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Subservient Team
Regular Contributors Cory Graves [=w=]
Special Contributors Laura Sliva Wolfe McBain Cory P. Coleman -[c] Jesseca Bagherpour Morrow Mikey H. Corn Mo Todd Cochran Justin Steele Nina Chantanapumma Jamie Linver Mike Dexter Nick Payne Jennifer Hudson
We gush about Soviet enough around here you'd think we were in the band, or at least their publicist or something. But really we just dig their slightly goofy antics and ear-splitting, throw back your head and sing-along hooks more than just about anything going. It'll be cool to see them in a place like The Loft, opening for such a quality act like White Rabbits (who you may remember we had a nice little phone chat with a few days back).
Also over at Club Dada is a nice little Parade of Flesh presented bill headlined by Crystal Stilts. But it gets better, Sea Lion, aka THE most underrated band in town opens the bill. Our Sea Lion buddies boast some of the biggest, tightest punk tunes in town, with the added bonus of actually being really really good at their instruments. The fact that their songs are also so damn good is the cherry on top. Simply put; as soon as the word gets out on these guys (which it inevitably will the minute they release a nice big fancy LP) they will be thought of as one of the absolute best bands in the Metroplex. Hell, we already think they are. Cover to the show is half-off with an Arcade Fire ticket stub. Just sayin'.
Our other favorite local album releasing this week comes from another SubEx pal, AnonymousCulture. His full Alive album (offered up for free over here) is a little hit and miss, but that is to be expected of just about any 19-track LP. Among the high points are our two favorite selections, "I Do My Thang" and "Crappy Together".
The first time I heard "I Do My Thang" was at Anonymous' 35 Conferette showcase at Hailey's. I swear at the time I heard him say it was from an upcoming mixtape. The hook is so radio-friendly and instantly vaguely familiar that I easily bought the idea that he was just rapping over somebody else's track. I was mildly taken aback to discover it was wholly original. The hook was also delivered by Sedrick Stylez, who, coincidentally enough, appears on that LehtMoJoe track we posted yesterday. Quickly he's becoming DFW's version of Nate Dogg (R.I.P.).
"Crappy Together" not only features galleryCat singing choruses on this Turtles-interpolating tune, but also an extremely autotuned AnonymousCulture making his singing debut towards the end. It tells the all too familiar tale of that couple that has no business staying together because they are oh so crappy together.
DFW electronic artist and SubEx pal LehtMoJoe drops his sophomore album today. Grab it on iTunes or his bandcamp page, where all sales made today will be donated to Salvation Army Japan to help with tsnuami relief. Read the full release below.
LehtMoJoe has upped his game on his sophomore solo album, Aisle7, which sees the producer confronting the seemingly difficult challenge of pairing the nostalgic synth-pop from his youth with the more updated polish and electro sheen fans of his music have come to expect.
"I think this album is some of my best work, incorporating techniques from the electronic based music I am very comfortable with, alongside a more traditional approach to songwriting," says LehtMoJoe. "For me, there is a greater feeling of accomplishment creating these kinds of songs. Taking a random lyrical melody in my head and turning it into a complete track is a bit different from my previous album, which is more rhythmically driven."
What Leht did with the more club-oriented fare of Justice/Daft Punk/SebastiAn in 2009 he's attempted to do with the wistful sounds of Joe Jackson, Julian Lennon, Phil Collins and Vanity 6 that he first began recording onto cassettes from the radio back in the late 80's. "Growing up, we were remodeling our house and would frequent Home Depot and Payless Cashways for materials on the weekends, and outside of my brother cutting his finger on a razor blade we found in the store, or picking up the phones in the aisles and making noises into them, it was pretty boring," says Leht. "The one constant that would amuse me however was the song selection that was played in the stores. Hall and Oates, Phil Collins, and Billy Ocean dominated back then. So this is a throwback to that kind of music, sonically interesting with memorable melodies."
Helping LehtMoJoe accomplish this task on Aisle7 were musicians like Max Brown, Sedrick Stylez, Xavier Marquis, and Sara Dean whose distinctive personalities played a large part in shaping the album's characteristic attitude.
