I’m back, I’m back! I know you’ve all missed me terribly and I’m sorry to have abandoned you the way I did. Long story short: I moved, am lazy and just got my new internet hooked up. (And it only took a month!) So on with the picks for tonight:
If you’d rather give your body some rest in preparation for New Year’s Eve, come out to Capital Pub. You can sit, sip a beer you’ve never heard of and eat some really yummy food. Plus I’ll be working tonight! (Capital Pub is on Henderson a couple blocks down from the Old Monk area)
If you’re already stressin’ about what to do for NYE, check out the WeekendQ PodQast for this week. Ayo and I dedicated the whole thing to NYE shows going on Monday night.
If you try looking at the online version of our year-end wrap-up, you won't see my list of honorable mentions. Don't know what happened there, but I'll cut 'n' paste it below for those of you who are anti-paper.
Before I do that, though, check out the main best-of list if you haven't already.
On with the honorable mentions:
FLORENE: If you like Mom, you’ll also like this Denton electro duo.
GHOSTHUSTLER: The Denton dance act became a blog sensation with three outstanding online tracks.
J.D. WHITTENBURG: His self-titled debut contained some pop-country gems, including the great “Gospel Music.”
THE SHOCK OF PLEASURE: Trippy electronic music made a local comeback with this group’s best-seller, It’s About Time.
RECORD HOP: No new music, but one of the best sets I saw all year (at Wall of Sound). If you can patiently wait for the forthcoming CD produced by Steve Albini, you’re better than me.
TAME … TAME AND QUIET: This band’s Tin Can Communicate has some odd arrangements, but repeated listens reveal it to be a worthy challenge.
THE BLOODSUCKER PROXY: This was a one-night-only band created at Rock Lottery 9, but I wish it would have kept going. Hearing Astronautalis’ growly chants and Sarah Jaffe’s golden vocals in the same song was almost too good to be true.
We ran a big package in today's Quick on what a handful of local dives are doing for New Year's. The places we chose -- Lee Harvey's, Ships (above), the Dallasite, Cosmo's and the Pastime Tavern -- are pretty much the top dives in Dallas, at least in my book.
Just got an email from a reader, Jane Watkins, who said I missed one:
While I am glad to see you mentioned Ships and The Dallasite, you neglected the king of dives........Johnny's Club Vegas on Gaston just east of Haskell.
This beer bar ranks as the grand old man when it comes to dives. I believe the only dive to outdive this one is the defunct Naomi's....................
Johnny's Club Vegas? The name has hooked me alone. I am so there after the New Year. Thanks, Jane.
Hope everyone had a relaxing holiday. I watched disc four of the Civil War and baked chocolate chip cookies. Nothing like Shelby Foote's genteel accent and some hot, oozy baked goods.
Here’s what we’ve got tonight:
Big-time house DJ Dirty South (not to be confused with the hip-hop genre) is at Cirque. Willie Trimmer and Danny V open. Door is $15 for over 21, $20 for under. It’s his first Texas show.
Basketball star LeBron James is celebrating his birthday at Purgatory. The flier promises that "bottles will be popped.” The first 100 ladies are free before 10 p.m., and guys are only $10 before 10. Doors at 9.
Dub Assembly are doing a special Holiday Special party at the Green Elephant. On the decks: LA's UOME, Boston's Pandai'a, Mundo & Lifted MC from Dallas, Tiny (formerly Dallas, now NYC) and Royal Highnuss. Cover's $5 for over 21, $7 for under.
I wrote some stuff last week about the year in Dallas nightlife — basically trends (tiny ultra lounges, bottle service, the rise of the house party outside the house), and what to look for next year. I’m personally very excited for Barcadia, the new Henderson Ave bar with 80s arcade games.
Today I wanted to get a little more personal on you. I’ve been covering nightlife for Quick since March of 2006, and before that, I liked to go out, but not necessarily every weekend. I liked to go to bed early and wake up early. And I was -- and am -- married. Married women are supposed to stay home and learn to crochet, or fall asleep on a Friday night curled up with their hubby on the couch. Or at least that’s how it sometimes feels in this town.
