I can’t say much about Carter that wouldn’t be said better by others.

For us to remember you by:

• Photos: mine
• Photos: Allison V. Smith
• Photos: Kate Mackley
• MP3: All My Dreams Come True

In the MP3, at the end of the song, the crowd screams, “One more! One more!” Jesus, if that were possible.

Torn down,

dconstruction

So, before you get all excited: this is not a new dconstruction.org posting. This is a favor.

About sixty thousand years ago, the anonymous wondermen behind We Shot JR approached us to discuss putting together a podcast/mixtape. Originally, there was going to be commentary from a local radio luminary, but apparently luminaries have very busy schedules, or else need to put down the bongs. Still, through all the delays and missed appointments, I was excited to help get this thing going.

Why?

Like it or not (and I often don’t), We Shot JR is the vibrant, throbbing, irreverent-yet-relevant source for discussion of local music. The tastes run, uh, eclectic and the discourse is often rancid, foul-mouthed, ego-fueled puffery. Reading the strings of comments is commonly painful, and I’ve more than once shut down my browser, mid-comment, in disgust. Despite the caustic tone, misguided derision and in general poor behavior of the commenters (or perhaps goaded on by them), the site itself - the authors of the posts - keeps up daily with a scene that is underrepresented, underappreciated and so fickle and mercurial that we lost pace back in February.

To be a fan of local music requires work. The bands are unknown, no songs on the radio, no videos on TV. The venues are cramped, loud, uncomfortable places, often in areas too far flung or too far gone to be appealing. The songs are rough-hewn, the production and presentation leaning towards amateur. You will not be dressed properly; you will wonder if you fit in. You don’t. Neither does anyone. You’ll be bored. Your conversations will be robbed from you by a blaring PA and the roar of alcohol on tongues. Or else, your conversation will be all that the twelve people in the room can hear, even the crickets silent in reverence for the doomed, lonely set about to be played to parents and friends. You have to want this. It’s difficult. “Rock music is mostly about moving big black boxes from one side of town to the other in the back of your car.” [reference] I’ll submit that being a fan of rock music - the real, local, dirty-faces-and-bloody-knuckles type - is watching big black boxes being moved, with a rare intermission of entertainment.

This collection that We Shot JR put together is entertaining. I have some serious issues with it. There are songs I hate, there are bands that puzzle me; much of it sounds bad. The Night Game Cult needs to change the controls on their time machine to something other than “1986,” “Top Gun,” and “Suck.” But as a collection, in its entirety, it’s entertaining. Enjoyable, even. And as a service to the scene, it’s invaluable.

Love it or leave it, we have:

• 00:00 White Drugs, RU 365
• 02:48 Tree Wave, Sleep
• 05:43 Current Leaves, Easy to Leave
• 09:38 Washing Machine, Heart Like a Megaphone
• 12:50 Eat Avery’s Bones, Sweater Petter
• 14:25 Prayer For Animals, Love in the Third Degree
• 19:45 Theater Fire, These Tears Could Rust a Train
• 23:35 Shiny Around the Edges, Waiting for the Night
• 26:26 Chris Garver, Wasp in the House
• 29:25 Undoing of David Wright, We Dig With Fingers Crossed
• 32:06 The Angelus, Crimson Shadow
• 35:53 Violent Squid, Nawlans Brown
• 41:25 The Night Game Cult, The Sparking Sea
• 46:50 Mom, We Know
• 53:52 Krispee Ones (Prince William), Erotic Citay
• 57:14 DJ Nature remix of Turbulence, Notorious
• 1:02:04 Red Monroe, Finger Tips
• 1:05:57 Teenage Symphony, A Promise
• 1:07:55 iDi* Amin, Ziggurat

Tearing it down,

dconstruction

Direct download: Projection.mp3

I’m just flabbergasted by last night’s DOMA results. How could we have lost? What plan in Heaven could allow such an injustice? What more do you people want? We give you daily updates. Weekly podcasts. Trenchant interviews. In-studio performances. A public forum. A call-in line. A well-paid staff respected by their peers. Quality control. Over a century’s experience in music criticism and journalism. We are so obviously the single most current, thorough, entertaining and multifaceted local music resource ever.

Ever.

And I firmly believe that.

I also believe this is of note: a short piece on circuit bending, with a complimentary focus on Dallas’ Tree Wave, who also lost last night.

Losers.

Tearing it down (every once in a while),

dconstruction

Congratulations to: Salim Nourallah (best song, best producer, best album), Sorta (best act), The Deathray Davies (best indie rock), Chris Holt (musician of the year, best instrumentalist), Kristy Kruger (best female vocalist), John Dufilho (best male vocalist), Texas Gigs (best web whatever), Boys Named Sue (best roots/country), The Valentines (best new act), The pAper chAse (best experimental), Steve Austin (best rap/hip-hop), Fair to Midland (best metal) - and probably others I can’t recall or don’t care to.

