Folkin Beer Jorts Punk Party Nick Cave? The haps 3/28- 4/1

Hey peers. How goes it?

So this week there are a  lot of cool shows and a couple of random events.

All the cool kids in Dallas will be pulling on their favorite jorts to go to Dada for the Whiskey Lion Social Club Birthday party. Soviet and Gallery cat are playing and Central Track founder Pete Freedman is Djing and it's free so hey.

Oh the things you find when you google jorts. Sweet Canadian roller Blades Mr. Fillion

Meanwhile All the cool kids in Fort Worth should probably head to the Wherehouse for a Tim Burton themed party which sounds pretty awesome. Gunga Galunga is playing as usual as well as The Roomsounds.

On Friday Junior Brown plays with rockabillyesque local band the Paychecks at Lola's.

Fast forward to Saturday when every single effing thing this week is going down. No seriously.

You can let your folk flag fly in Deep Ellum at the big Folkin' Festival. Three stages and the Prophet bar host around 30 bands including some of my faves such as Telegraph Canyon, Bravo Max!, Nicholas Altobelli, Beuxregard, Whiskey Folk Ramblers. You get the drift. All those laid back motha effer's. First 100 people to Prophet Bar between 5 and 6 get a free drink so jump on that.

 At Texas Theatre they are screening a documentary about Jay Reatard called "Better than Something"  and then there will be a party afterwards where DJ's are playing punk and garage rock all night. If you just want to see the movie it plays until Monday.

In Fort Worth is the Brewfest on Crockett. Several bands play from 5-10 and different beers vendors are set up for sampling. Music includes Calhoun and The Gourds on two stages as well as several other bands. The music is FREEEE! This ends early enough that you can head out to another local show down the street such as:

•  Skeleton Coast at the Grotto
• The Good Show on the Choice is hosting a show at Lola's with Bravo Zulu, Salim Nourallah, and John Gold. In case you don't know the Good Show is a  radio show on 88.7 from 9- 12 on Saturdays and they play some of the best music around. (Hence the name the Good Show) They also have live talks with local acts quite often so if you don't listen to them you should. This Saturday. Before you decide which of these awesome events to got to.
•  Also Holy Moly is headlining a rockabilly night at the Aardvark. Which is usually not surprising except my buddy Jennytornado will be celebrating her last night as a single gal so if you know Jenny you should go and say congrats, and if you don't and you see a gaggle of gals in Poodle Skirts well find the one named Jenny and tell her congrats.

All the single ladies Now put your hands up

 On Sunday at Nasher Sculpture Center an artist named Nick Cave ( no not that Nick Cave :(. I was excited too) is presenting his works. The name pulled me in but it still sounds interesting. He makes these costumes that as the fibers move make noises adding to the experience. It's not really just a presentation as much asa modern dance show. It starts at 1:30 here are the deets. After looking at video it looks pretty trippy. Like I'm stuck in the Yellow Submarine cartoon kind of trippy if they were from Lousiana instead of Liverpool. So now I have to go.

Here is a video of him talking about the "soundsuits".

And here is a video of one of the shows-eek.

 Ok homies. That's everything for now. As usual follow me on twitter if you don't already and please go like my facebook page. K thanks. Smooches. Knuckles and all that fun stuff. 

My Favorite Song of All Time Right Now 3/27

Ok a handful of my friends ( shout out's to Tommy , Sarah, and Nichole) have been in a french pop music kick because of a scene in Mad Men where someone sang I guess (note the mostly Mad Men oriented comments on the video). I am abouttt 4 seasons behind on Mad Men so I didn't actually see it BUT I did see the song and the video is so weird and 60's Frenchy and I'm in love. It's some Bridgette Bardotesque gal named Gillian Hills and it's called Zou Bisou Bisou. Now I have to go catch up on Mad Men so I know wth these people are talking about, or listen to French pop all day, or both at the same time though that might be confusing, or write the longest run on sentence ever, but I digress. Watch the video.

Listen to the playlist here.

Like my page on Facebook here.

All Fort Worth My Friends

Hey peers, did you miss me last week. I was on staycation or recovering from 35 Denton whichever you want to call it.


 I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited about some of the stuff coming up this weekend. Sorry Dallas and Denton all the sweet haps are in Fort Worth this week so come on over.


