Ok- in the name of fairness, we'll give credit to Kate Mackley (spelling?) for the photo of Emil Rapstine below. And for the record, we got it off their myspace page and didn't see a copyright on it, so we didn't even consider crediting whoever took it. For future reference, if anyone has a photo that appears on here that we have mistakenly failed to credit or would like to have a photo removed, please email Weshotjr@yahoo.com and let us know. Music stuff:

FIRST: The wonderful people over at Clear Channel are sponsoring a WSJR contest for tonight's Scott Stapp show at Nokia or wherever it is... and this ones just for the ladies! And the gay gents! Anyway, if you want to win, post in the comment thread telling us which Creed song you find most inspirational and why, and the winner will get to blow Scott backstage, and then pray with him that the Republican controlled congress' approval ratings go up so that they can maintain control after the November election (this also happens to be in the best interest of Bush pal Tom Hicks, who is a major Clear Channel shareholder)! Sound sexy and fun? Well if that isn't enough, you'll get an autograph and a free t-shirt! Bonus!

1. Attractive and Popular | Occasional Detroit | Juiceboxxx (J&Js Denton)
So in case you've never witnessed the no wave dance attack Attractive and Popular, tonight would be a good night to do so considering that they are playing with the excellent OD and Juiceboxx at J&Js, where I have decided the pizza and pints rule just as much as anything else. Don't be dumb: go to this show. Starts at 9.

Attractive and Popular will also be playing @ the White House in Denton later tonight (I assume after their first show) with Chief Death Rage, which should rule. Its next door to the yella house in case you don't know.

2. Theater Fire | Red Hunter/ St. Vincent (Double Wide)
Like it or not, Theater Fire could be the best currently active Dallas based band around right now. And I said DALLAS, not Denton or anywhere else. And Theater Fire is actually from Ft. Worth I think, so forget it. And St. Vincent is a GVB fav, so if you're usually down with what Chris is down with, this would be a good reason to go early. Sorry, can't find the Red Hunter myspace and I gotta run.... it couldn't be that great anyway, could it?

3. Dj G 80's House and electronica (Hailey's)

Idi*Amin is arguably one of the most experimental groups playing at Strategies of Beauty, but their experimental technique is nuanced and they don't sound as though they are out to simply punish you with pure noise, even though they could if they wanted to. The only thing keeping this band from being a straight instrumental group is the fact that "atonal" guitarist Nevada Hill ( a label he doesn't take as an insult, like the way it's sometimes pejoratively thrown around this very site) will let lose with an occasional scream or yelp. Meanwhile, "Tonal" guitarist Paul Overby balances out Nevada's formlessness while the Observer's most capable freelancer, Michael Chamy, plays the Sinewave Generator to undermine any and all attempts at balance.

The band has had multiple drummer syndrome in the past, but they are currently backed by Boyd Dixon of Tame, Tame and Quiet. Boyd brings a more direct drumming style to the push and pull of Idi*Amin, and it's very entertaining to hear the band rise and fall between droning, complete chaos, and...rocking. Finally, all the musical contrasts are topped off by the loop-like saxophone work of Mike Forbes. His repetitive phrases and hypnotic melody shards dart around Idi*Amin's live eruptions and at times recall Philip Glass. And no, I'm not talking about the Kundun soundtrack. Honestly, a lot of Forbes' sax parts remind me of the opening sample on Devin the Dude's "I-Hi," and that's not a bad thing. And if you can't remember the complex names of any of Idi*Amin's improvisations, just request that they do their"microphone trick". It's a local legend.

Saturday's Strategies of Beauty performance featuring the duet of Samantha Moss of Jetscreamer and Emil Rapstine of The Angelus will be their second performance together, and like the first, it will likely result in some combination of haunting atmospheric music and spoken word performance. In their first performance, Emil played a bastardized wind organ to accompany Samantha's recital of passages from"Dakota: A Spiritual Geography," a non-fiction tome written by Kathleen Norris that includes a topical mix of weather reports, spirituality, and monasticism in the American Midwest. Sounds like Spin Magazine wasn't kidding about this being one of the "101 Wildest Parties" of the summer! But don't let the reading scare you, Mr. or Ms. Less Adventurous, because Emil Rapstine's accompaniment will be a sonic fit to the heavy subject matter, and will probably resemble his moody work in The Angelus. Unfortunately, Rapstine's wind organ died an untimely death, so he'll be forced to improvise other ways to embellish Sam's speaking. The two might also treat the crowd to duet vocals, but no promises. One thing I was promised by Samantha: this will sound nothing like Jetscreamer.

