Lalagray’s Devil’s Nest is one album you’ll want to have. And from what I’ve heard, the show is one you’ll want to go to. I’ll combine a review of the album and the show next week but for now, just trust me on this. If you don’t want to trust me, some girl on the internet, trust the Dallas Observer on this one: http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/dc9/2010/09/bonus_mp3_lalagray_–_bag_of_b.php

See you there.

(Lalagray / website / tumblr / myspace / twitter / facebook)

Jacob Metcalf will be joined by Baruch the Scribe who are good reason to arrive at Dan’s Silver Leaf in Denton early tonight. Show is slated for a 9:30PM start and you kids over eighteen-years old can get in for just $5. Small price to pay to bid Jacob bon voyage and let him know he and his music will be missed (and should be recorded and released and shared with the world).

(Jacob Metcalf / myspace / twitter / facebook)

As if Dentonite songbird Sarah Jaffe isn’t a local music favorite yet, Dallas Observer posted a few videos of her last Friday which I’ve watched multiple, multiple times today. She won’t be back in town for another two weeks when she plays at the Granada Theater with Seryn but as I’ve mentioned before, she is definitely worth checking out live. From the sounds of this video of her new, unreleased song, “A Sucker For Your Marketing,” I will undoubtedly buy her upcoming release… which, cross your fingers, may be released as early as this fall?

(Sarah Jaffe / website / myspace / facebook / last.fm)

The first time I heard about Ashley Myrick (musically known as Lalagray) was through Twitter since I happen to follow some DFW musicians that enjoy tweeting. @lalagray was getting more and more mentions, so naturally, I checked out her account, saw that she likes to tweet regularly, and hit the “follow” button. During my blogging hiatus, I really didn’t keep tabs on the local music scene much but knew she sang with The Beaten Sea and Dallas Family Band, and I listened to a few of her simple recordings on Myspace. I liked what I heard. But I was on a hiatus and listened to nothing but Mumford and Sons so I didn’t dive in too much further. (I told you yesterday, it’s been a pretty mild summer.)

Fast forward to yesterday when I finally had a breather at work and could spare a few minutes to check out her new site, www.lalagray.com, and the three tunes from her upcoming album. I had been listening to The Beaten Sea for about an hour, took the detour to her site, then proceeded to stream those three songs until the end of the work day. Yes, I listened to three songs over and over for about five hours. Prior to yesterday, I was already familiar with her beautiful voice, but to hear that voice combined with full instrumentation blew me away. Beautiful voices are a dime a dozen but the grandness “Devil’s Nest” reaches at its peaks is enough for me to head to Dallas for her CD release show, September 4th at LaGrange. Her supporting cast assures me that her live show should be as fantastic as her mastered recordings.

(Lalagray / website / tumblr / myspace / twitter / facebook)

I think part of the reason I stopped updating this blog is due to the fact that I somehow became a “music blog” and understandably so, since I wrote about NX35 for fifty days in a row. But I never really wrote about music before that. I wrote about myself and various other things I enjoy like TV, food, naps, and baby animals doing silly things on YouTube. I thought perhaps I could abandon all that and learn the ways of becoming a snarky, obscure music-lovin’, hipster blogger but snark gets old and deconstructive, and to be honest, a lot of obscure music remains obscure for a reason. (Wait, was that snark?)

With that said, I’ll be posting again and will leave you with what’s been playing through my headphones this morning:

This was originally written for Subservient Experiment.

There’s people that work hard. And then there’s Joey Liechty. Best known as Yeahdef, he somehow manages to juggle a day job, college, and enough shows to make you wonder if he ever sleeps. You can find him week after week at Hailey’s in Denton, chopping and mixing everyone’s favorite tunes from the ’80s and ’90s to make the people dance. There’s a reason Yeahdef was voted Best DJ by Dallas Observer readers and it’s not just because he puts in the hours necessary to master his art. He’s innovative and unafraid to intertwine his l33t skills with his setup. He’s streamed Twitter feeds and text messages through projectors during shows, crafts his own playful flyers, and recently unveiled his project, Playlister, which allows everyone to vote online for the tracks they want to hear on ’90s nights. Given his sense of all things musical, technical, and Gen-Y nostalgic, it only makes sense that his Guestlist brings all of those together.