"The songs called for it," says Leht. "In Sedrick's case, I had worked on "Touch The Sky" with myself singing, but knew I needed a stronger vocal and different tonality to match the aggressive bassline, so he was kind enough to step in and take the song to the next level. Once I thought of Sedrick I knew I had to get X on the track with him. Xavier is an extremely talented producer in his own right and an even better rapper --technically sound with that verbal portrait-painting ability. I knew of Max from his band Savage and the Big Beat, and love his vocal and musical style. A sort of Freddie Mercury meets Muse lead singer Matthew Bellamy, operatic and broad. He helped proved thematic direction for the song as well. With "Crash", I had worked with Sara on a previous release and knew she was a perfect fit as narrator of that song. She has that 'Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn' quality to her vocals."
In short Aisle7 is full of those rare powerful instances that will one day be remembered, no doubt, as some of the genre's defining moments.
"I strive to achieve those head-bob/squint your eyes moments, like the chorus to 'Groove Line' by Heatwave or the bridge to the Jacksons 'Can You Feel It,'" Leht says. "When they hit, it's a wrap. You know what I mean? When Poison comes on and Ricky Bell sings 'It's driving me out of my mind...' That's it. Game blouses. Eat your pancakes."
The month of May will also see the release of an exclusive free remix EP in which select Aisle7 tracks have been reworked by DJ Merritt, Giggle Party, Yeahdef, Kontaktor, Family Circuits, Radio Krome, ODahl, and more.
Do we do anything but post videos of rock duos anymore? Not from the looks of everything we've posted thus far this week. But RTB2's latest video is just too cool to break the trend. Just like their "When Hammer Hits Stone" video we get another sweet analog-feeling visual befitting their latest single "Goon".
And just like we end every RTB2 post we'll again ask, "These guys are not world famous yet, why?".
Lately I've kind of stopped believing in coincidences. Nowadays whenever I have those little moments where I hum a song and then turn on the radio to find it already playing I chalk it up to being *winked at by a higher power. A miniature chest bump, if you will, by the big guy upstairs to kind of remind us all that everything in the universe is connected and we're all a part of this collective conscious.
To me, posting about Two Knights yesterday and then finding their Violitionist Session in my inbox the next morning is just that kind of wink. On a smaller level it at least is a reminder that the local "scene" is, in fact, just that; a connected scene. Everything and everyone in it effects the whole in some small way be it by making music, or blogging about it, or by going to shows and/or buying merch. Just remember, we're all in this life together.
And for the record, we still love Two Knights, who just might be the 2nd best two-piece in the region. Massive kudos to the dudes for being able to create such complex math-rocky rhythms and still managing to sing over them at the same time. You guys rock.
Despite all the big name acts I saw at 35 Conferette this year (Big Boi, Dr. Dog, Mavis Staples, Japanther, just to name a few) the coolest performance I got to see by far was the low key, guerilla-style spectacle Brainstorm through down in the middle of the street in front of Gio's Pizza. Yet, somehow I let them completely drift from my memory until earlier tonight when I was drafting an El Ten Eleven preview piece for The Observer.
I would say that I've never seen such a rackety math-rock duo, except for we're lucky enough to have Two Knights living in our fair burgh. Nonetheless, one doesn't often see tubas used to such rad effect. Kudos to Brainstorm for stealing the festival, in my eyes at least, and my apologies once again for neglecting you dudes for so long. Won't let it happen again.
If you haven't heard of Pepper Rabbit you've probably been living in a hole and need to immediately check out the bands debut album, Beauregard. Xander Singh and Luc Laurent make-up the folk pop duo and are coming to town May 3 at The Loft with The Submarines. I got a chance to talk with vocalist Xander, and find out what Pepper Rabbit has been up to.
SubEx:Where did the name Pepper Rabbit come from? Xander Singh: It came from a rabbit I had while I was living in Boston a few years back. Growing up, I could never have pets because I always wanted a dog but my sister was allergic to dogs and I was really allergic to cats so we couldn't get a cat. So when I got my first apartment outside the house I grew up in, I decided to start off small and get a rabbit and named him Dr.Pepper. He actually died two weeks after I got him, so it was kind of a tribute to him.