First things first: did you notice this? We somehow got ourselves nominated for “Best Music Web Site / Blog” in the 2006 Dallas Observer Music Awards. There were many other solid nominees. How we got in their company, we can only guess. It might help that we have interviewed every Dallas Observer Music Editor holding the position since 1999. Speaking of…

Here’s the return to our discussion with Sam Machkovech, current Observer Music Editor. This is the last half of our long conversation recorded with him back in, oh, the Cretaceous Period. As usual, Robert and I are drunk and Sam is squealing. Listen for a particularly ear-shattering soprano from the Editor at just about 12:58 in.

In this episode, we play the dconstruction Gong Show ™, and then continue to play music from three artists Sam brought in:

• DMF
• Lucas Martin
• American Werewolf Academy
• Zapruder Sequence
• Lauren Fine
• The Lemurs

Thanks for listening. Thanks for sticking with us as we retool/reform/redesign/revamp/resurge. And, thanks for voting.

Tearing it down,

dconstruction

Direct download: 15_Show_Ten__Sam_Machkovech_2.mp3

With Robert and WeShotJR already off on their way to Austin for SXSW, it’s going to be difficult to wrangle them up for our weekly Tear Downs. Really, what are we going to recommend besides 200 miles of flat Texas highway? The Mellowship show? Max Cady?

Actually, we will recommend the Rose County Fair show tonight at the Barley House. Go to that before heading south.

But what we really wanted to bring your attention to is this interview on Coke Machine Glow with Will Johnson of Centro-Matic, South San Gabriel and now the Undertow Orchestra. What’s most appropriate here is that in the last podcast, we mention both Will Johnson and Coke Machine Glow, though now I can’t remember if I edited that part out or not.

Regardless, it’s a good interview of a good musician on a good website.

Be good,

Lindsay

If you’re into 1.) music and 2.) podcasts - why you’re here if you’re not is a mystery - be sure to check out CMG’s podcasts, some of the best downloading you could ever do.

What would a dconstruction podcast be, if not late? Well, here it is, the mighty return to the airwaves for us, and all we have to offer is Sam Machkovech. He surprised us though, as between soporific tales of obscure medical disorders and high-pitched, giggly attempts at humor, he brought in some really good music. Say what you will about the Observer - and we know you do - Sam takes his job seriously and tries to cover the scene well, objectively and with an eye towards progress. How successful he is - and Robert and Zac and Sarah before him - will always be debated. Here, on this show, he was successful in bringing good tracks from:

• Versatile
• Baboon
• Bosque Brown
• Centro Matic
• The Theater Fire

Look forward to our first We Shot JR column to post this week, as well as our regular weekly Tear Downs - shows hand-picked just for you. And you and you and you. Next week, we will post our second music-only podcast, also to become a regular feature.

We hope you enjoy it. And I’m talkin’ to you, Scott Chaffin.

Tearing it down,

dconstruction

Direct download: 14_Show_Ten__Sam_Machkovech.mp3

As promised (but late, as usual), we have what will become a weekly feature: This Week’s Tear-Downs. Each of dconstruction.org’s contributors will pick the one show that most excites or intrigues them in the coming week. This first week already seems to be a good one:

We Shot JR (who?)

Thunderbirds are Now!, Serena Maneesh, Field Music, Tuesday, March 14th, at Hailey’s in Denton.

There are about ten really good shows coming up in the next week or so (I think some of the bands involved in these shows are going down to Austin for something), so we had a tough time picking. But we don’t think you can go wrong with Serena Maneesh’s wall of shoegaze (they put out one of our favorite records of 2005), and we doubt they will be back in Texas any time in the near future. Thunderbirds are Now! also seem to be the kind of band that would be great to see live, mostly because they are loud and fast and remind us of the Pixies. Field Music play some pretty decent indiepop, and they’ll be there as well. Something for everyone that’s anyone.

Robert:

Salim Nourallah and the Polaroids, I Love Math, The Chemistry Set, Friday, March 10, at The Barley House.

Because Belle and Sebastian is sold out. Because it’s three great bands for the price of none. Because it should put you in the mood to support local music and we’re headed into SXSW week so it’s good to remember what we have here.

Lindsay:

Solly, Saturday, March 11, at Doublewide.

This is the first show in a long time for Marc Solomon’s Solly - with good reason. After weathering the recent deaths of both his parents, Marc and the rest of Solly are doubtlessly ready to return to the stage, kicking, screaming and spitting. Marc’s enthusiasm, good humor and my-Lord-he-knows-how-to-have-a-good-time-ism make every Solly show a spectacle, but this one is special. While you’re at the show, pick up Solly’s 2005 release, which Robert Wilonsky summed up well:

“File under “The Replacements,” but don’t file away. Get It Wrong It’s Alright is the disc you wish Tommy Stinson would make but doesn’t have to now, since his old Perfect bandmates, Marc Solomon and Robert Cooper, are doing it for him.”

