I Love Math is an alt-country band that started as John Dufilho's side project to the Deathray Davies. But the simple, slightly twangy tunes have won the band its own loyal fanbase -- one that should be pretty excited on May 27 when new CD Getting to the Point is Beside It comes out.
The current lineup consists of Dufilho, his DRD bandmates Jason Garner and Andy Lester and the Old 97's drummer Philip Peeples. They don't have an in-town CD release show planned, because they'll be getting ready to hit the road as the opener on the 97's U.S. tour.
I'll have a lot more on the new album from Dufilho in coming weeks, but right now I just have a track to tease ya. It's the CD's opener.
One of the new Dallas bands I'm lovin' lately is Menkena, a slow-burn shoegaze group made up of singer Jimmy Menkena, Mike Simmons (Tweed), Nolan Thies (Little Black Dress) and Brent Elrod (Sedan).
I saw one of the band's first shows a few weeks ago at Double Wide, and I left longing for a recording of the entire thing to listen to both early in the morning and late at night. It's that kind of music -- the kind that you want to put on during moments of ... reflection.
I just got off the phone with Menkena, 33, who talked to me about everything from his childhood Beatles obsession ("I literally thought they were the only band in the world when I was little.") to what inspires his dreamy lyrics ("I'm just sick of hearing songs about girls"). There's not time to cover all that right now, but it'll come.
The singer moved to Dallas a couple of years ago from Brooklyn, where he'd lived for more than a decade and played punk rock with the band INDK.
"When I came here, I had all these acoustic songs written, and wanted to put out a solo, Nick Drake-type album," the 33-year-old singer said (with his mild Brooklyn accent). "But I also had all these shoegaze-y, noise ideas that kept coming to me, and then they sort of found their way into that material."
"And once Mike heard the stuff, he had an idea to put together a full band, and I went with it."
So now the guys are starting to rework some of Jimmy's material and record new stuff at Toby Pipes' local studio. They're working on a single to put out first, and then they'll move on to a full-length album.
The song you're about to hear is one of the recordings Jimmy had done before his band came along. He actually recorded it in Brooklyn, and the rain and train sounds come from field recordings made outside a friend's apartment.
"'Feelin the Wait' is sort of a self-realization song. Writing songs takes me such a long time, and this one is about realizing that the waiting has to end. It's like, this is it," Menkena said. "This song actually helped get the ball rolling and put me in the right headspace for the project we're doing now. I'm 33 years old, I've been doing music since I was 13, but now the fire is burning hotter than ever."
Menkena, "Feelin the Wait":
Menkena's next show is June 13 at All Good Cafe. The combination of shoegaze and chicken-fried steak excites me to no end.
It's 80s Prom Night at Lotus, with 80s drink prices from 8 to 11. If you're looking for a dress, Mei Mei's Fashionette in the West Village had the cutest pretty-in-pink number in the window yesterday.
DeMarkus Lewis, who I hear has moved to London, comes back to his ol' hometown for a show at Minc.
The Loft's got the Reverb Party (from the folks who brought you Brown Sugar), with Geno Young, Jay Clipp and Danjah One. Doors at 9 p.m.
There's a 24-hour Guitar Hero marathon at the Blockbuster on Lemmon and McKinney. Starts at 2:30 today, kicked off my none other than Dallas mayor Tom Leppert.
In case ya didn't know, former Little Grizzly frontman George Neal is writin' and singin' with a new band, the Slow Burners. They've been playing around Denton a little, and I was lucky enough to catch a blistering set a couple of months back in J&Js' basement. The group -- consisting of Neal, Grady Sandlin, Clint Hoyler, Jeff Gruber and Ryan Thomas Becker -- has a love for experimentin', and tries to make each new song different than the others in style and influence.
"This band is a culmination of things I've been doing all my life," Neal said today in a phone chat. "I've been in an Irish folk band, a punk band, country bands, even a ska band. This is my chance to throw it all together."
"It's a fun, explorative process."
The track you're gonna hear, "Returning to the Air," will be on the band's forthcoming full-length CD, but is also the title track of a teaser EP released last week. You can get that on the band's Myspace and at Recycled in Denton.
