus Music, with Springfield Riots, currently one of my favorite up-and-coming, fuzzy-warm indie-pop acts around town, celebrating the release of their new EP, Say When. Despite the heat inside the store, they put on an impressive show; here's the band doing "Mixtape Melody":

Next up, Jef With One F, co-vocalist for the recently-resurrected crazy pop/theater crew Black Math Experiment, has been hard at work in the intervening time writing the autobiography of the band, tentatively entitled The Bible Spelled Backwards Does Not Change the Fact That You Cannot Kill David Arquette and Other Things I Learned in The Black Math Experiment.

And he's now created a video of the first chapter, with him reading the manuscript over a montage of B&W BME pics, part of which goes like this:

"In one corner, weighing in at a ton-and-a-half of suck, were three nü-metal acts, whose names I have forgotten, for the same reason you never remember the name of your waiter at a restaurant you never intend to return to."

Nice. It's funny and sad at the same time, like a weird, weird cross between Henry Rollins' less off-the-cuff ramblings and David Sedaris. Check out the whole excerpt for yourself:

Then there's the awesomely hysterical video (released a week or so ago) by local power-pop/punkers Something Fierce, for the excellent track "Aliens", off earlier-this-year's There Are No Answers, which is still up on my list of Greatest Things About 2009 So Far.

And the video itself features the punkest fucking pig ever, which automatically makes it rule. The pig gets handed a bacon-burger at Rudz, gets his sand castle kicked over on the Galveston beach, and wanders around the outside of what I think is the Menil. Band frontman/video director Steven Garcia has truly come up with a beautiful, ultra-lo-budget ode to feeling out-of-place and alone and finally finding somebody like you. Do not doubt the power of the pig:

Last but not least, I've been meaning to post something for a while now about a bunch of live videos Kirston Otis from Dead Roses has up on the YouTubes -- he's been taking & slapping up videos of the aforementioned band, obviously, but also Future Blondes & some odd solo performances by FB/DR folks inside a plexiglass box down at the CAM, with more (he promises) to come.

You can check out the full pile here, or watch a sample below, from a noisy, messy Dead Roses gig at Mango's this past May:

Labels: Cool Web Junk, H-Town News, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Things To Hear, Things To See

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Yeah, it's been a while, and the MP3s have been piling, piling, piling up; some are just kinda "eh" to me, but once I get a chance to sift through things, there's always some good stuff to download, like the tracks linked below. I honestly wish I could post more of the stuff we get in the mailbox; sadly, I often don't even have the time to listen to all of it...

Double Dagger - "The Lie/The Truth"
This isn't quite what I was expecting from those Baltimorean Double Dagger guys; for some reason, even after hearing bits & pieces of new album More, I'd had these boys pegged as some kind of broken-amp proto-punk band, but based on this song, I'm way, way off. Rather than being straight-up punk, it's a lot more reminiscent of math-rock/post-rock luminaries like June Of 44 or The For Carnation, mashing spare, bass-heavy (guitar-less, I think?), sideways-leaning almost-melodies with nearly contemptuous, "flat" sing/talking and full-on yelling for a track that comes off less as meditation and more as condemnation. And it works beautifully, for that -- once the drums come crashing down, the Mudhoney-esque fuzz kicks in, and Nolen Strals starts howling out his rage into the mic, my feet can't stop moving and I'm wondering what the heck just happened.

BTW, Double Dagger will also be in town this very evening (Tues., June 23rd), playing at the new-ish Super Happy Fun Land with locals Black Congress (who will fuck your shit up with their roaring, face-punching old-school hardcore and should be seen to be truly comprehended) and Muhammid Ali (whose nicely backwards-looking, sloppy-drunk take on '90s indie-rock noise I'm enjoying quite a bit).

DJ Deckstream feat. Talib Kweli - "Keep In The Pockets (Kero One Remix)"
Okay, so this isn't technically a Talib Kweli track, but hell, he's the one rhyming over Bay Area-based remixer Kero One's gently funky beats, congas, and Santana-esque guitar lines (although, to be fair, I've never heard the original, so I've got no clue what of that's his and what's DJ Deckstream's), so I figure it's appropriate. Not as socially-conscious as I'm used to from Kweli, either, but nobody else but Blackalicious or Kweli's former cohort Mos Def can really do justice to this kind of tongue-twisting flow.

And yes, Kweli will also be in town tonight, playing up at The Meridian all by his lonesome, and I'd highly recommend checking him out -- he's one of the few remaining smart, deep, positive-thinking, non-bitches-&-money rappers out there these days, and more people really, truly need to hear that, I think. Hip-hop does not begin & end with Lil' Wayne, 50 Cent, or Soulja Boy. (Thank God.) Not sure where this track's been released, but I like the other stuff I've heard so far from Ear Drum...

Hungry Villagers - "Tree Full of Ghosts"
This one's been around a while, really -- I picked up a copy of the Hungry Villagers' CD single (which includes "Tree Full of Ghosts" as a B-side to "Little Fingers" -- also a decent song, but not as good as this one) back at the last FPH Block Party, partly because I felt bad for the pair of folks sitting out in the sun at their little booth not seeming to sell many copies of the CD, and now I'm kicking myself for missing the band's actual performance. I was initially a bit leery of these folks, for no real good reason, but this track is flat-out stunning, a deep-voiced, insistent gem of an art-rock song that brings to mind both the Talking Heads & The Arcade Fire and practically gleams with a cool inner light. Plus, it's intriguingly mysterious (why in the hell are all these ghosts infesting this tree, anyway?), and I think there's some kind of Buddhist message buried in there, too. If this is what these guys really sound like, I desperately need more.