So, I have the show all ready to be posted, but I can’t. Some problem with my media file hosting service. I spent 150% of my lunch break trying to fix the problem, but to no avail.

Sorry.

I hope to have the newest podcast with Sam Machkovech up tomorrow.

Auspicious start to a resurrection, no?

Tearing it apart - and my hair out,

Lindsay

You’re not going to believe it:

We’re back.

It is with great pleasure that we announce the return of dconstruction.org, arriving back on the scene with a new podcast, a new schedule and a new staff member - but the same old swagger, snark and self-importance.

First: the podcasts. The first Monday of every month (like this coming Monday) will debut a new podcast like those you’ve come to know and love. Robert and Lindsay will sit down with some of DFW’s most influential and interesting artists, critics and promoters to listen to and discuss local music.

But then, every third Monday, we’ll release a new, music-only podcast like the one we did January 1st. We received a great deal of positive feedback from that episode, so have decided to make it a permanent feature of the site. The music for these podcasts will be selected alternately by Lindsay, Robert and…

…WeShotJR. We recently received an email from the mysterious authors of WeShotJR.blogspot.com alerting us of their presence on the scene. Immediately, we liked what we read. Crisp prose, thoughtful criticism and a no-nonsense approach to a scene that direly needs a good shaking. We liked WeShotJR so much that we invited them to join the dconstruction.org fold – and they agreed. WeShotJR.com was registered shortly thereafter and we’ll be helping them transition from their Blogspot home to a much bigger, better and more attractive permanent home.

But more importantly, WeShotJR will be contributing bi-weekly columns to the dconstruction.org site. Through these we hope to bring a stronger focus on the greater whole of North Texas music – including Denton and Fort Worth – all while maintaining the requisite level of scrutiny and sarcasm you’ve come to expect from dconstruction.org.

We should clarify that we do not know who are behind WeShotJR. We met them on the Internet, and we’re not embarrassed to admit that. We’ve talked about meeting “IRL,” but have so far just been, you know, trading pics, emails and IMing each other.

What this all means for you, our loyal listeners, is that new dconstruction.org content will be posted every week, including weekly show picks from Robert, Lindsay and WeShotJR. We have in the works more podcast guests, ideas for shorter, more digestible podcasts, dconstruction.org/WeShotJR.com-sponsored concerts and much more.

Not too terribly shabby for a website I know you thought was dead.

Or wished was.

Tearing it down,

dconstruction.org

2006, huh? A whole new year, and like last year this one’s started with a hangover. But we’ve been nursing it with plenty of fluids, some sort of multi-vitamins, and then what we have here: a new podcast.

This episode is a special one. For one, there’s no funny intro culled from the out-takes of editing. Secondly, there’s no Robert. There’s no theme music. There’s no Lindsay. There’s no guest.

There’s no talking over the music.

We’re beginning the new year by closing out the last, and here’s a good documentary of what was so compelling about the past 365 days. The songs and artists chosen for this show represent the best of North Texas music from the past year, whether there was a new release, a re-release, an LP, an EP, a notable achievement or just a damn good show - here’s why 2005 wasn’t so bad after all.

The podcast runs exactly 74 minutes. This is on purpose. For you listeners without MP3 players, download the show, then burn to CD. Listen at home, at the office, in the car - anywhere where you might want to feel motivated, moved, excited or touched.

1. Sparrows: All My Dreams Come True (Live at The Barley: Farewell, Sarah Hepola)
2. The Strange Boys: Modern Lee Miller (States Newest Noisemakers)
3. The Cut*Off: Hold Me Down (Unreleased)
4. The Valentines: The Story Goes (Self Titled EP)
5. Happiness Factor: Avoid Danger (Avoid Danger)
6. The Old 97s: Designs on You (Alive and Wired)
7. The Happy Bullets: The Vice and Virtue Ministry (The Vice and Virtue Ministry)
8. Fishboy: Cheer Up Great Pumpkin (Little D)
9. Deathray Davies: Stumble (The Kick and the Snare)
10. Salim Nourallah: Montreal (Beautiful Noise)
11. Sunward: Morning After (Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Horses)
12. Sorta: Demons in the Way (Unreleased)
13. Bosque Brown: Still Afraid (…Plays Mara Lee Miller)
14. South San Gabriel: The Dark of Garage (The Carlton Chronicles: Not Until The Operation’s Through)
15. Peter Schmidt: My Heart Sinks (Unreleased)
16. Here, In Arms: Wake Up Call (Unreleased)
17. Pilotdrift: Passenger (Water Sphere)
18. Auto Escape: Hollywood (Hollywood EP)
19. Moxie (now Black Tie Dynasty): Landspeed Record (Love and Death in Texas)
20. John Dufilho: Paper Hats and Campfire Hands (John Dufilho)
21. Black Tie Dynasty and [DARYL]: Bloody Basin (Bloody Basin EP)
22. Pleasant Grove: I Couldn’t Withstand the Damage of an Evil and Wicked Divorce (The Art of Leaving)

Now, we know we have our critics. This podcast is meant as a celebration, not a declaration of some sort of hegemony of taste. There are bands we left off. There are bands we might have excluded. Bah: enough vituperative posing and acrimony. Enjoy the podcast - and make this a resolution for the New Year: “I will go to more shows in 2006.”