To everyone that came here from the Myspace bulletin: FOOLED YOU!

It appears that two of our favorite weekly Wednesday night events, The party @ Rubber Gloves with DJ Nature and DJ G's 80's house night at the Cavern are not going down this week. And to top it off, nothing else worthy of any time or attention ( that we know about) seems to be happening tonight either, which is the first time in a while (Other than a random Sunday or Monday here or there) that its been quite this dead.

So maybe you should sit back, relax, have a few beers, and get ready for the weekend. Sorry. I can't wait for someone to bitch at us because nothing is going down tonight.

However, later tonight we will have more posts on some of the Strategies bands ( a concert, in case you hadn't heard, that is expected by Spin to be one of the 101 best parties of the summer), an MP3 or two from other bands, and more details about our "best of" local podcast, which seems to be coming together quite nicely. We've got the playlist picked out and a good host, so we're on our way.

So are the 90's the new 80's or something?

1. Occasional Detroit | Kidko (Metrognome)
Don't be like me. Don't miss another great show at Metrognome because you can't make it out to Ft. Worth tonight. I can't make it for various reasons, but if I were going out tonight, this is where I would be. OD is I guess what you would call "avant hip hop," but I would just call it some great beats and efficiently utilized noise parts. I've never really heard anything quite like it, but I guess you could maybe make a Suicide comparison, if only slight. And don't be afraid of the IDM label (I often am), because Kidko is one of the better electronic artists in DFW right now. I think Juiceboxx was supposed to play this show too, but I don't think they are on the bill anymore.

2. Lost Generation with Wanz (Cavern Upstairs)
Heres what he'll have tonight. Sounds good:

"Tonight's theme is nostalgia. I am gonna time warp back to the listening habits of my group of friends duringb the early to mid 90's. MBV, The Darkside, Spacemen 3, Slowdive, Laika, Seefeel, Squarepusher, Stereolab, Silver Apples, Pale Saints, Tortoise, Yo La Tengo, ESG, Bark Psychosis, Pram, Slint, Public Enemy, Atom Heart,Kraftwerk and much much more. I'm diggin deep into the vault for this one. Have you ever heard The Velvet Underground legendary Guitar Amp Tape? Do you know what Narcotic Guitar is?When was the last time you listened to the 1st Suicide album? Remember SST records? Anyone remeber Mark Ibold's pre-pavement(and far superior) band "The Dustdevils"? When was thge last time you dusted off a Gastr del Sol record? Remember the Denton house parties with The Boredoms, Blues Explosion and Mouse and Mars? A few of you out there may even remember freaking out The Swirlies when they came to Denton when everyone kept trying to get them stoned..........oh the days. It's nostalgia night at Lost Generation."

I would have loved to try to get the Swirlies stoned. I can't believe they wouldn't.

Also, Eat Avery's Bones is playing with the Peelers, The Future Unlived and Polio=Feet at Dada tonight. I'm not a big "garage" guy, and I can't stand rockabilly, so I can't really recommend the Peelers... Future Unlived's myspace page is fucked up so I can't really hear what they sound like, and I can't really find anything about the feet dudes, so sorry Surly.

Band of Horses | Mt. Egypt | The Can't See (Hailey's $10)
Even though I've poked fun at them before, I don't really think Band of Horses suck. In fact, I think they are pretty damn good at what they do, which is combining The Shins and My Morning Jacket. But thats not even fair, is it? I mean, they do have some qualities that neither of those bands have, and they are a pleasant listen, and perhaps a bit more challenging and dark than the Shins. And they're actually pretty good songwriters too, but I just don't feel like I can buy into all the hype surrounding these guys yet, even if there are a couple of songs on Everything All the Time that I like quite a bit, especially "The Funeral." I wonder how they'll be live... probably a good time. Mt. Egypt sounds like a slightly less dense, um, Band of Horses, and The Can't See, well, I can't hear the can't see now, so see you later.