To begin with tonight FWWeekly is presenting their Visionary Awards at Artspace 111. Three local young artists in Art, Theatre, or Film or any other "non- pop music discipline" will be awarded. There will be food from the Reata. Beer and wine and an acoustic set from Telegraph Canyon. Plus seeing who the up and coming talents in Fort Worth sounds interesting to me. The winners are artist Tim Harding and Devon Nowlin and Filmmaker of "St. Nick" David Lowery. This Fort Worth Weekly article shows some of their work. Devon Nowlin is part of the Homecoming Committee avid FWMF fans might remember. Tickets are only 30 for couples or 20 for a lonely person who can't find a person to go with. ( justt kidding)

Oh cool Burning Hotels portrait Devon

On Friday I will be waiting outside Lola's like that lady in the old Macy's commercial, because I can't frigging wait to see Quiet Company, Boom Boom Box and Fate Lions. If you've read my top songs of the year blog you've seen their videos but hey click here and watch em again.

Oh heyyy Quiet Company. So I hear you give away free hugs?

Saturday night is Gallery Night in Fort Worth. There are actually a plethora of small galleries in Fort Worth and they all stay open until 8 or 9 for this event. Most galleries also give out free wine and beer and snackage ( swagggg). It's pretty sweet to see so many local artists too. In fact the first one I attended, Tim Harding's work (the guy I just mentioned received the visionary award) was up at Gallery 76102. . The Fort Worth Community Arts Center and Artspace 111 are usually the most popular and present the largest number of artists. Galleries such as Brand 10, Gallery 76102, TCU Contemporary Arts Gallery, and William Campbell Contemporary Art show some of the most up and coming artists in the area. The other bonus is that all the galleries are predominantly located in the Cultural Arts District and Downtown so it's not difficult to visit several. Last word on that (and like I always say). Free Wine!

That night Quaker City Night Hawks, Apache 5 and Foxtrot Uniform are playing Magnolia Motor Lounge. 

At Lola's the much buzzed about ( wait is that how you say that? band with the buzz, no. buzzworthy band? AW hell you know what I mean) Nervous Curtains is opening for Pinkish Black. 

So get out there peoples!!!! P.S. I'm pretty sure I forgot a bunch of stuff this week so go like my page on facebook for more updates

Song of the Week 3/20

Again this song is old but it's been creeping into my psyche all week. Any fans of "Skins" ( the uk version obs) might recognize this from the final scene of the fifth season. The song relies heavily on that new saxophone craze going around music right now which is sort of annoying but I love the chant at the end "We are a mess We are Failures and We love it".

Or you can listen on Spotify woot

My 35 Denton Experience Day 1 (Friday)

1 a.m. hits Hailey's and I find myself dancing onstage along with 60 other people surrounding two Dj's in front of 200 more people. I'm thinking the club is at capacity. People who's energy faded after a long day of rocking the festival suddenly revived to join the ruckus. We're all in our second wind and it's not so much a wind as a typhoon of energy, sweat and joy.

But let's back up and start at the beginning. Four o clock couldn't come soon enough as that was Sarah and my goal time to leave but after rainboot shopping and a confusing gas tank problem we didn't get out until 5:30. The Burning Hotels happened to stop at the same gas station we did so we knew we would at least get there in time to see them. ( In theory) We anxiously crawled through traffic and arrived just in time to do that festival arrival chicken with your head cut off race to get your wristband, food, a beer say hi to all of your friends and find a closeish spot for the main stage. The Mountain Goats were the one act we were excited to  see on the outdoor stage and they did not disappoint. John Darnielle balanced jokes between his songs that sound like a more tongue-in-cheek stuck in a cabin instead of a boat version of the Decemberists. Sarah is a long time fan and she said they played all their usual favorites last plus an extra encore song. (Fun fact: It's quite an anomaly that I haven't heard them until recently since Sarah and I forged almost all of our taste in music together.) Check out my song of the week pick for one of the best songs. 

The Mountain Goats give the jumbo screen an up close and personal view

As the main stage closed we knew we should probably pick one venue to go to and stay there since on Thursday shows were all one in one out by 10. Turns out this was an excellent theory because as we approached Hailey's there was already a line to the end of the block. We missed the entire first band as we waited in line but I did get a chance to meet 35 Denton Mascot of 2013 nominee Noodles of Swashlabs and the Neener fame. 