Joan of Arc - "Explain Yourselves #2"
I must confess that I've always been fairly ambivalent on Joan of Arc. I tried getting into 'em back when I first discovered The Promise Ring, figuring that if Cap'n Jazz led to one band I liked, it might well lead to another, as well, right? But it just never clicked for me, for some reason; I can't even really explain why, but whenever I heard a track, the best I could do was shrug. With "Explain Yourselves #2", though (from the recently-released album Flowers), there's a nicely jolting drums/congas groove to it that makes me think favorably of Space Needle, some coolly disjointed, half-funky guitars that sound like the guitarist staggered in from the other room just in time to do his thing, and a woozy bed of organ popping in and out at random (and apparently playing a totally different song, at one point), and hell, I'm liking it.

The Rural Alberta Advantage - "Don't Haunt This Place"
With a name that includes the world "rural" and a title like "Don't Haunt This Place," I think I can be forgiven for thinking this track from The Rural Alberta Advantage would be some O Death-y, possibly Okkervil River-y murky rootsiness. Except that no, it's definitely not that. Instead, it's a desperate-sounding, jagged-edged little shard of Brooklyn-esque indie-pop, with awesomely off-beat, skittering drums that drive the whole thing along beneath the pleading, downcast girl/boy duet vocals. (And no offense to Albertans out there, but what would be the advantage to that place? The admittedly little bit I've seen of it makes it look like Texas with more snow...)

Or, The Whale - "Rope Don't Break"
I dunno much of anything about San Francisco-based crew Or, The Whale (the name of which, yes, does include the comma), but this song is a gorgeously melancholy bit of seriously depressed backwoods country-folk, bridging the gap between Low and William Elliott Whitmore. The track lopes along, slow and resigned like a man headed to the gallows for his final dance...which is fitting, since I think is what the song's actually about, a condemned man hoping the hangman's noose is strong enough to end it quick.

Labels: Flyeration, H-Town News, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To Download, Things To Hear

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Another one (er, two) I can't believe I let sneak up on me; I still have yet to see The Paper Chase live, although I've been a fan of John Congleton and his dark, creepy-ass indie-noise-rock for a few years now. They're playing tonight, thankfully, up at Walter's on Washington, along with cool (although more "drunk" than "dark," at least in the first case) local boys Muhammid Ali & sIngs (a band that now includes the awesome Pam Cantu, of Piano Vines fame, which is excellent).

I haven't heard all of the band's latest, Someday This Could All Be Yours (released just last month on Kill Rock Stars), but I've caught tracks here & there that make me think things haven't veered all that far from the disturbing, crashing stomp of crazy-man pianos, vocals that skip from frantic shriek to sugary-sweet melody in a heartbeat, and scraping, Jesus Lizard-y guitars. You can check out the "single" (um, should that word ever apply to a band as out-and-out scary as this) below, "What Should We Do With Your Body (The Lightning)", as well as "We Know Where You Sleep" (off 2006's Now You Are One of Us) and my all-time favorite TPC song ever, "Said the Spider to the Fly" (from 2004's God Bless Your Black Heart). Enjoy:

The Paper Chase - "What Should We Do With Your Body (The Lightning)"
The Paper Chase - "We Know Where You Sleep"
The Paper Chase - "Said the Spider to the Fly"

And hey, just for fun, here's the video for "Said the Spider to the Fly", which I should note in no way matches what I'd always envisioned Congleton as looking like, but which is all the freakier for it...

While I'm at it, I should mention that Steve Earle is playing the Crighton Theatre tonight up in Conroe, for all you north-of-Houston-ians, and per the Houston Press, there are (or were, as of Monday) still tickets available. I caught Earle a few years back at the Houston International Festival, playing songs that were fairly critical of rah-rah über-Americanism and war in general at a time when making statements like that -- particularly in an oil-fueled metropolis like ours, and in front of a crowd primarily composed of boozed-up thirty-/forty-somethings and their spouses -- was a pretty damn brave thing to do, and he was (if you couldn't guess) pretty incredible.

I can't make it out to Conroe this evening, unfortunately, but heck, maybe you can. Here's a teaser, also courtesy of the HP via writer/videographer Craig Hlavaty, from Earle's recent daytime appearance at Cactus; doing "Taneytown", he's looking a bit older and more like my crazy Uncle Bill than he did the last time I saw him, but he still performs like it was the only thing he was ever meant to do. Here goes...

Labels: Flyeration, H-Town News, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To Download, Things To Hear, Things To See

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Okay, so that's stretching it a bit -- the show tonight at the Mucky Duck isn't technically a Trout Fishing In America show. What is is, though, involves the TFIA guys and happens to be pretty cool.

See, TFIA are originally from right here in H-town; bassist Keith Grimwood went to school at U of H and played with the Houston Symphony, while Ezra Idlet apparently went to Lamar High (I think?). Back in the early '70s, Idlet was part of a rootsy/folky rock band called Wheatfield, formed at a Lamar H.S. talent show. The band made its name playing in and around Houston for a few years before legal wrangling over their name caused them to morph into St. Elmo's Fire, and somewhere in there, Grimwood joined the band, as well. St. Elmo's Fire played a few years more, winding up in 1979.

Since then, though, the members of Wheatfield pop back up each year (not sure how long it's been happening, honestly) for an annual reunion show at -- yes, you guessed it -- the Mucky Duck. And that's what's apparently happening tonight, Tues., June 2nd, with both Idlet & Grimwood in attendance. I'm kinda betting they won't be playing any Trout Fishing tunes, but hey, you never know.

I should note, btw, that Trout Fishing's got an actual book out now, based on a character from one of their "kid" songs (although really, I've always had fun at the "kid" shows, myself) & called My Name Is Chicken Joe. It'll include a CD to go along with the book, naturally; you can check out both the book & title song right here:

Anyway, there you go; head over to the Duck & experience some long-gone H-town music scene history...

