2007 Houston Style
Man don't you hate those year end round ups? Me too but I'm also lazy so here you go. A year end round up of some good and bad things from 2007 from my little corner of H-town.
Best Live Trend: Festivals/Showcases/Warehouse Parties
The Free Press and Houston Press' showcases are cool and all but they didn't have a lock of the festivals this year as there seemed to be an explosion of really good fests around town. We started off the year with Noise and Smoke (Notsuoh/The Axiom). Moved into summer with Feel Good Hits of The Summer (The Proletariat). Fall saw The Axiom Reunion (Fitzgerald's) and Texas Gone Garage (Rudyard's). Plus we just closed out the year with an awesome warehouse party - We are the Hollowmen. And that's just the ones I can name off the top of my head. Lots of bands, lots of variety, and that feeling that you will go mad from being in one place for too long. Hopefully we'll see more of these in 2008.
Worst Live Trend: Club Closings
Beloved venue closings seemed to be the trend at the end of 2007. While Southmore and Super Happy announced plans to move to new venues, it was The Proletariat's announcement that it was shutting its doors to make way for Metro's bulldozers that was like knife in the heart of the indie scene. Denise, Shawna, Dunnock and the rest of the Prolee staff past and present have have been indispensable to the music scene. The closing will leave a big hole that will be impossible to fill. Sure some other venue will pick up the slack but there was something homey about the Prolee that will be impossible to replace. Sad indeed. Photo Uncredited from Indie-Music.com
Best General Trend: Lots and Lots of Solid Local Releases
Jeez what a year in Houston. Grey Ghost, Feow, Mia Kat, you name it shit was getting released and a lot of it good to great - 7", 10", 12", and CDs. Here is my quickie list for 2007 there are other great releases but if I had to pick one from each format here is what I'd whittle it down to:
For a more thorough list see Skyline Network who already covered this in exhaustive detail (Link: The Skyline 50 Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
Best "New" Thing to Have Risen From the Bayou: Mlee Suprean
Mlee Suprean Hearts of Animals had everyone buzzing like bees. Yet, while Hearts of Animals received a lot of well deserved print this year, one great thing about Mlee is that she is so prolific so if you only heard Hearts of Animals, you missed out on a lot including her acoustic Mlee Marie which is itself genius. Whether it's her solo projects or her with Amye McCarthur's Wols or Mark Richardson's Oculous Sinister, Mlee was simply the musical King Midas of 2007. This post I wrote for the Free Press earlier this week pretty much sums up my admiration (Link: Let me sum up 2007 with one artist). Photo by Kaoru-h - Creative Commons License - (Link)
Most Ingenious Idea of 2007: Grey Ghost
All hail John Sears and his brilliant use of the CDR in his Grey Ghost series. Every week 13 copies of work by a local artist go on sale for seven days for only $2.00 at Domy books. It's like opening a Christmas present every week! Photo Rosa Guerrero.
Most Ingenious Live Idea of 2007: Secret Saturday Shows
An idea that seems to complement the Grey Ghost aesthetic which is to try to make something common special. The shows occur at the Shady Tavern and kick off at 2PM. The unnamed bands are ones that usually are playing that same night but not necessarily. Admittedly the 2pm time slot is a really bad pocket of time for my schedule but every week I hear who played and think man, I really need to figure out how to juggle better on Saturdays better. Regardless of my time management skills, kudos on a novel idea. Here is their myspace (Link)
Best "Fuck with People" Live Performance: Insect Warfare
Insect Warfare's noise set at The Houston Press Music Awards was pure mischievous brilliance. From the get-go you could sense the discomfort from the bar's staff and the soundman; this was clearly an upscale joint and the low-life scum had invaded. Sure enough, within six minutes the power was cut by the soundman and the show abruptly ended. "Wrong show for the wrong venue" is what the soundman told Beau Beasely on the balcony. How wrong he was.
Best Live Performance: Wols
If you heard Amye McCarthur 's lovely songs on myspace you would have been poorly prepared for the show earlier this month where the skeletal structures were gloriously expanded upon thanks to an able group of players: Mlee Suprean (Hearts of Animals), Will Adams (Black Snakes & Kangaroo), and Abe Houch (Hungry Villagers). The set at the Proletariat was one where the band appeared with no set list, had little rehearsal, flew by the seat of their pants, and pulled it off in spades. You have to admire their pluck. Photo John Van (Link)
Best Venue That's Not a Venue: Sound Exchange
The Shows were free, there was often beer, if it was too crowded you could chill in the car park, and best of all you could browse records - try that at any local club. Sure, their sound system may not be up there with Rudz' lovely board but when you have a small room with a bunch of cool people digging the band and making with the good vibes all you really need is the band, a mic, and an underpowered PA. Voila, you've got a party. Given that atmosphere it's no surprise that Sound Exchange had some sweet live shows this year. So, to Kevin, Kurt, and Beau all I can say to you guys is thanks for letting us keep you at work so late. Photo by Rosa Guerrero.