Tearing it down,

dconstruction

Direct download: 13_dconstruction.org_01.01.2006.mp3

So, we kicked up a little dust with this last podcast. Our commentary on Cindy Chaffin and TexasGigs.com seems to have raised the ire of quite a few people. To them we say, “Thanks for listening!”

But to the rest of you who might be curious about the hullabaloo, here’s what was said about Cindy:
 

L: Cindy Chaffin has been doing TexasGigs.com and live broadcasts from shows for years now.
R: Well, for a couple – well, TexasGigs for years and live broadcasts for about a year and half.
L: And most recently, she’s been doing podcasts herself with, uh…
R: Because, you know, we haven’t had her on.
L: Right, yeah, well, we think that.
R: Cindy, Cindy: I still love you even though you’re wrong about a lot of shit.
L: She provides an invaluable resource. Uh, and she is the foil, or we are the foil to Cindy, because we are discriminating.
R: Although, you know, Lindsay: I saw her earlier this week and she said, “Hey! I’m not a cheerleader! I’m not a cheerleader! I don’t talk about bands I don’t like. I just don’t bring them up.” And I said, “Well, Cindy. You know, the problem then is, your taste is not particularly great.”
L: OK. We’re going to stop down right now because there was a band, uh, there was an artist that she recently found and recommended. And I was like, “oh, this looks interesting” – until I listened to it. And this is why - Cindy provides a great service; I love her website - I think her taste is off.
R: And, and, well let’s, he asked the question; let’s answer the question. TexasGigs.com tries to be more than just Dallas, but she’s based here. They do - and for our listeners - they provide a very good listing of bands that are worthwhile to go see. And, a listing – they try to do a listing of all bands. But, they point out which bands are worth going to see. They also have Texas Radio One, which plays live music that they will - they will send Cindy or someone else out with a computer and you can listen to the show as it’s being performed. They now do a podcast. And all of that is great. I’m really glad she’s doing it. She has put her heart and soul into it. That’s great. We are just a different animal. We are trying to be critical. She is trying to promote; we are trying to promote, but we are trying to promote only the good and get away from the bad.

And here’s the official response.

But, boy: did people get angry.

And all of that is fine. Amusing, even. It’s not everyday we get called jealous, cynical, drunken, flaming, hipper-than-thou cocksuckers living in our mother’s garage who work in custodial maintenance, drunkenly bloviating incoherent nothings which bolster our unfilled musical egos. And no one seems to like my glasses.

Vitriol aside, we stand behind our words. In brief summary, they were:

1. TexasGigs.com is an invaluable resource
2. We admire Cindy for her work and passion
3. Cindy is not a critic, though we attempt to be
4. We think she likes some crap music

I would think that anyone consuming the work of both TexasGigs.com and dconstruction.org would agree to the first three points. The fourth is a matter of taste. Just like my glasses.

dconstruction

Post script: have you seen the new Texas Gigs? It’s swell.

See? I told you we’d be back. I hope you hadn’t given up on us. We were just busy scheming, but now we’re back with a new episode and another in the wings - both with three members of The Valentines.

This most recent show is our first with a band - and the first with multiple guests. We get a little rowdy sometimes - and probably offensive - but in general, it was a delight for Robert and me to speak with Joey, Aaron and Laura. Making it even more delightful was the opportunity to call Brooklyn and check in with Sarah Hepola, who has been all internationale recently.

Making it even more delightful was all the booze.

In this episode, we listen to and/or talk about:

• The Freek Out
• The Tah-Dahs
• The Valentines
• George Gimarc
• Zen
• Belaire
• TexasGigs.com
• Kurk Thurmond

Please enjoy responsibly.

Tearing it down,

Lindsay

Direct download: 12_dconstruction.org_12.06.2005.mp3

I know it’s been a long time since we’ve spoken. I feel bad about that. It’s, uh, awkward, you know? Bumping into you like this, after so much silence between us? I really wish it didn’t have to be this way. We should work to make it different. Better.

Next week, why don’t you come around again? I’ll have this place cleaned up and then we can sit down and have a nice long conversation about The Valentines. We’ll have coffee - and bring some of those little ginger cookies I like so much. It’ll be nice. After that, we can do this on a regular basis. I promise. I really, really want to see you more often. You’re important to me. Really important.

But, until next week, read this review of Dallas’ own Tah-Dahs. On a similar note, congratulations to The Tah-Dahs for their recent Entertainment Weekly appearance - and then another by The Happy Bullets. And if we’re going to mention the Happy Bullets, we should also mention this.

