Watching Chris Finley ready his gear before performing a gig as Kashioboy is like watching someone preparing for an ’80s computer techie’s yard sale. At a recent fund-raiser for The Bee’s Fifth artists’ collective, held at Matthew Gray’s house (aka Bee’s Manor), Finley spent nearly 20 minutes connecting several different…

Robert Gomez began writing the songs for his newest record, Pine Sticks and Phosphorus, in July of 2007, during the downtime between gigs as he toured with fellow Denton-based act and Bella Union signee, Midlake. Gomez, a musician since age 6, says creating the arrangements and the “music side” of…

After thumbing through one of his 30 or so milk crates of vinyl records, Jonathan Graham slips one of the discs out, slides the jet-black vinyl record free of its sleeve and pops it on his turntable. It doesn’t matter which record he chooses—Graham’s heard all the songs before. As…

Denton-based acts made quite the splash in Austin last week, with eight acts invited to play officially sanctioned showcases at South by Southwest 2009, and gobs more bands playing in and around town at unofficial showcases, day parties, house shows and coffee shops. On Friday, while playing a set at…

Live (mostly) nude models, body paint and music. What more do you need to hear about tonight’s BS Art Fusion Show at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios? Well, for starters, Scott Danbom of Centro-matic and South San Gabriel will be playing a solo set, and Gazelles frontman Adam Bertholdi is scheduled…

north of the dial On the final night of NX35, as Monotonix loads its gear and merch into a van in front of Hailey’s, some guy a block away at The Boiler Room is already updating the sign high above the main entrance of the venue to reflect the coming…

With so many talented local acts, like Fishboy and Shiny Around the Edges, and touring acts, like Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and Moth Fight, it’s really difficult not to let the insanity that was Monotonix’s packed-out show at Hailey’s overshadow all the other bands that played NX35 on Sunday…

BAND: Moth Fight VENUE: Dan’s Silverleaf TIME: 8:30 p.m.  Having caught Austin’s Moth Fight last October at the “Swiss House” in Dallas, I was pretty sure what to expect last night–from the band and the audience. So, watching the group wow an audience of about 50 people was no surprise, nor…

BAND: MonotonixVENUE: Hailey’sTIME: Midnight Believe the hype.(Slideshow and recap of this sure-to-be muched-talked-about performance coming soon…)…

Well, for all the folks who were complaining that NX35 featured too many local acts, you can’t really complain about tonight. There’s Monotonix (Tel Aviv, Israel), Casiotone for the Painfully Alone (Chicago), Beep Beep (Omaha), Sybris (Chicago), Black Gold (Brooklyn), Sugar & Gold (San Francisco) and The Botticellis (San Francisco)…

BAND: Sarah Jaffe VENUE: Hailey’s Club TIME: 11:45 p.m. OK. I know that there were a bunch of people from Dallas at Hailey’s last night. How do I know this? Because the back half of the room was too busy chatting about their new hairdos and taking group pics on…

BAND: Matthew and the Arrogant Sea VENUE: Hailey’s Club TIME: 9:50ish p.m. By the time I got to Hailey’s, two songs into Matthew and the Arrogant Sea’s 11-song set, the venue was teeming with people. Somewhere around 250 people were packed into the main room watching the show, and, for…

The weather was playing nice last night. And, for the first time, NX35 truly had the crowds to match that dynamic festival-feeling that had been in the air on Thursday night. The whole night–from the little clusters of people milling around the sidewalks and streets to the folks watching Billy…

BAND: New Science Projects VENUE: Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios TIME: 9:50-ish p.m. Watching Dale Jones, it’s hard not to drink the Kool-Aid. As New Science Projects, he’s confrontational. He’s unsettling. He’s pacing the room yelling and frantically strumming his acoustic guitar. He’s ranting. He’s convulsing on the floor. He’s covered in…

BAND: Possesses by Paul JamesVENUE: Rubber Gloves Rehearsal StudiosTIME: 10:45-ish. Sure, there’s another one-man band playing on the Square this weekend. But, entertaining as Billy Roy is, he comes nowhere near the raw energy of Possessed by Paul James’ Konrad Wert. Wert’s raw intensity is fascinating–his head shaking and body flailing…

Blame the rain. Blame the cold. Blame a competing Denton house show. Blame the traffic accidents on Interstate 35 that pushed the commute from Dallas to nearly two hours. Blame whatever you want, but, in the early evening hours Friday night, the venues participating in NX35 were noticeably, jarringly empty…

BAND(s): Spooky Folk and The Baptist GeneralsVENUE: The Hydrant Café TIME: 9:30 & 10:30 p.m. Having already raved about the living-room-vibe of The Hydrant’s upstairs room, I’ll leave that alone–other than mentioning that, as far as intimate performance spaces in Denton (not including DIY house venues), I can’t think of…

BAND: Gun GunVENUE: Boiler RoomTIME: 9:15 p.m. Admittedly, I’ve been a Gun Gun fan since the first time I caught the duo live.Shoot me. Guess I’m a sucker for the punky, poppy delivery of Lisa Hardaway’s candy-coated “ooh-ooh-oohs” and “ah-ah-ahs” mixed with the catchy, often N.W.A.-style, lyrical content. (Example: “Fuck…

BAND: Sabra Laval VENUE:  J&J’s Pizza TIME: 8 p.m.As previously discussed, the dark, smoke-filled “Old Dirty Basement” of J&J’s is the perfect place to hear the jazzy, ghostly-folk sounds of Sabra Laval. Her warm, smoky vocals harmonized perfectly with pedal steel, guitar, upright bass and even the sound of creaking…

Until 7 p.m. last night, the Square seemed pretty much business as usual for a cold, wet afternoon in Denton. Well, except for all the people in black NX35 t-shirts hurriedly scuttling around from door to door like manic crabs. Armed with clipboards, walkie-talkies and purposed demeanors, the busy “blackshirts”…