Labels: H-Town News, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To Hear, Things To Read, Things To See

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Oh, man. After stumbling across Breakfast at Sulimay's recently, I think I just need to quit this reviewing racket; after all, there's no way I could ever possibly top these people, reviewing-wise, so why bother?

I can't tell if Ann is serious or taking the piss with the whole thing -- she likes Young Jeezy? Seriously? -- Bill reminds me of a less-grouchy version of my Irish grandpa, and Joe barely seems conscious about half the time. And yet, they're actually listening and giving a measured, thought-out opinion, which is more than, say, my dad would do. Does their take on Andrew Bird, for example, fly? Yep -- I like the guy, but it is pretty easy-listening, and Joe's digression about a past "whistler" he didn't get into is great.

This is a truly awesome idea, y'all: stick headphones on a crew of septuagenarians in a diner in Philly, force them to listen to snippets of some of the hippest, trendiest music around, and then film 'em. I'm jealous I didn't come up with it myself, I swear, not to mention full of admiration for these folks. Holy crap.

Labels: Cool Web Junk, Entertainobabble, Musical Crap, Things To Hear, Things To See

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Ah, this is why I love checking the P.O. Box -- if nobody's able to get to it for a few days, stuff piles up like mad, & then when we do check, it's like Christmas. And sometimes it's Christmas for other folks (namely, you, good readers of this here site), which is just as cool, except that sometimes it's Christmas and the present for said other folks is waiting to be delivered to its rightful recipient.

So yeah, this is one of those times. Totally out of the blue, we've received a free-free-free, real-live ticket to tomorrow night's (Saturday, May 23rd) Extra Golden show up at Walter's on Washington. And while the show's bound to be mind-blowing -- I've raved about these Kenyan/American popsters before, I know, but what I've heard from the band's latest release, Thank You Very Quickly, is even cooler than 2007's Hera Ma Nono. It's amazing to me that music like this can be so unabashedly cheery and sunshiny, so much so that you can practically hear the wide smiles plastered across band members Ian Eagleson, Onyago Wuod Omari, Opiyo Bilongo, & Alex Minoff's faces.

It's laid-back and earthy, and it flows along like a might-yet-meandering river, sure of its powers but not feeling the need to destroy everything in its path. This release, too, feels less like some kind of sociomusical experiment and more like the four musicians of Extra Golden are now doing it just because they love it. And they've had to persevere through some truly terrifying times lately, given the political situation in Kenya the past year or so; the title track of the album is apparently meant as a from-the-heart expression of gratitude to all the fans of the band who selflessly lent financial support to the band and their families during the unrest. It's beautiful and sunny and warm, with that awesomely "bright" guitar sound that makes me grin no matter what.

Now, with that out of the way, on to the critical part -- if you want the ticket, drop an email at "gaijin" at "spacecityrock dot com" with the Subject line "I Heart Kenya!". To give the inconstant site-watchers a bit of a chance, we'll pick a winner at random from whoever responds within the next hour or so. Here's the catch, though: since there's not enough time to mail it, if you want the ticket, I'm afraid you're going to have to come get it from yours truly, in-person, and I live/work in the general vicinity of the SW side of 610. If you live in Katy, you may be out of luck (unless you're willing to drive in). I'll get with the winner and work out the details.

Before I move on, I feel compelled to say thank you, Mr. Ben Kim of Austin, TX, whoever the heck you are. I've got no clue why you sent us the ticket (fan of the band, maybe?), but it will definitely be put to good use. And, um, if the ticket went to the wrong place...sorry?

Side Note: Opening for Extra Golden tomorrow night will be new-ish local boys Grandfather Child, which started out (I think) as a side-project band of Satin Hooks' Lucas Gorham but has expanded to include local singer/songwriter Robert Ellis, Super Unison honcho/ex-Panic in Detroit(-Smoking Popes!) rocker Ryan Chavez, & the Sideshow Tramps' Geoffrey Muller. Which is a wide-ranging pile of heavy, heavy musical talent, seriously, and it shows on the one track I've heard so far, "Waiting For You" (which is apparently due out in 7" form this July).

It's far, far more soulful and bluesy than I'd guessed it would be, marrying a warbly, distantly Dark Side of the Moon guitar to a deceptively huge Soul Brother Number One-esque voice, gospel backups, and a "Dark End of the Street" melancholy vibe. And holy fuck is it good. If this one song is any indication of how great these folks are (or, at the very least, have the potential to be), you do not want to skip the openers tomorrow night.

Labels: Free Stuff, H-Town News, Musical Crap, Pseudo-Reviews, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To Hear

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Yep, it's the latest installment of the Bandcamp deal this Sunday, May 10th, over in Midtown at the Caroline Collective, and once again it's a damn useful topic for folks in bands & labels & whatnot. They're calling it Bandcamp: COPYRIGHT, and as the name (hopefully) suggests, the focus this time out is on copyrighting & protecting your work. Which may not seem like that big a deal to your band right now, but you never know what can happen -- the Beatles didn't think it was a big deal to hang onto the rights to their songs, and look how un-well that worked out...

This particular Bandcamp will be hosted by Erin Roberts, who works for TALA, Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts, and is an entertainment lawyer besides. Here're some of the topics, from the Caroline Collective site:

• What copyright is
• The rights granted to copyright holders
• How to protect your rights as individuals or groups
• How to copyright your music and why you should/n't
• What types of copyrights are available
• How to license your works Creative Commons

In my experience, most musicians think they understand how stuff like this works, but in reality, they grasp it about as well as they do particle physics. Go check out Bandcamp & help yourself out.

This installment got rescheduled, btw -- I think it was originally slated for somewhere around SXSW -- but on Sunday it'll run from 1-3PM, and it'll be free, as always. Give Mom her Mother's Day present, then bail and head on over to 4820 Caroline...