See? It’s already getting better. I knew it would. We’re too good of friends to let anything get between us for long.

Until next week?

dconstruction

This city is just swimming in talent - and it’s all there for the taking, posted in online classifieds. This post didn’t actually come from Craig’s List, but Backpage.com, the Dallas Observer’s (and other New Times publications’) online classifieds. Regardless of where it came from, it demonstrates every quality of a good classified ad: it’s personal, direct, informative, brief and descriptive.

lead man
posted: November 3, 2005, 11:33 AM
hi my name is laura iknow a guy that would blow you away his voice is bigger and better than geoff tate of queensyche and he can lovesong andmake you feel it with every fiber of your body. he swept me off my feet 10 years in a locl karoke bar when he sang the search is over by survior he also writes his own stuff hes been in 2 bands and hes doen som tecahing as wellof voice there has been acable shot him performing and hes also sang at some of thelocalhotspots which are nolonger here, one time he was playing queensryche and singing i said is that you or geoff dont get me wrong hes doessound alot like geoff tate but he has his own way too , well if you wanna hear more callme at 214 703-9249 oremail me at lowrimorelaura@yahoo.com , he knows how to rock your world if you wanna be a singer he can teach you how so keep rocking

“Oh, wait. Uh-oh; there might be a few errors in there. Dang. But, I’ve already hit ‘post’. Well, I know what I can do:”

remake lead man available
posted: November 3, 2005, 01:39 PM
hi my name islaura i have avocalist that would blow you out of the water his name timothy gavin douglass hes 35 and can take asong especially alove song and make it his own, well ive seen him capture an audience like there was no tommrrow he can also teach voice , he use to rock the 80s and 90s hes still can rock your world now, hes also awriter he makes geoff tate o fqueens ryche sound bad. but we all know that geoff tate is agreatsinger, he sang slient lucidity and you could hear apin drop. well he can make dream theater sound bad alo hes got very powerful vocals.

“Ahh: much better.”

You’ve got a hell of a publicist there, Gavin. Too bad she’s neither silent nor lucid.

Craig’s List is fascinating: a market place, a meeting place, a meat market. Apart from single-handedly decimating the traditional media’s classified revenues, Craig’s List also provides some mighty humor.

To start off a new blog-only segment, “dconstructing craig,” we bring you a fine specimen of local Dallas music classifieds, an ad so compelling and rich that, well, uh: wow. If this is the future of rock, then give me Adult Contemporary Christian.

we are an original rock band that has over 50 songs ,i play guitar and sing and also create, we also have a drummer and we practice all the time,we need serious musicians that are easy to get along with and dont have there head up there ass, we will be recording a cd soon so we need you to complete the sound ,ages between 18 and 33 reply ,im 29 and our drummer is 24 we sound like nirvana,beatles,doors,and a few different heavy metal bands , it depends on the song, anyways we hope to here from you soon because we are ready, are you?

A few things to note:

1. It’s a single sentence. Must be a Joyce fan.
2. “we sound like nirvana, beatles, doors” doesn’t contradict “we are an original rock band,” does it?
3. Every band needs a frontman who can “and also create.” Ability to spell and punctuate optional.
4. I like the super-arbitrary 33-year-old cut-off. Jesus would have just made it.
5. The guy who wrote this is 29 years old. IJS.

As promised, here is the second hour of our discussion with Ken Bethea. If you were left wanting more music in the last hour with Ken, then you will be satisfied today. The ‘dconstruction gong show’ debuts with four hopeful contestants, only one of which gets a full dconstruction endorsement. And frankly, I’m surprised by the winner - and the prize: an opening slot on the next Old97s tour*.

In total, it’s a good show, with lots of music from the likes of:

• Auto Escape
• Ashburne Glen
• Clay & Electronic Cowboys
• The Promise Loaf
• The Shapes
• Millicent Friendly
• Black Tie Dynasty
• The Slack
• The Old 97s
• Ken Bethea

Please enjoy.

Tearing it down,

Lindsay

* I’m pretty sure this offer was made in jest. Please, no emails or lawyers.

Direct download: 11_dconstruction.org_10.19.2005.mp3

A few posts ago, I made mention of Ken Bethea as a possible guest. I received a sniping email in reply, to the effect of, “anyone who writes a song about chicken ravioli obviously has no business talking about music.” To that person - and to all of you who think similarly - I agree with you. There is no room for songs about Cajuns and their microwaves. However, those same persons have never met Ken, like I’ve had the fortuitous opportunity to do. He’s tricky; that East Texas drawl belies sharp opinion and keen insight. And we are glad to have been able to record it for you.

We talked with Ken in two sections, originally intended to air some weeks apart. Because we’re already behind schedule, I’m posting them both, one today and the other tomorrow. Each show is just slightly over an hour.