Be sure to dance back in time with Yeahdef on Tuesdays and Thursdays, or catch his new dubstep monthly gig, Dentstep, at Hailey’s. And if you have time in between, try to beat him at Words with Friends.

Read Yeahdef’s Guestlist at Subservient Experiment here.

I hate to say it but I like it when two musicians fall in love with each other… then break-up. Musicians are sensitive and passionate people (whether they admit it or not) so when their hearts have been broken, it’s not uncommon to see a breakup song or two to follow. And when the two musicians happen to be in the same band? In the case of Ryan Hamilton and Jencey Hirunrusme, the indie folk-pop duo known as Smile Smile, they wrote their hearts out and created their break-up album together. We’ll sift through the pieces in their newest album, Truth on Tape, in this track-by-track review.

1. “Tempo Bledsoe” – The first time I heard this song was when I watched the music video which is as cute and sugary sweet as the lyrics. However, the “Swanee River” introduction seems to give you a heads up that this song is more a wishful memory than a current state of affairs. Either way you look at it, you’ll be humming this later.

2. “Beg You To Stay” – These simple lines, “Yeah, I sing a lot about love / it’s only ’cause I love you so much”, removes all doubt over the theme of the album. Just two minutes ago, I was joyfully singing “whoo hoo hoo!” and a track later, I am now joyfully begging. Love and loss. It can happen that quickly, folks.

3. “Cancer” – This upbeat, snare-driven, toe-tapping call to live and love is a fun jangle. However, by this track, if you feel like this album is a little too sugary pop of a break-up album for you, try the next two or skip to track six and see if that’s dark enough for your shattered heart.

4. “Somebody Else” – Nobody likes being duped, realizing what you paid for isn’t what you ended up getting. Hamilton unashamedly addresses how he reacted to Hirunrusme’s infidelity in their relationship as the veil was lifted from his eyes and saw she wasn’t everything he thought she was. A ballad with a touch of country for your cheated hearts.

5. “Truth On Tape” – An appropriate title track as it summarizes the entire journey that has been “put on tape.” Hirunrusme’s breathy echoes and harmonies are perfectly placed as a partial conversation with Hamilton. As the song builds into its beautiful full ending, you get a sense that this song is an acceptance of what happened between the pair.

6. “Move Along Folks” – The eerie instrumentation and vocals make way for the darkest break-up song on this album. You can always run through each point in your relationship to point out the wrongs and place the blame but it sometimes boils down to this fact: “There is a not a problem / This is your evident lack of experience”. Let this song sink in for a good sulk.

7. “Days Go By” – This song drags a bit but doesn’t everything after a break-up? I will take this moment to applaud the simplicity that is Smile Smile. They don’t pull a lot of fancy tricks that people with their newfangled technology can, and they make do primarily with an acoustic guitar, keys, and their voices. They show a bit more variation in the last half of this album.

8. “The Attic” – Hamilton carries a majority of this slow song as he filters through the remnants of his relationship. Hirunrusme joins only during the chorus, almost encouraging him to move on, “it’s okay”.

9. “Sleepwalking” – A drum machine throws down a catchy beat as the album moves the spotlight away from their love life as Hamilton sings about the father that left him. Another broken relationship. Makes you wonder how Hamilton manages to create more songs in the pop genre than darker areas of the music spectrum.

10. “Goodbye Caroline” – In another slight twist, Hirunrusme takes over the reigns as her distinct and soft voice bids a regretful farewell to Caroline. Who is Caroline? I don’t know but this track leaves me wanting more of Hirunrusme’s whispers.

11. “Labor Of Love” – “You’re not forgiven” is how Hamilton begins the last track and he does not let up at all in this confession. Accompanied only by his acoustic guitar, this is how I imagine he began this project, this “labor of love” if you will, that ended up reuniting the two for this album. After listening to the previous tracks several times, this may actually be my favorite song due to its raw emotion, unhidden from bouncy piano tones and catchy melodies. This is what I call a break-up song.