Of "Returning," Neal says, "It's a strong song, and a good representation of what the band does. It's a calling card for what's to come on the album, and we're all really, sort of intensely proud of it."
The Slow Burners, "Returning to the Air":
The Burners' next confirmed show is June 20 at J&Js, but they're trying to nail down a couple of dates before that at Barley House. I shall let you know.
During a sit-down interview with the Ghosthustler guys a few months ago (when Alan Palomo was still with the band), they kept bringing up this new dance act in town, called Roy G and the Biv. And when I went to listen to the duo's tracks, I knew exactly why Ghosthustler loved them so much.
The two acts seemed to share a philosophy about making dance music: It should push the envelope with its production while retaining all the elements of great pop music. In other words, it don't never hurt to make a song radio-friendly. My assumptions about Roy G and the Biv's musical mission were confirmed when I talked to one half of the duo on the phone earlier this week.
"We have a love for really good harmonies. The dance music I like has that, and good chord changes," singer Max Townsley said.
21-year-old Townsley is an English student at UNT. He and Berklee College of Music student Drew Erickson, 23, met when they were in high school (Townsley at Booker T. and Erickson in Colleyville). They've always wanted to start a band together, but got serious about it a year ago when Erickson was home from Boston for spring break.
They now have at least four songs done, and are working toward getting a full-length album ready to release in August.
"We work really fast together," Townsley said. "We both play drums, piano, guitar and bass, so no one is assigned to any specific parts when we're recording."
Three of Roy G's songs, including what I'll play you today, are infectious old-school butt-shakers that feature Townsley taking on the persona of a superfly ladies' man. But that's not exactly who Townsley is in real life, he said.
"I think it's funny. A lot of music we make represents a certain spirit. We're not thuggish at all, but we do take an approach to making art that sometimes calls for a bit of exaggeration when necessary."
Roy G and the Biv, "Think You Might":
Erickson and Townsley don't plan live shows anytime in the future. They're about a year from being done with college, and still need time to work out who will do what on stage: "We did talk about how we'll handle the live thing, and we'll figure that out more when he comes back from Boston," Townsley said.
But you're gonna want to get hip to these guys now, because come album time, they may just be the talk of the town.
Where you've seen him: Well we (the party/ central booking) have our monthly parties, Hands Up (The Loft) and The Party (Zubar), which are both in the Dallas area. Since moving to Austin almost three years ago, I have managed to have some really good residencies. I currently have weekly residencies at Beauty Bar as well as the longest running hip hop night in Austin which is held at Nasty's with my good friend Dj Mel. I also have the monthly residency at Mohawk which is the Austin "The Party".
Genre: This is always a tough question. I can try to be really specific, but I don't really have that much space to explain the whole deal. Basically, anything with soul in it. I try not to play one specific genre generally to keep things fresh and please as many tastes as possible. I have had a strong musical upbringing and have managed to keep a wide radar for all things.
rane ttm 56
technics 1200s
pioneer efx 500
shure sc35c cartridges
serato scratch live
headliner dj bags
Current favorite track: Le Le - Breakfast (prince klassen young pro edit)
Memorable DJ Booth Moment: There was time when a girl came to request something from me at Beauty Bar and her breast managed to take the needle completely off the record that was playing and we then proceeded to have an argument about her breast knocking the needle off the record. She then came back to the booth and proceeded to intentionally hit the needle off the record this time with her hand. I then got her kicked out.
Dream gig: Well it's not really dj related for the most part, but I guess there is some lineage and direction towards it. here goes.
Larry Levan (dj set)
Arthur Russell (live performance)
Daft Punk (dj set)
Yo La Tengo (live performance)
As far as a dream gig for myself, that would require a time machine. I would love to be able to play along side kool herc, jazzy jay, afrika bambaataa or any of the countless other founders in New York roughly around 79-83.
Dallas DJs are.... not really on my radar. I can speak highly of those I know, and speak poorly of those that dont know any better. Vinyl is still in my life, diversity is a must, and bottle service is a joke.
Howzabout a little country to ease you out of your slumber? This track comes from the friendly folks in Eastwood, the Dallas country band that's just finished recording the follow-up album to 2006's Die Tryin'.
