Yeah, so I’m lagging on music blogging as of late. So sue me. But my cohorts are still kickin’ around lots of good stuff. First off, go on over to BigDlittled.com for lots of Wall of Sound rehash. I was…sigh…unable…sigh…to…sigh…attend at all last weekend during the glorious WoSF, so I missed any hoo-haw, good or bad about the festival. Don’t believe anything you read or hear that’s negative. Lance Yocom puts on one helluvanevent that has grown leaps and bounds each passing year. That dude deserves a freakin’ award…or at least a nice profit sooner than later.
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Me-Muffy tells me that this weekend is, indeed fersure, the last weekend the Wreck Room doors shall remain open. I, quite embarrassingly, did not spend as much time at the Wreck Room as I should have and wanted to, but it’s so *whine* faaaaar. They’s shuttin’ the ol’ girl down with a bang though:
Friday, September 28th - Goodwin / Osocloso / Buttercup
Saturday, September 29th - The Me-Thinks / Leroy the Prophet / Blood of the Sun
Sunday, September 30th - The Gideons / Cadillac Fraf / Top Secret…Shhh
“Grace” by Goodwin
Top Secret…Shhh Live at Good Records - Recorded by The Fine Line
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I couldn’t even tell you the last time I went to the State Fair of Texas. It’s not that I don’t love going, I do. I remember my childhood days, back in a time when school let us out and gave us free tickets to the Fair and bus passes to get there by ourownselves. That’s right kids, we young ‘un’s could board a city bus, ride it across town, enjoy a day at the fair, get back on a city bus at dusk and arrive safely at home around dinner time.
Anyhoo, Allison V. Smith has really gotten my Fair juices flowin’. So much so that I think I’ll gather up a little gang of pals and hit the Fair this year. Who wants to come with?
There are some my-tee-fine bands performing at this year’s Fair including Aaron Watson, Gary P. Nunn, the Lucky Pierres (where the hell have they been?), Billy Harvey, Brave Combo and more.
Danny? Call me?
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Man. It’s already time for bands to get your 2008 SXSW submissions in? Chop-chop.
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I told him exactly what I’m tellin’ you. I want that damn Knob’s job…damn butthead and his fun bidness trips.
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The boy-child is having a big-arse sleepover tonight with his bandmates. Should be a loverly night of hardcore metal screamo. I’m not too comfy leaving a gaggle of teenaged boys home alone on a Friday night, otherwise I’d have a tough decision as to which show to attend. Below are the ones I’d have to mull over and decide:
Adair’s - the Dogkickers
Minc - Laptop Deathmatch 2 Year Anniversary
Sons of Hermann - Phil Pritchett Band
City Tavern - The Tah-Dahs / Vaqueros Electronicos
Double-Wide - Glen Reynolds / Smile Smile / Many Other Things
Darkside Lounge - Sawed Off Sick CD Release w/Spector 45 / Joe Tucker / Blarney Street Hooligans / ETA
Fred’s - Electric Mountain Rotten Apple Gang
Wreck Room - Goodwin / Osocloso / Buttercup
However, since I do have these fine young men sleeping over tonight, I think I’ll opt for a quick jaunt to Denton for the divine line-up tonight at Secret Headquarters. My other surrogate son, Chris Johnson and his band Telegraph Canyon shall play along side other FineLineFaves, The Felons and Slider Pines. That should put me back home around 10ish…how much damage can a few teen boys do in that amount of time? Wait. Don’t answer that. Besides, Bill might be there and that’s always a good thing.
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I know I should’n'outta cut-n-paste an entire review, but what the hell can I say? I love, adore, respect and admire Jeff Liles and anything put out there about the man, shall also be put out here…
Cottonmouth Texas: just read it
Written by Hunter M. Daniels Via Collider
Cottonmouth Texas is easily the most interesting thing I’ve heard in underground spoken word since I first encountered the work of Saul Williams (who is possibly the most profoundly gifted poet of our generation). The beats are solid, the lyrics a witty and juxtaposition of the often unrelated background noise with the occasional sound effect under Jeffrey Liles guttural voice is fascinating.
