So where's all the love for Rodney Parker and 50 Peso Reward?

It's Labor Day Weekend, folks, which can only mean one thing: Put them white pants in the close till springtime, right? Well, I've been told to do that with mine, at least. A shame, too. Because, you might not know it, but I look good in those white pants...

Anyway, I digress. As always, here are the shows we've already told you about...

Tonight, there's the Shibboleth, Stumptone, Slow Burners show at City Tavern.

Saturday's pretty busy: There's the D Town Booty Bounce Show with Prince William and Damaged Good$ (among others) at Fallout Lounge; there's Dylan Sneed's star-studded Texodus farewell show at Opening Bell Coffee; and there's the GBH show at The Prophet Bar.

On Sunday, there's the now-sold-out Dia de Los Toadies festivites at Possum Kingdom Lake and the Katy Perry show at, of all places, Six Flags.

And, on Monday, you can catch the GZA doing his legendary Liquid Swords album in its entirety at the Palladium.

But there's also a lot of shows we haven't told you about yet...

Airline, The Slack, Johnny Lloyd Rollins, Jeremy Megert
Friday, August 29, at Club Dada

This show, a going away party for Eric Swanson, who was once upon a time a member of Fishing For Comets, features a trio of can't-miss acts in Airline, The Slack and Johnny Lloyd Rollins, plus another, that, although I'm pretty unfamiliar with, seems makes sense on this bill given his sound. A night of high quality and high energy tunes, for sure.

Bob Schneider, Rodney Parker and 50 Peso Reward, The Lifters
Friday, August 29, at the Granada

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Hipsters are gonna crazy for Damaged Good$. (Taylor Emanuelson)

It's not everyday that you get two born and bred Texas dudes cranking out psychadelic, futuristic tracks the way the guys in Damaged Good$ do. If you had to compare them to anyone, think Andre 3000 with a bit of Kanye West on "Stronger." Check them out...

Bonus mp3: Damaged Good$ -- "You That's Righteous (A1 Bassline Remix)"

...then read their story after the jump.

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Six days a week, the Denton-based members of Oso Closo pile into a van for a 50-minute commute to Dallas. Since being hired by the Dallas Theater Center to perform in a production of The Who’s Tommy, the band has spent the majority of its nights and days in Dallas. The rock opera opens Tuesday, September 2, and in these, the final days of preparation, rehearsals have stretched from noon to midnight.

“We’ve realized that, because of the drive, it works out to a 14-hour day for the band," says Oso Closo frontman Adrian Hulet. "But, honestly, I don’t think things could be going better. ”

“We’ve never been a theatrical band,” he says of the band’s role in the musical about a deaf, dumb and blind kid who becomes a pinball wizard and cult hero. “So, this is definitely nothing like we’ve done before.”

He mentions a scene in Tommy that requires Oso Closo guitarists Chris McQueen and Lindsey Miller to jump on top of a huge pinball machine and play solos.

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This should be good news for those still on an Obama high after last night's coronation acceptance speech. Obama Dallas will be registering voters at the Lizard Lounge tomorrow night. I can only imagine the thoughtful, well-informed political discourse the volunteers will have with the go-go dancers and graphic-tee enthusiasts on their way into the club.

Perhaps DJ Markus Schulz will be moved to play Dallas rapper Pikahsso's tribute to Barack. No?

Well, maybe he'll play sometime Dallas resident Boy George's "Yes We Can." Still wouldn't work, you say?

Well, he could always remix it. --Jesse Hughey

Black Tie Dynasty's drowning here! And you're describing the water!

We're just under a month off from this year's Austin City Limits Festival, and, sure, maybe you're excited.

But I'd guess that Black Tie Dynasty, The Orange and Gazelles are even more so. It was announced today that these three bands have made it to the third of four rounds in the annual The Sound and The Jury competition for the final open slot at ACL.

