Pegasus News - Dallas/Fort Worth

This week's Dallas Observer finds my all-time fave Sarah Hepola in it with a big fat piece on (formerly Denton, now New York-based) Oceanographer....

" But if you're young, single and ballsy enough to make a run for it, New York can mean the difference between buying Spin magazine and being in it. Just ask the Secret Machines, whose move from Dallas to Brooklyn catapulted them into a national spotlight that hasn't been matched in the metroplex since the days when major-label reps actually came to Deep Ellum. The technology age has made it easier to live and work from pretty much anywhere in the world, but there is still no substitute for living in New York."

"Despite Eric's mugging, Williamsburg isn't a scary part of town--well, that depends on how you feel about hipsters and babies in ironic onesies--but it is ground zero for scruffy indie rockers in the city. Weeks after I moved to the neighborhood I ran into Kyp Malone from TV on the Radio outside my apartment. The Secret Machines' Brandon Curtis used to work at a nearby café. And, at various times, the neighborhood has been home to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Enon, Animal Collective and the Hold Steady. These days, Billyburg counts one more band among its ranks: Oceanographer."

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...sigh...for you see, ever since Sarah moved to NYC, I've lived vicariously through here via her blog or her (not nearly enough) contributions to the Observer. Now I come to find that she's smack dab in the middle of struggling musician central...I do so envy her.

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Those of you who have been 'round here for the last few years already know that I'm not big into bashing or bad-mouthing....I like to stay on the sticky sweet side most of the time. My theory is that there are plenty (read gazillions) of critics out there to tell you how much your band or your venue or your show sucks. Now that TexasGigs.com is no longer a one gal operation, I have others in the mix who have a say in what is, and what isn't put in print here....so there's been a little fussin' back and forth about how to handle the Dallas Music Fest. Sadly, I look at the whole thing with dread...dread because I really can't muster up a feeling of support for this fiasco...and that makes me feel bad...bad because I want to support the bands and I want to support Deep Ellum...but...

I did a search here on TexasGigs using "Dallas Music Fest" just to re-hash years past and found this and this and this and this and finally this from a couple of days ago. Sam Machkovech doesn't mince words with his thoughts on Dallas Music Fiasco...

"People, I am royally pissed about Deep Ellum right now. I become angrier every time I read and re-read a page from last week’s Dallas Observer. It’s like a car wreck—I can’t help but repeatedly look at the page and feel an overwhelming mix of shock, hopelessness and frustration."

"I’m not talking about last week’s column, in which I wrote at length about the arrest of Michelle Metzinger on Elm Street on Friday, January 13. Nor am I talking about Robert Wilonsky’s news piece on John “Beard” Brewer, although the way he got dropped on his ass by Club Dada and Steven Shin still burns my hide."

"No, there’s an advertisement in last week’s Observer for something so heinously bad it will do more damage to Deep Ellum’s reputation than the Metzinger arrest, the closure of Trees and the Jesse Chaddock beating combined."

"I’m talking about the Dallas Music Festival...."

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Honestly, I don't know, nor have ever heard of most of the bands participating in this year's DMF...so I can't say whether or not Sam's opinion that all the bands (save a handful) suck is dead-on or not. That's not really my point anyway. What chaps my ass is that Deep Ellum keeps letting this sack-o-shit Cleveland-based, scum-sucking fiasco grace it's stages. But I suppose it's hard to maintain integrity and pay your bills...so what's a club to do?

Bah...I'm out of things to say on this subject...I'll just keep my fingers-crossed that the bands involved this year get something positive out of the experience and that this is the last year of the DMF.

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I've got like 4 podcasts to edit...so you kids go here to read the rest of this week's Dallas Observer Music Section

Cindy now blogs at The Fine Line.