Odds & Ends

This week's Deep Friday (eight clubs for eight clams!) features not-long-for-this-town popsters Mur at the Gypsy Tea Room, playing with the Mermaid Purse and Monsters and Dust. Mur front man Max Hartman reports that the band may be joined onstage by the excellent, genre-busting string quartet Neo Camerata. If you haven't caught Mur before, now's the time: They're going (to California) fast!

This Saturday, the beloved Centro-matic and the Deathray Davies hold court at the Gypsy for what is sure to be a knockout live show. That same night, 102.1's annual Edgefest at Smirnoff Music Centre is sure to be, well, a live show. Headliners include Blue October and Evanescence, but we hope inspiration comes via local acts, including Edge darlings The Vanished, half-pint power-punkers Minority and newcomers Stara Zagora, whose single "Our Own Device" recently KO'd such heavyweights as the Beastie Boys and A Perfect Circle to retire undefeated in the station's "Cock Fight" competition. Not bad for a band named after a Bulgarian town.

Also on Saturday night, the Burden Brothers shoot their video for their latest single, "Shadow," directed by Kris Hardy and Kris Yoemans of Tactic Productions (who have previously worked on videos for the Deathray Davies, Baboon and Centro-matic). The band will need extras to play crowd members, but the film location is yet to be announced. Check www.burdenbrothersmusic.com for the latest details.

Something I Just Made Up...

It's been too long since we've had a good old-fashioned giveaway. But this week, it landed in our lap. Well, it landed in the office, at least. A crate of promotional CDs was delivered to our ad department. Inside was N.E.R.D. 's Revenge of the NERDS II: Fly or Die, a dizzying mash-up of the band's 2004 album Fly or Die with enough samples to bankrupt Mark Cuban. No wonder they have to give this thing away. Jimi Hendrix, Pharcyde, Train, the Rolling Stones and the Donnas sit snugly side-by-side on this overstuffed mix CD, which finds unlikely inspiration in the 1984 dork fantasy Revenge of the Nerds. Audio clips from the film are interspersed throughout the 25-track album, which jumbles the band's own "Don't Worry About It" and "She Wants to Move" with Michael Jackson and Barry White. "Breakout" is slipped into mixes featuring same-name songs from Swing-Out Sister and the Foo Fighters, while "The Beatles" lays Anthony Edwards' climactic speech from the movie over some of the Fab Four's best tracks: "All our lives we've been laughed at and made inferior. Why? 'Cause we're smart? 'Cause we look different? I'm a nerd, and I'm proud of it!" Tips of the hat to Oasis, Elton John and Jay-Z remind us that Pharrell Williams and company aren't just prolific; they're geeks with a big sloppy kiss for pop music of all stripes. It's truly weird, truly ingenious and the summer's ultimate party CD. What else can we tell you? Oh, yes: We have many, many of these to give away. Here's how to get yours:

Track 7, "Jump," samples several songs whose names feature that word. Below you will find photos of those bands: What are the bands' names, and which of their songs features the word "jump"? I know, it's a gimme. But hey--we just wanna spread the free love. Come by the Dallas Observer office, 2130 Commerce St., with the answer and pick up a CD.