We were barely through the door as I heard the beginning of "Beard" the Burning Hotels usual set opener. I danced and sang in the line as I waited for the poor lonely gal running the door to scan our ID's. Once inside the room was actually nicely open and good chunk of the crowd danced along as the boys played. The bands proclaimed crush, Jessie Frye, joined them onstage for a song. My usual front row trio buddies Sarah and Katie lamented that not everyone was dancing but that may have just been our pride because these were our boys from our town and Denton better enjoy it as much as we do!! In the end the set was amazing as usual. (I did miss Marley on bass) My feelings for Burning Hotels remind me of how I used to feel about Doosu way back when. No matter where or when they play I know I will love it because I love every song.

Like I said

Next up was Brooklyn band Class Actress. Hailey's was almost full by the end of Burning Hotels so I just skimmed the perimeters of the crowd as the lovely lead singer sang and played with her hair quite a bit. It was somewhat mellow but still danceable and the crowd was into it. She reminded me of Kate Bush or that one Berlin song " Metro" so I was also into it. 

@theneener summarizes what we're all thinking 

Then Midnight hit and the crowd at a club that was supposedly already at capacity somehow became more full. Hood Internet started up playing some M83 and a wave of glow sticks and people dancing began. (I'm still amazed when I see ravers dressed in the classic 90's style in public, but I guess any punk rocker is dressing in a style that is forty years old so ravers and glow sticks and big pants might be around forever.) My entire group of friends was now on their feet. My friend Drew ,who five minutes prior was almost asleep from a long day and work week, suddenly came to his feet. I was surprised he didn't bust out the caterpillar right there on the dance floor. At one point If you ever wanted to see two dudes Night at the Roxbury a girl to Whitney Houston you missed out. Around 12:30 I looked up from focusing on my dancing and my group of friends to see the stage filled with people. More than 30 excited concert goers were surrounding the two dudes that make up Hood Internet and more were heading up there. Of course I dragged a couple of friends  onstage at several points to join the party and take part in the experience. Right at 1:30 everything stopped too soon so we dragged our tired, sweaty selves out the door but with smiles on every face. 

This mashup FTW. This Indieverse article contains a video of the show so you can see the back of the stage as people celebrate the beginning of the freaking 35 Denton weekend. 

Song of the Week 35 Denton special

Ok my fave song of the week is ten years old but this was one of my favorite performances of 35 Denton. Plus last week I tried to listen to as many 35 Denton bands as possible this was the song that stuck in my head the most. I will never forget my friend Sarah looking like she might explode with excitement as they played since she is a long time Mountain Goats fan. This video gives a tiny glimpse into the comical style of John Darnielle which made their show even more enjoyable.

Here's my newly updated Spotify playlist for all of my favorite songs of the year (woop woop)

In case you missed it here are my other songs of the year (woop woop woop) 

What I want to see at 35 Denton

First off let me say this post would not be possible without Denton lover and inhabitant @theneener who's blog and Spotify playlist allowed me easy access to hear every band that is playing. With that I was able to make a list of what I want to see this weekend. I only of course have listened to the bands so I have no idea what their stage presence is so hopefully it will match. My motto for the weekend is No Mellow Shit so while there are several great folky mellow bands playing that's not what I want to see (except what's on the main stage and the mellowness there will suffice). With all the beer and tacos and bacon wagon treats I intend to consume I need to rock out as much as possible to work of those calories.

Last night was the first night of the festival and my twitter feed imploded with #35Denton tweets. Obviously the festival is already a success. I couldn't go last night and can't go Saturday so I'm only giving you half the suggestions because I barely had time to listen for the days I am going.

Tonight everyone  and their mom is excited about the Mountain Goats because to put it quite frankly they are fucking weird but beautiful. I mean seriously the lyrics to "Damn these Vampires" are "God damn these bite marks Deep in my arteries Crawl 'til dawn On my hands and knees". Or click that link and read the beginning of their web page. So epic. They have one of the best Twitter accounts ever btw.

Once nine hits and everyone moves to the inside venues is when choices get tough. My first pick is Coves possibly because I like their cover art ( because I am shallow like that).

At the 10:15 slot I'm moving over to check out Peoplodian. They remind me of Stereolab but without all that damn frenchiness.

If you haven't seen Burning Hotels yet you must go for a major dance party at Hailey's.

11:30 I'm picking between Class Actress or The Blurries. Class Actress seems like a perfect fit with Burning Hotels.At that point if Thursday is a testament that club will be one in one out so good luck squeezing in there. The Blurries are more rock than sex wave so I'm looking forward to seeing them as well.

