THE SKYLINE 50: PART TWO

Part two of our all week series of the best tracks to come out this year

Eight For Eight - The Dimes
Wires and Buttons (Grey Ghost #47)
We love the Dimes. We love this song. We love the man who recorded it. But treading as gently as possible on the feelings of all those involved, a much tighter version of it is begging to exist. The springing and sprightlyness of the guitar lead, which screams, “we may have developed a new form of cowboy rock” plays along like saddle soap with the souza march of the snare, both flowing well into the sort of SEND UP THE ROCK breakdowns we’ve come to expect from this soon to be differently-named foursome. But secrets – re-record soon.


Everyone is Gay – Black Math Experiment
All You Need is Blood
We hope that you never find yourself wandering aimlessly through the falling snow on the grounds of an empty ski resort in the Utah mountains, asking yourself if you have made the right relationship decisions and if maybe burying things in the snow to try and find later was a good idea. Never question yourself like that. You made the right decision. Put this song on repeat, go wander around in the woods for awhile and feel better. It’s so catchy and fun you’ll completely overlook the fact that it’s bemoaning how much other people do not rule, but you rule even less. But isn’t that the job of a good pop song? To confront you with temporary truths of your life and make you feel better about them?


Exist – Papermoons
Papermoons 7”
This is such a delicately beautiful song on such a delicately beautiful ep. Timid little guitar strokes and drums low in the mix, with vocals telephoned and dialed down to being barely audible during the breaks. On record, this perfect little warbler is a bird in the nest, asking why we can’t just live. On the stage, Papermoons are a rockier and a rollier, and this song tells you unequivocally that you are living, and that this is one of the best expressions of it you’ve heard all year.


Fire For Wings – Gretchen Schmaltz
Laced Up Tightly
Sometimes we wonder if the brushes in the opening verses of this song are on a drum, or maybe a little bit of percussive time-keeping a loathed step-daughter makes as she sweeps the cold and foot-worn wood floors; wanting release, wanting to let go, wanting to go to the ball. Making an afternoon of mope and the way the light filters through the blinds and dust into her own private waltz, Gretchen’s voice Huck Fins you into her chores with equal parts husk, soult and unknowing.


Goodnight, Goodluck, Godspeed and Goodbye – Listen Listen
Listen Listen
The Listen Listen formula for (whips!) songwriting is to start with an instrument raid on the store-room of the Grande Old Oprey. Make a getawy in an olde time medicine huckster’s covered wagon/traveling stage horse-drawn contraption. Trot lazily through the night, drinking every brown bottle of snake oil rattling on the shelves until you fall asleep. Pick up an extra few wandering musicians by the side of the road. Stop at a revival tent near dawn. Be forgiven. Sleep through the day in the light of the Lord.


Goons, Hired Goons – Blades
Who’s the Creampuff Now
Quick! Make for the exits! Lock the doors! Watch out for snakes! Beware the CBS Saturday Murder Mystery! This empire is not Holy, or Roman, or even an empire! Who’s the center square! Stay out of Wollworths! This song has a way of running its riffs through your memory bands, connecting one thought to another in ways unaccustomed. It’s a hard one to concentrate on any one thread throughout it. Presumably, it’s about goons – but there’s nothing particularly menacing about it. Neither does it lumber and disappoint like so many Homers. BEHOLD, THE FACE OF HELEN!


Granny Clampet’s Pure Grain Know-it-All – Dizzy Pilot
**** Out the Bones
ROCK YEAH! Lest the last few tracks make you think otherwise, we are into things that get the heart a pumping and fist a shakin’. We can’t make word-one out of the vocals on this banger, but we’re totally content with any song where the don’t put down the phone and spell things out to us. The perfect soundtrack for sketchy 80 mph cab rides down the back-streets of Lafayette, Louisiana in a car whose head-liner is being ripped away by the pummeling gust-stink from the open windows and which hasn’t been washed since the meter stopped working four years ago.