Actually, I do want to learn to crochet (if anyone has a book for left-handers, let me know), but my perspective has changed otherwise. Here’s a few things I learned covering nightlife this year.
Don't know if ya'll caught this in the paper on Friday, but I wanted to go ahead and post it for you, too. I asked a few DJs around town for their fave tracks of '07... here's what they said:
A. One: “Sweet Like Sugar” (DJ A. One remix) by Jabwai
Swung by the Old Monk on Saturday evening -- remember how freezing it was? -- and had a yummy glass of hot mulled wine. It's served with a lemon wedge and a cinnamon stick, and it warmed my stomach instantly. It also made me suddenly feel okay about all the sucky Christmas traffic on 75.
The Monk actually has a lot of hot drinks on their menu. Next time I'm going to try the Knox Chox, a mix of hot cocoa, butterscotch schnapps and whipped cream. Mmmm.
In case you were wondering why we were quiet on the blog yesterday, we were working on our year-end local-music and nightlife wrap-up issue. And ooh, gurl, we're glad it's over.
I'll go ahead and post my main music best-of list here and provide some links. If you have friends who don't realize there's a local music scene here, send this to them. Let them play around on MySpace for a day and find out that there's plenty of music here to get excited about.
Enjoy, and be sure to pick up the print version of Quick today for my honorable mentions and even more coverage, including a local hip-hop piece and Lesley's Nightlife trends.
Happy holidays...
LOCAL MUSIC IN 2007
This year yielded many local-music gems — too many, in fact, to condense everything down to a simple top 10 list. So we decided (out of indecisiveness, frankly) to try a more inclusive wrap-up of 2007.
FEELING SPREE: Large-and-in-charge Dallas group The Polyphonic Spree was back in black with The Fragile Army, its hardest-hitting and most affecting album yet. But its lead guitarist Annie Clark had some ideas of her own, releasing Marry Me under the name St. Vincent and delighting critics and bloggers with her sweet-and-sour blend of ethereal pop.
FISHBOY RETURNS: Denton nerd-rock group Fishboy achieved album-of-the-year status in 2005 with Little D, a set devoted to its quirky hometown. For this year’s follow up, Albatross: How We Failed to Save the Lone Star State with the Power of Rock and Roll, frontman Eric Michener turned the focus on his life story, with some embellishments of course. The ghost of Buddy Holly and a bank robbery added the appropriate drama to the best local rock opera ever written.
HOT COMPS: Compilation CDs came back in style in ’07. Although Zac Crain’s mayoral campaign never hit ballot-status, its accompanying 2-disc campaign CD brought together some of the finest artists in North Texas and beyond. And Denton store Strawberry Fields brought it as well: Its three volumes of Denton Deluxe reflected our neighbor-to-the-north’s reputation as one of the most diverse musical towns in America.
SAY HI TO MOM: Thanks to the efforts of Good Records’ in-store music guru C.J. Davis, many of us were introduced to the greatness of Denton electric-acoustic duo Mom. Its Little Brite EP came out on Davis’ boutique label Pancakes for Mattie. The CD brought together Joel North’s guitar, Bruce Blay’s violin and many other sound samples from everyday life, making for a beautiful musical soundscape. And seeing Mom recreate it all live? Wow.
DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS: Music scene veterans displayed their talents in new projects this year. Chomsky’s Glen Reynolds released a solid solo set of melodic tunes called In Between Days. And members of Daryl and Black Tie Dynasty (as well as a couple of other players) combined their efforts in The Crash That Took Me, putting out one of the best-selling local CDs of the year, Orchestrated Kaleidoscopes. Stunning track “Julianne” tells you everything you need to know.
A FAIR SUCCESS: The creativity and surprising catchiness of hard-rock band Fair to Midland’s major label CD Fables From a Mayfly helped it land a prime spot before Amy Winehouse’s set at South by Southwest. If alt-rock radio stations played more songs like “Dance of the Manatee,” I might feel more inclined to tune in.