Like we said last week, this week we'll be profiling some of the bands playing at the Strategies of Beauty festival on Saturday at Rubber Gloves in Denton. We think this thing could be one of the local music highlights of the year, so we'll be giving it a little more coverage than we usually do for most concerts. Since we're lazy, and we've already done profiles on two of performers, we'll start by linking back to those. You can expect handful more of them this week:

HERE: Shiny Around the Edges

HERE: Chris Garver

1. Nobody & Mystic Chords of Memory - Tree Colored See
2. Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
3. Danielson - Ships
4. The Paper Chase - Now You Are One Of Us
5. Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
6. Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope
7. Frank Black - Fast Man Raider Man
8. Small Sins - Small Sins
9. Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
10. The Futureheads - News and Tributes
11. Wolfmother - Wolfmother
12. Daedelus - Denies the Days Demise
13. Jose Gonzalaz - Veneer
14. Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds
15. Astronautalis - The Mighty Ocean and Nine Dark Theaters
16. Juana Molina - Son
17. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
18. The Stills - Without Feathers
19. Hot Chip - The Warning
20. Be Your Own Pet - Be Your Own Pet

Maybe I'm dumb, but what the hell is Nobody and the Mystic whatever?

I should tell you that although I do like Sonic Youth quite a bit, I'm not one of these SY groupies that has every single piece of music they have ever released and can speak intelligently about Thurston Moore's guitar tunings for every show they played in New York in 1983. That being said, I thought last night's show at the stuffed Gypsy Tea Room (it was the most crowded I've EVER seen the place, although the temp inside was surprisingly cool) was completely captivating, and the band looked and sounded fresh, energetic, and relevant. A couple of friends and I spent a bit of our drunken evening discussing how different the Sonic Youth show felt compared to the Dinosaur Jr. show we saw a couple months back. Both bands were favorites of ours back in the day, and we all still listen to both on a regular basis. And although this might be obvious considering that Dinosaur was simply on a reunion tour playing old hits, it seems that nostalgia was the primary motivation that guided us to the Dinosaur show at Gypsy, while a genuine curiousness and anticipation to hear new material is what primarily motivated us to go see Sonic Youth. None of us had seen them in what seems like a very long time, and although it was nice to hear some old stuff ("Kool Thing," "Eric's Trip," and "Catholic Block" among others), the new material seemed as timely and relevant as anything else Sonic Youth has ever done, and many of the songs off their latest album made it on to our list of favorite songs of the night. I continue to be impressed by how challenging and artistically valid Sonic Youth still is after all these years, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if I went to see them the next time they came through Dallas in support of yet another pretty fantastic record.

And what was close to being the absolute highlight of the night for us, despite all the great music we heard? It would have to be the fact that Pavement's Mark Ibold was touring with them on the bass. How fucking cool is that?

As for today, Theater Fire is playing at the Fort Worth Weekly Music award show at the 8.0 Bar at Sundance Square, and Doublewide is having its anniversary party starting early this evening. The line up:

6:00 - Pinebox Serenade7:00 - The Strange Boys8:00 - Saboteur9:00 - Lions10:00 - Max Cady11:00 - The Golden Falcons12:00 - Skeemin No Goods

In the Courtyard:

6:40 - not confirmed yet7:40 - Travis Hopper8:40 - Laura Palmer9:40 - JC10:40 - Emil Rapstine (The Angelus)

Not that all of these are our favorite acts or anything, but it should be a good time if you just want to relax a bit on a Sunday afternoon. Be sure to check out Emil Rapstine.

1. Sonic Youth/ Awesome Color (Gypsy Tea Room Ballroom $30)
I figure you have an opinion on Sonic Youth one way or another and you're stickin to it, so I won't even bother. Awesome Color is from Bushwick, and their hipster points are on full display on their Myspace page. They sound like Sabbath and MC5 with Thurston Moore and the guy from Dead Meadow for singers. Its pretty decent I supposed.

2. Last Generation Concert (Darkside)
See below for more info on this show

3. I Love You | Peel | Chaos v. Caverninha | You Are the Universe (Metrognome $5)
Another great show @ Metrognome tonight. I Love You and Peel played last night (see descripton below or click the link), and Chaos is a noise side project from two members of Austin's excellent Hotel Hotel. And you know the deal on Universe already.

And my dumbass almost forgot:

Tim Sweeney of DFA fame will be Djing at Minc tonight (813 Exposition in Expo Park, $5 b/f 11, $10 after). Go here to check out some of his podcasts, or go to the Myspace page. If you're into anything like DFA, Optimo, How To Kill the Dj, Tigerbeat, or space disco, then you REALLY should check this guy out. His podcasts are fantastic and there won't be anywhere in the state of Texas where you'll hear a better DJ set tonight, I bet. This will be going on till late, so you can make this an after show stop if you want.

