PREDICTION: SOMEWHERE TODAY THE BLAGGARDS WILL BE PLAYING

You know what is one of our favorite books here in the office? If you said How the Irish Saved Civilization, then you, good friend, have a psychic gift similar to the person our chief editor met last night who guessed his birthday five minutes after meeting her. He's still freaked out by it. He tells us he'll get out from under the bed soon. MEANWHILE! Being a civilization-saving people is no easy burden, and therefore when we celebrate our most famous non-Bono countryman, it's somewhat sad but true that many of the songs sung to not extol the virtues of remaining on the wagon.

And this St. Patty's day is neigh an exception. For the love of the County Claire, we beseech you to check out one bit of music or another brought to you by lovable local lads who may or may not be of the finest stock on the planet (note - just a friendly reminder to all you goolge calendar users out there: you can have our show list appear as a layer on your schedule. Click here to add it. How civilization saving).

So Many Dynamos, Blarney Back the Guns, Something Fierce, Gentleman Auction House @ Boondocks
Pitchfork, in their recount of SXSW happenings noted that "Very few bands manage to put on a spazzy, high-energy live show and still have great songs (think Brainiac and the Dismemberment Plan), and So Many Dynamos are one of them." But many of us already knew that. So be sure to catch them before they become a bunch of designer-jeans wearing sell out jerks like Bring Back the Guns, who stopped taking our phone calls ever since they were on some Oprah-hosted reality show last night with Tony Hawk. SK8 OR DIE! There is no feed for us to fawn over Something Fierce of Gentleman Auction house (currently on tour with the Dynamos. Also, this show is free.

Birds of Avalon, Monotonix, Dark Meat, Sharks and Sailors @ The Mink
OH MAN OH MAN! Monotonix was blowin up at SXSW like our IRA!! (Our retirement account, not the terrorist group. jerk). We seriously got alot of good feedback about this band over the weekend, and it won't be long before the abuzz about them means they'll never come to Texas again. Also, Sharks and Sailors just posted some pretty BA new tracks on their MySpace - a surprising departure from what they've done in the past that works unicorns on us.

Little Claw, Tyvek, The Wiggins @ Jet Lounge
Really? All three of these shows are tonight? Wait a sec, we need to put something in here.



Ah there it is. Doesn't really make us feel any better about it. What can be done. Oh well. Seriously Jet Lounge on a Monday sounds like a nice respite from the Orangemen for real. Party call me.

PS: The Blaggards are playing in Austin today. BOO!

TONIGHT: BE SURE SOMEONE IS THERE TO HOLD YOUR HAIR

You know the Interpol song "Length of Love" how right from the beginning the guitars are doing that little two-string pluck riff? Man, that always makes our stomach a little sick. It’s not like a brown note experience or anything bowel rumbling. And nay, the feeling one has drank too much. It just gives us somewhat of a discomforted stomach – a tummy ache, if you will, in the classical childhood sense. We’ve never really shared that before. We tell because we love. Because there is trust between us – and because you are beautiful and we cannot resist beauty.


Which is why we’re completely ace in the hole to share with you something else of the pepto-requiring variety. Tonight at The White Swan – it’s Sickish Fest. Armed with little more of an explanation than “Get Sick”, a full evening of entertainment has been culled from the best of last weekend’s live options (Friday’s set by Cop Warmth and Indian Jewelry; Saturday’s matinee by The Wiggins and Hearts of Animals – though tonight you’ll substitute one of Mlee Marie’s other bands, Vaarg, for the HOA). Rounding out the bill in the fabled Eastside mecca of smoke machines and American Flags are A Pink Cloud, Balaclavas and Satannabis, who we were disappointed to learn has absolutely nothing to do with Santana.

But in spite not knowing exactly what is so Sick about this whole thing (beyond a SoCal surfer slang reference to the lineup), we’re pretty sure it marks the start of the Halloween party season, which continues on into the weekend and climaxes with you having to choose between two other damn sick shows (if we may say so) on Wednesday. Get your costumes ready people – you’ve got Pepto to drink.

ASTHMATIC KITTY & DIVERSEWORKS TEAM UP TO BRING YOU A WHIPS FREE SHOW

At SXSW this year Asthmatic Kitty (home of such notable as Sufjan Stevens and Castanets) pushed the artists on it's more experimental Unusual Animals imprint out of the studio and on to the stage. It went off well, and now after similar events in Indianapolis and Brooklyn, there are two this Saturday, including on in Portland and the other here at DiverseWorks titled Unusual Animals: Houston, Our Ears Depend on you.