The Grey Call – benjamindavismurphy
Grey Ghost #43
One of the best things about the Grey Ghost series (there could be no one best thing, cause it’s about as whips an idea as soup in a breadbowl) is all the old tracks clamoring around on people’s four-track tapes that wouldn’t otherwise see the light of day. Like this minute and a half jangler from friend of the Skyline Ben Murphy, for example. It’s a reminder that the best chicken is nuggets, and that it’s generally pretty chell to go ahead and put your stuff out there.


The Guards – Gretchen Schmaltz
Laced Up Tightly
Were it not for this track (and, in fairness Elaine Greer as of late), you wouldn’t be able to ever convince us that there are any solo-flying songstresses out there that weren’t on the sad train to bummersville. Not that this sort of expression doesn’t have it’s place, but just like every rose has it’s thorn, so too must it want nuthin but a good time (and it don’t get better than this).


He’s Home With Bones that Grow the Way They’re Supposed to – By The End of Tonight
He’s Home With Bones that Grow the Way They’re Supposed To
To paraphrase our own review, it’s like a bunch of miscreant school-yard jump-ropers from planet Angry Purple Sun got together and tried to tell the story of the Bayeux Tapestry through a combination of freaking you out and stealing your lunch money to buy you pomegranates they later hide under your pillow. If this song was accidentally swapped out with whatever was on the phonograph record they put on the Voyager spacecrafts, an entire terrified universe is going to preemptively invade us just so their children can sleep at night.

MLEE MARIE WANTS YOU TO HAVE A VERY SPECIAL HOLIDAYS AND SEE HER PLAY FIVE TIMES THIS WEEKEND

Friend of the Skyline and candidate for the Mike McBike Lifetime Achievement Sammie for Most Concurrent Band Memberships, Mlee Marie (ex-The[e] Freed), has plugged in the Christmas lights for yet another MySpace page showcasing both her cuckold-warming musical talent and near-crisis scheduling conflicts. Yes, as it turns out Mlee (Hearts of Animals) has, every year since 2002, put out a Christmas release much like Sufjan Stevens or nearly every pop band in Britain. Now this year, sadly, there won’t be any new recordings to share, but since most of us were no doubt not included on Mlee (Vaarg)’s naughty vs. nice lists in the past, getting the whole collection at once is akin to our having helped a lot of old ladies cross a lot of old streets all this old year long: You’ve been wicked nice and its time to reap the reward. You can get the entire Mlee Marie(Wols) Christmas recording catalog online here.

While we’re on the subject, Mlee (singing as Kim Deal with The Dimes at HOOTENANNY!) is taking it easy this weekend, playing only five different times. If you're a Beaumontian, you can catch Hearts of Animals on a bill that includes Indian Jewelry, Wicked Poseur and The Wiggins Friday night at The Vortex. Houstonians can (secretly) catch Mlee (Kidnaps) playing as herself during the Secret Show, Saturday afternoon at the Shady Tavern, or later than night during the last hurrah show for Wols (for which she, along with Will Adams are stepping in to back-up the soon-departing-for-Scotland Miss Amye). She’s also on that bill playing as herself (Mlee Marie) again. Sunday she’ll be playing as Hearts of Animals during the final night of Texas Gone Garage. Party call me.

AFTER FRIDAY, THERE’S EVEN MORE CHILL STUFF TO ENJOY

So, once Friday has finished destroying you and you’ve had your traditional Saturday breakfast of coffee and Steak-N-Eggs, what are you going to do with yourself?! Well, if you’re like us, you’re totally on top of everything and don’t even remotely need the weekend to accomplish such man-tasks as gardening, re-paving the driveway or dredging the moat. So, for those of you rudderless scooners out there, we’re more than happy to provide a keel and a compass for how the weekend should go down. Dig:

SATURDAY AFTERNOON: SECRET SATURDAY SHOW
This weekend is the first of what we are told by the mystery organizer (who, rumor and IP address has it, is none-other than local solo-rocker Broman) will be a weekly series of shows on Saturday afternoons at the Shady Tavern, a total neighborhood ice-house of a spot in the Heights. Every week they’ll be DJs (starting at noon) and 3-4 bands (starting at 2pm) – but who they are will remain a mystery until they hit the stage. Indeed, the bands themselves won’t even know who else is playing. The shows are free and 21+. We would say check out their MySpace page for more information, but not having any is kind of the point.