Labels: Entertainobabble, H-Town News, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To Hear

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I was a diehard Tori Amos fan for several years and a handful of albums, but I'm sad to report that I've drifted away from her work these past half-decade or so -- I'm not actually sure why that was, except that maybe it was a combination of less $$$ to spend on music and a detour towards the heavy stuff I'd mostly steered clear of during college. Still, though, I count Little Earthquakes as one of my prized possessions and repeatedly annoy friends & family by telling them the story of how, the one time I met her, Ms. Amos sang "Jeremy" to me after I told her my name. (Yes, and now I've annoyed you with it, too.)

So, given my time in the wilderness post- roughly Boys For Pele (and yeah, Marc, I still need to watch the DVD you sent), I'm glad some of her music's drifted back into my own little orbit. This time, it's because she's giving away the MP3, ringtone, and video for the song "Maybe California", off soon-to-be-out album Abnormally Attracted to Sin. Go here, put in your info (hey, y'all, ain't a thing completely free, right?), and download away.

Now, for the song itself: yes, it is good. It's melancholy and sweet, although not so much in a typical Amos fashion as in maybe a Sarah McLachlan-esque fashion. It's beautiful and swoon-y and warm-yet-distant, pleading but not in the utterly broken way as the Little Earthquakes tracks; maybe that's the solidity speaking that comes with age speaking, though, where the death of a love doesn't necessarily shatter you like it did when you were a kid. Of course, the fact that the song starts with the narrator trying to talk a woman -- a mother, in fact, which fits nicely with that whole Mother's Day thing that's coming up -- off a ledge shows that maybe the damage still gets done, even if it's a slower collapse.

In the end, it's not about the crash but about the getting-back-up-again. Which, when you think about it, is definitely the important part of the end of a relationship. I dunno if that sends a weird message for Mother's Day or what, but hell, it's still a good song.

Labels: Free Stuff, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Things To Download, Things To Hear

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For a while now, I've been passing around mix CDs of music made by Houston-based bands & musicians, forcing the CDs on friends & family with the manic, "why don't you all understand?" zeal of a fresh-faced missionary kid knocking on apartment complex doors at 9AM on a Saturday so he can spread The Good Word. (Except that in my case, obviously, the salvation I'm selling is musical; come to think of it, though, there is a spiritual side to that, but eh...)

The reactions I've received range from "what the fuck is this shit?" to "if they're not on the radio, they must not be very good" (and no, I'm not making that one up, although I wish I was) to "holy crap, this is great!" I've learned a few things about people, been surprised at how bland and unthinking some people's musical tastes are, and made a handful of converts. When somebody joins the fold, even temporarily (meaning that they're probably not going to run out and buy their own copy of News on the March's debut EP once they've listened to all of my copy), it brightens my day, seriously.

Of course, more ears are (almost always) better, so I've been trying to figure out a way to do something with this here Space City Rock site to make my little mixes available to all who feel like listening. Some might recall the Muxtape thing from a while back -- it was/is a handy little Web-based interface that let you upload whatever songs you felt like uploading and just sending people to a handy link to listen (i.e., spacecityrock.muxtape.com). Sadly, though, the musical-enjoyment-destroying evil overlords at the RIAA stepped in and whacked the Muxtape site down, hard, and the old SCR muxtape died a too-early death.

Muxtape is back up now, btw, although my muxtape and account are dead & gone -- thanks to the RIAA's machinations, the site's creators had to scrap their initial idea and instead retool the site to be more of a promotional tool for bands & indie-ish record labels to put their own stuff (meaning, "stuff they own") up on the muxtapes. Kind of like what sites like Purevolume (and others, although I'm blanking on which ones) have already done for a while now. Dang.

Never fear, though, because we've already bid our farewells to that endeavor and moved on to an open-source deal called Opentape, which has a very similar interface but is installed on your (er, our) own server. You can check it out at its very own URL: opentape.spacecityrock.com. I haven't yet tried to customize it much, although I may at some point later on if I'm feeling industrious -- the app's front-end is apparently pretty flexible.

Plus, the app lets you create a cool little player within other Web pages, which is something I've wanted to do for a looooong time (esp. now that The Skyline Network's down & has taken its cool player with it):

So there you go -- I'll be adding (and probably removing) songs to it sporadically, so check on back & see what's new. I'll most likely be sticking w/newer stuff for the moment, but may throw on some scene-oldies every once in a while. Anything that goes up there is stuff that I think is particularly cool, song-wise, and shouldm't be taken as the be-all and end-all of what's good in Houston music, so if you're in a band and you don't see a song of yours on there, please don't take offense. Odds are I'll put a song of yours up there one of these days. (Assuming you're any good, of course.)

On the flipside, like I said way back when with the muxtape thing: if you happen to be in a band whose song(s) I've got on the mixtape, and you don't want to be on there for whatever reason, just email me at "gaijin" at "spacecityrock dot com" and I'll get it off there asap. I don't want to get on the wrong end of anybody's lawyer or (more likely) get punched in the face by anybody the next time I hit the bars...

Labels: Admin Stuff, H-Town News, Musical Crap, Random Rambling, Things To Hear

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Just wanted to give a quick shout-out to SCR homey and longtime contributor Marc Hirsh, who in addition to being an all-round great writer and reviewer, killer foursquare player, and funny guy, is currently on the air on NPR's "Here & Now".

He's talking about his latest project, exposing the "Sensitive Female Chord Progression", the chord structure that underpins a ridiculous number of sensitive-sounding, women-and-guitars (or pianos) songs floating around out there in the ether. If you're missing it, tune in now via the NPR site -- host Robin Young is actually making Marc sing Joan Osborne's "One of Us" over the songs she's playing as examples, and it's absolutely priceless. Good on you, man.

Labels: Funny Shit, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Radio Things, Things To Hear

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I know, I know -- spent the last two days running around like a chicken with my head cut off, for reasons I'll hopefully enumerate soon in another post, and so I've been slacking big-time on writing up the good shit going on this weekend. And yeah, there's a ton of it (hell, that almost seems like a cliché, these days; the weekends where there aren't a half-dozen shows I'd like to see are few & far between, lately). Here goes...

