hendrix action painting

the only non-snazz aspect of the new hendrix-at-monterey dvd is it omits this sequence which opened the old vhs version (necessary 'cos d.a. pennebaker dropped his camera while jimi was playing "can you see me"). i'll bet that elephant from sat'day's post _wishes_ he could sling paint this fast.

the damned

hadn't thought about the damned in awhile until teague mentioned 'em last night. not only did rat scabies and captain sensible have two of the best monikers to come out of the whole brit punk movement, but these guys actually released the first u.k. punk album and were the first of the class of '76 to tour the states. i liked 'em better once the good captain had switched from gtr to bass for their '79 machine gun etiquette alb, whence these songs come.

sample press redux

sample press, the little fanzine that could, is back as an online entity. check 'em out, why doncha.

further proof (as if more were needed) vinyl rools

marcus lawyer sez the new top secret rekkid (currently in process) will be released on three vinyl 7-inches. yeah! (note to self: remember when 7-inches usedta play at 45 rpm and you needed an adapter to play 'em? oh, nevermind.)

apology

i.
remembering the time
i got too shithammered to play a stoogeshow
on too many shots of whiskey

waking up in my car in a pile of vomit
with "funhouse" playing in my head
wondering "did we play?"

walking around my 'hood
in the piss-pouring rain
looking for my sweetie

having my quadrophenia moment
in the middle of the athletic field
at stripling middle school

i realized that all my fights with her
and most of the dumbest shit i've done in life
have been while i was drankin' whiskey

so bye-bye john barleycorn
i've had enough of being
my own worst goddamn enemy

ii.
listened to the cd's they played
at my cousin's funeral
back in february

she had a big life --
was on the radio in d.c.
and fronted a coupla r&b showbands

her hometown newspaper in jersey interviewed her
when she was in high school
and she wound up doing pert near everything she'd planned

i cried when i heard the song
about her ma and how my uncle accepted her
even tho she wasn't his

she cut it in nashville
i usually don't go for songs like that,
but i knew it was about her true life

i couldn't help wishing
that my big sis 'n' i had been more welcoming
when she came from germany in '67

she was a little blonde-haired angel
and all we could think of back then
was that she was "stealing" our favorite uncle

iii.
back when charles buxton brought me here
to open a rekkid store at 6393 camp bowie
thirty years ago this september

there was an old fella that worked with us
who came from kansas city
and had been a jazz drummer back in the day

i was so fucking mean to that cat
made fun of him behind his back
and called him "boring old man"

now that i'm a lot closer to being
who he was
than the stupid boy i was then

i wish that i'd had the humanity
to have been
just a little bit kinder

if you say you've got no regrets
chances are
that you're just not thinking hard enough

mahler: the cycle continues

so the fort worth symphony's mahler cycle will continue this summer with three performances, august 22-24: symphony no. 6 ("tragic") on the 22nd, no. 7 on the 23rd, and no. 2 ("resurrection") on the 24th. to paraphrase the fwso muso who pulled my sweetie's coat to this, "as angsty as mahler is, you know when he calls something 'tragic,' he ain't just whistlin'," so that's the one we be goin' to (once single tixxx go on sale in late july).

dengue fever/ph7 @ lola's

first of all, the sound: andre edmonson's been busy upgrading things and sonically speaking, 'twas a huge improvement over the last time we were at lola's -- lots more punch and definition. we walked in late on pablo's set and were amazed at the clarity of the bass and vocals (love those four-part harmonies). you could actually imagine katboy purring during their set. ph7 sounded _massive_, and all credit to andre.

'twas also nice to see all the cambodian (?) kids who came out to see dengue fever. i told calvin abucejo, "it's nice that you 'n' i aren't the only asians here for once."

dengue fever actually asked dre to take off the cambodian rocks cd i'd burned for him, "because we play some of these songs!" watching them set up, we were admiring zac holtzman's jazzmaster, and teague correctly identified senon williams' bass as an ampeg ("i love the headstocks on those!"). once chhom nimol took the stage and opened her mouth, though, she was _the show_ -- what pipes! it's actually an advantage not to understand any of the khmer lyrics she sings -- the better to focus on _that sound_. chhom was a big star in cambodia, even singing for the king and queen, but she handles herself onstage with an engaging humility. (teague: "these guys must have _shit their pants_ when they found her!")

my sweetie was shooting pics throughout their set and will post some on her photo blog later today. she noted that when senon got on his knees, he was about as tall as chhom. he and zac also did some nice synchronized dance steps, which reminded me of r&b bands i've played in and made me wish more bands would do silly fun bullshit like that. zac has a real light touch (especially after watching sir steffin rip it up with pablo earlier), but he gets that spacy cambodian surf-psych sound just right. (and yeah, it _was_ these guys playing mulatu astatke's music on the broken flowers soundtrack.)

a great crowd, too -- i told teague, "sunday is the new saturday!" people were into it but not as many were dancing as i'd a thought. oh well. my sweetie bought me a t-shirt that i'm gonna wear when the stoogeband plays at fred's for the fort worth burrito project benefit this saturday. and i got chhom to autograph their setlist. yeah!

al jaffee

before creem, there was mad. the irreverent humor mag's best days were prolly back in the '50s, but even when i usedta read it in the '60s and '70s, al jaffee's fold-ins featured political commentary as astute as any straight journal, as this ny times feature reveals.

r.i.p. dith pran

when we're watching dengue fever tonight, i'll also be pondering the life of dith pran, the cambodian journo whose experiences under the murderous khmer rouge regime formed the basis for the movie the killing fields. dith left the planet sunday, following a struggle with pancreatic cancer. the khmer rouge slaughtered between a quarter and a third of cambodia's population, depending on whose accounting you believe, including most of the musos who created the "cambodian rocks" style that dengue fever's sound pays homage to.

paul simonon paints

good piece from the guardian on the ex-clash bassplayer, who has an art exhibition opening in london.

more electric miles

dig pete cosey on gtr, live in vienna '73. observe his arsenal of axes, all in different tunings.

gallery night at studio 5

after my sweetie spent most of the day at, um, the gaylord texan discharging her duties as an obama delegate, we headed to jesse sierra hernandez's new spot for gallery night festivities. jesse had four new pieces on display, including one he'd finished just a few hours earlier. to my eyes, the politically-themed now swim back (inspahrd by anti-immigration legislation in farmer's branch) was _the one_ -- rich in detail, bursting out with life, the expressions on its figures speaking volumes. the betrayal of christ (after caravaggio) updated the italian master's example to carry an iraq war theme, with a christ figure based on jesse's cohort in crime, photog christopher blay. chris had new photo assemblages on display, as well as an interactive time machine that i might have tried if i'd had the $5 to cover the cost of the ride. after digging the art, lotsa folks we know headed off to see either shotgun messenger at the aardvark or ph7/darth vato downstairs at competition music, but we headed back for la casa to rest up for the big day tom'w (gardening and work respectively before dengue fever/ph7 at lola's in the evening time).

the curse of the showboating drummer

...is universal; even in korea.

self-portrait w/flower

pert darn amazing, this. altho my cat claims the elephant was prompted using CAT IMAGINATRON(R).