Truth on Tape is the story of their love and loss but I call it a gain to the Dallas music scene. It might be a bit too light for those looking to completely drown their sorrows and desperation but for those that need a little kick in their recuperating step, Smile Smile will keep you company.

I bundled up and made the trek from little d to Big D to check out Giggle Party at the Kettle Art Gallery in Deep Ellum. Honestly, the main reason I decided I couldn’t miss this show was due to one London-based illustrator, Damien Weighill, who traveled overseas to show off his skills and party with us Texans. I’m guessing most of you don’t know who Weighill is but some of you probably do and don’t even know it.

Giggle Party’s “Jason Bought A Hatchet” from Jason Reichl on Vimeo.

Familiar with his work now? Well, regardless if you are or not, the super nice people at Kettle Art (no, their web site distinctly says they sell no kettles!) were featuring his art that night and Giggle Party were slated to play alongside his art. The gallery opened up at 7:30PM but I arrived at 8PM to find a quaint little gallery full of hipsters, art appreciators, and curious passers-by. I’m glad I arrived when I did because there was only one copy of each of his prints, and they had already sold some of my favorites. I ended up shelling out some dough for a print of Mother Theresa smashing an electric guitar. (Yes, you may have seen this drawing on a certain poster!) While paying for the print, I asked for a frosty beverage and to my surprise, they accepted donations only. Giggle Party hadn’t even started playing and it was already worth the forty-mile drive.

Then, shortly after 8:30PM, the members of Giggle Party started handing out balloons and cupcakes before breaking out into their introductory rap. I could immediately tell who had been to a Giggle Party show before because they knew exactly what to do. Throw the balloons into the air, smear icing on like war paint, and enjoy their 40 oz. Only a few songs in (if even that), the band members were adequately covered in beer and cupcake. A few songs more and they had all taken off their pants to reveal little bright-colored shorts that matched their bright-colored shirts. The Giggle Party uniform.

And the night only got crazier.

They performed an exceptionally long set, and, of course, played “Jason Bought A Hatchet” as Damien Weighill drew the crowd. There were quite a few songs I hadn’t heard yet which I’m guessing will be on their upcoming full-length album to be released in April. Although there were a few slower songs that mellowed out the crowd a bit, there was enough party-punk to draw strangers in from the streets, encourage a mini mosh pit, and cause even the most reserved crowd members to smile and bob their heads. At one point, enough beer had spilled to create a pool of danger, and you know those “Caution: Wet Floor” signs? I witnessed one hipster slip, unintentionally reenacting that very fall. (Do make note that Giggle Party parties responsibly as Kat took a minute to grab a shirt Jason had tossed earlier to mop up the danger!) Yes, all of that and more happened at this quaint little gallery.

After the set, as I was grabbing some Squeezit-like drink and picking up my print, the very sweet older lady who had been helping me all night alongside her husband, the co-owner of Kettle Art, were obviously not phased by the mess Giggle Party had helped create. If anything, they had thoroughly enjoyed it, as the lady made sure to hug me, and her husband made sure I met Damien Weighill and had him sign my print. Damien was very kind (letting me know he bought the magnetic pins for his posters on ebay, thanks!) and so was the band as they made sure to hang out with their fans, sweaty, sticky, and smiling. I headed back to Denton with bits of silly string and icing on my coat and a Weighill print in my hands. Best show I went to that night.

Thanks for the kind words, we’re also playing a show on Saturday FREE at Kettle Art Gallery in Deep Ellum. But the best part is the guy that did all the art in the video above is selling his art. He came all the way from the UK. He’s awesome, everyone should come out.

<3 Kat

That’s right, Dallas, you can giggle for flippin’ free tomorrow night. And little did Kat know but I graduated with a graphic design degree a few years ago (ah, yes, that piece of paper that collects dust on my bookshelf!) and have a weakness for illustrations. “The guy that did all the art in the video” is actually Damien Weighill from across the pond that not only whipped up that ridiculous video for Giggle Party but has many neato burrito, silly, geeky illustrations. Seriously, if this poster doesn’t pique your interest, we’re not friends anymore.

In fact, weather willing, I may actually venture down south for this and head back up to Denton for Spune’s 2k10 Dance Party to check out Ishi and Neon Indian. You should too.