EARLY EVENING: PUNK HOUSE @ DOMY BOOKS
Writer/photographer Abby Banks brings her book and movie Punkhouse to Domy. Punkhouse, which was edited by Thurston Moore, “features anarchist warehouses, feminist collectives, tree houses, workshops, artists’ studios, self-sufficient farms, hobo squats, community centers, basement bike shops, speakeasies, and all varieties of communal living spaces.” So, sort of like if someone made a coffee table book about Nevada Street, Lamar House and Faegen House. They’ll also be acoustic sets from Tim Finden and Pat the Bunny. Good opportunity to pick up the next Grey Ghost release too(which is 13 new freaking tracks from Golden Axe!!!!). 7pm. Free.

NITE TIME: DON CABELLERO, BLADES, ANIMAL @ THE PROLETARIAT
Betcha thought we were gonna suggest the Bodog Battle of the Bands! You know us so well.

SUNDAY: FOG, LISTEN LISTEN, THE DIMES @ THE PROLETARIAT
The reason why The Dimes make sense on this bill: They are bad ass. Same for Listen Listen.

EXECUTIONS PUT ON HOLD IN PRE-EMPTIVE RESPONSE TO HAPPY HOUR BENEFIT

People who travel overseas know that one of the more cheek-rouging parts of being an American is explaining to citizens of the more chill nations of the world why we do some of the things we do: how we gonna be so rich and some people still don't got health coverage? why we wanna pretend we aren't going to war for oil when oil is the only reason one should go to war? why do we wear Crocs? But among the most oopsie-doopsie is the death penalty, which, even though intelligent people disagree about it, still puts us on the same red rover team as quite a few of the more unpleasant regimes around the world. And let's face it, government doesn't exactly bat a thousand, so when people's lives are on the line, we should proceed with caution.

Granted, the only worse way to die than being killed by the state is being murdered using one of the methods those on death row chose, but so far the death rate is 100% globally, and so judgment will come - might as well let those bastards get the booga-booga in jail for forty years before they go.

While we're still a ways away from getting all 21st century on this tip, executions in Texas are on temporary hold and the Supreme Court moves to consider a Kentucky case about the legality of the particularly lethal cocktail that we inject. BUT THAT DON'T MEAN THERE AIN'T SOME PARTYING TO DO!

Local civil war reenactor Dan the Bother has put together an anti-death penalty happy hour show at the Proletariat tonight with a line up to die for (that was so bad). Program, The Dimes and Wicked Poseur are all on the bill, and you'll be done and ready right in time for karaoke. Jolted!

NEW VIDEO: THE DIMES - WESTERN

HALLO. How's your Thursday? Need a break - maybe a trip to the park and a roll down the hill and maybe, just maybe, some quality time at the petting zoo? TADAH! All this and more is yours to enjoy in the latest video from The Dimes. It's their track 'Western', though the Mark Armes video uses a rough (phew - ROUGH) mix of the song, with some scratch vocals thrown in there that aren't even the actual lyrics. So yeah - video before the song is done. We don't care what order the Dimes do things in, just keep doing em. enjoy.



The dimes are touring about the state somewhat this month, and with their next local gig being at the Proletariat October 5th as part of an anti-death penalty benefit (we're told). We know Wicked Poseur is on this bill, and you'll read it here first (or perhaps second or third) when the rest of the lineup gets worked out. PET! ZOO!

NEW VIDEO: THE DIMES - DELILAH

Hot from the cutting room, a new music video for The Dimes' track 'Delilah,' directed by Mark Armes. Who is that mustachioed man?! What are these killer snacks?! Will our heroes escape the Quickie Mart alive?! WATCH AND SEE!

DUMB QUESTIONS/SMART ANSWERS: BRIGHT MEN OF LEARNING

Every now and then, we subject someone in a band that reps the real to some pretty dumb questions and post their responses. This week, we sent off our set of music journalism 101 prompts to Marshall Preddy, vocals and guitars for Bright Men of Learning.