In today’s show, we talk about and listen to:

• Joe Kirkland (”Joe K”)
• Patrick Boothe
• Dave Little
• Scrap Hotel
• Cowboys and Indians

Tomorrow’s show gets even more interesting, as we play the dconstruction gong show for the first time, a raucous rally through some of the many demos sent to us by bands. Come back tomorrow for this show and full notes.

Tearing it down,

Lindsay

Direct download: 10_dconstruction.org_10.18.2005.mp3

Looks like the lovely folks over at Apple have finally updated the iTunes Podcast Directory. We’re back in, though we show up twice. The iTunes buttons at the top and right of the page will now work properly. Please click them.

Thank you, Apple.

We’ve always known Dallas has a fertile music scene, and it seems some other people think so, too. To that end, it’s time for dconstruction.org to acknowledge and welcome some new Dallas-based podcasts to the cast-o-sphere. Obviously, there’s no real comparison between these newcomers and the First, Best and Only True Dallas Music Podcast. Nevertheless, they are worth mentioning. Maybe.

• Texas Gigs: Though by no means a newcomer to the scene - or Internet audio - the interview format with Kate Mackley is certainly new. So far it’s been awkward, fawning, technically inept and an all-around amateur effort - but I ended up listening to the whole thing, anyway. Maybe you will, too.
• Quick’s PodQast: Isn’t that cute and clever? The “Q”? Oh, those savvy corporate brand managers. But despite the Belo-born marketing and affiliation with the stodgy Dallas Morning News, Quick has already become a champion of sorts for local music with their JuQbox (oh, look: more branding). Now, Hunter Hauk comes out with a weekly (?) three-song podcast to highlight more local artists, theoretically with more critical precision than the round-robin lottery of JuQbox. That precision is made suspect with the inclusion of Max Cady in the first episode, and Hunter’s stilted, teleprompter delivery adds little confidence. Still, we here at dconstruction.org know Hunter’s a man of taste and letters, so we await a maturation of his show.
• Dallas Does Indie: Popping, crackling and hissing in a pair of headphones near you, Dallas Does Indie is a low-rent Tracks Up the Tree, playing music that has no tie to Dallas but that the podcast originates from DFW. Some kudos to Jaisen Swords, who runs the site, for including Chet Baker in the inaugural episode.
• Indie Interviews: Another show out of Dallas, but having little to do with Dallas, this podcast sounds very much like an undergrad media project or some starry-eyed demo sent to NPR, but it’s well researched and the access “your host Garrison Reid” gets to bands like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, The Decemberists and The Wrens is impressive. Too bad the dynamic and dialogue between “your host Garrison Reid” and his guests are so lackluster. But, we’ll keep listening and waiting for improvement.
• The DFW Localshow: Veering perilously close to trademark infringement upon Chris Ryan’s Local Show, this short podcast seems dedicated to scripted commentary and absolute crap music. Whoever is behind this site, please report to Coke Machine Glow for re-education.

All of these podcasts except Dallas Does Indie and Indie Interviews are without an RSS feed. This matters to very few of you, but I’ll mention it anyway: podcasts should have an RSS feed. It’s kinda the point.

We are looking for interested bands or artists to submit their music for review, along with all the appropriate bio and press info. And a statement about why we should care. Contact phone numbers would be great, too: we’re looking into doing telephone interviews with the bands as we review them with our guests. A great opportunity to hear, say Ken Bethea, tell you your music “is, uh, well, interesting - is that a cat you’re playing?” Or maybe Sam Machkovech tell you, “definitely something I’d listen to if I’d just swallowed poison and needed to immediately vomit.” Or even Trey Johnson say, “[nothing].”

You can submit electronically, but please make sure the MP3s you might link to are downloadable. We cannot play what we cannot download.

And of course, we are always open to verbal abuse. Tell us what is shameful or disgusting about our podcast, and how to improve it. Our egos are far too inflated after this month’s D Magazine article.

Ah, what an adventure (club) it’s been these past few days. We’ve had technical problems, scheduling problems and just plain problem problems that prevented this show from airing - but here it is!

In this episode, we speak with Josh Venable, host of KDGE’s Adventure Club program and a wizened font of pontification and opinion on the local music scene. Josh is a bit of a talker, too, so this podcast runs long at 1:12:49. But it’s worth it:

• Here, In Arms
• Eniac
• The Strange Boys
• Darlington
• Old 97s
• Pennywhistle Park
• Bobgobblin

Take a moment to listen, won’t you?

Tearing it down,

Lindsay

Direct download: 09_dconstruction.org_09.27.2005.mp3

You’ll never guess. Go on, try. Guess. Nothing? Ok, here it is. I’m not done editing. I know, I know: startling.

I should just give up this charade of a schedule. Nonetheless, it’s a good show coming up, with Josh Venable as our guest. Stick around; I hope to have the show up tomorrow sometime.