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Prince William (Will Boston) has been turning out the Dallas music scene for over ten years. Whether producing, spinning, or just getting the people excited about the state of international music affairs, Prince William stays true to his passion for urban music and continues on a frenetic adventure to discover fresh ways to blend, mix and bend the genre into something new. Calmly riding the resounding crest of the post-rap wave, the Prince offered us some knowledge and buzz about his distinct music style and the city’s surfacing breakout sound.

Tell me about the music that you play.

The music that I play, I always say, is where the club meets the streets. I like really grimy street records but I like to remix them for the club. Tons of bass. I used to call it "expensive techno" as a joke because all my records are from the UK or France. They’re all imported and not distributed here. I’m real into the urban music from other markets. I try to blend it all together.

What are you listening to at home right now?

I’m obsessed with this genre from the UK called bassline. It’s 140 bpm and really, really high energy. It’s all about these really beautiful tranquil melodies and then they just flip, they just drop this ruthless bass line. It’s like this real pretty vocal, then [creates bass sounds with his voice]. It’s so exciting to be surprised. I like surprising music. I like the track to surprise me.

So, you’re involved in the Dallas hip-hop scene?

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Two days ago, ye olde in-house former music editor, hipped me to a pretty amazing little gem he'd come across on the Internet while searching mp3 blogs (no doubt for more Kadane Brothers rarities).

It's a collection of three rare Rolling Stones blues takes--apparently from a session held right here in our fair city...you know, since the post calls them The Dallas Rehearsals and all.

My only concern is if the takes are actually from here. We know that the Stones were in town on that date--they played a gig in Forth Worth on that same date as part of the Stones Touring Party tour (and you can download a torrent of that show's live set here)--but we'd never heard of any Dallas connection to that date until now.

Either way, they're some nice takes (if a little lacking on the sound quality), and I highly recommend the listen. --Pete Freedman

This week's PoW was designed by George Neal, lead singer of The Slow Burners. Makes sense, as the kittys' marching band uniforms aren't too far removed aesthetically from the old-timey martial attire Ryan Thomas Becker sports on the cover of the band's Returning to the Air EP.

Tomorrow's Slow Burners/Stumptone/Shibboleth show should be a fun one for those still upset over the breakup of Little Grizzly, fans of countrified psychedelia, lovers of lounge-pop instrumentals or people who just like bands that start with the letter S.--Jesse Hughey

Update: Neal contacted me to clarify that he isn't solely responsible for the poster: "I got the cat images off Flickr under a CC license from Michelle Kopczyk a.k.a. Potato Benevolence."

Toadies frontman Vaden Todd Lewis at Lollapalooza 2008.

As we first told you back in May, this weekend will see the launch of the Toadies' potentially annual Dia De Los Toadies festival out at Possum Kingdom Lake.

And, yep, as the title of this post implies, we've got two pairs of tickets to give away to the day-long shindig (which will also feature Lions, Dove Hunter, THe BAcksliders and Tejas Brothers). First two people to email me with "Behind The Boathouse" in the subject line get the passes. So, have at it.

Update: Contest is over. Congrats to our winners! --Pete Freedman

It’s rare that a band with members over 40 years of age makes its way to The Prophet Bar, but, on Saturday, Britain’s legendary punk group GBH makes a rare local appearance.

GBH just wrapped up a 40 date schedule as part of the Vans Warp Tour and are doing a few club dates before heading back across the pond. This Saturday night bill also features Austin’s Krum Bums and our own loveable punk trio Greyskull.

Besides the inherent coolness of the gig, it’s just come to my attention that GBH’s last effort, 2004’s Cruel & Unusual, was released by local label extraordinaire Idol Records.

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Says the CBS 11 report on the recording:

One songwriter is hoping her effort will help give Jenny a new home.

"There's nothing that really tells about an issue more than a song… more than music," explained singer Beverly Perry... "The verses themselves are talking to Jenny and the chorus is actually speaking to the City of Dallas."

Nice sentiment, I guess...

But the song itself? Um...listen to it.

