North of the Dial

north of the dial The summertime heat may not have lifted yet in Denton, but for many in the two-university town, summer has officially breathed her last. It’s fall now. Well, the fall semester at least, as classes started this week at UNT and begin next week at TWU. Over…

The River Mouth Has No Lip, Still Offers Two Bonus MP3s

Denton-based The River Mouth formed late last year, and, though the band hasn’t managed to find a frontman/lead vocalist, the rest of the group has certainly been doing just fine without a singer because it seems like the band’s name pops up on a show poster just about every week…

The Heartstring Stranglers Say Goodbye…Again

It’s amazing how cyclical certain aspects of the Denton music scene can be, because, for the second consecutive year, an album release show for The Heartstring Stranglers doubled as a going-away party for a founding member of the band. Last August, the chamber-folk act had just finished recording its self-titled…

Shiny Around the Edges Heads From Little D to Big D

More than 50 people piled into the cavernous DIY venue known as The Majestic Dwelling of Doom to see Shiny Around the Edges play a passionate, “secret” performance—a show which Michael and Jennifer Seman are calling the band’s last Denton gig for a “long, long while.” “We’re bidding adieu to…

Say “Buenos Dias” To Fergus & Geronimo’s New 7-Inch Release

This morning, Fergus & Geronimo’s 7-inch for “Tell It (In My Ear)” was made available for pre-order from London-based blog/record label Transparent. But if you want to secure yourself a copy, you’d better start reaching for your credit card because Transparent is only having 300 copies of the vinyl single…

The On Nom Noms Feast On Fishboy

The official release date for Fishboy’s NOM EP may not be until August 18, but all nine of the EP’s songs are already streaming on the band’s Muxtape page, and previews and reviews of the disc are already popping up all over the Internet. What’s interesting, though, is that, in…

Bonus MP3: Touch Tongues — “Murder”

This week, Touch Tongues (the area band formerly known as Street Hassle) uploaded a handful of new songs to its MySpace page. And, by new songs, I mean like recorded-this-Sunday new. Over the weekend, the band got an eight-track, crammed themselves into a mini-storage shed and started laying down the…

Bonus MP3: This Old House — “At Risk”

A couple weeks back (the same night as our DOMA showcase in Dallas), Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios hosted a show featuring DOMA nominees Matthew and the Arrogant Sea and Sarah Jaffe. But, as I scanned the listing for the show, I saw that it was a release show of sorts–only,…

Is This Heaven? No, It’s RGRS’ New Weekly.

Tonight marks the first night of Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios’ “HEAVEN”, a new, themed DJ weekly for Denton-based DJs Bryce Isbell and Owen Paul Story (aka FUR and OPS, respectively). And tonight’s event, in addition to featuring Joey Liechty (aka Yeah Def) as a guest DJ, tonight’s event will also…

Dallas Observer Music Awards

Last year, at our 20th annual Dallas Observer Music Awards, there was a distinct theme of tradition behind all the festivities. And rightfully so: 20 years is indeed a long time. Countless great acts have passed through and risen up in Dallas during that time period. But there’s just something…

North of the Dial

Last month, Dan Mojica celebrated the seventh anniversary of Dan’s Silverleaf quietly and without much ado. But Mojica says that the anniversary “seems almost impossible to believe.” Especially because, when he closed the doors of Dan’s Bar in November 2001, Mojica wasn’t initially sure whether he’d ever open another bar…

Bonus MP3: Fungi Girls — “Pacifica Nostalgia”

According to Skyler Salinas of Fungi Girls, the Cleburne band’s full-length debut, Seafaring Pyramids, is a wrap. And, just to peak your interest, Salinas sent us an mp3 for “Pacifica Nostalgia,” one of two new songs the band just posted on its MySpace page. “We’re finally finished with it,” Salinas…

Denton’s New Play Pinball! Records Offers Up Some Sounds

In North of the Dial a few weeks back, we brought your attention to the newly formed Denton-based Play Pinball! Records. Founders Chris Engberg and Trent Ostvig have been busy, and, though they are still readying the vinyl label’s dual debut releases for a late-August/early-September drop date, today they’ve uploaded…

Last Night: Sonic Youth at House of Blues

Sonic YouthHouse of BluesJuly 15, 2009 Better than: getting a good night’s sleep. The Eternal may be the 16th album released by seminal noise rockers Sonic Youth, and members Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon may be in their fifties–but you’d never have thought either were true by the performance the…

Finding Jazz In A Supposedly Jazzy Town

For all the jazz-related hype and buzz Denton gets, the off-campus opportunities to listen to up-and-coming jazz musicians are as irregular, fluctuating and intermittent as the music itself—with one exception. Sure, the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, and the city is home to the…

Buy Teenage Cool Kids’ Art And Send The Band On Its Merry Way

If, like me, you’ve been an admirer of the album artwork Teenage Cool Kids’ Andrew Savage provided for his band’s excellent new album, Foreign Lands, or for the band’s 7-inch singles “Poison Sermons” and “Speaking in Tongues,” then you’re in for a treat today. Savage has announced that he’s selling…