SLC Punks/Arts Goggle

In a country of lost souls rebellion comes hard. But in a religiously oppressive city, where half its population isn't even of that religion, it comes like fire.

- Matthew Lillard as Stevo in SLC Punk

Why do we love the Chat Room? Because of stuff like this: Wednesday night, Ben Rogers sees The Future of the Ghost, a touring band from Salt Lake City, performing in Dallas. The next day, he sets up a show at the Chat with TFOTG sandwiched between local lights Sarah Jaffe (whose place on the bill wound up being superseded by some dude named Freddy from a Denton band whose name I didn't catch) and Matthew and the Arrogant Sea (a Denton-based freak-folk outfit that shares a bassplayer with Scene Girls and Eaton Lake Tonics, and just recorded an album in the front room their producer, ELT frontguy Tony Ferraro, shares with Ben -- is that incestuous enough for ya?).

I've never been to Salt Lake City, but I remember Nathan Brown telling me he played a good show there a coupla years back, and of course there's that movie. While I didn't get around to asking the TFOTG kids whether there really ever were mods in SLC (from the looks of 'em, they were prolly in diapers, if that, during SLC Punk's mid-'80s timeframe), I dug their performance, which made me think, "This is what it musta been like seeing Television or, um, the Talking Heads at CBGB's back in the day." (I wouldn't know; back in '74-'75, I was still playing stupid Cream and Allman Bros. songs out on Lawn Guyland.) Maybe it was Cathy Foy's demure presence behind the traps (my sweetie said the drummer reminded her of a more serious Caroline Collier, while I suppose I was getting some kind of mixed Chris Frantz/Tina Weymouth kinda vibe), or perhaps it coulda been frontguy Will Sartain's Television-evocative combo platter of Tom Verlaine gangling angularity and Richard Hell blind idiot glee (when he started kangaroo-hopping all over his corner of the room, I was getting ready to protect the table where we were sitting in case he careened into it). He and Guitar Player #2 (whose name I missed, duh) churned up welters of choke-strummed/E-Bowed atonal noise that I dug lots. (Note to self: Must do "Little Doll" the next time the Stoogeband plays at the Chat.)

Watching Will's exuberant abandon in performance and hearing the sincerity in his onstage raps ("We're really excited to be here!" and the ultimate nerd-guitar hero admission after removing his glasses: "I can't see anything at all!"), I wouldn't have guessed that he's also co-owner of Kilby Court, which looks to be a pretty cool all-ages venue in SLC. TFOTG are in the middle of a two-month cross-country jaunt with no nights off, having just completed the west coast leg and getting ready to swing up through the midwest and head east. My sweetie bought a T-shirt and got a sampler CD of their stuff along with tracks by Kilby Records labelmates TaughtMe and Band of Annuals, all of which made us feel pure 'n' happy when we listened this morning as she got ready to go be an Obama delegate.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot -- when we fell by the Chat, there was a U-Haul truck parked in front and, seeing a bunch of objects on a drop cloth in front, I immediately thought, "Some band musta had trouble with their equipment." This is because I always forget the Arts Goggle is the night before Gallery Night (which I also always forget, unless reminded -- thanks, JSH!). Turns out Metrognome Collective honcho James Watkins rented the truck and was exhibiting works by several artists (including one by Dylan Oriley that was still in progress when we got there). My sweetie sez that Dylan seemed surprised when she asked him how much he wanted for one of his pieces, but we were able to work a transaction (thanks, Brad!) and give the Arts Gogglers what hopefully wasn't their only "little red dot" of the evening. All in all, 'twas DIY-ismo the way it's supposed to be. Yeah!

carducci on lee abrams

[still more] bad news for print journalism: lee abrams, the man who killed rock 'n' roll radio, is going into the newspaper biz.

pete cosey interview

speaking of '70s miles, here's miles' '73-'75 gtrist pete cosey in an interview with blaise lantana for kjzz. lengthy and very detailed; worth a listen. he's from phoenix, and initially turned down the call to play with miles. who'd a thunk it?

miles beyond

this week, fighting off incipient sickness, i've been listening to miles davis' the complete on the corner sessions (for which, thanks to frank and jon) and reading dutch journo paul tingen's miles beyond: the electric explorations of miles davis, 1967-1991. it's one of those music books (like charles shaar murray's hendrix appreciation, crosstown traffic) that can make you look at music you think you understand in a totally different light, and it includes enrico merlin's detailed sessionography. particularly worthwhile are chapters where tingen discusses why it was necessary for miles to make the change to electric music after exhausting the creative possibilities of his second great quintet, and the rather problematic business of miles the man as portrayed in his ghostwritten autobiography. an admitted jazz non-expert, tingen examines miles' music through the prism of zen buddhism and the ideas of philosopher ken wilber, and comes up with this insight on the failures of the avant-garde: "much avant-garde art has been forgotten by history because it either announced a worldview that never manifested, or developed in a dysfunctional manner that did not correspond with evolution's inherent process...Art that that does not include the past, that only tries to transcend it, has invariably been shown to have little depth or lasting value." reading the descriptions of miles' creative process, i'm reminded of how it felt (albeit on a much less exalted level) playin' with the wreck room jamcats back when that gig was an improvisational opportunity and not a "live music jukebox." there's loads of ambient and dance music, not to mention the entahr concepts of local greats like sub oslo, ghostcar, confusatron, sleeplab, and top secret, that would be hard to imagine without miles' '70s innovations on albs like in a silent way, bitches brew, live-evil, on the corner, big fun, get up with it, and agharta.

transient songs

ex-hasslehorse frontman/cargo cult deity john frum (now living in exile in the pacnw) just pulled my coat to the new release by his transient songs project, an e.p. entitled plantation to your youth (on indian casino records, of course). can a review on iloveftw.com be far behind?

chat room tonight!

from the chat room:

This had been a quick one, it's tomorrow night, Friday the 28th.
$3 at the door, 21 and up, ID required.
Doors open at four, show starts at ten.

Sarah Jaffe
Sarah comes from here, and we are lucky to finally have her at the Chat. Her acoustic solo set is lyrically smart and ties something remarkable to something curiously remniscent, be here early to see it.

The Future of the Ghost
TFOTG hail from Salt Lake City, Utah. They bring playfully angular indie rock fare. These kids are the reason we're setting this show up, saw 'em Wednesday in Dallas, had to have 'em before they got too far.

Matthew and the Arrogant Sea
MATAS is also from Fort Worth, and these young'uns have been lately wowing from the stage with some of the most vibrant lyrical imagery that this staffer has heard. If you haven't heard them yet, you will very soon.

wayne horvitz gravitas quintet next weekend

from herb levy:

I hope that you'll come hear Other Art's final concert for the season, the Gravitas Quartet.

The members of Gravitas Quartet (Wayne Horvitz on piano, cellist Peggy Lee, trumpet player Ron Miles and bassoonist Sara Schoenbeck) each have notable experience in both classical and jazz music and composer Wayne Horvitz has created a unique repertoire for the band that combines a chamber music approach with room for improvisation.