The event, which is all ages, free and kicks off at two, features sets by some of Houston's besterests, along with recent Ashmatic Kitty signees Future Rapper and Cryptacize plus Austin's Moth Fight. Peep the set times:

Hearts of Animals 3PM
Future Rapper 3:45 PM
The Wiggins 4:20PM
Cryptacize 5:15PM
Space City Gamelan 6:15PM
Moth Fight 7:15PM

KTRU DJs will throw down tracks between the sets. With the lineup and the setting, it promises to be an afternoon of weird and wonderful, plus with the debut of the mysterious Secret Show series just a few weeks away, it's time to start acclimating to the Saturday day show habit. Get up and get things done early, you've got ears depending on you.

VIDEO: THE WIGGINS ON HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER

Oh Dear Doogie. As we reported last week, the CBS show How I Met Your Mother licensed the Wiggins track 'When I Get Up' for use in this week's episode. Well, the show has aired and we are positively in stitches over how it was used. Consider yourself LOLified - the song is the soundtrack to a flash-back re-telling of a Neil Patrick Harris-organized bachelor party, complete with an unsightly stripper and a classic NPH closing line. GRATZ WIGGINS!

THE WIGGINS GO HOLLYWOOD!!!

YUSS! We love a good story like this. Turns out the last time Mr. The Wiggins was in LA, he wandered into a party where the right actors where there. One thing led to another, and now suddenly, the CBS show How I Met Your Mother has licensed the song "When I Get Up" for an episode scheduled to air on April 9th!!! WHAT DOES HOUSTON'S NEW SOUNDTRACK KING HAVE TO SAY: "The Wiggins is being paid a very large amount of money...I guess this means I can retire now." Trust us when we say we will figure out a way to get this on the internet as soon as we can. SCENE!

PS - See The Wiggins in action on this recently released video highlight-reel of the second day of Noise and Smoke.

MORE FRIDAY & SATURDAY TEXT MESSAGE UPDATES!

OH ME OH MY! Many more good updates came in yesterday and today from our tireless field reporters. Here are thee updates:

FRIDAY
7:04 PM Will Adams (The Ka-Nives)
Wiggins confuses the crap out of a bar full of working class Mexicans on the East side.

8:25 PM John Adams (Fatal Flying Guilloteens)
Beauty Bar was mini Houston and Kiss Kiss Kill Kill Played. Free drinks, my new fave is whiskey and grapefruit.

8:50 PM Chris Ryan (Dead City Sound)
Stood in line for Les Savy Fav for 3.5 hours. Got 4 people from the front and then they told eveyone to go away. Pissed!

SATURDAY
2:59 AM Will Adams (The Ka-Nives)
Ran into Thurston Moore at a party. He asks "Hey are you in the Ka-Something?"

6:32 AM Jana Hunter
[Jana sends us a video of Health playing, but we can't get it from our phone to YouTube]

10:20 AM John Adams (Fatal Flying Guilloteens)
Jordan Graber is throwing some d's on it. Taking pics of basketball players at the hotel.

2:37 PM Will Adams
A wasted Ariel Pink was man-handled by a sound man because he wouldn't stop playing.

2:38 PM Will Adams
I'm having difficulty finding [the right accessories] to take before the Jandek show.

2:39 PM Will Adams
Boris [unprintable]ing ruled.

Week in Review: Other News

A Summary of our Other News postings from last week.

• Miss the Contingency as Fugazi? They're playing that set 2/18 at Rudz
• Free Sporatics CDrs at their Shows this Week
• Hell City Kings: Tonight is our Last Show For a While
• Turkeys/Act of God Show Moved to PJ's
• Houstonist Weekend Mardi Gras Picks
• Handstamp Seeks Reader Rodeo Reviews
• John Nova Lomax and Daniel Mee Talk about Indie Rock
• Milli Vanilli film to be made
• SNEAK PEAK: Rough Mixes of New Tracks by The Kimonos
• YUSS! Beyonce is SI's Swimsuit Issue Cover Model
• Houstonist Announces Light Rail Pub Crawl
• HoustonSoReal Covers the Bun B Style Wars Screening and Afterparty
• The Wiggins/RUA MINX, The Sporatics, others Saturday Night @ Notsuoh
• Boo Goo Doo Boom Offers Helpful Valentine's Day Mix
• Mourge City and The Contingency Wish You a Very Jugend Valentines
• Red Star of the Solar Federation Discuss Desire to Become More Radio Friendly
• Hosuton Press Unveils Mixtape Series that Includes no Houston Bands
• Houston Punk Archives Review Spikefest
• Sharks and Sailors/My Education/Red Sparrows 2/21 @ Walters

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