Sat., February 14:
The McKenzies (CD release)/The Tontons/The Mathletes/Built By Snow @ Walter's on Washington ($10)
Yep, yep, and yep. If you're at all into the absolutely-crazy-good crew of young, wild, destined-for-greatness (if there's any justice at all, that is) pop-loving bands in this city, well, you're probably already here. If you're not, however, you're truly, truly missing out -- sadly, I have yet to hear The McKenzies' new CD, but I've seen them live a few times now and have been mightily impressed by their hard-charging, hook-laden indie-pop. Plus, there's also The Tontons, who marry psych to soul in ways I've never, ever heard before, The Mathletes, who honestly write some of the best pure, sweet, strange pop songs I've encountered. In terms of out-of-town talent, there's Built By Snow (who I keep wanting to call Built to Spill; sorry!), an Austin-based bunch who play good-hearted, catchy pop reminiscent of Say Hi or anything Dntel's involved in. My top pick of the night -- but hurry, 'cause I think the festivities started at 8PM. Oh, and grab a free copy of the McKenzies' new CD on your way in...

Heartless Bastards/Three Fantastic @ Last Concert Cafe
Almost missed this one entirely, which is sad, because I'm really enjoying what I've heard of the Heartless Bastards rough-edged, Pixies-gone-country thing; their latest, The Mountain, is pretty damn good, imho. And local(?) boys Three Fantastic make some truly freaky and unique pop. If you're not at #1, above, I'd aim for #2 -- 8PM, again, but get on over there, eh?

Dropdead/Hatred Surge/P.L.F./Rusted Shut/Dissent/Battle Rifle/N.I.B.I.R.U. @ T.M.M.C. Clubhouse (2305 Lyons; $5, 8PM)
If you like loud, raw shit, this is where you're already at, probably drunk off your ass and half-deaf. Awesome...

My Bloody Bunny Camp, featuring Fat Tony, You(Genious), Dee Rail, iPod Ammo, Young Squaddy, & Cornbreadd @ The Usual (5519 Allen St.)
The Boxing Lesson/The Calm Blue Sea @ Rudyard's
GRRRL PARTS @ The Mink

Sun., February 15:
Maggie Nicols/Fred Frith/Susan Alcorn @ DiverseWorks (8PM)
Yeah, I've already blathered about this one, so go here for the full deal -- or just take my word that it's gonna be extremely strange and interesting, at the very least...

Benefit for Diunna Greenleaf, featuring IJ Gosey and the Supremes, Faye Robinson, Texas Johnny Brown & the Quality Blues Band, Tha Lady D, Larry Guy, Annette Metoyer, Oscar O'Bear, Mene Gene Kelton, Diunna Greenleaf, & more @ The Big Easy
The best of good causes, seriously. A lot of musicians, even those that've been around a long time like Ms. Greenleaf, don't have medical insurance, and in our stupidly anti-"socialism" country, that can mean that one bad illness or surgery can break the bank. Help her out -- and hey, enjoy some of the best blues musicians in town while you're doing it.

Citizen Cope/Alice Smith @ House of Blues
Yeah, I'll admit it -- I'm recommending this one on the basis of one damn song, "Son's Gonna Rise," that I heard totally by accident somewhere. It's funky, cool, and desperate, all at the same time.

American Fangs/The Last Place You Look/Consider The Source @ The Scout Bar (Clear Lake; free)
And for those willing to make a bit of a drive, there's this one, down in Clear Lake -- The Last Place You Look are pretty interesting, although I'm still making my mind up (just got their latest CD in today; no chance to listen yet...), and Consider The Source I dunno at all, but American Fangs...whoa. I've heard a couple of the songs off their new EP, and they're honestly fucking awesome -- ballsy, hard-but-not-metal, sneering rawk that blows my mind, like the Foo Fighters with an injection of nasty trucker meth ("Le Kick," in particular). I need to hear more of these guys, seriously.

Stay tuned for more...

Labels: Charitable Things, H-Town News, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To Hear

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This illness thing has me way, way behind -- I'm still pissed that I missed this Tuesday's reportedly-excellent Loney, Dear/News on the March/Alkari show, not to mention the fact that I totally blanked on awesome post-hardcore guys A Wilhelm Scream coming to the Javajazz. Argh.

But dammit, I am determined -- I won't be in much shape to go to the actual show, but I didn't want to miss posting about this & letting other, less-ailing folks know... As if you didn't have enough to do today, tonight (Thursday, February 12th, for the calendar-less) is Woozyhelmet frontman/urban landscape re-envisionist Jay Crossley's CD release party for his very own solo CD, Tiny Diamonds, over at the hub of Montrose life, aka Rudyard's.

The show'll also feature badass nouveau-garage-rockers Giant Princess and Austinite David Israel, about whom I know zero, sorry, other than he's Crossley's partner in his Soda Pop Sounds label venture... It's supposed to kick off at 9PM or so, and the $6 cover gets you in and gets you a copy of the new CD, which is a trend I'm loving with recent CD-release shows, I have to say (although be warned: there're only 100 copies available at the show). Jay goes on first, followed by David & then those crazy Pasadena boys. Sounds like a badass combination, to me.

Tiny Diamonds, by the way, is pretty damn cool -- well worth those $6. Crossley definitely put the award he got from the Anthony Foundation this last year to good use... The music's a bit different from the full-band sound of Woozyhelmet; Crossley (who's going by simply "Jay" for this release) sounds more vulnerable and uncertain, occasionally trying to cram a lot of words into a small space in the music, and the sound's much folkier, more rambling and loose and shaggy 'round the edges. The album deepens the resemblance to Modest Mouse that's occasionally evident on Woozyhelmet's albums, but Jay makes things his own quite nicely, achieving a feel with the whole thing of a friendly bunch of folks hanging out and playing music together.