Horvitz has composed for Kronos Quartet, the Seattle Chamber Players, the NY Composers Orchestra, among others and has played with improvisors Bill Frisell, Butch Morris, and John Zorn as well as in his own jazz ensembles. Peggy Lee is a member of Vancouver, BC's foremost new music ensemble's Standing Wave as well as many jazz and other improvised music ensembles throughout North America and Europe. Ron Miles has performed and recorded with Ginger Baker, Don Byron, the Ellington Orchestra, Bill Frisell, and others and is also an active performer and composer in Denver. Sara Schoenbeck has played with Anthony Braxton, Fred Frith, Quincy Jones, Pauline Oliveros, Stevie Wonder, and on soundtracks for numerous movies and television programs.

Gravitas Quartet is performing for two nights Friday and Saturday April 4 & 5, 2008 at the Cliburn Recital Hall at 330 E 4th Street in downtown Fort Worth. Tickets are $25, $15 for students and seniors, available from Bass Hall ticketing 817 212-4280 and at the door.

Below are some URLs for a fuller description of the band, recordings from both of their CDs, and some interviews with Horvitz on his conception of the band. The attached picture was taken by photographer Nenad Stevanovic.

http://www.thefrankagency.org/documents/Gravitasonesheet.pdf

http://www.songlines.com/samples/rememberance.mp3

http://www.songlines.com/samples/walkintherain.mp3

http://www.songlines.com/interviews/gravitas.html

http://www.songlines.com/interviews/onedancealone.html

ADDENDUM: The concerts will start at 8:00 PM on each evening. & Other Arts events has received generous financial support from the following organizations and individuals: the Arts Council of Fort Worth & Tarrant County, Latin Arts Association, Linden Realty, Mor-Sel Foundation, and Periplum. Other Arts appreciates their support for its inaugural season.

ppt cd review @ iloveftw.com

a review i penned of ppt's new cd denglish is online now at iloveftw.com.

dyrol randall

here's vid of katboy playing with jamaican drummer dyrol randall at arts fifth avenue on 2.24.2008.



ADDENDUM: but wait, there's more! first up was marley's "natural mystic," now here's black uhuru's "guess who's coming to dinner"/"sponji reggae." gtrist domino usedta play with ronald shannon jackson.

gonzalez/gonzalez/teague @ club dada wednesday

this from aaron carlo gonzalez:

Clarification: Not the full Yells at Eels lineup: Stefan had to cancel last minute. However, the mighty Jon Teague (Yeti/The Great Tyrant) is taking his place for a set of heavy, heady improv....Come out for this rare excursion...

Also added to the bill: The Chameleon Chamber Group featuring Paul Slavens.

We go on at 9, so don't dilly-dally...And it's just a measly $5

"bluesette" by reed easterwood

courtesy of a history of dallas music, here's the ex-dallas muso in whose band 'riginal gideons drummer terry vernixx valderas is supposed to be playing in albuquerque, jamming on one of the songs i always attempt to play -- not anywhere near as well as he does -- when i'm trying to "get better" (before i wake up and smell the coffee).

strangers

this song, written by dave davies and obviously inspahrd by the band (y'know, those canadian guys with beards that usedta play with dylan? ahhh, nevermind), is my fave from the kinks' lola versus powerman and the moneygoround album. i'm not sure what it has to do with rushmore, which i've seen but don't remember much about. lately it's been playing on the muzak at work and every time i hear it i feel pure and happy inside.

goodwin

holy shit! goodwin finally got around to updating their homepage, and it looks a whole lot like sir steffin ratliff is now a permanent member of the lineup (he's the distorted figure in red on the right). i'm just sayin'.

dengue fever

wow, don't these kids look like they're having fun? and they're in fucking toronto in this clip. just wait'll they get to lola's a week from tonight, with ph7.

icicle & the kid @ sarah's place, 3.28.2008

the ever-oblique ex-fort worth cat kid daniel announces a gig by his band (with ex-cats frontman johnny icicle) at a camp bowie venue within walking distance of mi casa on a weekend when our only existing commitments are to barack obama (following day), gallery night at studio 5 (following night), and dengue fever (night after that). a perfect storm? perhaps.

"like road rage in the grocery aisle"

ha. i missed this star-t column by bud kennedy on gourmet supermarket bullies.

wednesday: yells at eels @ dada w/jon teague!

wow! if we went to shows in dallas, we'd go to thisun: yells at eels featuring great tyrant / stoogeaphilia drummer jon teague, this wednesday at club dada in deep ellum.

i.Q.

heard an e.p. by another market coworker, rapper i.Q., who has the best brag lyric we've heard in eons:

why am i so fly? is it the shoes?
why am i so fly? is it the grooves?
why am i so fly? i dunno, sheeit
maybe that's the way i am

"a sweet-natured optimist in a world of grief"

from arthur, dig michael moorcock on arthur c. clarke.

vice mag wins again

i always usedta like the sprawling rekkid reviews in the old creem, but damned if this isn't a viable alternative. some of the funniest shit i've read this week.

yardbirds

oh, by the way -- keith relf woulda been 65 years old today, if he hadn't been electrocuted playing gtr at home in 1976. time was when every garage snot band in america usedta have to play this song. as patti smith said when he checked out, it doesn't matter if he ever did anything wrong.

uncle lou like you've never seen him

proof positive that at some point (around eight years ago), lou reed must have lost a bet.

re:views and my shitty memory

got three, count 'em, _three_ new cd's from jhon kahsen this week, as well as a cd/dvd combo from ppt, all of which, in the fullness of time 'n' after a few more spins, i'll review for iloveftw.com.

i'm also stoked that i was finally able to run down the obscuro motown concept alb i was trying to remember while penning my review of ppt's first cd -- 'twas newark house music crew blaze's 25 years ago, from '91 and not '87 like i thought i remembered. whew!

gallery night at studio 5

painter jesse sierra hernandez and photog christopher blay will be exhibiting new works at jesse's new spot, studio 5 (1018 w. shaw, south of berry, between college and lipscomb), next sat'day, 3.29.2008, as part of spring gallery night festivities. we'll be there as soon as my sweetie gets done discharging her duties as an obama delegate.

the chat room soundguy

...is eric ortiz. now i'll remember.

of caravan and ornette

a remembrance i penned of the caravan of dreams in the form of an ornette coleman dvd review is online now at iloveftw.com.

paul unger

finally made it to the scat jazz lounge last night. nice room on sundance square; once they get their elevator fixed, the neon-in-alleyway front entrance is gonna be awesome. (my sweetie remembered the spot from an afterhours place she usedta frequent back in antiquity.) on this particular night, fw weekly scribe/proud warrior drummer caroline collier was slingin' the dranks, and fw symphony assistant principal bassist paul unger and a coupla classical colleagues were onstage. at first it was a li'l disconcerting to see the cats on a jazz set reading scores, but we soon got caught up in the toonage: paul schoenfield's "cafe music" combined cathouse stride pianner -- making optimal use of dallas symphony pianist steve harlos' james p. johnson left hand -- with gypsy jazz flourishes, and argentine astor piazzolla's tangos, with which i was unfamiliar, had an ecm-ish spaciousness. violinist mark miller didn't improvise, but played his written parts with aplomb and much soul. tom reynolds joined 'em on gtr for the last piazzolla piece, then continued with a selection of toons in the manner of django reinhardt. for swing-inspahrd sounds, reynolds is as imposing a presence as clint strong is for bebop. paul sez the management has given him free rein to do pert near anything he wants in their house -- except, sigh, for flipside. we'll prolly head back there on 3.25 to catch paul slavens.

why communism failed

r.i.p. arthur c. clarke

the sci-fi scribe who said, "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" left the planet this week.

paul unger trio @ scat jazz lounge tonight!

from bassist extraordinaire paul unger:

Date: Wednesday, March 19th
Time: 9 PM (sharp!)
Location: Scat Jazz Lounge (111 E. 4th St., in Sundance Square,
downtown Fort Worth)

We intended to do this show last month but Mark Miller came down with the flu. Below is the original press release.

