Midlake Gets Reissued, Grandmaster Flash Pays A Surprise Visit To Josey Records, And Local Music Docs To Look Out For.
Outside from its hometown in Denton, Midlake first hit it big after signing with indie Euro label Bella Union. Its first release for that label came in July of 2006 in the form of the band’s sophomore effort, The Trials of Van Occupanther. Simple math tells us that was more than a decade ago now!
To mark the occasion, Bella Union released a 10-year deluxe reissue of the album on vinyl this past Friday, featuring a pull-out poster, new cover art and a bonus seven-inch with two previously unreleased songs from the Tim Smith days.
Similarly feeling the pangs of nostalgia is the band’s Eric Pulido, who played guitar on Van Occupanther and assumed frontman duties a few years ago when Smith stepped away. He wrote a piece for the site The Line of Best Fit reminiscing about the good old days when the band all lived in the same house on Oak Street in Denton.
Writes Pulido:
“Back then, our regiment was pretty consistent – wake up, work 9-5 at our respective jobs, come home and eat, record/rehearse ‘til midnight, go to the bar ‘til 2 a.m., sleep, repeat. We longed for the day we could quit our day jobs and extend the time spent recording and bar hopping. Back then I remember we would watch the clock for midnight like it was the school bell. There was alcohol and air hockey awaiting us down on Fry Street and by God we weren’t going to forsake them.”
Sounds like the makings of a good documentary! Oh, the band already has one? Right.
But Third String Productions’ string of So What?! Music Festivals don’t. Or, rather, they didn’t till just recently. Conveniently timed to coincide with the recent Deep Ellum-set So What?! Fall Edition is the below half-hour doc by Albert Gonzalez. It’s slick.
But if it was DJs you wanted to make a documentary about, Grandmaster Flash would definitely be at the top of your list of potential talking heads. That much is evidenced by his surprised/unannounced appearance at Josey Records over the weekend. There, he was more than obliged to give Dallas DJ Bryan Coonrod an impromptu history lesson, which he had the foresight to film on his phone.
And, finally, Denton’s Rock Lottery announced that its 15th iteration will return to Dan’s Silverleaf on Saturady, November 12. As in year’s past, 25 NTX musicians will divide up into five makeshift bands, which will then write, rehearse and perform sets all in one day. This year’s participants include 88 Killa, Al Callejas (Seres), Alex Atchley (Bad Times), Ashley Givens (Thin Skin), Benjamin Gallegos (GOLDENJOY), Brack Cantrell (Bad Beats), Brooks Willhoite (Mountain of Smoke), Cari Elizondo (Sunbuzzed), Cory Coleman (Hares on the Mountain), Corey Duran (Collick), Ed Priesner (Sanguine Eagle), Eric Nichelson (Midlake), Garrett Phelps (PurlSnapShirts), Gregg Prickett (They Say the Wind Made Them Crazy), Jake Mann (Orcanaut), Jade Wells (Chokey), John Wier (A Taste of Herb), Kelly Upshaw (The Hope Trust), Kim Nall, Leoncarlo, Rat Rios, Sam Villavert (Sealion), Stefanie Lazcano (Pearl Earl), Steven Visneau (Pool Lights) and Teddy Georgia Waggy (Siamese).
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