What's your favorite record lately?
Brian McManus left a comment on my year-end Top 10 list recommending Ghostface Killah's Fishscale. I'm embarrassingly ignorant about rap/hop music, and I don't own a single Wu-Tang record, but I bought Fishscale, and I can't stop listening to it. Not being a rap music aficionado, I can't reliably tell you why it surpasses the limited number of other rap musics I've heard. But along with the new ones from Clipse and Lupe Fiasco, it's among my best purchases this year.

Is there a Houston band who you've been digging lately?
I love Something Fierce. LOVE THAT BAND. Love their record. They're really nice kids, and their songs -- this will sound dorky -- are really well constructed. All the tracks on their new one have these swell choruses that avoid leaning on the typical LOUDsoftLOUD dynamic. They're just loud. But like the Dimes, you can hear a clear Pixies influence in the changes. Yeah, it's still formulaic punk, but it's easy to forget they're using a formula. And it's nice to hear a modern pop-punk band get their guitar tone right. I'm not sure why all these emo bands take their stacks into the castrati zone, but it needs to stop.

Also, I saw Inoculist recently (probably for the last time, unfortunately since I think John Hunter and/or Heath Flagtvedt are moving). The entire show was pretty great, but I love listening to Heath play guitar. He's been a pal of mine for ever, but that Inoculist show surprised me. He's vastly improved from his days with Matty and Mossy, and he was really good then. He's just one of those gifted players who can get away with these sweetly languorous guitar solos. He's no technical virtuoso, but his brand of slowhand is full of purpose and grace. I could listen to him play all day long.

What is your day job?
I need to get one pretty soon. Right now I'm a law student at the University of Houston. I am also good at the Internet. And lately I've been playing a lot of Zelda on the Wii.

REAL TALK: CRUCIAL WEBSITES?
I don't read a lot of Music sites anymore. The music sites I do read are local blogs, namely Nonalignment Pact and Houston Calling. Ramon Medina and company have been doing a really nice job with NAP. And Skyline Network, of course. Mostly though, I read a mix of Web/tech blogs ( e.g., Techcrunch, Ars Technica) and legal blogs (The Volokh Conspiracy, Concurring Opinions). Lately I've been doing a ton of reading on Insurance Law. I know that sounds fascinating.

Sites I use on a regular basis:
News: Slate, NYTimes
News reader: Google Reader
Music: Last.fm, Emusic, ReverbNation
Social networking: Facebook (so much better than Myspace)
Blogging: I use Vox for my personal blog.

What's your secret Houston place?
I'm not sure I have a secret Houston place. I've lived here continuously for more than 30 years, so there's definitely some nooks and crannies I prolly know about. Recently, though, I ate at the District 7 Grill for the first time. They've been around since 2003, but I have yet to talk to any pals who know the place. Part of the problem is they're located on Hutchins, to the east of Downtown. But they have a new location in Midtown at 501 Pierce. Holy crap, it's seriously the best all-American food I've had in this city. It's the only place I know of that comes correct with their gumbo. It's working class gumbo. Not as good as that what my cajun folk make, but it's close.

Who is skipping Houston on an upcoming tour that kinda has you bummed?
I just got my tickets to Yo La Tengo. First time they're coming in six years, and they've been my favorite band since '93. Nothing else matters. I am a happy man.

What is never far from your side?
My girlfriend, Jordan.

What does BMOL have in the works right now?
We're about to go into the studio to start our second record. We start tracking March 24. We're using Chris Ryan (aka Dead City Sound) again, since he did a great job with our last one. He's got a new place now, with isolation rooms and all that. We recorded the last record at Clark's (a nightclub), which, uh, was less than ideal. This is also the first time that we're recording with Ben Murphy as our glorious fifth wheel/cowbell specialist. Since he can play several instruments and knows a crapload about recording, I think adding him is going to have a pretty big effect on how this record sounds. It's probably going to be a bit more polished and pretty. There will definitely be some keyboards, some harmonies, and a few other nice touches. And there's going to be a lot more variety in the songwriting. Yeah, I'm still writing and singing lead nearly every song, but there's a bit more range among our new tracks. There are some nice slow jams, some guitar freakout stuff, and a few other curveballs. So yeah, there will be differences. We're still trying to rip of the Replacements, though.