Wednesday, March 19th, the concert hall will invade the Scat Jazz Lounge in downtown Fort Worth. The Paul Unger Trio will be bring the worlds of classical music, popular music and jazz music together for an evening of unique music making.

Paul Unger is currently the Assistant Principal Bass of the Fort Worth Symphony and joining him will be Steve Harlos - staff keyboardist for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Coordinator of Piano at the University of North Texas - and Mark Miller - violinist, President of the Mount Vernon Music Association and former assistant concertmaster of the Robert Schumann Chamber Orchestra in Dusseldorf, Germany and former member of the Orchester der Beethovenhalle in Bonn.

They will perform Paul Schoenfield's "Cafe Music", "Addendum" by Chick Corea, six tango compositions by Astor Piazzolla and a few standards from Gershwin, Porter and Kern. After the first set they will be joined by guitarist Tom Reynolds for a tribute to gypsy guitar legend, Django Reinhardt.

We'll see you there!
Paul, Steve and Mark

obama on race

here's the bravest and truest thing i have ever heard anyone say on this subject. it's long (37 minutes) but worthwhile viewing, i think.

fw burrito project benefit @ fred's, 4.5.2008

from the fw burrito project:

fred's texas cafe
9-10 panther city bandits
7:40-8:40 jordan mycoskie
6:35-7:20 fish fry bingo
5:30-6:15 stoogeaphelia
4:25-5:10 rivercrest yacht club
3:30-4:05 hands for bad habits
tanner 4105 will be spinning mashups between sets

restaurant @ the chat room 3.17.2008

electro-hicks restaurant returned to the chat room last night and if you weren't there, you shoulda been. gtrist/sanger kevin (or craig or greg or troy olaf murrah or whateverthehell he wants to be called) plays slashing slide gee-tar worthy of hound dog taylor while j state thwacks the fire out of his paint store/junkyard percussion rig with wooden dowels that splinter as he plays (chat room mainstay ben rogers thoughtfully offered to get more for him from the home depot) and also handles keybs and samples, sounding for all the world like techno'd out backwoods rustics on bad strychnine. a high point of the set was watching cadillac fraf (who'd performed earlier sitting on a truck in the parking lot; quoth he, "it might not be _good_, but it's _real_," a sentiment i can dig wholeheartedly) and ex-yeti gtrist eric harris dancing like demented okies in front of restaurant's stage. my sweetie took a buncha pics and posted 'em at meezlady.blogspot.com. and she bought copies of all four of their vinyl 7-inches, which we'll be spinning at mi casa for days to come.

yells at eels live in poland

from yells at eels bassist aaron carlo gonzalez:

I just found this (under the rather vague title "Jazz"). It is a video of us playing in Gdynia at Club Poklad (too bad you can't see the humongous pirate ship next to the stage). This is our arrangement of the Krzysztof Komeda piece "Litania".

electric miles

listening to the complete on the corner sessions and perusing miles beyond, a website dedicated to the electric music miles davis played between 1967 and 1991. it's also a book that, while out-of-print, is hpb-available. if you wanna get intrigued, read this chapter.

john holbrook

local photog john holbrook has been shooting portraits of death row inmates in texas and florida for an exhibition sponsored by amnesty international.

art of the congo

so many mags, so few braincells. in my mind lately i've been confusing swindle magazine with vice -- mea culpa. here's a piece from the new swindle about artists from the democratic republic of the congo, a place my sweetie's been interested in lately because of the arrival at her school of a student from there.

kokie's

from most excellent vice magazine, here's an oral history of brooklyn's most notorious bar.

shotgun messenger

haltom city bad boys shotgun messenger are holding their cd release party at the aardvark 4.26.2008 -- one of the few reasons i can think of to go there.

uncle lou speaks

as i said earlier, i could give a rat's ass what happens at sxsw, but i care about lou reed. here are some highlights from his keynote speech/interview with producer hal willner.

ppt in the star-t

inasmuch as i could give a rat's ass about sxsw, 'twas still a nice surprise to come home from work this eve and see a front-of-arts-section spread in our local daily on ppt, whose new cd i'm gonna review for iloveftw.com as soon as it arrives. yeah!

jhon kahsen

for our anniversary dinner, my sweetie 'n' i went to sardines to hear jhon kahsen with his brother jerry case sitting in on gtr. jerry favored us with a solo rendition of "when i fall in love," then clint strong sat in on some burnin' bebop toonage with danny tcheco droppin' all the max roach bombs he could. jhon's got not one but two, count 'em, _two_ cd's set for release this september, the 25th anniversary of his sardines gig. one's a trio date with jeremy hull on bass and danny tcheco on drums; other features the case brothers on a set of music that's not exactly a tribute to their frequent collaborator, the late steel gtrist tom morrell, but "definitely informed by western swing." we can't wait to hear 'em both. jerry will be on the stand at sardines again this sunday. don't miss him.

cambodian rock hits the fort on 3.30

l.a. band dengue fever, fronted by singer chhom nimol who appears in the documentary don't think i've forgotten, bring their cambodian rock-inspahrd jams to lola's on sunday, march 30th. pablo & the hemphill 7 open. ya mo be theah, even tho it's a schoolnight. maybe you, too?

ADDENDUM: waitaminute! apparently there's _another_ documentary -- sleepwalking through the mekong -- about cambodian rock, also featuring dengue fever. wtf? are they one and the same?!?!?

creem ADDENDUM

here's lester on the post-raw power stooges and black sabbath. and nick kent on jimmy page.

restaurant returns to the chat room monday night!

this from the chat room:

If you were lucky enough to see our sunday show, then you know all about Stoogeaphilia, Spindrift and Stella Rose.

If you were lucky enough to be here right at last call, then you saw Restaurant, our last minute addition to the bill.

Restaurant is a two-piece originally from Victoria TX, but now LA. Troy plays Banjo, Dobro and Acoustic slide and crams vocals from the underbelly of something like Garage down the throat of a wretched mic. Jonathen plays some synth and beat machine, and beats the shit out of a found object drum kit with arm-length 1" dowels (watch out for flying wood chips). His kit is license plates for a hi-hat, the hood of a car for a snare, a wooden box lined with women's unerthings for a kick drum, a metal gas can for a tom, and the wheel rim from some hoopty as a ride, but this might all be different by Monday. This shit is amazing to watch, and sounds like an erratic but tender stabbing.

