Problems with Blogger, No It List 6/23

Hey everyone--- we're currently having problems with blogger that are affecting our ability to post on the main page.  We hope this gets resolved soon, and we'll update as soon as it does, but for now, we're gonna have to take a day off from the It List.  Thanks.

Iranian Protest Video

Not that I think this website needs to be your source on the current activities in Iran, but the sheer volume and intensity of this video just sent chills down my spine and I thought I'd share it with you:



You can follow a lot of this stuff on Twitter (although a lot of the communication in Iran has been intercepted), and there is still a good deal of solid information on there. Quite an exciting time to say the least, and the utilization of Twitter and other social networking sites in this context is a development that might have wide ranging implications that none of us can imagine right now.

Chat Room To Cease Having Shows; New Fort Worth Venue In The Works

Unfortunately for the DFW music community, there won't be any more shows at the best traditional brick-and-mortar venue in the metroplex. From Ben Rogers, booking person for the Chat Room and now head of The Metrognome Collective:

In September last year, James Watkins handed control of the Metrognome Collective to me, and I'm only just now getting the wheels on it.

We've just moved into the Firehouse Gallery and had some really excellent experimental shows, great photography, and mixed media from challenging new locals. We actually broke even our first month, which is incredible to me. Staff and I are excited to see how it continues to grow. (B&W Darkroom and Photo Studio weeks away) We've already got some really cool merch from local artists in our retail shop.

Metrognome has also been supplemented by two other projects, One Hundred Second Dash and Real Vinyl, a vinyl only Fort Worth label that plans 1, maybe 3 releases by the end of '09.

For the last year and a half I've had a blast bringing music to Fort Worth, and without my chance at the Chat Room, I wouldn't have been asked to take over the Metrognome. It's very bittersweet, then that I permanently suspend all booking for the Chat Room Pub. I can only stack a plate so high....

I've got to give more to the Metrognome, as we are making plans to open yet another location, hopefully a mid-sized venue.

This is it:

Sunday, July 12th
$5
10pm
Theater Fire
Good Night and Good Morning from Illinois
TBA

Saturday, July 18th
$5
8pm
Ben Rogers Presents: My Birthday
A Metrognome Collective Benefit Show
Fight Bite
Akkolyte
Darktown Strutters
Eat Avery's Bones
The Great Tyrant
Personal Victories of George Quartz

Wednesday, July 29th
$5
9pm
Rival Gang
Orange Coax
Lychgate
Oicho Kabu (from S. Carolina)




Photo By Britt Robisheaux

New Big J Single Produced by Flying Lotus

Beloved local DJ Big J, one of the founders of Cool Out Mondays at the Cavern and a frequent performer at just about every electro and/or hip hop party in town, has just released a new single featuring Dudley Perkins and produced by hot shit L.A. experimental hip hop DJ/producer Flying Lotus, who gained massive buzz and national critical recognition last year with the release of his second full length album Los Angeles. Just working with such a big name would be enough to get excited for Big J, but what's even better about the whole thing is that the single is actually really goddamn good-- to my knowledge it's one of the poppier things Lotus has ever done, with a super catchy "stuck in your head" vocal hook and fantastic swirls of looped vocals coupled with simple yet solid beat to serve as a backdrop to some pretty great MC performances from J and Perkins that recall performers like Busta Rhymes and maybe even Gang Starr. However, this is no 90's throwback-- it sounds completely fresh, and I wouldn't be surprised if this single did really big things this summer. Download it here for free.

new vega single reviewed on pitchfork

new vega single "No Reasons" reviewed on pitchfork

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/11246-no-reasons/

At tonight's show they will have, for sale, a special "tour ep" with new tracks.

add your own commentary below.

Dennis Gonzalez Reviewed on Cokemachineglow

Cokemachineglow, a far from perfect website that still seems to be much more tolerable than Pitchfork currently is, had some pretty nice things to say about a disc featuring Yells at Eels' Dennis Gonzalez, and you can read about it here. Not that getting a review on a hipster music website is exactly a big deal for someone as recognized as Gonzalez, but, you know, it's pretty cool anyway.

St. Vincent Receives Best New Music Review on Pitchfork

Former (is it former now? hope so) Polyphonic Spree guitarist Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, received a "Best New Music" review on Pitchfork today, garnering praise in the typically verbose style that Pitchfork has become known for. I personally haven't heard the record, so can't say whether I agree with the review or not, but here are few samples:

Her album covers may showcase her pretty face, but her blank expression and the tight framing leave the images feeling uncomfortably ambiguous.

Her lyrics are sympathetic observations rendered with clear, economical language focused on a specific moment of conflict or epiphany, occasionally undercut with self-deprecating asides and subtle humor.

Subtle humor? You actually find St. Vincent lyrics humorous? Not a knock on St. Vincent, necessarily, but dude needs to get out more. And finally, this gem:

The latter, which takes its title from one of artist Jenny Holzer's best-known aphorisms, is particularly successful in the way its faintest textural details communicate an unease at odds with its airy tone and steady beat.

I've never really been a St. Vincent fan, but Christ, these guys really know how to suck the life out of even a really good record, don't they?

Anyway, if you're interested, you can read it here.