Before offering us the chance to stream an almost-final mix of new one "Right Place Wrong Time," member (and funny guy) Kevin Minihan wrote a little about the months ahead for his band in a message to friends and fans:
"It's taken a long time and we are very hoppy sited that we are finally seeing the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. From here, we go into mixing and mastering. Then... we'll probably be wined and dined by all of the big record labels. I'm sure a bidding war will ensue. That will take months of dinners, meeting and flights to fancy locales. But, in the end, we'll keep it Eastwood real. Yeah, I said it, weren't not scared to thumb our nose at the establishment and turn down millions of dollars to stay here in our Eastwood hood with you. That's just how we roll. Word."
NOTE: The song players in this post have been taken down temporarily to work out some technical kinks. We'll try to get them back up next week. Sorry about that.
Dallas' beloved indie rock band the Deathray Davies only played one show last year because the members took a little break to do their own things. Singer John Dufilho was spending most of his time with the Apples in Stereo as their new drummer and Jason Garner focused on his work with the Paper Chase. But throughout this self-imposed hiatus, those two have been slowly recording the next DRD album.
And hot damn, Dufilho decided he'd let me play you one of the rough demos that might make said album. Yeah, I'm still in shock.
Don't get Dufilho wrong -- he's not anywhere near done with the album, and there's no working title, either. He told me on the phone today that he's got about 30 rough tracks done, and will continue to make more with Garner and several local musician friends. So far, he's brought members of Shibboleth, Happy Bullets, the Crash That Took Me and Apples in Stereo into the studio to contribute different parts.
The track you're about to hear, "Safety Goggles and Headphones" may not make the album, but Dufilho said it hints at the direction DRD is going with the new music.
"Both Jason and I are playing drums on this track. We set up two kits," he said. "This was the first one we tried it on, and it worked so well that we kept doing it. ... Lyrically, the song is just sort of dreamlike."
Song removed because of techical issues. Be patient...
But wait, there's more!
For the last few years, Dufilho's been talking about this guest singer album he's working on, in which several well-known musicians sing songs he's written. The guest vocalists include Ben Kweller, the Old 97's' Rhett Miller, Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla, Pleasant Grove's Marcus Striplin, Salim Nourallah, the Drams' Brent Best, the Apples' Robert Schneider and the Crash's Dylan Silvers.
And then there's one featuring Centro-matic's Will Johnson, a rough demo of which I'll play you now.
Song removed because of techical issues. Be patient...
Like the DRD record, there's no timeframe for this guest-singer release. So be patient, lambs.
One thing that could help pass the time quite nicely is DRD countrified side-project I Love Math's new CD, coming out May 27. I'll have much more on that (including a new track) on Friday. Whew. All this excitement has made me tired.
If you like the sometimes eerie, always pretty folk-rock of Denton's Matthew and the Arrogant Sea, allow me to direct your attention to some solo material by the group's drummer, J. Gray. His vocals and lyrics are more subdued, but equally as haunting as the Matthew stuff.
His forthcoming album, J Stop Playing Those Sad Songs, was recorded in his bedroom on a four-track machine hooked up to his laptop. He expects to have it out at some point this summer. His MATAS bandmate (and uncle) Matthew Gray contributed to the track I'm playing you. Those high-pitch sounds that come in at the very end? That's Matthew.
J. wrote about "My Guitar Plays One Thousand Songs" in an e-mail: "Thom Yorke played a big role in the inspiration of this song. It's also inspired by any sort of forced beliefs or ways a person should live their life." Well, that's sufficiently mysterious.
J. Gray, "My Guitar Plays One Thousand Songs":
J.'s next show is May 23 at Rubber Gloves, and look for MATAS to play there on May 31. Its new album Family, Family Meets the Magic Christian is coming later this year -- no firm date yet.
Top o' the mernin' to ya. I've got something to brighten up your first couple of hours of workplace misery. It comes from the lovely and talented Sarah Jaffe; it's the title track from her forthcoming EP Even Born Again, which was recorded with John Congleton (damn, that dude's been busy lately) and will come out some time this summer. The singer told me that it'll probably be July-ish.
