Whew! L.A.'s own Ready The Jet blasted the denizens of Dallas with a rockin' set at the Double Wide. i'm still trying to catch my breath and will continue to look for the remnants of my face, which they blew off with rock. i'll keep you posted on the condition of my mug as soon as i find it. Holy craps. Here's some pics. There's more here at the flickr.
See how they cleverly put the name of their band, Ready The Jet and the title of the LP, New Record Highs right on the cover so it's easily identifiable? That is marketing genius, right there.
Pall Jenkins brought his Black Heart Procession to Hailey's in Denton to mesmerize us with his brooding tales of sorrow and deceit. As a long-time fan, there was no way i was going to miss this, and i was not disappointed as their massive musical talent was unfurled before me. i just thought he would dress nicer. More pics at the flickr, of course.
San Jose's The Mumlers are touring on the heels of the release of their album Don't Throw Me Away. They stopped by Hailey's, opening for fellow Californians The Black Heart Procession where they won over some new fans with songs from that record and 2007's Thickets & Stitches. i was hoping for a longer set, but i think they did play all of the dozen or so instruments they had scattered up on the stage, so i did get my money's worth in the end. :o] There's a few more pics at my flickr here.
Took a road trip to my old hometown of Columbia, MO and caught The Decemberists at a packed Blue Note. They played their 2009 record, The Hazards of Love straight through brilliantly then came back on stage for some favorites from their previous couple of records. It was very deece. There's a couple more pics on my flickr page here.
All of these tunes, and five others can be found on their 2009 record "Good Enough For You" which is my favorite jam of the summer. These Fort Worth fellas bust out the smart, punchy, head bobbin', hand clappin' power pop that will have you clicking the "repeat" button.
The Dallas Film Society & The Lone Star Film Society hosted a screening of Mike Judge's latest film, Extract at The Angelika Film Center in Dallas on August 19, 2009. The film stars Jason Bateman as Joel, an everyman in anytown whose life spirals out of control over the course of a few days, thanks to a confluence of his poor decisions, bad advice and the actions of some very flawed people that inhabit his world. Here's a trailer:
BTW, the music you hear during the first 30 seconds of the trailer is "Whatever Gets You By," track 1 from The Features' 2009 album, Some Kind of Salvation, which i can't recommend highly enough. That tune is not in the movie, though. :-(
Back to the film...Bateman is supported by an excellent cast that includes Kristin Wiig, J.K. Simmons, Mila Kunis and Ben Affleck. David Koechner and Gene Simmons add to the chaos as two more pains in Joel's ass. As a big fan of Mike Judge's past film work, i came to the screening trying to temper my expectations. i knew in my head that Extract probably wouldn't attain the zeitgeist-skewering genius of Office Space, or the social insight of the criminally under-appreciated Idiocracy. The fact that the film stars three of my favorite actors in Bateman, Wiig and Simmons also makes it difficult to not judge this film on a generous curve. Having said that, i'd say that Extract made the grade. As comedies go, it doesn't lean heavily on juvenile jokes, nor does it insult the audience's intelligence with gross-out gags. Instead, most of the humor plays on the audience's empathy for Joel. As the events unfold, we are wincing and thinking, "What else could go wrong for this poor guy?" and laughing the whole time.
Writer/Director Mike Judge stuck around for a 20-minute Q&A after the screening to talk about the origins of Extract, Beavis & Butthead, casting Gene Simmons, drug use in the movies, and more: Part One:
Dude, i saw one of my favorite artists of all times rock out at Longhorn Saloon in Fort Worth. He busted out some new ones, including a cover of America's "I Need You" which is available on his new EP "American Bread." It's a collaborative effort between Bobby and David Vandervelde, available on Village Records on August 11, or at one of Bobby's shows. You should get it. And go see him. Or both. There's a bunch more pics up at my flickr here.
Jason Molina and his mates in Magnolia Electric Co. played an emotional set at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios in Denton, TX on July 24, 2009. Everyone in attendance was treated to an especially powerful mix of old favorites from the band's catalog and several new songs from "Josephine," M.E.Co.'s latest record that was released on July 21. This night's set was the first weekend show since the release of the album and coincided with what would have been former bassist and good friend Evan Farrell's 35th birthday. Farrell, who also was a member of Japonize Elephants and Rogue Wave died in a house fire on December 23, 2007. Farrell left behind a wife and two sons.
"Molina's concept album["Josephine"] is an honest-to-God effort on the part of Magnolia Electric Co. to pay tribute to the life and spirit of fallen bassist Evan Farrell (R.I.P. December 2007), as the ideas for Josephine were being pieced together. Molina said each tune is a good faith attempt to make real Evan's hopes for the record. And in doing so, Evan's spirit becomes part of the concept. The loss of Josephine becomes the loss of Evan. Molina's familiar lyrical allegories are still in tact. But here, in what is no doubt the strongest set of songs Molina has written since the inception of Magnolia Electric Co., those classic themes take on new meanings. Molina has approached the universal loneliness before, but never in such a focused, directed manner as found on Josephine." - Secretly Canadian
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