GOOD FOR GOMEZ: U.K. label Bella Union made a smart decision to put out Denton artist Robert Gomez’s Brand New Towns, a gorgeous record with quite a few perfect melancholy pop tunes. “The Same Sad Song” and “Closer Still” played on a constant loop in my car. Gomez paid it forward by helping produce Mimespeak, the stunning debut album by Flower Mound piano man Tommy Hernandez.
ONE VOICE: Three of my favorite local albums came from artists who put their own spin on the singer-songwriter vibe. Denton’s Daniel Folmer came through with Gloria, a lilty, lo-fi eulogy of a relationship gone terribly wrong. His buddy Glen Farris took a more folksy approach on his debut The Garage Tapes, sounding strangely like the lovechild of Bob Dylan and Eddie Vedder. And the Paper Chase’s Sean Kirkpatrick blew everyone away with the dark, piano-tinged tunes of Turn On the Interference.
SALIM AND FRIENDS: Salim Nourallah remained the tops in pop with unexpectedly inspirational album Snowing In My Heart. The new material, including key tracks “Don’t Be Afraid” and “Erased,” delighted a huge crowd at the Granada CD release. Frequent Salim collaborator Chris Holt was also a highlight of that show, premiering Wishful Sinking, the eclectic and entertaining debut of his new band The Slack.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Tough call, but Dallas band Red Monroe takes the big prize for ¡Policia! ¡Policia!. Its seemingly stream-of-consciousness lyrics (sung/spoken by charismatic frontman Eric Steele) reveal dead-on commentary about life in Dallas if you listen intently enough. Not so subtle are the punk, funk and damn-near-disco influences woven into the arrangements. These songs, particularly the title track and “Trees and Pour Houses,” are nothing short of explosive.
P.S. I know you don't agree with some of this. I left out your favorite, didn't I? Call me names and tell me I'm wrong in the comments box.
Yes, I know, I haven’t been doing any picks this whole week, and there was a pretty big show at Suite on Tuesday. (Clipse — I heard it was awesome.) Been super swamped with deadlines. Luckily the fog is finally lifting.
Here’s my pick for tonight: NYC DJ Junior Sanchez is giving a free show at Ghostbar. That's him above, behind Madonna. Got the pic off his MySpace -- he's actually got quite a few celebs in there. If you're on his page, listen to his remixes of Hot Hot Heat’s “Let Me In" and Katy Perry’s “Ur So Gay.” Good stuff.
Victory Park's newest bar is the Havana Social Club, a cigar lounge and rum bar. They're having their grand opening party tonight. The invite I got said they'll have live music, cigars, food, drinks and a "Cuban Grand Master Roller."
Apparently you also need to be a member to get in? (Read the sentence at the bottom of the website.) Not sure what that's about. Something tells me they don't mean a Unicard.
I tried out the Wingman this past weekend, after the Quick bash at Zubar. It’s a service where, if you’re too impaired to drive, they’ll pick you up and drive your car home. They stow a fold-up motorbike in your trunk. Or they’ll have a vehicle follow your car and pick up the driver once the trip’s completed.
Cost is $15 pick-up fee, and $2 per mile. Their service area covers Lakewood and Uptown and downtown, and even parts of the suburbs. (Full map on their website.)
It sounded really good. My husband and I are always looking for new ways to drive safely in Dallas, although it’s been a pain in the ass since we live in Oak Cliff and cabs won’t pick us up there. (Unless it’s really, really early… but if it’s after 9 p.m., forget about it.) A lot of times we end up driving to our friends’ house in Lakewood and catching a cab from there. We pick up the car the next morning — luckily we have two cars so it works out.
The Wingman sounded like it could be our new thing. The website promised a pick-up in 20 minutes or less, so we called from Zubar around 12:45 a.m. and waited. And waited. And waited.