At 12:30 The dance party will continue at Hailey's with The Hood Internet or I can go rock out with The Boom  Bang but I really want to check out the quirky Ella Minnow. I mean the album is called Red Beard I have to go.

Sadly Saturday I am working ( because I need money for more bacon and beer on Sunday) which is unfortunate because I absolutely LOVE Best Coast although I've heard they are a bit lacking in the performance department. Atlas Sound recently had a very public freakout where they played My Sharona for an hour and many strange shenanigan's ensued so that could be quite the spectacle. ( not to be confused with the metal band playing later The Spectacle).

Here's the first of three clips or you can read this article all about it. 

Later on 10:30 is a grab bag of awesomeness between Sealion, Soviet, and Bad Sports. Then local favorites R2B2 and Air Review. The other bands are probably great but I didn't want to get depressed about missing them so you're on your own.

Sunday can't come soon enough because I am so stoked about Dum Dum Girls and Built to Spill. I like what I've heard of  to Thee Oh Sees as well who sound like and evil version of those boy bands from the sixties ( Like  The Zombies and The Turtles).

Dum Dum Girls. So. Hot.

Then I'm going go rock my face off at Video. Followed by The Mannequin Men ( because umm look at this album cover) .

I'll step things down a notch ( but not that far just that Video and Mannequin Men could go to 11) The Rassle.

With the five minutes I've had to listen to the final spots I would say I like The Pass who are along the lines of MGMT Phoenix type music but I might be all rocked out and want to break my mellow rule and see The O's. 

No matter where I go I know I'll have a flipping fantabulous time.  See you there!!

Why aren't you going to Denton???? Ok fine there's SOME other stuff going on

Ok I would assume most of my regular readers know about 35 Denton but maybe you don't so real quick here's a run down. 230 bands 4 days 13 venues. All in Denton this weekend starting Thursday and ending Sunday. Built to Spill, Best Coast, Dum Dum Girls, The Mountain Goats, to start with. I hadn't heard most of the bands until I finally made sure I was getting to go ( thanks to winning wrist bands from Indieverse woot woot thanks Indieverse). I spent this entire weekend listening to all of the bands, thanks to a spotify playlist from @theneener, and they are predominately amazing. So anyway you must go. If you want to try to win wristbands I would suggest following Indieverse on twitter as well as 35 Denton and Central Track. Of course they're are probably already done giving away passes but it's only $35 for one day or $65 for the whole weekend. Central Track and Indieverse posted articles touting the best picks for the festival.



On Wednesday you can go ahead and get your 35 Denton partying started early with a hip hop show at Rubber Gloves including Denton's famous Yeahdef and my buddy JLD who is opening for Raekwon at Prophet Bar next week. This show is only 5 bucks.

Meanwhile at the Prophet Bar Erykah Badhu is flipping DJing. How cool is that.

Friday The Heartless Bastards are playing at Lola's which if you've listened to KXT lately for more than five minutes you've heard them. The show is like ten tickets away from being sold out at this very second so go get tickets if you want to go.

On Saturday Taylor Craig Mills is at the Grotto to celebrate the release of his new album "Don't Look Back Twice". When I first met Taylor this was the album he was "trying to get recorded" so It's so awesome to see that it finally came to fruition for such and awesome, nice, talented dude. Go to the show or just go buy the album on iTunes or Amazon.

On Sunday in Dallas the newly named 406 Arts (previously Phoenix Project) is hosting a rock show and Art Exhibit called AMERICAN DREAM the collective srt of the Occupy Dallas Culture Commitee. Artists include:  Goran Maric, Jim Public, Jessica Chong, Vox Nihil, David Stanley Aponte, James Whitmire. Bands performing include: Unconcscious Collective, Doggebi. Chairs, and Loic Beartrand. I can't even describe what kind of music these bands are playing. Experimental I guess. Let's just say I started to watch a video of Unconscious Collective and had to stop because there are children around me. So now you have to go right?
                                                

One of David Stanley Aponte's pieces

A few non band events.

 Judy Tenuta, everyone's favorite female accordion player, is performing Friday at Hyena's in Dallas. Hells yea.

In Grapevine you can go to the chocolate and Art festival on Saturday which ends with a screening of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory ( hopefully the original and not Charlie and the Chocolate Factory eek)

Young Frankenstein (my favorite comedy of all time btw) is a musical now? and it's playing at Bass Hall next Wednesday and Thursday. 