If you've ever seen this girl sing live, you know that it's easy to get so caught up in her stunning vocals that you sometimes forget to let the lyrics sink in. So before playing it for you, I'll let Sarah explain her thinking behind "Even Born Again.":
"It's about finding redemption in parts of your life that may be somewhat closed off. Kind of like looking back -- not in a regretful way, more in a reminiscent way -- and kind of seeing these memories and parts of your life from an aerial view. It was kind of like justification for me ... like i can have these parts of my life, both wonderful and messed up and get equally as much out of them."
Sarah Jaffe, "Even Born Again":
On the EP, Sarah had this to say: "It never strays from what I do live, but at the same time, John kind of fufilled my vision and gave every song a very full sound, like each song has the potential to have an entire orchestra behind it."
See her live next at the Cavern on June 22. Then she travels to London in early July, where she'll play the Bella Union stage at the Wireless Festival, and a couple of other dates. Yes, I'm jealous.
I traveled to Detroit this past weekend to check out the Swell Season, aka, Glen Hansard (above) and Marketa Irglova from last year's beloved indie musical Once, and I have to say that although the music was in fine form, I was a tad disappointed at the concert overall.
Some yahoos in the front wouldn't shut their yaps during a new song that Marketa sang solo at barely above a whisper. So when Glen -- Marketa's boyfriend, by the way -- came up to the mic next, he chided the talkers in the audience, even inviting them to leave for talking over Marketa's performance. End of story, right? Except that Hansard's comments about the talkers and rude concert-goers in general never ended. It's fine to take the yappers to task in a strongly worded comment or two, but it became too much when he punished the entire audience for the faults of a few, for rest of the night. It was so bad, I didn't think they'd come back out when the crowd cheered for an encore!
Although the offenders were wrong in chatting so incessantly and loudly as to garner the attention of the performers (and likely the annoyance of everyone around them), the last time I checked, a concert isn't exactly a library. But you've been warned, Dallas: When the Swell Season rolls into the Palladium Ballroom on Aug. 29, shut the eff up!
Sometimes I get really excited about an artist's upcoming release and do a big interview way too early. Such was the case with Will Johnson. I talked to him in March about the Centro-matic/South San Gabriel double-album, even though it's not coming out until June 6. But I'd just heard the news that Johnson and his bandmates had new music from their rock and country sides coming out simultaneously. I couldn't control myself.
So to serve as a reminder that Dual Hawks is on the way, I'll play you the first single.
"The majority of [the Centro-matic side] was tracked in one week ... done in the studio and recorded the day the songs were written," Johnson said in our interview. "Just a lot more spontaneous. Get in there and go for it and capture everything in raw, very unbridled form. It's a fairly raucous recording."
Centro-matic, "I, the Kite":
The local CD release party for Dual Hawks is May 31 at Dan's SilverLeaf in Denton. Following that will be a U.S. tour, with a June 28 stop at the Granada, where Johnson and crew will be filming the show for a DVD.
Let's switch gears a bit by featuring one of the shining talents of the local singer-songwriter scene, Rahim Quazi. Rahim just released full-length CD Supernatural, which (thanks to his recording it at Pleasantry Lane) achieves the clean, full-band treatment that his smart songwriting deserves.
The title track introduces a theme that lasts throughout the set, Quazi told me today on the phone (and no, I'm not sure if he was using that pink one in the picture).
"'Supernatural' is semi-autobiographical in that it's about a guy who doesn't realize he has everything," he said. "There's a metaphor about one day learning you can fly, only to later find out that up there isn't where it's at -- being down here with other people is what brings happiness."
"My personal inspiration came from having a daughter at age 22, but I really wanted this song to be broad enough to let everyone find a little of themselves in it. The theme of wanting to fly and then getting back down to earth is pretty universal."
Rahim Quazi, "Supernatural":
Quazi will play an acoustic set Saturday night at Opening Bell Coffee during a daylong music fest organized by local songstress Kristy Kruger. His next full-band show will be June 26 at 8.0 in Fort Worth.
I'm writing about Aura for next week, but for those of you who like to know things now, the club is probably the hottest spot on McKinney Ave., if you're into lists and blondes and bottles and that kind of thing. (This is an aside that has nothing to do with Aura, but if I see the phrase "Models and Bottles" on another flyer, I'm going to run away screaming.)