Got huge news today from Caven Enterprises, owners of four of the biggest gay and lesbian bars in Dallas, which confirms part of a rumor we heard a few weeks ago. Bottom line: Sue Ellen's is moving down the block, into the space TMC now occupies.
Read all about it after the jump, then check out Orientations on Monday (yes, a special day for us), where we'll have more details.
The 'Mill has a new Tuesday night-lineup called Low-Res. They're billing it as "inspirational music for creative people." I posted the flier below just because it looks interesting -- unfortunately you can't see the band names contained within the arrow. Some of them: Rainer Maria, Modest Mouse, Voodoo Glow Skulls, the Ramones, Joy Division, The Kinks, Tapes n' Tapes, No Use for a Name, Silver Jews and on and on....
Sounds cool, no? It runs from 10 to close. And get a Manly Man in a Skirt while you're at it. IF you can handle the Scotch.
On their blog, they describe themselves like this:
We're hard to describe.....You know that kid that wore the funny winter hat with the ball on top and the flaps on the side......before it was cool to wear.......Thats Us! Or the guy who wore Bapes when everyone was like "THem shits is ugly". Or the kid who knows the real meaning behind the chain wallet.....Thats Us!! Ahead of our time and so damn dope wit it!
I don't have anymore details as of yet. MySpace the Prince if you want more.
If you have the means and the time to travel to beautiful downtown Denton this evenin', go to Dan's and see Dentron's premiere performance. Dentron is a group of players who've gotten together for the last several weeks and improv'ed up some funky musical creations. If you didn't read the Denton Rekkid-Chronicle story I linked to yesterday, DO IT NOW.
Me? I'm stucksies in Dallas at the office tonight. If you are in a similar predicament, you could at least take a few minutes to read this short piece from Rolling Stone. And if you get a chance, look at the not-online piece it was paired with in the print version. It's time for audiophiles to rise up and fight the system.
Go here for a fun holiday mashup from Lehtmojoe, a producer and member of local hip-hop collective FreeAgent. He mixes some of his group's stuff with Fiddy's "In The Club" and Paul McCartney's cheesetastic "Wonderful Christmas Time."
You may have read about local singer-songwriter Landon Austin's quest for Doritos-fueled fame on a couple of other blogs. But hey, the Dallas-based singer needs all the help he can get if he's going to win the chip company's big "Crash the Super Bowl" contest. You can watch the video of him singin his submitted song above and vote for him in the competition here until Dec. 31. The prizes are a recording contract and 30 seconds of precious airtime during the (please GOD let the Cowboys be playing) Super Bowl. Doritos-themed or not, that'd be some major exposure for the 19-year-old, who has an affinity for sensitive, sometimes spiritual pop ditties.
Oh, speaking of sensitive pop, I saw Graham Colton being pimped during some MTV show the other day. His MySpace says he's from Oklahoma, but I remember running into him all the time in Deep Ellum a few years back. Think he went to SMU or somethin'. He was always passing out flyers. Anyway, whatever. He's on his way to stardom and 'The Hills' music placement, I'm sure.
Were you wondering how local rapper Pikahsso fared in VHI's eCritic contest, which asked logger-onners to vote for the best amateur movie-review video? Well, he didn't win. The prize (a chance to vote in the Broadcast Critics Association awards and a trip to the ceremony) went to some chick named Siobhan, whose verbal slaying of Transformers contained plenty of sarcasm but not nearly enough humor. We're not bitter or anything. None of us really loses out, though: Pikahsso and PPT-mate Tahiti still do their Movie Time reviews for Quick. And all is right with the world.
We had a blast! Thanks to Big J and Schwa and the Melissas for throwing it all together. Also, Dallas, I'm disappointed in you! I only bought three drinks for people the whole night.... and to think I got a new credit card for this and everything.
Our sister paper up north, the Denton Record-Chronicle, had a couple of stories on Sunday that should interest local music fans:
-- A feature piece on Doug Burr in which the artist explains why he was drawn to Americana music: "It gives me more freedom. I can be myself. I can be Southern and be sincere. It was really freeing.”