There's just no way this song can possibly help Jenny's case (which, I thought was pretty much settled, anyway), is there? Not unless Mayor Tom really digs him some really, really, really sappy tunes.

Plus, I thought Jenny already had a song. --Pete Freedman

It was a little over a week ago now that we hipped you to Dem Southernfolkz by offering up a free download of the title track from the group's debut LP, The Message.

Well, it looks like we're not the the only ones digging on the Dallas hip-hop trio's sound. Our sister paper down in Houston is digging the act, too. Today, on their music blog, our colleagues crowned the guys their Artists of the Week--a delegation normally reserved for Houston's hometown artists--and they even had a little Q&A with the guys in DSFZ. Check it out:

HP: Seeing as how one of you is currently serving in Iraq , how do you all feel about the war? What's it like over there?

DSFZ: Our hearts go out to all those who served, and are currently serving, their country. We also would like to take the time to send a special shout-out to those who fight daily battles in the streets of America, Africa, Europe and around the globe.

Being overseas in a war is like wearing a double suede and leather woolly mammoth winter jumpsuit with hot blue steel-toe boots and a No-Drip Triple Wet Curl... get the picture? It's nothing to glorify. There are people dying daily: Americans, Iraqis, Afghans. We in the free world take for granted the little things like soap, hot water, fast food, parents and freedom of speech and choice.

Fairly powerful stuff for a Q&A. Read the whole thing here.

Us? We're waiting on baited breath for Big Ben (aka Thomas Benjamin) to return safely from serving in Iraq so we can see these guys live. At that point, we'll give you the whole scoop on DSFZ.

For now, though, DSFZ fans, you'll just have to revel in the fact that the armpit of our state thinks DSFZ is pretty cool. Which, I guess, is a compliment. To DSFZ. Not Houston. Houston sucks. Just to be clear. --Pete Freedman

It’s been a tough last couple of years for the members of Sorta. First, was the painful loss of member Carter Albrecht. Then the departure of Ward Williams to the bright lights of Nashville and Music Row.

But, alas good news is finally coming out of the Sorta camp: They will have a CD release party at The Pontiac Garage (formerly Cambridge Room) at the House of Blues in Dallas on October 21 for the new self titled release, Sorta.

If the new album is anywhere near as good as Strange and Sad, But True then Sorta should be a great record. But, then again, most of their records are great.

The only odd thing about it is the choice of venue. Albrecht's memorial concert was held at the Granada...why not have it there? --Lance Lester

We're introducing a new recurring feature here on DC-9 to highlight a few upcoming shows that interest us and, hopefully, you. Mark your calendars for the following shows...

Rhett Miller and Sarah Jaffe at the House of Blues Pontiac Garage
Friday, September 19
The Pontiac Garage, which used to be called the Cambridge Room, will play host to the prettiest Dallas singer-songwriter to ever pick up an acoustic guitar, and also Sarah Jaffe.

Ramblin' Jack Elliott presented by Bass Hall at McDavid Studio, Fort Worth
Friday, September 19
The Bass Hall Web site describes him better than I could: "A friend of Bob Dylan's, a musical companion of Woody Guthrie's and an influence on Pete Seeger, the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead, Elliott and his songs have made a widespread impact on American culture and music - an impact that is still felt today."

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Yesterday, when the music blog Party Ends posted a very flattering item about local electro dance rocker outfit Faux Fox, it also posted the track "Class Ring onto its site for download. (You can grab it here. And I really recommend that you do.)

But, more interestingly, it became the third track from Faux Fox's upcoming album, All That Remains to leak to the Internet. (In late May, Gorilla Vs. Bear leaked "Personal Best"; in early May, Neonimals 20jazzfunkgreats leaked "Brass Ring").

Next week, though, the album drops for reals. And, subsequently, we'll have our review of All That Remains in our September 4 issue.

But in the meantime, seeing as how there's so many tracks already out there for consumption, you might want to take a few listens yourself; the early judgment on this disc is positive from where we stand. --Pete Freedman