Best Taken for Granted Resources: Skyline and Space City Rock
Sure Myspace may be the open air market for bands and their fans but it's nice to still have industrious people like ADR at Skyline (Link) and Jeremy Hart at Space City Rock (Link) to help us sort through the muck. It's not that people don't read these (they do) but I doubt that people appreciate the work and dedication these sites require. So thanks guys, together you are the CNN and Weekly World News of the Houston music scene. I'll let you decide which is which.
Lowest Point in Print - Olivia Florez Alvarez
Olivia Flores Alvarez's Houston Noise article in the Houston Press (link) was so utterly ignorant as to make everyone wince. Not sure if it was coincidence but she seemed to have vacated her post as asst. music editor soon afterwards to everyone's relief.
Most Promising Point in Print - Chris Grey
Chris Gray took over for OFA and co-wrote a nice piece on the TSU Tornadoes (link) and a very nice interview with Denise Ramos of the Proletariat that made us all sad (link) . That made us pretty hopeful that the new music editor at the Houston Press had some kind of clue. Bonus points at the Press came from some excellent writing from Danny Mee and Nick Hall who also have contributed to this blog.
Most Definitive proof that God has a wicked sense of humor: John Cramer
Yes, John Cramer scored both the Christmas and New Years blog this year; it's like some ironic level of Dante's Inferno.
Best Live Trend: Festivals/Showcases/Warehouse Parties
The Free Press and Houston Press' showcases are cool and all but they didn't have a lock of the festivals this year as there seemed to be an explosion of really good fests around town. We started off the year with Noise and Smoke (Notsuoh/The Axiom). Moved into summer with Feel Good Hits of The Summer (The Proletariat). Fall saw The Axiom Reunion (Fitzgerald's) and Texas Gone Garage (Rudyard's). Plus we just closed out the year with an awesome warehouse party - We are the Hollowmen. And that's just the ones I can name off the top of my head. Lots of bands, lots of variety, and that feeling that you will go mad from being in one place for too long. Hopefully we'll see more of these in 2008.Worst Live Trend: Club Closings
Beloved venue closings seemed to be the trend at the end of 2007. While Southmore and Super Happy announced plans to move to new venues, it was The Proletariat's announcement that it was shutting its doors to make way for Metro's bulldozers that was like knife in the heart of the indie scene. Denise, Shawna, Dunnock and the rest of the Prolee staff past and present have have been indispensable to the music scene. The closing will leave a big hole that will be impossible to fill. Sure some other venue will pick up the slack but there was something homey about the Prolee that will be impossible to replace. Sad indeed. Photo Uncredited from Indie-Music.comBest General Trend: Lots and Lots of Solid Local Releases
Jeez what a year in Houston. Grey Ghost, Feow, Mia Kat, you name it shit was getting released and a lot of it good to great - 7", 10", 12", and CDs. Here is my quickie list for 2007 there are other great releases but if I had to pick one from each format here is what I'd whittle it down to:
Best CD Jana Hunter's There is No Home (Link)
Best CD EP Hearts Of Animals Lemming Baby (Link)
Best 7" Something Fierce's Teenage Ruins (Link)
Best 10" Tambersauro s/t (Link)
Best 12" Insect Warfare's World Extermination (Link)
For a more thorough list see Skyline Network who already covered this in exhaustive detail (Link: The Skyline 50 Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
Best "New" Thing to Have Risen From the Bayou: Mlee Suprean
Mlee Suprean Hearts of Animals had everyone buzzing like bees. Yet, while Hearts of Animals received a lot of well deserved print this year, one great thing about Mlee is that she is so prolific so if you only heard Hearts of Animals, you missed out on a lot including her acoustic Mlee Marie which is itself genius. Whether it's her solo projects or her with Amye McCarthur's Wols or Mark Richardson's Oculous Sinister, Mlee was simply the musical King Midas of 2007. This post I wrote for the Free Press earlier this week pretty much sums up my admiration (Link: Let me sum up 2007 with one artist). Photo by Kaoru-h - Creative Commons License - (Link)Most Ingenious Idea of 2007: Grey Ghost
All hail John Sears and his brilliant use of the CDR in his Grey Ghost series. Every week 13 copies of work by a local artist go on sale for seven days for only $2.00 at Domy books. It's like opening a Christmas present every week! Photo Rosa Guerrero.Most Ingenious Live Idea of 2007: Secret Saturday Shows
An idea that seems to complement the Grey Ghost aesthetic which is to try to make something common special. The shows occur at the Shady Tavern and kick off at 2PM. The unnamed bands are ones that usually are playing that same night but not necessarily. Admittedly the 2pm time slot is a really bad pocket of time for my schedule but every week I hear who played and think man, I really need to figure out how to juggle better on Saturdays better. Regardless of my time management skills, kudos on a novel idea. Here is their myspace (Link)Best "Fuck with People" Live Performance: Insect Warfare
