Cory Graves
St. Vincent Backs Jenny Lewis, Lord Byron Drops More Heat and Record Stores Get Crafty.
There are so many music festivals that take place in North Texas these days, it's hard to keep track of them all, let alone the ones that take place in other parts of the state. So we'll forgive you weren't previously aware of something called the Trans-Pecos Festival of Music and Love that went down in Marfa over the weekend.
We're guessing that after Jenny Lewis's headlining performance at the fest, though, that it'll be on a few more radars next year.
During her set, the ex-Rilo Kiley frontwoman was joined by St. Vincent for several songs. The two performed Lewis' songs “Girl on Girl” and “Just One of the Guys,” which featured St. Vincent on drums. The Dallas native born Annie Clark's skills behind the kit should come as no surprise, though, given that she's previously mentioned the just-for-funsies duo in which she pounds the skins with Carrie Brownstein in her WTF Podcast interview with Marc Maron. Clark and Lewsis also performed St. Vincent's “Cheerleader” and a cover of Deee-Lite's “Groove is in the Heart” at the fest. An audience member-shot clip of that disco classic is below, while a smattering of clips from the rest are all over Instagram, Vine, etc.
Another shout-out Ms. Clark gave in that episode of Maron's WTF podcast was the folks at Good Records, which has some pretty cool stuff going on at the moment, too.
First of all. through the close of business Thursday, October 1, the Lower Greenville shop's holding a “Big Tex Conflagration Sale,” which offers discounts of 20 percent off all merchandise, 30 percent off backstock and 40 percent off used merchandise.
Then, on Tuesday, October 6, Alice Cooper bassist and co-writer of his biggest hits, Dennis Dunaway, will drop by the shop for a live Q&A with the Dallas Morning News' Robert Wilonsky and also to sign copies of his new memoir, Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs!.
Other upcoming in-store appearances at Good Records include this Saturday's set from modern country badass Daniel Romano, troubadour Bart Crow's Live from the AstroTurf set on October 8 and a Frank Turner autograph signing on October 28.
Speaking of cool record store happenings: DJ Sober and Dustin Cavazos are bringing Rat Rios, Picnictyme and Terrence Spectacle to Oak Cliff's Spinster Records for that spot's monthly Humpday Hangout party this week. That one runs 6 to 10 p.m., and they'll have some complimentary adult beverages on hand.
Also at that shop in the coming weeks? Local illustrator (and Central Track contributor) Arturo Torres will be the subject of a pair of other noteworthy happenings. This Friday, October 2, Torres will be featured at the third installment of the Rise & Talk series, which is geared towards interacting with local artists. Kirk Thurmond & the Millennials will also perform at that one. Then, on Sunday, October 18, writer Shea Serrano and Torres will be on hand to sign copies of their new book, The Rap Year Book, which sees “the most important rap song from every year since 1979 discussed, debated and deconstructed.”
And, though it's not a record shop, per se, the folks over at Denton pizza joint J&J's have come up with a pretty fun way to hawk some new local tuneage while also helping to raise a few bucks for the Koan School, in the form of its new vending machine.
Another fresh take on slinging his tunes comes from Dallas rapper Essay EyE, whose new EP will be made available for free for those that purchase this limited edition snapback from KYC Vintage. Get a free taste of the low-key “Day Da Day” below.
No matter where you like to purchase new local music, there will certainly be lots of it coming quickly on the horizon. This past Friday, for instance, Idol Records released the new EP from Dallas indie rockers Red Like Heat, a band that's, essentially, Rivals minus its old bass player Matt Stewart.
Also this week, Green River Ordinance premiered a new single via the Wall Street Journal. Recorded live in the studio, “Maybe It's Time (Gravity)?” comes from the band's upcoming third full-length, Fiftee, which is due out January 22 via Residence Music. In the meantime, check out the first single below.
Other new releases to look out for in the coming weeks include: Nervous Curtains, which celebrates the release of its third full-length on October 2 at Dan's Silverleaf; the Sleepin' Rattlers, which will do the same on October 9 at Three Links; and, in what might be its last Dallas show, the Blank-Men will play a release for its debut LP on October 10 at City Tavern.
Then there's Pinkish Black's new LP for Relapse that comes out on October 30. The O's, meanwhile, will unleash its Honeycomb LP on Friday, November 13, at The Kessler.
Elsewhere, convicted felon T.I. dropped by Dallas ISD's Madison High School yesterday to give a stay-in-school speech.
Also? Lord Byron dropped a new single, which you can hear below.
Good Records cover photo by Karlo X. Ramos. Got a tip for White Noise? Email us!