If you want a glimpse of what Diamonds sounds like, check out the tracks below -- the first is wonderfully gentle and delicate, a little akin to the Secret Stars, and the second's more rocking, almost in a Silver Scooter vein:

"All the Things"
"Night Rider (as in horses)"

To top it all off, the show is also a fundraiser for a coalition of like-minded indie folks of which Crossley's a part, the 1 Day 1 Hour Coalition, which is planning a bunch of day shows during SXSW called Human Party Virus 09. Check the flyer over there for the details on that; I'll hopefully be posting a bit more soon on all those H-towners working their asses off to set up stuff around SouthBy, so keep an eye out.

'Til then, though, get on up to Rudz tonight and drink a Jameson's for my sick self.

Labels: H-Town News, Musical Crap, Pseudo-Reviews, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To Download, Things To Hear

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Many, many, many moons ago, when this wee ezine was but a shade of its present self, the Internet was in its infancy, ska bands drew crowds of hundreds of kids to Fitzgerald's, and a Democrat was in the White House (oh, wait...), I got sent a CD out of the blue by a pair of Bay Area-dwelling guys, Bob Wall and Ruel Russell, who called themselves Bone Simple. They'd each been in a couple of ska bands around Houston, notably St. Vitus Dance and Slow Children, and they'd recorded the whole thing in their little Analgesic Records (now Sound of Wall) home studio, just them and a bunch of friends -- which may not sound like that big a deal these days, but back then it was kind of an anomaly to hear something nicely-recorded/-produced that wasn't backed by Justice Records and/or recorded at Sugar Hill.

At any rate, I was skeptical when I checked out their debut disc, Tastes Like Chicken; more of the ska-punk that was drowning the city at the time, right? Thankfully not. Tastes Like Chicken, instead, was this crazy blend of Third Wave-style ska (think Bim Skala Bim, in particular), loopy, jazzy funk (a fair amount of Sprawl influence on a few songs), and manic/quirky pop-rock. The musicianship was drum-tight like these folks had been playing together for years (they had), the vocals were smoke-scratched and real like Dicky Barrett wishes his could be, and best of all, it was catchy as all hell. I flat-out loved it. I reviewed it for the very first issue of the print incarnation of this thing, promoted Bone Simple as much as humanly possible to friends & family, sent glowing emails to Bob & Ruel, attempted to distro the CD through me & homey Josh's half-assed little record label (I, uh, may still have several dozen copies stashed somewhere, come to think of it...), and crossed my fingers and waited for them to get huge, at least locally.

Unfortunately, no dice. I dunno whether it was bad timing -- the ska wave was just about cresting here at the time -- the odd juxtaposition of styles, the fact that they couldn't play live much (having jobs & families & all that), but the acclaim just missed 'em. For years afterwards I just shook my head in bewilderment, unable to comprehend that nobody really got it, y'know? Ska faded, and so did my hopes for the band being loved by all.

The B.S. guys weren't content to just let things lie, of course; they moved on, putting out two more albums over the next several years, Skinny Atlas and the lukewarm-ish What Was Her Name? (I reviewed the former but was swamped for the latter, so I had to hand it off, sorry...), before calling it a day officially a few years back. Not sure what Ruel's up to these days, but Bob's done the solo singer/songwriter thing for a while and relatively recently pulled together a new band, The Grangers, that sound pretty interesting (not in any kind of ska vein, mind you).

I'll admit that while it was in heavy rotation for a long-ass time, I haven't listened to Tastes Like Chicken in years. So, when I got an email from Bob saying he'd slapped a bunch of those old Bone Simple tracks up on his site, I felt a weird kind of nostalgia -- "hey, I remember those..." And believe it or not, the intervening years hasn't touched the brilliance of tracks like "Shameless Shadows and Tears", "Ones and Zeroes", "Sometimes Tender Kisses Are the Best", and "Just a Rude Boy".

Check 'em all out here. Enjoy...

Labels: Things To Hear

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At least, I will be tomorrow (Fri., January 30th), if all goes according to plan -- not fumbling around on a guitar or anything, don't worry, but just chatting and shooting the shit with the guys of "The Revelry Report" show up at KTRU (91.7FM, in case you live under a rock). Matthew of TRR, who's also one of the geniuses behind the BandCamp thing and the Caroline Collective, was kind enough to invite me on, so from 6PM 'til, um, I have no idea (7PM?) I'll be hanging out up at the KTRU studios.

Which is a little weird to think about, since I used to DJ there back in my misspent youth. It's been a loooong time since then, though, and I'm already getting these freaky butterflies about my mumble-mouthed yammering being broadcast for the whole Houston metro area to hear. And no, I've got no clue what the heck we'll be talking about -- just planning to go with the flow. Tune in, laugh at my nervous ass, and possibly hear something quasi-informative and music-related. Maybe.

Labels: H-Town News, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Radio Things, Things To Hear

gaijin || Link || E-mail || 2 comments

Ah, record labels. They can be a lot of fun, as somebody who's run one; who doesn't like the thought of putting music you love by musicians you love on a slab of vinyl or a plastic disc or a cassette tape? Of course, there's the flipside, where you learn it's real easy to bankrupt yourself, you discover that dealing with distributors is a ridiculous pain in the ass, you end up with shitloads of loverly vinyl/tapes/whatever nobody (not even your parents) want to buy, and you feel like the work is never-freakin'-ending.

In the end, though, it can still be a very cool thing. Look at John Sears' Grey Ghost label, for instance -- the guy puts out ultra-ultra-limited editions of only stuff he loves, makes a cool product in the process, and does both all without (I'm guessin, anyway) breaking the bank, although I doubt he makes a ton of money. Labels like that are less about the cash flow and more about love of the music & the medium.