Ok peeps. You bettter go to Denton! Also please "like" my new page on Facebook for regular updates.

Songs of the Week 2012

So I decided to start a new Tuesday blog about what songs I am replaying each week. Much like a teenage girl obsessively calling KISS Fm (or the rest of the free world with any Adele song) I get completely obsessed with a song and listen to it over and over for a week or two. After a week I move on to another song. It might be a bit too telling in how not with it I am to let you  see what songs I'm into since for the most part they aren't new releases or anything. That's cool though. I more thought it would be interesting in a journal type aspect and that you crazy kids might find it interesting or some of you might see songs you haven't heard yet. ( OK Some of you will think "I've been listening to that song for months". Well aren't you glad we agree on something.) I originally was keeping this as one epic end of year post but now I've decided (and through the advice of my Gayle King: Sarah) I want to make this a weekly post. This post will catch you up with the year and then I'll start posting one song per week. I also made a Spotify playlist that I will update. Hope you like.

So here goes:
January-1-7 Drake featuring Lil Wayne "HYFR"
This song is totally different from everything else I list here but "They say love is in the air, so I hold my breath until my face turn purple" is probably one of the most genius lyrics in all of hip hop time (Ok at least of 2011). Also the chorus makes me laugh. (p.s. The videos available for some of these songs totally blow: like this one. They get increasingly better as I go through the list)

January 8-14 Surfer Blood  "I'm Not Ready"
Some of these I don't have an explanation for. They is what they is.

         
January 15-21 Cults "Abducted"/"Go Outside"
Both of these songs are rad and both videos are pretty creepy.



         

January 22-28 The Boom Boom Box "Wooden Sword"
This local band includes former members of Baboon (one of the best local bands ever),. They released this album pretty recently and I love it. They will be playing at Lola's on March 23 .

Oh man the classic Andrew pants grab is the best.

January 29-February 4 Florence and the Machines "Shake it Out"
I didn't just discover this song or anything. I'd heard it several times at this point but thought it was aite. Something clicked this week and I was obsessed with it. Well actually I was in a terrible mood for a day or two and I kept telling myself to shake it out.  
      

February 5-11 Crocodiles "Hearts of Love "
These guys are playing Brofest in Dallas on the 18th. btw. Brofest is jampacked with rad bands btw

February 12-18 Quiet Company "You, Me, & the Boatman"
This Austin band put out a new album in 2011 and either blew up big or just became a big obsession of mine. Either way they are headlining with The Boom Boom box  at Lola's AND I CAN"T WAIT!!!!!This song will get stuck in your head for days.

Plus look at em- they're so adorable and beardy.

February 19-25 Bad Cop "Daylight"

February 26-March 3 Gotye " Somebody that I used to Know"
I think everyone was into this song at this point. I spent this week trying to learn it for karaoke. Also, this was the week it finally came to Spotify so I was able to listen to it regularly because I am a terrible person and don't spend very much money on buying music ( but I do support them by going to shows and writing about them so that balances right?)

 Which bring us to THIS WEEK Woot

Chairlift "I Belong in Your Arms" These guys are also playing soon at Dada on April 16th.

So here is my spotify playlist if you want to listen to the songs that way instead of watching all of these videos. (Hey look at me)

A few more haps 3/2- 3/4

What do Henry Rollins and Drake have in common? Well they're both in the music industry duh- they both will be at colleges in the DFW area this weekend. Drake is performing at UTA as well as A$AP rock this Friday. Ok it's actually sold out but maybe you can look into your UTA connections and find a ticket (or hit up craigslist obs), or you could get his name tattooed on your face that could equal free concert entry for life right?

 Rollins is giving a talk at UNT about his travels all around the world. That one you can buy tickets for still and isn't limited to students. DC9 posted this short interview where Rollins talks up music in Texas which is worth a read.

The unique events continue with a massive bridge party in Dallas on Saturday.

No not that kind of bridge party

 Several bands including The Burning Hotels an Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights are playing to celebrate the opening of a new bridge over the trinity. There will also be a food truck park and  someone doing 3D sidewalk drawings and at the end of the night FIREWORKS woot. Sounds like quite the spectacle for sure.

Starting this weekend and going through April 8th Botanical Gardens starts it's annual Flight of the Butterflies show which sounds pretty sweet. Butterflies woot.

Ok there are probably some stuff I missed so make sure and follow me on Twitter @shastinalynn