There were only about 40 people here for their set, but everyone in the room knew they had just seen one of the coolest acts tom come through Fort Worth.

You really need to check out Restaurant (link from our top friends) and make sure to be here on St. Patty's Day for what will truly be a rad lineup.

frank mcculley

fell by the amon carter museum to check out the snapshot and fort worth circle exhibits and ran into frank mcculley, the local artist best known for his life-size papier mache animals, who's working there as a docent. frank's been painting a lot the last coupla yrs but recently received a commission to do a papier mache cowboy on a horse for some event they're having. "i just can't seem to get away from that stuff," says frank. would dig to see some of his newer work. somebody puh-leeze give this cat a show.

further sg envy

if i was gonna buy an epi sg like i said a coupla months back, thisun is the one i'd get. it's almost identical to the first good gtr i ever owned ('66 gibson sg), except it has alnico humbuckers instead of p-90s. only thing is, after last sunday's stoogeshow, i'm thinking that with sir steffin playing a semihollow yamaha, we no longer have the prob we sometimes encountered (when we both played strats) of our signals canceling each other out -- which would be a reason for me _not_ to switch to a gibson-style gtr. all academic anyway.

kincaid's to go?

today's star-t brought shocking news of scandalous doings in our little 'hood. apparently the original kincaid's hamburgers at 4901 camp bowie is being forced out by a profiteering landlord who wants to triple the fort worth landmark's rent. as of today, kincaid's is on a month-by-month basis until august 1st, paying the higher rent. the landlord originally wanted them to unass the space by april 15th.

i first experienced kincaid's big juicy burgers 30 years ago, when i first came to town and shared the bottom floor of a since-demolished house at collinwood and sanguinet with stuart bell. sometimes we'd get weekend revelers from the showdown driving through the hedge on the sanguinet side of the house. kincaid's was still a working grocery store then. when i was scribing for the fw weekly, i usedta go see jeremy diaz of dead sexy working the counter there. in fact, the "employee of the month" plaque with his mug on it was still hanging there until just recently. when my sweetie 'n' i moved into our current digs, kincaid's was just a coupla blocks away and i'd often walk over there if i was in a burger-eating mood but not ambitious enough to make it to fonky fred's.

brandi o'quinn, president of historic camp bowie, is starting a letter-writing campaign to urge the landlord to compromise. personally, i will never patronize any establishment that takes over the location on this basis, and i urge my friends 'n' neighbors to do likewise. vote with your dollars, kids.

wreck room diaspora update

if you're a fan of ex-black dog/wreck room bartender billy whitewater wilson, as i am, you should know that when last heard from, he was running a bud's pizza joint in weatherford, and that his lost watching parties are now being held from 7-9pm, thursday nights at the chat room.

from bill, i also learned that his old wreck room compadre/ex-woodeye bassplayer graham richardson's second son was born last sat'day, and that the new papa be's tending bar at finn maccool's corner of 8th and allen on tuesday, thursday, and sat'day.

creem

i just penned a review of a book about the bible of my misspent yoof, creem magazine. in the fullness of time, you'll be able to read it on the i-94 bar. since 2001, creem has had a second life as a website, one which i've not spent a lot of time on. could be 'cos the content's not exactly easy to access; try starting here.

tonight i went huntin' and found some of the good stuff -- like lester bangs' immortal review of what some kid i was talking to at the chat room the other night allowed "might just be the greatest album of all time": the stooges' funhouse. (i told him thar ain't no "might just be" about it;" read st. lester's rant here and here. sure, it's been anthologized in psychotic reactions and carburetor dung, but if you haven't read it already, do it now. preferably while listening to the album.)

inspahrd by all of this, tonight my sweetie 'n' i watched the greatest rock 'n' roll film you'll prolly never see, mc5: a true testimonial. if you ever get the chance, view it. hembree sez he has ten times already.

music critics: not real people?

i dunno. you read this and decide. all i'm saying is "tomorrow never knows" _is_ my favorite beatlesong. and i like robert wyatt. and astral weeks.

tomorrow

...for our third wedding anniversary (which is actually the 18th, but i'm off tom'w), my sweetie 'n' i are gonna take a walk to funky fred's for a fredburger, then stop off at the amon carter museum to take in the art of the american snapshot exhibit. then in the evening time, we're gonna fall by sardines to scarf some righteous italian chow and hear jhon kahsen jammin' with his brother jerry case on gtr. and maybe see if i can get jhon to play "when i fall in love."

slick lady 6

gtrist extraordinaire richard hurley is now playing with slick lady 6, an '80s new wavish outfit that's a million miles from the '70s heavy rawk he was playing in blood of the sun. then again, richard also usedta play in guy 2000 with me-thinks frontguy ray liberio, who says they were "like confusatron, sleeplab, and top secret before it was cool." a versatile cat, richard.

say it ain't so, iggy

i still maintain that the weirdness was not awful. this, however, is. redeeming quality: even at 61, with incipient beergut, jim can still scare the ever-lovin' bejeezus out of the squares. and the asheton boys are making bank. bless him.



ADDENDUM: here's RON's justification from the detroit free press. madonna -- protest kid? i dunno. i always liked her in a league of our own, tho.

rob bosquez

busy fort worth playwright-actor-director rob bosquez is at work now on a new play that'll premiere in june, another one for teen actors, and the screenplay for an indie film that'll be shot this summer. while you're waiting for all of this work to drop, you can read some of rob's poems on his myspace thingy.

petra's pecado

this from tammy gomez:

Cara Mia Theatre
presents

the Dallas premiere of
the original Spanglish comedy
by Rupert Reyes

PETRA'S PECADO

(highly recommended ! )

PETRA'S PECADO (Petra’s Sin), is a unique script that beautifully blends language so that it is enjoyed by English- and Spanish-speaking audiences alike. PETRA'S PECADO is a hilarious comedy that has touched people’s hearts by reminding us of life’s everyday miracles.

For this revamped production, Guest Director Rodney Garza ("El Chuco y La Che" & "Martin"), has assembled a mini-reunion of the world premiere cast of PETRA'S PECADO. He brings award-winning actress Irene Gonzales from Austin, who played the original Petra Dominguez in the first sold-out runs in San Antonio and Austin. Ms. Gonzales was nominated for an Austin Critic’s Circle Award for her portrayal of Petra. Also joining this Dallas cast is Maria Elena Salcedo ("Las Nuevas Tamaleras") from San Antonio. Ms. Salcedo will be reprising her role as Clara Ramirez, Petra’s co-worker and feisty friend.

Garza, Gonzales, and Salcedo have worked together on various productions, including the world premiere of "Petra’s Cuento", the second installment of Reyes’ Petra’s Trilogy. Garza is elated that the schedules worked out. Says Garza, “Everytime I work with these ladies I feel like the luckiest director. They’re so natural in their roles that they make my job easier. The DFW area is in for a treat.”

Cara Mia Theatre also introduces some new talent to the DFW theatre community. The role of Lupita Montana will be shared on alternating weekends by Valeria Perdomo and Eleonor Hernandez. Also new to the cast of PETRA'S PECADO is Helen Lozano, who will be portraying the role of Petra’s cranky friend Tacha Alvarez. All three actors have taken on their parts with refreshing enthusiasm and zeal.