Don't have a lot of time to write a bunch about these shows right now, but here is the list with a bit of commentary and the links you need:

1. Everything, Now | La Subida (Metrognome Collective $5)
A venue at the top of a short list of places that are booking shows AND have an interest in art. AND know what they are talking about.

2. Teenage Symphony | Peel | Tame Tame and Quiet | I love You (Cavern)
Teenage Symphony is getting better and better all the time. Go see them before all your dumb friends hear about them. Austin's Peel lists Pavement as an influence on their Myspace page, and it shows (or sounds.) But they are really pretty damn good, I'm shocked we've never heard of them before. Ft. Worth's Tame Tame is always worth checking out, and I love You is almost too "indie pop heard it all before," but they aren't, and they are good too. I bet this is going to be a fun night, even if they have to compete with Theater Fire.

3. Theater Fire (Sons of Herman Hall)
Benefit for Kinky Friedman, I'm sure you all know the deal on this.

4. Octopus Project | Dutch Treats (Hailey's)

5. Denton's Drunk Talk Show (Rubber Gloves)
Here is the info they sent me on this. Sounds fun, and its free:

Tonight, on stage at Rubber Gloves... NO COVER. Cheap booze. Show starts PROMPTLY at 11:30. SEATING IS EXTREMELY LIMITED. Get there a little early iffin you know whats what.. What is WHAT IT IS IS? Its a live talk show, ya fug. Complete with a Desk, a couch, a coffee table, a Host (Scott Porter/Record Hop/Spitfire Tumbleweeds), a Sidekick (Kody Jackson/Spitfire Tumbleweeds), an Announcer (Colin Carter/Hogpig), and a Band (Duane Deering/Tendril). All that shit. TOTALLY pro. Tonight's guests? I'm glad you asked. We have the comedy of Frank Hejl (ex-Frequency Down/Mix tapes and Babyfights). We have Mr. Chris Flemmons (Baptist Generals) joining us on the couch to talk about what the Save Fry Street battle is REALLY all about. We have two budding film makers, Ryan Barbonne and Allen Traylor, who will be showing clips from their hilarious, sexy, and racially charged internet series "Hello Optimism" And if that wasn't enough, we have the music of Brent Best (The Drams/ex-Slobberbone)! Add an installment of America's favorite new game TASTE THE POWDER and you have a night that is DEFINATELY worth the ZERO dollars that you will be paying to EXPERIENCE HISTORY IN THE MAKING. FUCK. Seriously, seating is available and limited. Show up early and get blotto. We'll do the rest! If you get there late, youre gonna miss it. The show runs somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half.

Here are some records we have been listening to lately at WSJR HQ, with a couple MP3s just for you:

Brightblack Morning Light s/t (this is a fantastic record that is pretty perfect in almost any setting. I'm sure that some people will find it boring, but I think it recalls Spacemen 3, Primal Scream, and elements of jazz and soul. What the fuck is boring about that?) "Friend of Time" MP3

Johann Johannsson Dis (Christ this is a really beautiful album. Check out the way this track goes from soft bedroom pop fragile to bold psyche rockin and back again in a completely seamless sequence.) "Efripides Og Nearipidel" MP3

Sly and the Family Stone Theres a Riot Going on (Listen to this record if you want to find out how dark a summer can be. And also where Ariel Pink came from.)

My Bloody Valentine Glider EP, Tremolo EP, You Made Me Realise EP (A lot of the stuff on these EPs doesn't sound much like Loveless, but sometimes thats a good thing considering what a powerful yet draining experience listening to Loveless can be. These also reveal another side of the band that is compelling in its own right.) "Slow" MP3
Feathers s/t

Thom Yorke The Eraser

Six Organs of Admittance The Sun Awakens ( yet another strong effort) "Bless Your Blood" MP3

Excepter KA

Joy Division Closer (Oh, have you guys ever heard of this band before? Seriously, its honestly been a couple years since I sat down and listened to Joy Division, but I started listening to Closer again a couple weeks ago and it now blows me away even more than it used to. I don't know how its possible, but it does, especially opener "Atrocity Exhibition.")