SE: The Ukulele is featured a lot in your songs. How did you get interested in playing that instrument? XS: I used to work at a music store. When I started my job there, it was a small independent specialized in vintage instruments store. They told me I can work there and they can either pay me $6 an hour in cash or $10 an hour in-store credit and so I took the store credit. Every week I would bring home something different from the store. And one day I brought home the ukulele and I just really liked the sound of it, and it was super easy to play. So I picked it up pretty quick and learned a few chords. I guess you can say it's one of the main instruments in the band.
SE: Is that your favorite instrument? XS: Probably not my favorite, manly because you have to string them kind of funny, definitely different from the electric guitar and I’m not very good at it. So whenever I break a string it is always quite a struggle.
SE: You are coming to Dallas in May. On tour do you guys have any before show rituals you do to get warmed up? XS: None other than very hastily setting up all our equipment in an organized manner before the show which makes it easier when you get on stage. Being in a touring band you don’t really start a very productive day until 5 or 6 when you show up at the venue, so our only rituals is getting there, figuring out where we need to load in, and how many drink tickets we have. And since we do have a lot of equipment on stage, we try to set up as much as we can backstage. But yeah in terms of rituals, we don’t say a prayer or anything like that. But I would say that a few minutes before we play, we get a good head space and focus a little bit and give the best show we can.
SE: Anything really memorable or crazy happen while performing? XS: Based on the amount of equipment we have on stage, sometimes something won't work and we will have to work around it.
The last show in the last tour we did with The Miniature Tigers was quite a memorable one. We are super good friends with those guys and had so much fun. So the last night, they came up on stage and sang and did percussion on all of our songs and we did the same for them, which was really fun. So that was definitely a very memorable moment being on stage. But also in December we did the tour with Passion Pit, which was the biggest venues we ever played. All those shows were really memorable. The crowd response was really great and it was definitely a learning experience to play in front of thousands of more people then we have ever played before.
SE: Your music has been featured on the American television version of Skins, did you know about the show beforehand?XS: Yeah, I had watched the European version of it. It is quite a bit different show than most other shows about teens, so of course it was very interesting. I was definitely excited to know we were going to have songs in the American version, so being a part of it was really cool for me.
SE: The show has had a lot of controversy behind it. Were you worried about your music being on something so controversial? XS: They do say all press is good press. No I wasn't too worried about it. It's just nice to be a part of something that I am personally a fan of; it is quite exciting for me.
SE: What are you currently listening to? XS: In terms of recent music, I have become a huge fan of James Blake in the past few months or so. I think he is one of the most exciting new artists that I've come across in the past few years. It’s really exciting for me being primarily a vocalist and singer, to see someone really be incredibly expressive in vocals and really put that in the forefront. I feel that in a lot of music that’s has come out in the past two years that my circle of friends and generation is listening to is, you know, the vocals of a singer is heavily drenched in effects. Yeah it's really great to see someone take their vocals to the forefront of the song. And a lot of the music I like to listen to, 70's late 60's pop music, were the vocals are really the main focus of the song. Different singers such as Lou Reed, David Bowie and Iggy Pop, just carry an entire song with just the performance they put down in the studio, which is something I hope to do a lot more in the future.
Pepper Rabbit will also be coming out with a new record in August.
Digital music is cool and all, but in a way doesn't it make music just a little too accessible? When I was 11 I had to do chores for an entire week just to earn a measly $5, which I'd then put in my pocket, ride my bike a few miles down the road, making a harrowing Frogger-like crossing of a highway to the local 303 Pawn Shop. There I'd put up with dirty looks from the staff and avoid eye contact with meth addicts as I dug through crates of used grunge albums, many of which lacked cover art. When I got my latest purchase home I'd cherish the shit out of that thing, memorizing every nuance of the album, driving my parents crazy in the process.
At the time CD's were like a currency to my peers and I, our most prized possessions. I once traded Mikey a Tripping Daisy album for the worst album in Collective Soul's catalog and I haven't let him forget that time he so egregiously ripped me off even 16 years later. Albums were so important, so precious, not the easiest thing in the world to come by.
Now I just make a few clicks on iTunes or Amazon (or occasionally a torrent site) and every album in the world is suddenly at my fingertips. The possibilities are endless. Yeah, it's pretty cool, but at the same time I never feel like I'm fully bonding with albums the way I did 15 years ago. I even delayed my purchase of the latest album by The Kills for two weeks so that I could know I would have more time to listen to it when I finally shelled out my $9.99.