Returning cast members from the production that was supposed to run last winter include: Liza Marie Gonzalez as the conniving business rival Tina Tamayo; Cesar Hernandez as the high school drama teacher Rudy Diaz; Hector Bernal as the new priest in town Father Johnson; Jaime Lopez in the role of the cantankerous Chano Orozco; and Fred Cizek playing the role of Petra’s unwitting husband Rafael Dominguez.

When: March 13, 14
Where: Latino Cultural Center
2600 Live Oak St., Dallas

When: March 20 & 22
Where: Rose Marine Theater
1440 N. Main St., Fort Worth

**All Shows at 8 PM**

Ticket prices: Adults-$12 Students & Seniors-$10
Special Discount: 2 for 1 Thursdays

Buy tickets online for $2 off.

For more information contact: 214-946-9499 or www.caramiatheatre.com

"jon teague weekend" @ the chat room

went to the chat room sat'day night for the great tyrant's cd release party. the tyrant played maybe the best set i've ever heard by them, altho every one i've heard has been different, ranging from spookily atmospheric to full-on pummeling. this particular night they were in a proggy mood; daron beck toned down the campy shock-horror shtick and just crooned in his natural "matinee idol from hell" voice, like bryan ferry crossing the styx, while tommy atkins' monolithic bass came within a hair's breadth of hitting the "miguel veliz brown note" and jon teague (who performed at the chat both sat'day and sunday this weekend, hence the ridiculous title of this post) provided ample evidence of why he's a lot of ppl's favorite drummer (as calvin abucejo from pussyhouse propaganda / asian media crew put it, "every hit sounds _so good_"). the tyrant's "candy canes"/"walking through walls" single-with-four-song-cd is a must-hear, and apparently the top-selling record at good records in dallas right now. before them, the healers sounded (in katboy's words) "like the mars volta as a screamo band," and cadillac fraf played a solo set of post-punk dustbowl ballads.

sunday night the li'l stoogeband (jon's other band, in case you didn't know) had its first outing since, um, november, and our first time at the chat room. can't say enough about the room (has a neighborhood bar vibe like our dear departed wreck room), the helpful 'n' hardworking staff, and the hip crowd (lotsa stoogefans among de yoof and first time i've ever had someone in foat wuth wanna talk to me about glenn branca), and we definitely wanna play there s'more. as my sweetie sayeth, ben rogers is "the andre edmonson of the south side," and the cat running sound (whose name escapes me at the moment; alcohol = the memory eraser!) did yeoman work. i couldn't hear anything from the bindle side of the stage, and matt 'n' sir steffin couldn't hear me, but the energy in the room was happenin', with sir steffin's adroit axework on "marquee moon" a particular highlight, and we were actually responsible for the chat room's very first noise complaint! a uniformed officer of the law showed up and asked them to close the door! and ben asked us to turn down! 'twas awesome!

sxsw-bound angelenos spindrift (featuring foat wuth expat julie patterson on keys) were up next with their spooky, morricone-western / tarrantino soundtrack brand of psychedelia. (their shiny silver disc the legend of god's gun is an actual soundtrack to a feature-length western starring the band.) i was unduly impressed by 1) the way mainman kirkpatrick thomas looks like joe preston; 2) henry evans' double-necked danelectro delight, a bass-and-baritone-guitar combo; 3) riddim gtrist dave koenig's semihollow vox (always dug the distinctive headstocks on those); 4) the design on their bass drum head; and 5) the fact that they brought their own lighting rig. bought a ceedee, too.

i was under instructions from stella rose bassplayer mckenna madget's bass teacher, fw symphony/flipside hotso paul unger, to give her shit about her hand position, but i wound up being muy impressed at how much these foat wuth youngsters have grown as a band since i saw 'em at the wreck a coupla yrs back, proving once 'n' for all that pretty people _can_ rawk out with abandon -- even ones that cite bush as a primary influence. i dug the fact that drummer matt mabe wears black gloves -- and that when it was announced the band who were supposed to open would be closing instead, frontman stephen beatty nipped incipient booing in the bud with a simple, "hey, don't do that -- that's not cool." classy kid.

that band was restaurant, a coupla dudes from victoria, texas (way down south past austin 'n' new braunfels) with a harry partch/art project looking percussion rig, who got delayed 'cos they stopped for sleep in albuquerque enroute back from a west coast tour. they wound up taking the show with an abbreviated set of mutant rustic jams that reminded me of the immortal lee county killers, katboy of mojo nixon & skid roper, and my sweetie of the chickasaw mudd puppies, to give you an idea of the turf they inhabit. would dig to hear a full set by them sometime. proof positive that eclectic bills rule, and the chat room is a worthy spot. even if the jukebox there is smarter than i am.

chat room 3.9.2008 pics @ meezlady.blogspot.com

my sweetie posted a buncha pics of restaurant, stella rose, spindrift, and stoogeaphilia at the chat room last night at meezlady.blogspot.com. i'll have a full report on "jon teague weekend at the chat room" when i get back from visiting my fourth grandchild, who was born by c-section yesterday.

a bunch of sxsw bands...

...are playing this tuesday night at 1919 hemphill, the chat room, and the exploding house. check 'em out!

john cale

i've seen this mofo -- now 66 yrs young -- more times than any other performer besides fz. and hey, isn't that andy summers playing gtr?

wes race review @ iloveftw.com

a review i penned of local blues uberfan/poet wes race's new cd cryptic whalin' is online now at iloveftw.com. dig it!

pretty baby @ ridglea theater, 3.18.2008

pretty baby, the '80s-ish new band featuring drummer extraordinaire dave karnes and his gtr-slingin' pal daniel harville, will open for blue october at the ridglea on march 18th, after playing austin during sxsw on the 15th.

ornette doc on dvd (doo-dah, doo-dah)

wow! shirley clarke's documentary ornette: made in america has been released on dvd! it was shot in '83, when ornette played at the opening of caravan of dreams (r.i.p.), and includes footage of him receiving the key to the city from the mayor of fort worth, as well as a snippet from a performance of his symphony skies of america with the fort worth symphony. i usedta have a vhs copy that i bought at caravan, when there still was a caravan. sigh.

jerry case @ sardines next thursday & sunday

just got this from johnny case:

Los Angeles Jazz Guitarist
J e r r y C a s e
Returns to Fort Worth

TWO NIGHTS ONLY @ SARDINES

Come join the fun and hear Jerry jamming
with his brother Jhonny along with notable
musicians Chris White, Joey Carter, Daniel
Tcheco, Ron Thayer, and other jazz pros.

1st performance:
THURSDAY – March 13, 2008
from 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM

*
2nd performance:
SUNDAY – March 16, 2008
from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM

More info from Sardines Ristorante Italiano, 509 University
Drive, Fort Worth, Texas 76107 - Phone: 817 332-9937

well, now i know how my sweetie 'n' i are gonna celebrate our third wedding anniversary. just need to see how my work sked works out.