But before that record comes out, you can check out Bright Men of Learning Friday (March 2nd) 2pm live on KTRU, or at about the same time on Saturday where they will be playing the Rise Benefit at the Last Concert Cafe.

MP3: Bright Men of Learning - Cross

DRAMA: THE DIMES DISS N&S

The Dimes sent the following email to the rest of the bands on next week’s Noise and Smoke bill, and of course you know we ended up with a copy of it:

Hey,
We wanted to let you know, personally, that we have decided to drop from the Noise and Smoke show.

It is important to us that you know that this is in no way meant to be a sign of disrespect to you or any of the other bands on the bill. And rather than have you speculate as to our reasoning, we feel that you are owed an explanation. That said, we have based our decision on the general mishandling, lack of communication and professionalism surrounding the show.

Since the show's inception we have attempted to remain professional despite the total lack of communication. At no time throughout multiple venue changes has anyone bothered to contact us but instead, information has come from third parties. And despite several offers to play other shows, we felt it was important to remain professional. However, with the recent developments, there is a strong indication
that there has been inadequate preparation and therefore, we no longer feel this show is in our best interest.

Again, we want to make clear that this has nothing to do with personal profiteering and is not meant to be a sign of disrespect. We had high hopes for this show.

Sincerely,

The Dimes

Well, we won’t call foul on the fact that they state in one sentence that they are quitting because the show is no longer in their best interest and then turn around and say the decision has nothing to do with personal profiteering in the next. And because their average age was 10 when N&S organizers starting booking shows, we may even be inclined to give them a pass on their inability to roll with the punches that a horizontally ID’d act would take in stride. Hell, we might even be able to find it kinda funny that they keep referring to professionalism in a letter where they are about to drop off a bill about a week before its lights go on.

However, no other band we spoke too knew anything about ‘multiple venue changes.’ And we are inclined to take the show organizers at their word that they phoned each of the Saturday bands after the necessary venue change was secured but before going public.

This is too bad - The Dimes are a solid band and it’s not entirely clear why they would schlep their gear to Walter’s but not The Axiom (we wrote them for comment, a message that they read but have not yet responded to).

Fortunately, Pasadena punks The Sporatics have taken up the call and are now on the Saturday lineup in The Dime's place.

Everyone you Know to play Noise and Smoke Fest

The weekend before you and your mates will be trying to figure out how to foist one another over the wall at Stubbs, Emos and other SXSW venues for which you will not have the proper credentials, the two day Noise and Smoke festival will be underway here in Houston. For an insultingly low $8/day, you’ll spend Friday (at Notsuoh) and Saturday (at Walter’s The Axiom) seeing just about every act in Houston not signed to French Kiss records. From the cryptically entertaining Cop Warmth to the Pitchfork Mix-tape appearing Indian Jewelry to an apparently drummer-only incarnation of God’s Temple of Family Deliverance, the weekend promises to be an all out race to the finish for livers and eardrums alike. Lineup time:

Friday, March 9th – Notsuoh
Ume, The Ka-Nives, Satin Hooks, Bring Back the Guns, Finally Punk, Jana Hunter, Eat Grapes and Cop Warmth

Saturday, March 10th – Walter’s on Washington The Axiom
Indian Jewelry, Something Fierce, Skullening, God’s Temple of Family Deliverance, The Wiggins, Blades and The Dimes The Sporatics.

Update: word now coming from festival co-organizer and recent brain-drain encourager Joey Promahoney that Noise and Smoke will not only be an annual event, larger in size and scope, but that they anticipate it will include other, smaller, events during the year as well.

CTRL+C; CTRL+V: "Future festivals will more likely not be in a bar setting. ex. Outdoors, a larger hall, or possibly in the middle of nowhere. In addition to the festival, Noise and Smoke will be hosting smaller events, for example, we will be announcing a show seperate from the festival very soon"


More Info: Noise and Smoke Festival