I find myself constantly having to remember that just because a dozen new 'great' albums are released every week it doesn't mean I have to check all of them out. When I can be monogamous with a single album for a week I find a much more fulfilling/long-lasting relationship being developed than when I succumb to the temptation of digital music whoredom.
So, um, I guess the biggest nugget of info going into the weekend is that Record Store Day is upon us once again, meaning every artist ever will release a 'special edition' limited run vinyl on the one day of the year when record stores are too damn busy to mess with. I know I'm being a negative Nellie, but just check eBay on Monday to see how many of these badass special releases ended up in the hands of folks who will properly cherish them as opposed to the number snatched up in an effort to turn a quick buck.
If we were going to hit up Good Records (or one of the area's other fine vinyl retailers) this weekend, we'd make a beeline for the special Ty Segall offering in which the lo-fi beach punker tries his glam top hat on for size with a T. Rex covers 12". Noice. Hear the teaser single "Fist Heart Mighty Dawn Dart" below.
How many times in the last year have you heard Freelance Whales' "Generator ^ 1st Floor" in a television spot or innocuous CW program? More than 7 perhaps? We're guessing it's probably even been more times than you've seen the video of that one cat and dolphin play together (if that's even possible).
The New York folk-pop quintet will be at The Loft next week (on the 20th to be exact) bringing their Postal-Service-meets-Sufjan sensibilities to town. AND you can still catch their show even if you're broke from foolishly purchasing every product that used their tunes in their commercials because The Loft has given us a pair of tickets to give away.
Want them? Shoot us a line over here with the words "I seek the great freelance whale" as the subject.
Be it way mainstream or top forty or what have you, but this new Foo Fighters record somehow just feels really important. Maybe the way they pressed it on 45's and emphasized this as the preferred way to obtain it has something to do with it? Who cares if the album is a little bit derivative of each of their previous albums -- I consider this more of a wink to their career as a whole than lazy songwriting -- or even or Queens of the Stone Age's catalog, it is the way they captured their sounds and are marketing it that is the biggest factor in why Wasting Light simply maters.
The album was recorded in analog in Dave's garage, the download code that accompanied the vinyl was of a vinyl rip of the album rather than the standard iTunes version, and the band practically begs fans to buy the physical copy rather than the 1's and 0's version. It is the biggest major label emphasis on the vinyl industry in recent memory. As sales and perceived importance of physical media slip away bands (and finally) major labels are realizing the importance of vinyl and other physical sound units.
Wasting Light simply sounds killer just because of how it was recorded and how I have been digesting it these last few hours. No doubt folks will be buying record players just to hear this album the way it was intended. This will inevitably be the first vinyl purchased by a new market of teenagers, which is precisely the reason that no matter what one's perception of the Foo Fighters or their music is, why their latest release is an 'important' record.
Even cooler is the fact that many copies are being packaged with pieces of the cutup master tapes. This way even fans listening on their iPods can physically hold in their hands the equivalent of one drum beat of music while they're listening to the digitally encoded noises.
Not all that long ago The Gutterth Podcast was kind of mutated into Violitionist, a kind of updated take on the Daytrotter format, but with the added dimension of visual elements to accompany the stripped back recordings. The idea seems so simple yet fundamentally grounded that its a wonder it took somebody this long to execute it. The cherry on top is the minimal 3 question interviews that accompany their posts, because, let's face it, that doesn't leave much leeway for meaningless bullshitting around.
Watch the clip above as Fishboy performs a cut off his new Classic Creeps record, or catch him this Wednesday at The Loft opening for Danielson.
No matter how shitty my day has been three things can always bring me back from the brink; kittens, accents, and middle-finger-in-the-air-punk-rock. With Little Ease I get all three, and a bonus grin to boot --which is no small task considering the day I've had. Check it out below and grab the rest at their Bandcamp page (R.I.P. MySpace).