I think that's what's driving H-town's newest fledgling tape label, too -- no idea on the name yet, but Ben Murphy, longtime scene fixture and talented-as-heck musician guy, has thrown his hat in the ring. It sounds like he's got some cool stuff in mind (re-releases of long-lost Pop Deflation stuff, perhaps? please?), but the first thing in the pipe is a neat-sounding tribute to Sebadoh.

Heck, I'll let him lay it all out; here goes:

you can blame beau and john sears for this one. unbeknown to either of them they inspired me to start a little cassette only label.

i have fond memories of home recording in the early 90s on cassette 4 track and endless hours carefully crafting mixtapes for friends and girls highschool-me was enamored with. the whole venture is designed for aging 80s/90s indie rockers like myself who want a little of that nostalgia back. i'm also looking at a free download code system similar to what you find on a lot of new vinyl so anyone who purchases a cassette can get a one time digital download of the tracks in mp3 form also. let's face it, while the novalty/nostalgia and general dorky fun of cassettes is appealing you're probably not gunna want to carry you sony walkman around everywhere with you and unless you drive an old toyota pickup like me you probably don't have a tape deck in yr car. with the download you have all the tunes in a handy format to add to your ipod or burn a cd from! and perhaps more importantly, these cassettes (including the free download) will be CHEAP!

well my plan is to start out of the gates with a handful of releases including ancient demos and home recordings by several of your favorite houston musicians. in addition to potential releases by houston indie rockers you know and love one project i really want to do is a sebadoh tribute mix tape.

sebadoh was a hugely influential band for me. listening to weed forestin' was a world shattering experience for me. much like when some folks first heard the ramones, sonic youth or velvet underground, sebadoh completely changed the game for me. all of a sudden i thought "hey, i have a 4 track! if they can do it, so can i!" for me they made music something that i could be a part of. it was no longer this mysterious unattainable thing only rockstars could do. anyone could get a cassette deck and a cheap microphone and make their own recordings.

so in that spirit, i'm looking for tracks of people covering their favorite sebadoh songs. if you have any interest in being a part of something like this feel free to shoot me an email at: "iplayguitarlikearobot" at "gmail dot com"

i'm asking that if at all possible everyone submit two different songs. i'd like to include as many different artists as possible but i will be selecting only one version of any given title. so the more songs you do, the better your chances of not having to compete with someone else for you favorite track.

you can record you songs in any format you like. it does not have to be lo-fi/cassette/4-track. you can record on yr laptop, on 24 track 2" tape, in yr basement, garage or at a professional studio! i don't care how it was recorded, if your version of your favorite sebadoh jam totally rules me i'm putting it on the comp!

again, if you have any questions regarding any detail of the project please shoot me an email at "iplayguitarlikearobot" at "gmail dot com"

Odds are, whatever comes out of this is gonna be good...

Labels: H-Town News, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Record Labels, Things To Do, Things To Hear

gaijin || Link || E-mail || 0 comments

Enjoyed posting about the last few piles of MP3s & whatnot back in December, and since we've got an assload of stuff flying by, I figured to take a crack at a handful of the cooler free bits o' music that've flowed through the inbox lately.

Funeral Party - "Carwars" (The Bootleg EP)
It's easy to dismiss electro-pop revivalists like Funeral Party as just rehashers of stuff that's been done before. I mean, the music itself sounds fairly Radio 4-inspired, although since those guys pretty much ripped off every quasi-funky '80s dance-pop band, that doesn't narrow things down much. Then there's the resemblance to The Rapture, particularly in terms of the funky percussion (which I'm really digging) and the band's crazy energy. By the end of the track, I find my feet going berserk next to the desk, doing some kind of white-boy shuffle, and while I've got no idea what the hell the song's about, I don't care. Rehashers they may be, but the energy is mind-blowing, and sometimes that's all that really matters.

Marissa Nadler - "River Of Dirt" (Little Hells)
Whoa. I'd heard Marissa Nadler before, but it just sort of drifted past me w/o making much of an impact, I have to admit. This time, though, the gentle, high-lonesome swoop of this gorgeous song grabbed me and refused to let go. Nadler sounds like a more-folky, less-blues-belting Neko Case, singing over a dusty, more melancholy than menacing alternate-universe version of the Cowboy Junkies' "Seven Years." Now I feel like I need to wipe the grit and sweat of the open road from my face...

Reigns - "Everything Beyond These Walls Has Been Razed" (The House On The Causeway)
This one was a bit out of left field, as well. Reigns is murky and dark and sinister-sounding, but not in an overblown, Marilyn Manson-esque way; it's more like a stern, mysterious warning from a wiser person to a curious child in some near-future wasteland. Vocally, I keep thinking of fellow Brits The Beta Band's less-cheery moments (see "Dr. Baker"), mostly because the vocalist has that totally flat, nearly emotionless thing going but still manages to convey the depth of feeling, even still.

Labels: Musical Crap, Pseudo-Reviews, Things To Download, Things To Hear

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A good one tonight up at Walter's on Washington -- Austinites Followed By Static will be playing, as will fellow out-of-townies (Dallasians) Nervous Curtains and very, very, very cool local folks Antarctica Starts Here. Beyond the fact that I'm extremely happy to see ASH playing once more (it seemed like there was a quiet period there for a while, although it may just be my short-term memory loss), I'm intrigued by what I've heard so far by FBS; noisy, sideways indie-rock that kinda worms its way into your head whether you want it there or not.

But hey, tonight you don't need to just take my word for it -- you can check out the brand-spankin'-new review of the band's Demo*lition EP, courtesy of very talented SCR contributor Marianne. She does a better job of describing the thing than I do, I think, especially in my current addled state, so read away.