But to truly “get” what Liles is doing, one must first recognize where this came from�
In writing there are few tools more cutting, more essential, than poetry. The written word, broken down into its rhythms, repeated sounds and stanzas has a power that cannot be replicated by straight prose. Something as simple as a well placed caesura can create an emotionally devastating effect. A good villanelle can evoke the universe.
Modern poetry has become a reaction to the modern world. Whereas once, when one thought of a poem, strict rules and meters immediately came to mind; an order that made sense of the seemingly infinite number of word options. There was no choice but for the word to be placed where it was, else the poem would no longer be in iambic pentameter. The word had always been there, it was the word’s destiny.
This structure fit the world that produced it. There were rules, limits and a flow to it all. There was meaning that could be understood and a clear path from A to B.
Then came the neutron bomb and the beat poets. Where once there was a world with right and wrong, absolutes and meanings, now there was a world with confusion and moral ambiguity (the cornerstone of 20th century American literature). Meter went the way of he dodo and rhyme schemes became more intricate and hidden. The likes of Bukowski even broke from the general concept of poetry, expanding its’ vocabulary into the realm of the grungy underbelly of failed society and the existential angst of living in a post-modern world. And it doesn’t matter that he made it all up.
In recent years, the spirit of Bukowski has lived on in the spoken word of modern hip-hop, and slam poetry, rap’s less popular, but often smarter, sister genre.
And now, new forms of poetry are arising again. Cottonmouth Texas, a new post-post-modern, hip-hop inspired, ska-ish spoken word experiment from Jeffrey Liles. With his newest release, Radio Contraband, Liles breaks new ground not just in his stylistic direction, but with releasing patterns. Radio Contraband is part of a new movement where smaller acts music is released digitally.
This decision suits the material. Modern life paranoia cackles at the fringes of many of the tracks. “Big Brother” featuring The Spores describes a slightly hyper-real version of the modern world, ending with a cacophony of noise while Liles questions the existence of the US’s nuclear arsenal. Other tracks, like “Paranoid Panic Attack” touch on the every day angst of living in a metropolis where horrible death might well be around the next corner.
The angst of these tracks is underlined by the down right creepy instrumentals accompanying them. And while these songs are immediately arresting, the album is at its best when it plays off of the oddball charm of Liles anecdotes. “Stripper” is a song recounting a night at a topless bar that culminates with, “Man, I could eat for a week on 20 bucks.” “Three Dimes” tells of a missed dinner date that turns into an opportunity for group sex and murder.
Many of the songs deal with the drug culture and the frank and unapologetically grungy and unglamorous light while others comment with youthful exuberance on the pleasures of a good acid trip. These stories mix reality and fiction to create a fascinating collage of a life that might have been. The darker undertones of Liles own real life battle with Epilepsy and distaste for the modern meat culture give resonance to the more light hearted tracks that come off as half finished or throw-aways upon a cursory listen.
The album as a whole is stronger than any of its individual tracks, and though at 20 songs it stretches beyond its logical end point, it is still a remarkable piece of work from a major up and coming talent.
Bumpersticker Armaggedon” by Cottonmouth, Texas
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You, that’s right YOU can now getcherown copy of Doug Burr’s latest masterpiece, On Promenade like right now. Doug’s planning some CD release parties comin’ up, but there’s a really special show tomorrow night at The Downstairs Cafe with Dougie, and one of his favorite performers, Bill Mallonee.
Saturday, September 29
The Downstairs Cafe
Bill Mallonee / Doug Burr
Doors open @ 7:30
Show starts @8:00
Tickets: $10
call 214-452-3102 for more information
“On Promenade” by Doug Burr
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You really should go visit the Sub-Rosa. It’s one of my favorite places to hang.
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Me ‘n’ Reid ‘n’ Hal are cookin’ up some really cool stuff….more on that later….
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