"guitar hero" in the star-t

on the front of today's "your life" section in the star-telegram, there's a pic of tony diaz and daniel gomez from goodwin playing guitar hero, and they're also featured in the online edition (with added photos and video shot before last week's ridglea theater show), along with ex-delbert mcclinton sideman/gtr teacher dave millsap.

carl stone this friday & saturday @ bass recital hall

this from herb levy of other arts:

Just a quick reminder that Other Arts is presenting two concerts by live computer music pioneer, Carl Stone this weekend.

Using a MacBookPro running the software suite Max/MSP, Carl creates his music by cutting, splicing, layering, distorting, and otherwise digitally altering samples of music by popular, classical and world music artists. He's presented his work on every continent except Antarctica and these are Carl's first performances in North Texas. You won't want to miss this chance to hear him.

Friday, March 7th - a program of recent short works, including pieces from his recently released CD Al-Noor Saturday, March 8th - Guelaguetza, an hour-long work for digital sound and images

8:00 PM at Cliburn Recital Hall, 330 4th Street in downtown Fort Worth. Tickets are $25, $15 for students and seniors; combined ticket packages for both shows are $40, $25 for students and seniors. Tickets are available from Bass Tickets 817 212-4280; online at www.basshall.org, or at the door on the evening of the performances.

It's going to be way too cold to go back out to play in your snow-fort after supper this weekend, so come on and hear some great new music.

re:views

gonna be doing a couple more book reviews for the i-94 bar: one on a coffee table book about creem magazine and another on a bio of blue-eyed soul brother supreme mitch ryder.

cambodian rock and a trip to the city

my pal andrew in philly posted a link to wfmu's page of cambodian rock, which has mp3's of cambodian artists of the '60s and '70s, many of whom were murdered by the khmer rouge after they seized power in '75. there's even a documentary film being made about the period.



andrew also posted a nifty li'l travelogue of a recent trip he took to noo yawk city to see roky erickson.

primary colors

in the wake of primary day, kid daniel imagines the presidential hopefuls as the three stooges, while to mick farren, it's a soap opera.

richard pinhas

teague pulled my coat to richard pinhas, a french guitarist who was in the '70s band heldon and whose electronic compositions are the next step after frippertronics. interesting stuff. if you dig the first 46-second clip, explore the second, which is 27 minutes. of course, pinhas has a myspace page where you can hear more samples of his work.

krautrock 101

this week on kosmik radiation radio, it's "krautrock 101." you can stream it through 3.19.2008. also found an informative site called krautrock.com.

boris

found this vid of boris from their new alb smile on the southern lord website.

duk koo kim

frank cervantez brought me another cd-r at work the other night -- buncha mark kozelek and papa m stuff, including two versions of kozelek's "duk koo kim," my favorite song of the moment. big mike correctly observes that the best moment in any song is "the one that makes you cry." in my case, that'd be the four cymbal hits before the bridge in "airport" by goodwin, the descending bassline (_not_ the ascending one) in the chorus of "march" from the same album, the last verse in "real good looking boy" from the who alb i've never listened to in toto, all of carey wolff's "19 years," simon & garfunkel's "old friends/bookends," and this song. go fig.

looking out on my roof last night
woken up from a dream
i saw a typhoon coming in close
bringing the clouds down to the sea
making the world look gray and alone
taking all light from my view
keeping everyone in
and keeping me here with you

around you now, i can't sleep no more baby
around you still, don't want to leave yet

woken up from a dream last night
somewhere lost in war
i couldn't feel my feet or hands
i didn't feel right anymore
i knew there I'd die alone
with no one to reach to
but an angel came down
and brought me back to you

i'd rather leave this world forever baby
than let life go the way it's going

watching an old fight film last night
Ray Mancini vs. Duk Koo Kim
the boy from Seoul was hanging in good
but the pounding took to him
and there in the square he lay alone
without face without crown
and the angel who looked upon
never came down

you never know what day could pick you baby
out of the air, out of nowhere

come to me once more my love
show me love I've never known
sing to me once more my love
words from your younger years
sing to me once more my love
songs that i love to hear

birds gather 'round my window
fly with everything i love about the day
flowers, blue and gold and orange
rise with everything i love about the day

walk with me down these strange streets
how have we come to be here
so kind are all these people
how have we come to know them

do it

i have no idea who the ppl in this nsfw vid are, but the song is "do it" by the pink fairies, a kind of proto-motorhead that evolved out of the deviants (see rich deakin's keep it together!: cosmic boogie with the deviants and the pink fairies for the whole tawdry tale). i first got wind of this song in the very first greg shaw "juke box jury" column i ever read in creem magazine when i was 14. i usedta have it on the triple lp of the first glastonbury festival, which i bought primarily for the david bowie and pete townshend tracks thereon, but also had my first exposure to these guys, hawkwind ("silver machine") and, um, the grateful dead ("dark star") via its grooves. i wouldn't mind hearing the me-thinks covering this song. or, um, stoogeaphilia. (henry rollins also covered it, but the vid was much too long to embed here.)

bob seger

this morning i'm listening to bob seger -- who before he commenced sucking in the '70s was a prime example of motor city grease and soul a la the mc5 and rationals -- and reading the seth man on bob's ramblin' gamblin' man alb and "2+2=?" and "heavy music" singles, dee-troit ramalama at its very finest.

i'm not much of a lyric-listener (or haven't been since about '73, at any rate), but "ramblin' gamblin' man" has my very fave lyrics of any rawk song save "kick out the jams":

I was born lonely down by the riverside
Learned to spin fortune wheels, and throw dice
I was just 13 when I had to leave home
Knew I couldn't stick around, I had to roam
Ain't good looking, but you know I ain't shy
Ain't afraid to look you girl, in the eye
So if you need some lovin, and you need it right away
Take a little time out, and maybe I'll stay

But I got to ramble (ramblin' man)
Oh I got to gamble (gamblin' man)
Got to got to ramble (ramblin' man)
I was born a ramblin' gamblin' man

Out of money, cause you know I need some
Ain't gonna run outta lovin', I'm on the run
Gotta keep moving, never gonna slow down
You can have your funky world, see you 'round

d-a-m-n

hillary took texas. i blame the reps who crossed over to vote for her figuring she's more beatable by mccain. shame the party of lincoln has deteriorated to the party of dirty tricks. oh well. there's still the math...