In the meantime, why don’t you check out this guy, who Josh hipped us to. Good work, Josh. And good work, Brent Engel.

Tearing it down (one deadline at a time),

Lindsay

Here it is, Show Five, a continuation of our conversation with Zac Crain, former Music editor for the Dallas Observer. In this episode, I become much less cranky, notably due to the Maker’s Mark. Recall, that though this is a second show released some eighteen days after the first, it is actually the second or third hour of discussion with Zac. And if you think you can’t get drunk in under three hours, you’re wrong. Robert, Zac and I are accomplished professionals, dedicated to our craft since high school. We know what we’re doing.

This week we listen to and blather about:

• Funland
• [DARYL]
• Fishboy
• Budapest One
• I Love Math

Listen, enjoy, think - and then give.

Tearing it down,

Lindsay

Direct download: 08_dconstruction.org_09.08.2005.mp3

I suppose it’s not surprising that there’s no show yet posted. A long Labor Day weekend - and its recovery - prevented much of the editing that needed doing.

However, this recent show, featuring the second half of our conversation with Zac Crain, will be posted soon.

In the meantime, think about the following. We certainly are (details soon):

We’ve received quite a few comments like:

The show is great! Love it! Love it! Love it!

…but it is this quote that got me thinking:

…a lot of inside information about people you guys know doesn’t necessarily mean much to your listeners unless you, perhaps, give us some background…

So, here it is: the complete annotation of Show Four, a chronological reference guide to everything we discuss. I might continue doing this, I might not. It’s a fair investment of time - and forces me to listen to Robert over and over again. Please let me know if this is helpful.

(Click here to view annotation)

This week’s episode features former Dallas Observer music editor Zac Crain. Famous for his sack of kittens and that song by the guy in The Nixons, he stops in for what turned out to be a long discussion of several bands and the state of music in Dallas. So long, in fact, that we’ve been able to split the conversation into two shows, the second of which will air in two weeks.

In this week, however, we listen to and discuss:

• The Cut*Off
• Glen Reynolds (of Chomsky)
• 41 Gorgeous Blocks
• Pilotdrift
• Slick 57

Hope you enjoy it.

A small note: it’s August. In Texas. It’s really hot. We had the air-conditioner on full-blast during this interview and you can definitely hear it. I tried all sorts of sophisticated digital audio tricks to reduce the noise, but I was not wholly successful. Please excuse the sound quality: it’s a bit uneven from voice to voice.

But you’re not here for pristine digital audio quality, right? You want rock and maybe even some roll – and you want Zac Crain to tell you the difference between the two.

Tearing it down,

Lindsay

Direct download: 07_dconstruction.org_08.22.2005.mp3

So, it’s becoming clear that I cannot keep any sort of schedule. Every other Monday? Yeah, well, that didn’t happen.

Not for lack of trying, though. I’ve nearly finished editing this week’s episode with Zac Crain and hope to post it tonight.

Thanks for your patience - and thanks for listening. We do really appreciate the kind and supportive words we’ve been receiving via email and in person - it’s great to talk to listeners, especially at shows. If we missed you at Saturday’s Pleasant Grove show, then we hope to see you sometime soon at one of our future recommended shows.

Tearing it down,

Lindsay

Well, it looks like the RSS feed got a bit screwed in the move to the new site. Should be fixed now. My most abject and obsequious apologies for anyone who tried to subscribe and failed.

If you have tried to subscribe and found it didn’t work for you, please try the RSS feed again: it is now working.

And, as always, feel free to email me if you have questions, whatever their nature.

Tearing it down (and coding it back together),

Lindsay

Just a quick note to welcome those coming to us from our dear friends and doppelgangers at FrontBurner.

Thanks for the props, Adam.

And thank you for stopping by. Poke around and please give us a listen. And then give the bands we mention a listen; they deserve it more than we do. Well, certainly more than Robert does.

Tearing it down,

Lindsay

• The Calendar: off to the left is an event calendar of shows Robert or I recommend and might even be attending. We’ll try to keep this as up-to-date as possible, but only with the select shows or happenings we feel we can strongly recommend.
• The Submit Function: also on the left, but a little lower, is the Submit section. Clicking on the link there will take you to a form you can use to send us a band you’d like us to hear. We’re always very interested in finding new music and, hopefully, being able to promote it.
• The RSS Feed: because of the redesign, I’ve had to change the location of our RSS feed (the thingamajiggy iTunes and iPodder and others use to synch up with this podcast, to download new episodes). I know this is an inconvenience for some of you, but it would be greatly appreciated if you update your podcatchers with the following new RSS URI:
  http://www.dconstruction.org/feed.
• The Lists: we’re going to be keeping list of links to the bands, artists, bars and venues we mention on each show, permanently located to the right of the page. Please visit these sites if you’re interested; many if not most of the band sites include MP3s available for download and information about upcoming shows. Click a few buttons, come out to the show.
• iTunes: because of the RSS feed change, the iTunes podcast directory must be changed. This takes a little while as we wait for iTunes to update their databases. While we wait, the “Subscribe Via iTunes” buttons at the top and right side will not work - they’ll only point ot the empty, old location. This should be remedied within a week. Until then, to update your iTunes, go to “Advanced,” then “Subscribe to Podcast” and then type “http://www.dconstruction.org/feed” (without quotes) into the URL field. Bingo! We’re back in your iTunes podcast list. You may want to go ahead and unsubscribe to the previous dconstruction.org listing - it will never update again.