-- A sidebar on Dentron, a funky new supergroup of sorts that's sprung up in Little D.
After the jump is the track listing for Strawberry Fields' new Denton Deluxe Vol. 3 compilation, just released at the li'l store in li'l D.
I hope there's one in the mail for me, but if not, I'm sure the two-disc set is more than worth shelling out a few bucks ($10, I'm guessing, but it could be lower).
Damn, Crash That Took Me might have enough money to buy some new scarves.
1. The Crash That Took Me, Orchestrated Kaleidoscopes
2. Mom, Little Brite
3. The Polyphonic Spree, The Fragile Army
4. St. Vincent, Paris is Burning
5. St. Vincent, Marry Me
Recycled Books Top 3
Recycled's shoppers is some polka-lovin' mothers.
1. Brave Combo, It’s Christmas Man
2. Brave Combo, Polka’s Revenge
3. Bubba Hernandez with Alex Meixner, Polka Freak Out
When I got Josh Venable's text about a couple of "going-away parties" this week, I immediately texted back. "Where are you going? Did you get another job? WTF?" That kind of thing. Ya see, fans of KDGE-FM's longtime indie rock show 'Adventure Club' are still reeling from Venable's budget-related firing and the show's untimely end. I knew the other shoe would drop sooner or later, that the guy would be snatched up by some other station. But I didn't get a text back. I figured he was waiting to spring the bad (but good for him) news on everybody in his own way. And he did -- he let his best friend break the news on Frontburner this morning. Yep, ol' Jahsh is headed to El Lay to work at an as-yet-unnamed station. If you wanna say your goodbyes, he's DJing Tuesday at Milo's in Arlington, and there's also a big Barley shindig in the works. Man, it's truely the end of an era now -- the era in which I and many others still bothered with the local FM dial. Good on ya, Josh.
I will hopefully sleep a lot this weekend. That is my goal, but I’m afraid I already know it isn’t going to happen. Stupid house I have to clean. And presents that I have to wrap and mail.
Mayor Crain is responsible for writing the comprehensive feature on Dallas local music in the forthcoming issue of Spin. It's in the January issue, which comes out around Christmas. Hot diggity dog -- what a way to start the new year.
Congrats to everyone! It's not on their website yet, but I think the January issue should be in subscribers homes pretty soon. And of course it'll be on newstands later this month.
Lil Wayne’s at Enigma…. probably. I spoke to one of the promoters, and he is confirmed. But you never know with these things. Just bring $40 cash in your pocket — cover charge is TBA — and get there early. Enigma’s off of 635 and Preston.
“You’d expect me to pay somebody to do it? You supposed to be able to do anything in this world. That’s what Martin Luther King told me. He ain’t never put a specific on what to [do]. He said you can do anything. ‘Kill’ falls under that.”
The interviewer responded, but what about your wife and kids? Lil Wayne said: I can love them from beyond the casket. Also, you gotta read here what he says about Mark Cuban. LW calls him a "G for real."
Meant to mention earlier…. Club One’s owner Shelley Martinez says she plans to appeal to the Board of Adjustment in mid-January.
From my conversation last month with David Cossum, the city’s assistant director of Development Services, that appeal — if it was granted — would not grant the bar a permit. Basically, it would push back the deadline, and allow them to stay open while they tried to recoup their investment into the building. But they'd have to first prove they made a substantial investment. And closing would always be at the end of the tunnel, from my understanding.
It’s confusing. Mayor Tom Leppert mentioned at the meeting yesterday that he wants to really “take a look” at Deep Ellum, and study crime levels, and really have a stronger sense of where the neighborhood’s going. Nothing else was said about it, and then I had to leave early. What does this mean? A new committee? A new task force? A report?
I couldn’t stay for the whole meeting last night. Left after Club One, thinking, “The rest will probably pass anyway.”