ADDENDUM: delegate-percentage-wise, barack leads hillary, 56-44.

back from caucusing

my sweetie is gonna be an obama delegate in the county convention on the 29th. there (according to the texas observer), they'll elect delegates to go to the state convention. while we were waiting for the caucus votes to get counted, i told johnny reno, "this is what we usedta sing about when we were kids in school."

austrian brass band fz cover

basically what it says...

acoustic fz cover

here's mike kenneally, who played gtr in fz's (final) '88 touring band, playing "inca roads" acoustic in a rekkid store.



for comparison, here's the '74 live-at-the-roxy 'riginal from the dub room special dvd.

a good day to be a texan

just got back from voting. tonight when i get off work, will go back to caucus for barack.

talking cat

i got nothin'...

ornette and bix on streaming radio

my jazz-loving brother-in-law in new joisey pulled my coat that next sunday and monday, march 9th and 10th, wkcr.org radio will be streaming 24-hour-plus tributes to ornette coleman and bix beiderbecke on the occasion of their respective berfdays. so i can vibe up for the stoogegig with a little ornettitude. nice.

the rationals' "smokestack lightning"

here's one that'll bring back memories for my sweetie -- a vid of one of my fave bands of all time, the rationals' '66 teen-snot version of howlin' wolf's "smokestack lightning," morphing into their cover of the animals' "inside looking out," complete with butterfield blues band psychedelic raga. these guys were contemporaries of the mc5 and the stooges, and their frontman scott morgan still has a pretty happenin' career in europe with bands like the hydromatics and the solution. vid put together by their fellow ann arborite, all music guide editor michael erlewine.

red house painters

lately i've been listening to the red house painters' self-titled alb with the roller coaster on the cover because i found out that this was the band mark kozelik had before sun kil moon, whose song on frank cervantez's mix cd impressed me so much. also, i happen to know that goodwin evil dictator daniel gomez -- who doesn't like anybody else's music (besides xtc's) -- really digs 'em, and this is one of two albs of theirs he recommended when i asked him. there's a song called "funhouse" on here that's not the one i usually think of. as i told gomez, this is the most depressing music i've ever heard -- and totally great.

"well, at least he's reading..."

book reviews i penned of rich deakin's keep it together!: cosmic boogie with the deviants and the pink fairies and joe carducci's enter naomi: sst, l.a. and all that... are online now at i94bar.com. thanks, craig!

acid mothers temple in denton 3.18.2008

i prolly won't make it, but a fella that comes in the market pulled my coat that acid mothers temple be's at hailey's in denton on tuesday, 3.18.2008.

r.i.p. joe gibbs

joe gibbs, who produced dozens of crucial reggae sides including culture's "two sevens clash," althea & donna's "uptown top ranking" (a staple of pablo & the hemphill 7's live set), and dennis brown's "money in my pocket," left the planet february 21. go easy, man -- and say hello to leslie kong.

stoogeaphilia @ the chat room this sunday, 3.9.2008

this from stooge central:

That's right, kids -- STOOGEAPHILIA will be making our CHAT ROOM debut this Sunday, 3.9.2008, with STELLA ROSE and L.A.'s SPINDRIFT.

Doors open at 6pm and cover is $5 with ID for 21 and up. We play first at 10pm. See you there!

Love,

THE STOOGEAPHILES

P.S. -- If you wanna join us in making this a JON TEAGUE WEEKEND at the CHAT ROOM, be there Saturday night for THE GREAT TYRANT's CD release party. It's a must-hear, and the show is FREE!

lou reed

happy berfday uncle lou, 66 years young today.

me-thinks @ the ridglea, 2.29.2008

here are some of the me-thinks pics i shot last night, made to look spiffy by my sweetie using iphoto.

barack in houston

here's a link to the new york times vid of obama's speech in houston. listening to it, i wept and my wife got goosebumps. lately, i've been surprised by the number of folks at work -- both coworkers and customers -- who seem to be down with barack. it's a longshot, but shimamoto predicts that not only will barack win the election, but he'll also carry texas.

"hope is not blind optimism" indeed.

baseball

i only watch sports in bars with the sound turned off, and know enough about them to be able to feign interest in a casual bar-type convo, but i _am_ a fan of the american myth of baseball, which i believe is best represented locally by your fort worth cats. and i wrote about it for iloveftw.com.

backsliders, goodwin, sunday drive, me-thinks, scene girls

went to the big rawk show at the ridglea friday night -- a veritable cornucopia of rockaroll thrills for someone who doesn't get out that much anymore. 'twas goodwin's ceedee release party and katboy generously sent us an invite to the pre-show reception, so we got to chow good 'cue (from red hot & blue?) with tony diaz's parents in the upstairs lounge before the music started. some girl from the fwweekly was trying to get someone to play guitar hero on the big screen downstairs for their camera; i think ray from the me-thinks finally did.

then got to hear a lounge set by the scene girls, whom i'd never heard of before but turned out to be ryan thomas becker and the other dude (dominic ferraro?) from the eaton lake tonics, a band the goodwin boyzzz dig but i've never gotten. i liked thisun better than most of the bands i've seen these guys in; the music was quirky and occasionally dissonant indie-pop, with one song that verged on prog and another where the bassplayer played a ukelele. (look to hear more ukelele in local rawk music!)

after that it was downstairs to the big room for the me-thinks' set. i was shooting pics with rat and calvin of the asian media crew. ray is threatening to buy us new jumpsuits. i asked him if he does, to make it more rat-size than calvin-size. not that i mind wearing the squirrel-sized one i have now; if i slouch, it's not quite as uncomfortable. the me-thinks ripped through a pert tight and focused set, hampered by a somewhat-less-than-fresh sound mix. i was standing up front and i could hear ray's voxxx louder from his mouth than i could through the p.a.; his bass sounded puny and marlin and bandy's gtrs coulda been underwater -- again, it was all stage volume, nada from the mains. the mix improved somewhat over the course of the evening, which put me in mind of shows i've seen in dallas where the opener and the headliner played through the same backline and the former sounded like ass but the latter were pristine. i'm just sayin'.

next up were sunday drive and wouldn't ya know, there was ryan thomas becker and the drummer from scene girls again, along with jeff gruber from amedigan, a band with ex-engine of the ocean musos whose ceedee i have sitting on my dresser waiting to be reviewed for iloveftw.com. apparently, these guys are a veritable goddamn parliafunkadelicment thang of local indie-rock ooze. they rocked out melodically and i liked 'em fine, which is too bad, because they're breaking up so the various members can concentrate on the godzillion other bands they're all in together.

i got to see joe vano from pablo, which is always a treat. his gtr player (and, um, stoogeaphilia's), sir steffin, was playing with his ex-bindle bandmates in goodwin again -- lucky for me because i missed them by being in new joisey the first time he sat in back in january. gomez hurt his leg so no scissor-leg leaps this night, but the two-gtr lineup (both playing semi-hollow yamahas; no sg for gomez this night) sounded ultra full 'n' rich as they tore through almost the entahrty of 2 plus "arm and mouth" as closer (thank you) and a coupla goodies from the "blue album". steffin's presence seemed to light a fire under the other four necktied dudes onstage and drove them to _yet another_ "best set" i've ever heard 'em play. for real.

after that, the unenviable task of batting clean-up fell to dallas' backsliders, who lost a good portion of the crowd after the early leavers decamped, but worked hard to earn their headlining slot. some folks don't dig their revivalist ramalama (like, um, wanda jackson fronting the attractions), but kim pendleton remains an onstage dynamo, chris bonner (ike to kim's tina) drives the band and serves as his wife's visual foil, his brother jason bonner on bass is a nice guy who lives in noo yawk and digs johnny thunders, and taylor young on drums looks enough like jonathan irwin from ph7 to cause some confusion among fort worthians who don't get outta town much (and possesses enough onstage flash to give damien stewart a run for his money). their new cd you're welcome is set for a june release but they had copies on sale last night. in the fullness of time, i'll review for the i-94 bar, but all i'll say right now is, this thing is gonna blow some people's heads off.

whew!