Aura was jumpin' last Saturday around midnight. A line of cars snaked down McKinney, waiting in the valet line. People crowded around the door. Another line ran alongside the building, presumably the I-just-showed-up "non-VIPs." (I think I saw some of the same folks waiting on our way out.) Luckily we were on the list, because otherwise I don't think we would have gotten in.
Got an email yesterday from Lift and Obar owner Tim McEneny, who says he gets several phone calls a week from people asking if Lift charges $20 for men. The answer is no. It's free. (Ghostbar is the one that charges for guys, folks.)
Also, Lift has loosened their age restrictions for men. Guys can now get in if they're 21 and over. Just, you know, dress nice, because they will vet you at the door.
For real! May 21! Only, Billie Joe and company will be performing as their alter-ego band, Foxboro Hot Tubs. Tickets are $20, but you can only get them day of show. Billboard has a story about the whole weird thing.
In other Billboardbreaking news, it looks like Ozzfest will put on its one-day, one-stop event here on Aug. 9, at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, The surprise headliner? Freakin' Metallica!
If you saw 11-member symphonic pop group Mount Righteous do its thing outside the Palladium before Quick's Big Thing, you know how exciting it is to get to hear an unreleased track from the group's forthcoming CD.
When the Music Starts comes out June 6, and was recorded over a two-day period in March at the Oak Cliff studio of producer John Congleton (frontman for the Paper Chase). Band spokesman and guitarist Justin Spike told me on the phone today that Congleton and the players tried their best to capture Mount Righteous' unplugged, marching-band vibe in the recordings.
"We recorded the instruments live, all together, one day, and then did the vocals live the next day," Spike said. "And John set up some ambient mics to get those big room sounds."
The track, you're about to hear seems fitting as a sort-of thesis statement for the band's musical mission. "At least for how this album will be, the song gets at how we are all about community and the power of friendship. And positivity," Spike said.
Mount Righteous, "The Feeling You Bring":
Mount Righteous leaves for a U.S. tour on Thursday and will be back to play KTCU's The Good Show June 1 and a CD release concert with Fishboy at Rubber Gloves in Denton on June 6.
P.S.: Thanks to Cindy at Fine Line for turning us all onto this band months ago.
Two local acts I often call up in iTunes while I'm waking up and getting ready are Denton's Mom and Florene. They're both ambient electro-acoustic duos from Denton that create mostly-vocal-less soundscapes. Not that my description will make a bit of sense to you until you hear the music.
If you saw last year's piece on Mom, you know that the members take an improvisational, playing-by-ear approach to recording. So do the guys in Florene, Gavin Guthrie and Aaron Mollet -- probably to an even greater degree considering their latest tracks, which are part of a collection called "the Room Series."
Writes Guthrie in an e-mail, "What happens is, we set up a microphone or two in the room and record everything for an hour or more, go back and listen to it, mix it a little bit, then cut out a portion of it we like best for general listening purposes."
The guys are on their sixth track in the series, and they plan to release everything they've done thus far on Rooms Vol. 1 in late May.
Florene, "Room 6":
(It'll be a few seconds before you hear anything.)
Also a possibility for Florene: A summer tour with Mom. Well that would make sense!
Experiment in Error, the new album from Dallas instrumental band Shibboleth, hits stores this week on Idol Records and is already available on iTunes. It's an eclectic collection that touches on surf-rock, boogie woogie, old soul and country. There's even some futuristic ish in there, such as the track I'm playin' today, "Bill Cosby."
"The title was a spur of the moment thing. I finished writing out the song for the band and, in need of a title, 'Bill Cosby' just popped into my head," writes guitarist Don Cento in an e-mail. "It seemed silly and fitting and obtuse. The synth break-down was actually inspired by (but quickly moved very far afield from) a Harry Nilsson song, 'Jump into the Fire.' Other than that it's just your standard game show theme from Neptune."
Shibboleth, "Bill Cosby":
Shibboleth plays a CD release show on Saturday at Sons of Hermann. To get a taste of what you'll see that night, watch this video of the trio (with friends) playing The Gordon Keith Show this weekend.
Oh, one more thing -- I hear that the band will be performing some of its new material with the great Bobby Patterson at the end of Saturday's set. If the idea of the upcoming Shibboleth + Bobby album already has you salivatin', you'll definitely want to be there.
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