The Council threw a curve ball at me. Apparently, according to a conversation I had with DMN City Hall reporter Dave Levinthal, who was at the meeting, Uropa’s website had several pictures of partially naked women on it. Council members were shocked. Even though the City Plan Commission had already given Uropa preliminary approval, and staff had recommended approval too, the Council unanimously voted to deny Uropa their permit.
From the DMN story:
“I will not condone certain types of activities while we're cleaning up Dallas," Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway said as he waved printouts from Uropa's Web site.
I haven’t seen the website — did some preliminary searching and I can’t find it anywhere. The last time I looked at the website was several months ago, and the naked people weren't on there yet. Or at least, I didn't see any.
One down, eight to go. Amsterdam Bar was just granted a three-year permit. Council members are also saying that they're concerned about all the crime in Deep Ellum -- Mitchell Rasansky highlighted that 180 calls have been made to Deep Ellum in the past five years. (By the way: I have no idea if this is a lot, compared to other neighborhoods. No one put that in context.)
"We have assault, stabbings, everything else, criminal mischief… it’s just too many," Rasansky said. "I think the chicken is already out of the henhouse on this one. This should have been addressed a long time ago.”
Fallout Lounge up right now.
5:01 p.m.: Fallout Lounge was granted a 3-year permit. The Bone up next.
5:06 p.m.: The Bone's been moved to Jan. 9. The bar-owner (who is an investment banker at Bear Stearns!) is looking into adding additional parking spaces. Next up are Elm Street Bar and Darkside Lounge.
5:10 p.m.: Elm St. and Darkside both approved for a three year permit. Club One up next, and this one is going to be contentious. Cards sent to nearby property owners revealed that none wanted the bar there. Fourteen responded against it.
5:59 p.m.: Council member Mitchell Rasansky on Club One -- “We have a bad apple in the basket, and we need to get rid of this bad apple. I don’t want to see our police officers tied up. I don’t want to see injury. I don’t want to see a possible death. What else could possibly happen? I mean, my goodness… this is a disaster.”
Also: Council member Carolyn Davis says she'd like to see a "mini Gap" store in Deep Ellum.
Ya'll come and check it out. Anyone who tells me "I love Quick's nightlife blog!" will get a free drink from me. (I'm serious here. This is the shamelessness with which I promote our nightlife blog.)
A few weeks ago, the City Council approved Red Blood Club for a one-year specific-use permit, pending that the club would hire off-duty police officers on concert nights. This stemmed from a stabbing that happened at the club in November -- the only violent crime that’s occurred since the place opened in 1999.
April Collmar, the owner, agreed to hire the officers. But after the meeting she seemed a bit worried that the cost would be too high. At today's meeting, happening right now — the item is on the council agenda again — it turns out the cost WAS too high. It’s at least $400 a night, which is more than they might even make for a show. (I'm not at the meeting in person, by the way... I'm listening on 101.1 FM.)
Collmar appealed to the city council to hire non-sworn officers, which are cheaper than uniformed cops. The council said no. A Dallas police lieutenant also spoke and said the club’s website appeals to white supremacy groups, and that there’s a very good chance the place would be drawing aggressive crowds. Sworn officers have a knowledge and expertise handling those people, she said.
Collmar disputed the lietenant's characterization of her club. She encouraged everyone on the council to visit for themselves.
“Everyone knows each other by name, everyone are friends,” she said. “I don’t understand where the white supremacy and gangs are coming into play because those are not things this club condones in any way.”
Dwayne Caraway said the club needs to promote their shows more heavily in order to draw more people and pay for the cost of the off-duty officers. (My thought: But wouldn’t this also possibly draw in more crime, too?) No one on the council asked specifically how the website appeals to white supremacy groups or gangs.
I haven’t talked to April yet, but this really could leave the club in a serious financial situation, if what she said in the meeting was true. More SUP news to come later….
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ONE VOICE: Three of my favorite local albums came from artists who put their own spin on the singer-songwriter vibe. Denton’s 