It was a perfect evening for patio sitting and beer drinking in Denton last night. Even better was, once the sun went down, it was time to get the music started. The Slow Burners, after having a bit of a hiatus, due to the fact that many of its members, as is the case with many Denton musicians, are involved in other projects (RTB2 and Hares On The Mountain, to name a few), got things started off strong for the night. Hiatus or no, The energy level of the band was through the roof. George Neal's vocals are powerful and passionate and reverberate in your brain. And the tight rhythms of Ryan Thomas Becker's cool blues/rock guitar melodies and Grady Don Sandlin's seasoned drumming left your head bobbing even after the song was over. It was quite good to see those boys perform again, indeed.
Spooky Folk headlined the show. I've really come to love this band a lot. They are a good group of people, they are very talented musicians and they just fucking rock. I think they might just be the best band in this area. The vocals of lead singer Kaleo Kaualoku, ever-clad in red flip-flops, are haunting, yet playful and full of feeling. Petra Kelly's beautiful violin melodies add a level of symphonic bliss and a kiss of the old time folk to the chaotic noise and droning effects of the guitars. Chris Brown is one of the fastest and tightest drummers I've ever seen. He pours out whatever is inside him through those sticks and makes it look easy; like watching Bob Ross paint happy little trees! Lead guitarist Jesse Perry is my favorite performer to watch. His stage presence is something you just have to witness to understand what I mean, as anyone that has seen them can attest to. He connects with the music that in turn connects him emotionally, musically and even physically with the rest of the band members. Everyone chanted and danced along on the anthem "Bible Belt" and watched silently in awe of the raw and powerful "Polaroid".
Two great bands together. One, classic... The other fairly new, but both equally complimentary to each other, at the greatest bar in Denton on a Thursday night are the little things in life that make me love this town even more. It's a sharing of the torch in Denton. And sharing is caring! That is all.
There was an article on Yahoo! the other day about industries that will soon be extinct in which they mentioned how record shops were on the way out, citing the fact that they failed to evolve with the times or sell things like coffee. There were so many more record shops in the seventies than there are today how could they possibly exist 15 years from now, they asked.
In the meantime record pressing plants are so inundated with special orders for Record Store Day that other releases are having to be postponed, as was the case with Fishboy's new Classic Creeps vinyl edition. So which side is really to be believed?
In our eyes, with more artists resigning themselves to the fact that free downloads/piracy are inevitable and therefor rely on touring and merch sales to make a living, it seems like they'd all come to the conclusion that vinyl was the solution. At least giant colored wax isn't as easy to steal.
At least one local outfit seems to be doing alright, as Forest Family records are teaming with Kanine to release Eternal Summers' new 12" EP. Although the collection of rollicking pop gems will have a limited first run of 500 copies. Check out the first song from it below, and then pre-order your copy here.
Just love the drunken robot grabbing me by the proverbial hand and taking me on a guided tour of LehtMoJoe's new album Aisle 7. He even tries to shove in a handful of slang terms and internet memes which are all but lost through his lack of affect or grasp of human emotion. Either way, it kept our attention, which is really saying something given the seven-plus minute running time. That's like 4 days in internet time.
Look for the full album 4/26, although I'm sure we'll have more info/previews in the coming weeks knowing Leht like we do.
All the attention Mississippi MC Big K.R.I.T. has been getting lately is just the latest indicator that hip-hop is making 2011 its bitch. So much so that Trees, a venue known for booking predominantly butt-rock, 80's hard rock, or metal acts has been bringing in all the best rappers lately. (See: the aforementioned Big K.R.I.T., The Cool Kids, Beans, and Wale, with Yelawolf and Curren$y about to join that list as well). More of my thoughts on Big K.R.I.T. and hip-hop's recent domination here.
Of his latest joint "Time Machine" off his new Returnof4eva mixtape K.R.I.T. finds himself joined by H-town hero Chamillionaire. RCRD LBL had the following to say:
He mashes the cosmic and the crunk together on "Time Machine," where his flow—part Pimp C in voice, part Scarface in delivery—glides over a beat bursting with psychedelic synth patterns, gooey guitar licks, skittering hi-hats, and backslapping snares. H-Town hero Chamillionaire even drops by towards the end to provide the assist, and you might find yourself muttering the chorus for a few weeks after you hear it a couple times.
Posts
There are about a million gigantic shows happening Saturday (Edgefest, Arcade Fire, Yelawolf, etc.) but the two best punk bands in town (who you may remember played the last show we presented at Club Dada) are involved in two of Saturdays better shows.