Oh, and I dunno much about Nervous Curtains, sadly, except that it's apparently the brainchild of one of the members of The Paper Chase, whom I seriously love (my Myspace-listening time has been cut short lately due to large piles of actual work), but you really, really, really need to get up there early to see Antarctica Starts Here. Soul-crushing/uplifting spacegazery that drifts you off to cool (and often very sad) places you'd likely never see otherwise. Good shit -- download a bunch of their stuff for free here and bliss out. Show time's listed as 8PM, no clue what the cover'll be...

Labels: H-Town News, Musical Crap, Reviews, Things To Do, Things To Download, Things To Hear

gaijin || Link || E-mail || 0 comments

No, it's not what you think -- it's just that the HandStamp folks broke the news that local old-school country diva Miss Leslie, who's utterly phenomenal, is giving away autographed copies of her 2008 album, Between the Whiskey and the Wine to anybody who sends her their email addy (to be put on her mailing list, natch). (Thanks, Joey & Sara!)

Check either her website or Myspace page for details, then get to sending. While I sadly have yet to hear Whiskey (yeah, I put my addy in, too), I've seen her and her Juke-Jointers live a couple of times now, and they're awesome. She's one of the few musicians I can willingly drag my Patsy Cline-loving wife out to see, which should say something about how good she is (the only other people The Wife'll leave the house for, these days, are Okkervil River or Sharon Jones).

Of course, you can always check Miss Leslie and the Juke-Jointers out live and in-person -- they'll be playing this coming Friday, January 9th at someplace I've never heard of called Aubrey's (774 West Gulf Bank Rd.), starting at 9PM. Good, old-fashioned, classic-yet-unique country; you won't be sorry, trust me.

Labels: H-Town News, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Things To Get, Things To Hear

gaijin || Link || E-mail || 3 comments

We're not an MP3 blog. Nope -- I'd never claim SCR to be one of those blogs that breaks/hypes new bands by posting new tracks and whatnot; it's just not what we do, really. I mean, I'm not against posting MP3s we like by bands we like, but honestly, there just aren't enough hours in the day to cover all the music that's out there & compete with the likes of It's Hard to Find a Friend, Gorilla vs. Bear, or Brooklyn Vegan. Those folks post so much music it makes my head swim.

That said, we do get a shitload of music handed to us in electronic format here at the e-zine/blog thingy, and we rarely have a chance to listen to much of it in the course of our music-loving lives. Which is pretty damn near criminal, really; I feel the same way about not getting to listen to & write about music that my wife feels about Borders coupons expiring before she gets a chance to use 'em.

So here goes; here's a smattering of things I've managed to check out recently, both Christmas-y & non-, that I really ended up liking. Merry freakin' Christmas, y'all.

Sherwood - "Snowing In Seattle"
C'mon, I had to. It's just so goddamn appropriate, I couldn't pass it up, y'know? Besides, it's a catchy as hell song, poignant and pretty while remaining non-cheeseball (to my ears, anyway). Plus, it's got a great driving rhythm, like Death Cab at their urgent, impassioned best.

65daysofstatic - "I'm Dreaming of a White Noise Christmas"
This is probably going to sound bad, but this is honestly the first thing I've heard by these folks that's really grabbed me. Other tracks have drifted past, and they weren't bad, but they just didn't get me, y'know? I utterly love the fucked-up-ness of this one, the exploding-speakers, breakbeats, and overdriven guitars; it's like Broken Social Scene if they slathered themselves in melted-down copies of Jesus & Mary Chain records before playing. And then recorded a Christmas song, obviously.

Philip Foshée - "Warm in Texas (Christmas Song)"
Yep, a local boy, but not like that last batch, since Foshée's actually still working his art right here, right now in Smog City. The track's sweet and bitter and lonely, just perfect for all those sad bastards out there who aren't where the ones they want to be with are. I've been there, man. I spent NYE of 2000 feeling lonely & envious of that cute, funny girl I worked with, wishing I was off with her in England, whooping it up by the London Eye and falling in love. (Little did I know that she spent New Year's in the hospital, a bad migraine having been somehow diagnosed as meningitis. It was funny later on, trust me.)

Blitzen Trapper - "Christmas Is Coming Soon"
Low-key and gentle and night-like; I love the understatedness of this. It fits perfectly with the quiet, night-before-Christmas vibe I'm feeling right now.

Cyndi Lauper & The Hives - "A Christmas Duel"
Bizarre, campy, and funny as hell. This is probably the best musical Christmas brawl I've heard since The Pogues' "Fairytale of New York." And yes, I'm pretty sure Ms. Lauper did just proudly boast about going down on her partner's mom. Hoo-ah.

[And now for some non-explicitly Christmas-y stuff:]

P.O.S. - "Goodbye"
I'm happy as hell to see P.O.S. back again for Round 3, even if this release doesn't come off as raw and heavy as anything off Audition -- for some reason, this one comes off like Eminem, complete with Dr. Dré production. And it still works. Damn.

Elizabeth Willis - "In Your Eyes"
Nope, not the Peter Gabriel song, but a tough, raw-voiced bit of bluesy, melancholy piano-rock that'd kick Billy Joel's piano man ass if it had the opportunity.

Broadfield Marchers - "Amazing Wheels"
This one sure caught me off-guard; gorgeous and lush and poppy, like The Byrds gone all British and Kinks-y, and it's great.

Lady Sovereign - "I Got You Dancing"
To be blunt about it, this new track showcases the side of Lady Sov that's not my favorite; it's more M.I.A.-esque dancefloor banger than truly grimey Brit-hop. That said, there's something oddly alluring about the funky electronics and "whoo!" vocals. And yeah, I kinda like the freaky Warriors-esque video, I'll admit it.

That's it for now -- I'm off to fill The Munchkin's stocking...

Labels: Cool Web Junk, Entertainobabble, Musical Crap, Things To Download, Things To Hear

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