Insect Warfare's noise set at The Houston Press Music Awards was pure mischievous brilliance. From the get-go you could sense the discomfort from the bar's staff and the soundman; this was clearly an upscale joint and the low-life scum had invaded. Sure enough, within six minutes the power was cut by the soundman and the show abruptly ended. "Wrong show for the wrong venue" is what the soundman told Beau Beasely on the balcony. How wrong he was.Best Live Performance: Wols
If you heard Amye McCarthur 's lovely songs on myspace you would have been poorly prepared for the show earlier this month where the skeletal structures were gloriously expanded upon thanks to an able group of players: Mlee Suprean (Hearts of Animals), Will Adams (Black Snakes & Kangaroo), and Abe Houch (Hungry Villagers). The set at the Proletariat was one where the band appeared with no set list, had little rehearsal, flew by the seat of their pants, and pulled it off in spades. You have to admire their pluck. Photo John Van (Link)Best Venue That's Not a Venue: Sound Exchange
The Shows were free, there was often beer, if it was too crowded you could chill in the car park, and best of all you could browse records - try that at any local club. Sure, their sound system may not be up there with Rudz' lovely board but when you have a small room with a bunch of cool people digging the band and making with the good vibes all you really need is the band, a mic, and an underpowered PA. Voila, you've got a party. Given that atmosphere it's no surprise that Sound Exchange had some sweet live shows this year. So, to Kevin, Kurt, and Beau all I can say to you guys is thanks for letting us keep you at work so late. Photo by Rosa Guerrero.Best Taken for Granted Resources: Skyline and Space City Rock
Sure Myspace may be the open air market for bands and their fans but it's nice to still have industrious people like ADR at Skyline (Link) and Jeremy Hart at Space City Rock (Link) to help us sort through the muck. It's not that people don't read these (they do) but I doubt that people appreciate the work and dedication these sites require. So thanks guys, together you are the CNN and Weekly World News of the Houston music scene. I'll let you decide which is which.Lowest Point in Print - Olivia Florez Alvarez
Olivia Flores Alvarez's Houston Noise article in the Houston Press (link) was so utterly ignorant as to make everyone wince. Not sure if it was coincidence but she seemed to have vacated her post as asst. music editor soon afterwards to everyone's relief.
Most Promising Point in Print - Chris Grey
Chris Gray took over for OFA and co-wrote a nice piece on the TSU Tornadoes (link) and a very nice interview with Denise Ramos of the Proletariat that made us all sad (link) . That made us pretty hopeful that the new music editor at the Houston Press had some kind of clue. Bonus points at the Press came from some excellent writing from Danny Mee and Nick Hall who also have contributed to this blog.
Most Definitive proof that God has a wicked sense of humor: John Cramer
Yes, John Cramer scored both the Christmas and New Years blog this year; it's like some ironic level of Dante's Inferno.
Labels: "Hearts of Animals", "Mlee Suprean"
7 Comments:
I Guess I'll take the bait and compliment you on ruining an otherwise fine local music blog with a heap of shit on the very end. What vitriol will I muster by Tuesday? Hmmm...
I expect nothing less Mr. Grumps. :)
haha. that OFA article STILL makes me wince. that's talent.
Ramon, I gotta come clean. Sometime around March - after I found NAP, but before I started writing for the Press - I had a really low opinion of what Houston had to offer, musically. Somewhat through following posts here, and very much from covering the local scene for the Press, I've come to a much different understanding. I've listened to some great releases by local artists (that Jana Hunter CD is pretty fucking great), seen some amazing local artists perform, and been supremely jealous of missing a lot more. I am shocked at myself that I have remained ignorant for so long, and have only just begun to skim the surface. I'd like to thank you (and everyone here at the NAP, really) for giving me no small shove to become less complacent about the way I approach music in general, and specifically for providing, if not a direct link, then at least the catalyst that has led me to discover such a wealth of good music happening all around me.
Thanks for the kind word about my writing, and sorry for sounding so fawning.
One small point: it's actually Chris GRAY.
Thanks for the kind words Ramon.
Damn, man -- you're making me blush & all that... Good post, too; I wholeheartedly concur that this year was really freakin' great for Houston music. Great time to be in this city...
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