Defensive Listening's List:

Wuhling Extra Six
Orange Juice The Glasgow School
Finally Punk "Missile" (from their Myspace page)
Loincloth "Church Burntings" (from Southern Lord seven inch)
Delta 5 Singles and Sessions
Nikki Sudden/ Jacobites The Ragged School
Massacre Killing Time
Ancient Chinese Secret Caveat Emptor

(we were gonna post more MP3s, but file sharing is being a bitch today. If bands, labels or management want any of these songs removed, please email weshotjr@yahoo.com and we will take them down immediately. )

We figured we'd try to alert everyone about the OTHER concert going on Saturday night. Yes, we'll be at Sonic Youth for a good portion of the evening, but some of us are going to make it over to Darkside later in the evening after what we are guessing will be an early end time to the show @ Gypsy. We think all of you people should probably stop by Darkside too (especially those that can't afford Sonic Youth), and there are several reasons for this:

1. Because we said so
2. Because it will be a good show
3. Because its $5 and Sonic Youth is $30
4. Because its at Darkside Lounge, which seems to be the only place in Deep Ellum that might possibly become a refuge for good booking in the neighborhood.

And it seems that the other, um, publications around town missed the boat on what should be the best local show of the weekend, meaning that going to this show would be a good chance to show everyone how far ahead you are. The line up:

The Falkon (the Falkon's original line up, back together to play just a couple shows. People will surely blah blah blah about Wanz on the comment threads, but I think you'll have a hard time talking shit about "Death to Sally" on their Myspace page. Go see what I mean.)
The Great Tyrant ( I think fans of Sunn0))), Cabaret Voltaire, and Silver Apples will really dig these guys. Not that they sound much like any of those bands, but they seem to have the same, you know, thing going on.)
Silk Stocking
Notes from Underground
Low Line Caller (from Austin- shoegaze influenced instrumental pop that could either be one of the great live experiences of the summer or a disaster, depending on whether these guys are capable of pulling their sound off live)
Various members of the Laptop Deathmatch squad

Shit. I don't know what Beck was like at Snorekia last night (I heard it was good and that there were performances conducted by dolls), and I haven't heard much about The Walkmen show, but neither of them could have been BETTER than Man Man last night, because they were completely lights out at the Cavern. Although I wish it would have been just a bit louder (a common complaint at the ol' Cavern), the stage presence of each and every face-painted member of Man Man, along with their complex pounding rhythms and vocals that somehow sounded as good live as they do on the record, made it one of the better shows I have seen this year (still can't touch Ariel Pink, The Books, or Liars). The house was mostly packed (unfortunately with a whole lotta men, man), but the crowd's energy was pretty high level for a Dallas show (usually takes an out-of-towner to inspire that), and Man Man didn't miss a beat all night. It was one of those sweaty, high energy, bratty and infectious live shows where the band LOOKED completely chaotic but somehow managed to play really tight all night long (Undoing of David Wright is pretty good at pulling that trick off too). I hope Sonic Youth is HALF that fun on Saturday.

Of course, as is often the story in Dallas, one night of high profile shows is followed by a night of relatively few noteworthy shows:

1. DJ G 80's Night (Hailey's)
Every time I see this guy spin, I hear at least 10 tracks I know and love, and at least 10 that I've never heard but make me say "does anyone know who this is?" Most people that read this blog have probably checked him out at some point, but if you haven't, you should head to Denton to see what you're missing. You'll hear a lot of rare 80's electro, great mid to late 80's Chicago house, some Italo, etc.

2. Zoo (Cavern Upstairs)
A night of mostly great music along with hard to find music videos and other interesting visuals. You'll go for the sounds but stay for the sights, because the videos are as carefully selected as the music here. You should try it, because everyone needs somewhere to go on Thursday nights once they have realized that hipster karaoke is the beginning of the end for you and your friends.

3. Strange Boys | Tah Dahs | Sparklepussy Barbie (Gypsy Tea Room)
Strange Boys and Tah Dahs are good bands that you should go see tonight if you haven't seen them 5,000 times. But I have, and I'm taking a break for a while. And I can't believe I typed "Sparklepussy Barbie." I'm never doing that again unless its in a "Warning: members of the Deathray Davies" kind of way.

Also, I forgot:

Your Heart Breaks | Karl Blau (Rubber Gloves)
Some of that old school, lo-fi indie pop stuff that might remind you that you still kind of like pop music. Is K Records retro cool now?