If you have any suggestions for this site, or comments about what we do here at dconstruction.org, please let us know:

• Email both of us: dconstruction@dconstruction.org
• Email Lindsay: lindsay@dconstruction.org
• Email Robert: robert@dconstruction.org

I should make small mention of our schedule: it’s fucked. With this last episode we’ve fallen off the rails a bit. However, we will be back publishing on a regular two-week interval starting August 22nd, with our show with Zac Crain, former Dallas Observer Music Editor. Look forward soon to a broadcast of Sarah Hepola’s going away party, recorded live at The Barley House, July 30th, 2005.

That’s about it, I think. Hope you enjoy the new look and feel.

Tearing it down,

Lindsay

Well, we’ve made our milestone: a whole show in one file - all under an hour. Of course, it took me a week extra to cull out all the superfluous Robert ranting and Lindsay aloofness, but it was worth it.

Plus, I’ve been sick. Cough.

Excuses aside, we’ve got a good show this week with Paul Williams, engineer and producer at Last Beat Studios in Deep Ellum. During the show, we play music from:

• The Jones Thing
• Radiant*
• Secret Machines
• Peter Schmidt
• Vibrolux
• The Big Purpetrators

Tearing it down,

Lindsay

Direct download: 06_dconstruction.org_08.08.2005.mp3

Part Two, in which we finish our interview with Salim Nourallah, listening to music by The Happiness Factor, Salim himself, The Old 97s, The Damnwells, Rahim Quazi and Rhett Miller. Plus, we get a surprise phone call (though we don’t answer).

Robert closes out the show with a lament of bands gone by - and an admonishment to you current music goers. And then some songs by Lotion, Pleasant Grove and Chris Holt. Good stuff.

Direct download: 05_dconstruction.org_07.18.2005_part.mp3

“What an idiot. If I die tomorrow, get hit bus a bus, and hadn’t made this record, then my whole life was just a waste.”

- Salim Nourallah

Whew. Editing Robert is difficult - as anyone who knows Robert can attest. BUT, we’ve made it, Show Two, posted in the last twenty minutes of today, Monday, July 18th.

In this installment, which is not near as long as the first episode, but then, not as short as it should be, I talk to Salim Nourallah, a should-be legend of the Dallas music scene. Robert is curiously missing, until he takes hostage the entire last twenty minutes of Part Two.

Salim and I discuss:

• Sunward
• The Moon Festival
• The Nourallah Brothers
• Faris Nourallah
• Happiness Factor
• Salim Nourallah
• The Old 97s
• The Damnwells
• Rahim Quazi
• Rhett Miller

And then, Robert goes on (and on) about:

• Lotion
• Pleasant Grove
• Chomsky
• The Sparrows
• The Happy Bullets
• Radiant*
• Thief
• Chris Holt (and The Egos)

Please listen. It’s worth the effort of a mouse click or two.

For more on Salim and his brother Faris, please check out Sarah Hepola’s excellent article from the Dallas Observer.

Tearing it down,

Lindsay

Direct download: 04_dconstruction.org_07.18.2005_part.mp3

Thanks for your patience.

Lindsay

The third and final part to our rather presumptuous podcast debut.

Thanks for listening.

Direct download: 03_dconstruction.org_07.04.2005_part.mp3

Here’s part two, in which we start listening to the songs and artists Sarah has picked as her Best of Dallas.

So you should listen.

Direct download: 02_dconstruction.org_07.04.2005_part.mp3

Happy Fourth of July, PodPeople! To celebrate the birth of our nation, we birth our own little revolution: dconstruction.org. In today’s inaugural podcast, we speak with former Dallas Observer music editor Sarah Hepola, who brought along some of her favorite - and least favorite - music from the Dallas scene. Off to New York in only a few weeks, we are privileged to have had the opportunity to speak with her.

Because Robert and I are such enormous blowhards, this podcast runs a little long. As such, it’s split into three parts with a combined running time of 1:49:53. Yep. Nearly two hours. But we play some great music:

• The Strange Boys
• Draven
• Lady of the Lake
• Centro-Matic
• The Happy Bullets
• The Deathray Davies
• Common Folk
• Sorta
• Sparrows
• The Hold Steady
• Salim Nourallah

Tearing it down,

Lindsay

Direct download: 01_dconstruction.org_07.04.2005_part.mp3